The "Silk Dress Balloon" Gazelle

Unlike the US, the Confederacy had no Access to a lot of White silk so used Coloured silk from a Dress maker supplier. Silk because it´s light and they then covered it with varnish to make it gas tight. 
History
Link to a pic of the fabric used to make the Gazelle. I went for a Overall colour as it´s a model, not an historical Repro.

How to
High density foam..the type used for cladding houses. Cut it into 2 blocks. Make sure the blocks are a lot bigger than the size of Balloon intended. Stick the 2 blocks together using toothpicks. 
The Basic shape is created with a sharp carpet knife. Basically hack away, removing Corners first until you´ve got the desired shape.
Always cut away from yourself as occasionally you´ll hit a toothpick which, with a bit of pressure, will cut through but  when it gives,  the blade slices through the foam behind it at Speed. Not good if any part of your anatomy is in Close proximity to the blade. 

Take both halves apart, remove the toothpicks  and hollow out the inside. This reduces the weight, not by much but better than leaving it solid. Leave about 1cm aorund the sides ..too thin and it makes it difficult to fit together
When that´s finished, glue with PVA. I used  toothpicks shoved into the sides to pin it tightly together Fill any holes with wall filler and when dry use sanddpaper to smooth any edges.

Jam something up the vent end as  holder for painting and later modelling stages. I used a thin rounded metal file..being a file it has a better grip on the styrofoam than say a pen or paintrush handle

Next bit, after the paint has dried..adding the ropes. Basically, I don´t try to  over think it. 4 Need to be roughly evenly spaced at 90° to each other for attaching to the basket  but the rest are basically added "more or less"
I´m sure that they could be added so they create an even finish but it´s for wargaming and not a Display Piece so the General effect is what´s wanted...well, at least in my case.
Looks horrible eh? The PVA dries clear and adds a bit of a "it´s been painted with varnish to make it gas tight" effect.

The basket.
How big? I´ve made mine so that it´s 1.5 cm´s high and each side is 2 cm´s across. It Looks comparitvely bigger than how the baskets look in the photos but I have to consider the bod´s base.
Basically thin Card marked out, folded and glued into shape. Acrylic paints for the design...which btw,  I´ve made up but kept it similar to the Union Version.
When painted flrist wire (0.8mm) can be added. Just lie the basket on it´s side, add two rods to the bottom two Corners using a thick sausage of PVA.
When totally dry, turn the other side face down and repeat. The two previous rods Need supporting but to do that, just push a Piece of blue foam that´s been cut to size under them.

When totally dry, I left them overnight,  bend the rods, at about 3 cm´s or so just above the basket slightly outwards. Then bend the top ends, again at about 3cm´s, at more or less a Right angle inwards. Stick the ends into the ballon at equal (or nearabouts) spacing between the hanging ropes,  into the balloon. They won´t need glueing unless they were bent too far outwards. 

Turn the balloon upside down and place it in the pot. Using florist wire, create a square and attach it where the wires bend slightly outwards (Just above the Basket)
Glue with cyonate and leave to dry before attaching the hanging ropes.

The stand. Mine is made using a cork Coaster. After creating the winding gear using a bit of sprue and some basic triangles cut from a CD case, add 3 lengths of florist wire at equal spaces...for those who want to be exact......….120° apart.
Bend 1cm  of the top of each wire  so they end up horizontal. On top of them glue a square of thin Card that´s the same size as the Bottom of the Basket.

Paint all the wires as rope.. A mix of mid Brown, black , White and yellow seems to come close to looking like rope. You Need to Experiment with the mix but who cares wether it´s too White or Brown or whatever? 

American Civil War Observation Balloon (pt2)

So, the Bamboo stick worked but wasn´t quite what I had in mind, it didn´t have that air of feasabilty so....

Using three Strands of  Florist wire.

The winch was made with bits of CD casing, a thick bit of sprue and Florist wire for the handles.

The strand of Florist wire going to the basket is attached to the winch with a hole in the sprue. 

The other two wires are attached directly to holes in the base  next to the Posts. The tied off rope created with bits of Florist wire. 

The balloon sits a bit lower than with the Bamboo stick but, even though it´s not accurate in the way the actual Balloons were let up and pulled down,  the end effect is slightly more believable. 

American Civil War Observation Balloon

Historical innacuracies aside..it turned out alright

Close ups of the balloon.
Nope, I didn´t paint the lettering etc..they are print outs.

 The Pilot

I tried using a Party balloon covered with paper mache =  Fail!
Then a lightbulb covered with paper mache = Fail!

Solution = hardfoam shaped with a stanley knife, rubbed down with sandpaper,  then cut in half, hollowed out to reduce weight, then glued back together. 

The weight still remains an issue. I tried a couple of things to "suspend" the balloon but the only thing that worked was a thinned down bamboo skewer. Still a bit thicker than I´d planned. 

"What, there was a plan ?? !" .....I hear myself say 

I´ll hunt about to find something ..or some other way* to suspend it but for now,  it´ll do. 

