Panart #748 Pinnace Gun System Up Scale to 1:8

Anchorman · May 1, 2018

Hi,
I recently finished the Panart Armed Pinnace in 1:16 scale (see completed builds). I was so impressed with the ingenuity involved in mounting a land cannon in a long boat that I have decided to build a copy of the system in 1:8 scale as a display. The gun system in the original kit is about 21cm long so by doubling all the dimensions I will have a display that is 42cm (apr 17") long.
This is a photo of the original gun system from the 1:16 kit.

Uwek · May 1, 2018

Does this mean that we have the luck to see here a building log of this 1:8 scale version?
I am looking forward and will sit in the first row to see how you are doing this....great

Anchorman · May 1, 2018

Uwek said:
Does this mean that we have the luck to see here a building log of this 1:8 scale version?
I am looking forward and will sit in the first row to see how you are doing this....great

It does indeed, stay tuned.

Anchorman · May 1, 2018

Here we go. There are a few problems to overcome in the planning stage.
1) The gun system is mounted and rigged to the longboat so I will need to move the rigging to the frame and build a front support in place of the foredeck.
2) I don't have rope and pulleys in this scale so I bound 3 strands of #20 black hemp for the cannon lines and purchased 10mm pulleys from the internet (they are perfect miniature working pulleys).
3) I don't have a 20cm long cannon and ball for the display.
Problems aside, I can draw fairly well and know a retired engineer who offer to turn a cannon for me in exchange for some photography work. I take no credit whatsoever for the cannon (other than the drawing).
Most of the parts are a direct double in size so no major challenges. The rail system requires a template so I can mark the left and right sides that I built from 3 strips of 1/2" pine.
Here are my plans.

Sorry for switching between cm and inches. Part of the joy in living in Canada and purchasing material in the US.

Anchorman · May 2, 2018

Back at it. In the original kit the gun carriage and the rails were laser cut from 4mm plywood. I purchase some assorted hard wood square rods for the carriage and 1cm square pine for the rails. The carriage sides are made up of 5 1X1cm section and the rails are 3 sections each that I marked from my template and pre drilled. I then cut the two channels with a cutting bit in a drill press.

As I mentioned at the start, I need a front support for the rails as there in no foredeck so I made up a set of legs that slide into the opening that would hook onto the longboat.

All the cross section parts for the rails were cut to 8cm. The rest of the parts (including the carriage) were cut or built to fit, based on X2 of the original and or appearance.

Anchorman · May 3, 2018

I got my first look at the cannon. It still needs a bit of refining, we came up with 3/8" for the bore and 1/2" for the trunnion.
I built a set of tools following the original instruction however made them to fit the revised bore. The powder measure is made from 3/8" copper fuel line.
There is no way (I can think of) for me to make the two capsquares from metal so they are simply drilled and shaped wood. Any ideas for future work would be appreciated.

I built the cannonball tray and added 14 3/8" balls (blackened with a plumbing torch).

The 4 pins are brass, flattened with a punch, and drilled to take the chain.

The hooks are modified fishing hooks. as new they are very brittle and will snap if you try to bend them. Back to the plumbing torch and a soup can. Heat them to red hot and let them air cool for 10 mins. Do this 4-5 times and the metal will soften so it can be gently bent.

The next step will be staining and some gluing.
I would like to include some traditional looking nails and fixtures. As the scale is now 1:8th I should be able to add this detail. Any Ideas?....

Anchorman · May 4, 2018

I did some sanding and a dry fit of the parts I then glued and stained them.

As I mentioned, the main rope is 3 strands of #20 hemp. The pulleys came via the internet. The other small parts are; 3/16 screw eyes and rings, the chain and small decals are from a dollar store necklace.

This picture shows the assembled gun carriage.

And, I now have the finished cannon. 20cm (8") long.

Next I will work on the assembly.

Uwek · May 4, 2018

Hallo, it is looking good, realy good. Did you produce the muzzle by yourself, on a turning lathe? It is looking realy good!
About the eyebolt I would once more think about it, to use the preproduced screws. An eyebolt has a closed ring, so you should solder it to close the gap.
In the post before you were asking us about „traditional looking nails“......often they had square heads, so you could use nails with a round head and grind the head from 4 sides, so that they get a square head.....
Look f.e. On www.glasgowsteelnail.com and you will see what I want to say...—

Anchorman · May 4, 2018

Thank you Uwe, the muzzle was made by a friend with a lathe. I will re-think the screw eyes, even with the ring attached the join is visable.
Also, many thanks for the link to the traditional nails. I think I will be able to make something very similar.
On we go......

Anchorman · May 7, 2018

Hi there, all done. I did solder the screw eyes where the joint is visible and made 10 square head "bolts".
As per the build by member Graham I put the loading and cleaning tools along the side of the track.
Here are some pictures, I think it came out well. Cheers.
Thanks Uwe

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