Another little mortar...

[Victor3]

 Just got this one. 1" bore "Yorktown" mortar by Rhodes Ltd.



 Chamber is 7/16" dia x 1/2" deep.



 Came with literature on history, assembly and loading info.



 Nice little kit. All walnut and brass. Original owner didn't finish it completely, but it will be an easy project.

 Unfortunately it's got some of that horrible PATINA stuff starting to form on it, but I know how to remedy that 



 Anyone else have one of these, or the 1/10 scale Naval 24 pounder they also made?

[dan610324]

brasso

thats just poop

what you need is an 3,5 hp electric engine with an 20" wool or cotton buffing wheel , and a lot of polishing wax .
that will get rid of all that ugly patina 

but if you do it to an antique pieace I will hunt you as an ghost forever   

[accuratemike]

"Anyone else have one of these, or the 1/10 scale Naval 24 pounder they also made?"

Well not one that they made, but....

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums//index.php/topic,88832.0.html

Someone else here has a "Yorktown". Cannon-Mania (spit) has (had?) them on their site. That is where I first saw one. See my "Yorktown" post here:

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums//index.php/topic,88311.msg533192.html#msg533192

Looks like it will be fun, MIKE

[Victor3]

"what you need is an 3,5 hp electric engine with an 20" wool or cotton buffing wheel , and a lot of polishing wax."

 Never thought of that. Will my 4 hp Briggs & Straton gas motor with a wire wheel work okay? 

[Evil Dog]

Might be able to modify a 10hp riding lawn mower with a 24" buffing wheel.... that should work.

[MikeR C]

Aw, you guys are all old school with your wire wheels and stuff. Nowadays you're 'posed to bead blast everything, and don't be afraid to turn up the air!!

MikeR C

[Victor3]

Aw, you guys are all old school with your wire wheels and stuff. Nowadays you're 'posed to bead blast everything, and don't be afraid to turn up the air!!

MikeR C

 Pffff...Bead blast - Don't be a "girly man".

 I chew Jack Daniel's bottles up and blow the broken pieces out of my mouth onto the metal...

[Terry C.]

I've pulled some similar stunts while under the influence of JD...


.. but I feel MUCH BETTER now!

[Cat Whisperer]

and next we're going to hear from Tim the Tool Man and BINFORD tools ....
 

[Cannoneer]

Victor 3, I won both of these on an eBay auction a while ago. I picked up a piece of C360 brass flat bar and I'm going to make new cheeks for the mortar bed out of it (trying to get it to look a little more like a Gribeauval). I'm going to make a new carriage, trucks, capsquares and eyes for the 24 pounder and try my hand at making a diorama with planking for the side of the ship and the deck, an opening gun port, ball rack and gun tools. If I follow the manner in which I usually attack things like this it will in all probability only take me a couple of years to complete all of this.

[dan610324]

the briggs is ok
but wire wheel is an no no

check out cannonmn's post of how someone destroyed an mountain howitzer,
that can only be done with buffin wheels and wax .
wire wheel will only give it an semi antique look   

[Victor3]

 Hi Boom J - Those look realy nice as they are. I've seen the cannon come up on ebay once in a while, but I didn't know what it was. I assumed that it was just a non-shooting model on account of the wood base and all. I didn't know it was able to be fired. I'll have to keep an eye out for another one.

 Have fun with your reworking of them. Projects like that often take me a bit of time to complete also. I've got too many of them in the works.

[Cannoneer]

  Hey Victor 3, I agree with you that these are already nice miniatures (or could be) as built from the kit, the brass barrels are nicely machined and the American walnut is fine wood. What gave me the idea to change the mortar was a past post that was a discussion of the cheeks on an original Gribeauval mortar bed. The cheeks would have actually been made of bronze or iron, with wood forming the body in between them. The barrel would also have had a handle and a vent cup so I'm going to try and fashion those out of brass and solder them on it.
You can't really see it in the photos but as far as the 24 PDR goes, the person that originally assembled it just didn't do a very good job, it may be that it was a kid that put it together. The bumper on the front is cracked and screwed to the carriage in the wrong position, there are gaps between the front and rear transoms and the cheeks, there are saw and file marks on the wood that were never sanded smooth, a brass J bolt that holds a cap-square down is cracked in half, a screw that holds an axle-tree on is broken off, etc., etc,. I'm not even sure if I can use this walnut to remake the carriage out of, I'll find out when it's taken apart.
I see by your photos that you also got the Rhodes Ltd. catalog and instruction sheets; mine must be pretty old because the person that originally had them wrote down prices in the catalog. The mortar is listed at $25.00, the cannon at $75.00 and the loading tools for $7.00 (I also got a rammer, ladle and worm, all made of brass, when I bought these models).


http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,94647.

[Victor3]

 Boom J - I think if the carriage on the cannon isn't missing too much wood, I'd try hard to repair it before making it over (but that's just me). I've been able to make beautiful a lot of old cracked up milsurp rifle stocks that looked like they'd been dragged behind a truck after soaking in motor oil. Personally, I get a lot of satisfaction from making a silk purse from a sow's ear. To each his own, though 

 One note if you decide to do any soldering on the mortar barrel - I found that the trunnions on mine are secured into the bores with some kind of adhesive similar to rubber cement. I removed some residue from the points between the trunnions and the barrel band.

[Cannoneer]

Victor3, yeah, if the walnut is salvable I'll definitely use it again. Thanks for the heads-up about the trunnions being glued, I guess I'll find out when the breech area around the vent gets heated but at least now I won't be surprised if the trunnions pop off.