Thaddeus Lowes Hydrogen Generators ,
To give him his full Name, Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe. The above link leads to the page on his Generators but the whole site is dedicated to the man. Worth a read IMHO.
Made from a hardfoam core with Card planking, copper wire and the corresponding insulating plastic for the pipe work. Vents on the tops made with  screws, Wheels from the bits box.
The wagons etc are a bit chunkier and bigger than they would have been. I could have spent a bit more time measuring things up  but it was a quick "do this Project or Forget it" Job.
I´ve had it in mind to make an Observation ballon for a while now and any fiddling with exactness would have burst the bubble of enthusiasm.

Basic info on Ballooning during the ACW.

Civil War Ballooning During the Seven Days Campaign

*Even as I wrote the above I thought of a way to suspend the balloon with thinner and  closer to scale  material. :-)

Movement Trays

They aren´t  included in the old Airfix rules but moving 16 Regiments with 10 individual bases @ 2 bods a base per Regiment was time consuming so I had to have some movement trays.

Made using 2mm Wood sheet that came as part of the packaging for a ready built Sideboard. A pain to cut the Frame and glue it to the base so to save my nerves I made 2 a day.

All the Union and confederate Regiments happily based

Remember the new 1/72nd ACW range by

A choice of scales has now been added. The poses can be ordered in 6mm upwards for example HERE

Strelets - 30 pdr Parrot Rifle with US crew

As with the Whitworth rifle set, 21 bods and 3 guns per set.

The Crew. A Tinsy bit of Flash needed removing.
The bod yanking the fuse rope. The molded Version of the rope was too short and too thick so it got replaced with copper wire. Easy Job. Slice off plastic rope, drill hole, add wire. I could have used  thinner wire but then it would have sagged.
The Shell being lugged  looks a tad too big for the gun but apart from that a fine looking Crew.

The Gun.... is big...very big but size wise alongside the Crew it looks fine.
My question would be "Why a 30pdr and not the more common 10 pdr versions?" Ok, 30pdrs are recorded as being used in the field but not as commonly as the 10-20pdr versions. 

A couple of Problems;
The wheels apart from the 4 odd looking "Renaissance style" reinforcement blocks on the Wheel rims they have 16 spokes. In reality they had 14.
According to :

The Hand-book of Artillery, for the Service of the United States, Army and Militia. With the Manual of Heavy Artillery, Including that of the New Iron Carriage"
By Joseph Robert, Major, 4TH Regt. Art., U.S.A., and Colonel ed Penn. Art.
Fifth Edition, Revised and Greatly Enlarged. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 192 Broadway, 1863.
http://www.civilwarartillery.com/books/ ... ArtCarMach

How many kinds of wheels are employed for field carriages?
Two: No. 1 for the 6-pdr. gun-carriage, the Caisson, the forge, the battery-wagon, and for the limbers of all field carriages. No.2 for the 24 and 32-pdr. Howitzer and the 12-pdr. Gun-carriages.
In what respects are these wheels similar ?
They are of the same form and height, and they fit on the same axle-tree arm. The height is 57 inches, and each wheel is composed of 14 spokes and 7 fellies.

The Trunnions. For some reason, the sculptor decided to have them seperate from the Barrel. This means having to drill a hole through the Barrel, which by the time I´d done this, I´d decided to use a bit of copper wire to create the trunnions rather than try to fiddle the plastic ones through the Barrel.

The cascable (round bit at the end of the breach)  Again seperate...why? It means another hole needing to be drilled. 

The Manouvering Bolts at the Trail end were ok but a bit stumpy so they got replaced with copper wire. 

The adjusting screw. The hole to fit it is dead centre of the carriage..it would be better a bit to the left so when added it sits just beside the cascable as it did in real life....like this;

Any way, I used the 16 spoke wheels as this will become part of the ACW wargame Project so historical accuracy isn´t really called for. 

Here´s a great vid of an original 30pdr being fired. Loads of interesting stuff, first a bit of history, then explaining the difference between Percussion and time charges, all the parts  of the gun, what parts each crewman played  etc. 

Strelets - 12pdr Whitworth Rifle with Confederate crew

3 guns and 21 bods in the set. More than average amount of Flash than Strelets latest sets but not as much as some manufacturers.

The Crew.
The ones who are posed to turn the wheels and the one who appears to be aiming the gun (on the left of the pic)  have slightly lobster type Hands but in the main the Crew is fine, especialy the officer,

Not a ramrod,  which would be useless for a breech loader but a sponge for cleaning the Barrel*

The Gun
The Barrel of the gun was (on all three sprues) was a bit bent but hot water Treatment sorts that and  the trunions on the Barrel needed shortening...apart from that, the gun fits together well, the only bit of glueing needed was the adjuster under the breech.
Interestingly, the guns breech is modelled with a friction primer guard...a field Alteration that was taken to stop the friction primer (inserted into the rear of the breech) flying out due to the pressure created when firing the gun.

When put together the gun has an odd look to it..the Position of the Barrel to carriage Ratio looks odd, especially the breach side of the gun being so Long to the rear of the trunnions.  They, in real life, did look a bit "out of Balance"

Pic hosted at Civil war Wiki Net 

The set is fine and shows for the first time in 1/72nd plastic a gun that needed making..and as Strelets brought out this one, someone else did as well. Told you it needed making 😀
Not just Whitworths but also an accurate version of a 10pdr Parrot rifle and ...Napoleons, and seige guns and...... they come with Equipment or without as can be seen below.

Not only guns but loads of bods (and Bodettes) .....all in original poses, like these

Where do I get these lovely bods and guns I hear you ask....well the Name of the new manufacturer is.......

.....and the link to his site is found by clicking  HERE 😊
You want  them  but not in 172nd scale? Well, no probs as  he says;

Customization?We can do some customizations of the models, just ask for price info. And no problem with other scales than 1/72, please make a request and we can propably resolve it and also calculate the price difference for you.

*Apparently the breech was prone to jamming so they were loaded as a breechloader so a ram coud be usefull. 

Happy New Year 2019

"wasn´t I standing here last year?" 

This year wasn´t too bad  Hobbywise
I actually got down to painting about 90% of the stuff I bought and some from the stash, 423 bods, 56 mounted bods, 1 cannon, 3 wagons, 4 pigs, 4 dogs, 1 horse,  5 tables, 4 benches, A Bridge, a house and 1 pack mule.

What became of the plans for this year ? One came to past..the ACW Project was added to but sadly, yet again, Bodstonia got left out 😞 So similar to the Goals of last year.

Plans for next year? More ACW, if not create any storylines I can at least paint up some bods for Bodstonia...and -----?----well, whatever else takes my fancy.          

                                                                                                           
Medieval Guards on duty (2)                          
Medieval Plunder                                            
Medieval scottish Heavy Cavalry                                                                  
Medieval Drinking Contest                            
Medieval Gunpowder Castle Artillery            
Medieval Scottish light Cavalry                                                                    
Teutonic Infantry on the March (Pt2)                                                      
Medieval European Mercenaries light horse                                                
Medieval Organ Gun
Mixed Medievals for 1329                              
Swiss pike block - Uri                                    
Welsh archers for Bannockburn                    
Humphrey de Bohun                                                                                
Medieval Sailors                                            
Medieval Welsh Spearmen                            
Medieval Looting Party                                                                        
Medieval "On the March" 1                            
More Crossbowmen for Bannockburn          
The Three Musketeers -  Mesdemoiselles        
John Stewart of Bonkyl                                                                                
William wallace and Andrew Moray                                                              
Ralph de Grendon and friends                                                                        
Anthony Bek and friends                                                                                
Zombie Dogs and Wolfen                                
Medieval citizens I                                          
Medieval citizens II                                          
Medieval citizens III                                                                
US infantry Standing                                    
Confederate Infantry Standing                    
Union Infantry on the March                      
Confederate Infantry on the March                
Bods and Generals (2)                                                                                
US troops in Attack                                        
Pickett´s Charge 1                                          
US Troops in Attack 2                                    
Pikett´s Charge 2                                              
US Infantry in Attack                                      
Union Generals                                                                                              
Ratmen                                                              
Lizard warriors                                                  
ACW Wounded and Messengers                                                                
Goblin warriors 1                                              
Goblin warriors 2                                              

           

ACW Wounded and Messengers

Messengers.? Do I really Need them? It might come to a Point where the games will require them but until then...Why not ?

For the confederates and from the Strelets Confederate Command set, the bod representing  , Major John Pelham. If...at any Point, the Project allows for horse artillery, he will be reinstated to his former role.
Luckily, the Strelets Union General Staff set has an ADC who fits the Job as Messenger

The  wounded and dead from the Strelets ACW range. I haven´t painted the bases the old School green yet and nor have I done any blood effects. They are toy soldiers made from plastic...and don´t  contain any blood.......

Pickett´s Charge 1. One casualty. Obviously the Regiment he belongs to  is having a good day.................so far.

Pickett´s Charge 2. Not doing so bad with three casualties but still not as bad as the....

...US Troops in attack (2) with 5 men down! 

US Troops in Attack 1. 

Obviously they could all be painted up as either Confederate or Union bods. Less obvious, unless for a dio..what could they be used for? Casualty markers perhaps. Me, I´d have preferred more actual marching, charging poses..the casualty bods could have been produced as a set seperately. 

Bods and Generals (3)

Another 4  Generals for the ACW Project. All from the Strelets Union General Staff (2)
Chosen more or less at random, the pose being more a deciding factor than  any particular personality from the set.

Whose who, According to the boxart and PSR
Abner Doubleday

In Charge of the cavalry. I painted his Outfit a bit more fancy to reflect his future Career.
George Armstrong Custer. 

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain 

Louis Philippe Albert of Orleans. (Philippe d'Orléans, the Count of Paris) As noted at PSR, an odd sort of Personality to add to the set.

It would be great if Strelets re-released thier Union General Staff 1. A lot of the bods could be used as Regimental or artillery commands, , both Union or Confederate.