The picture is not as clear as it looks,
there are two carriages for the AWI piece and no real clue as to why, the spare
wheels, also called 'Limber Wheels' at some time are smaller than either of the
gun-wheels, so presumably were intended for grebauvaille-system type limbers,
not the full sit-on, storage-box types?
The Naval gun can cross periods as it's a
pretty basic model of a weapon whose visual (at this level of detail) appearance
changed little for a couple [several?] hundred-years. Then there are the two
question marks, one of which appears to be a smaller naval gun calibre, but
fits all three mountings, the other is very odd and we'll look at it again from
a better angle in a minute.
The contents of a single 'set' to the left
with a few colour variants and a made-up gun to the right. The far right
cartridge is a mould-purge mix of blue and dark brown, the grey ones come with
the black barrels and the brown one is the different carriage with a longer
division between the trails - and a bit of 'old school' painting!
Differences between the two versions of the
AWI carriage, the grey one appears lighter with more gaps in the 'ladder'
between the trails, yet is actually a heavier moulding with deeper trails
compared to the brown one.
The grey one is a tad longer too. I think
the grey (and blue ones in the other shots) are later versions, with the brown
one being a Camberley original and can only guess at why it needed re-tooling
or even replacing with a near-duplicate?
With the two barrel types, originally sold
in larger quantities with four guns (two field and two howitzers) and 30 crew,
by the time I was purchasing these from Peter Johnson (from the ads in Plastic Warrior magazine!), they were
sold separately as a pair with one of each barrel - although I dare say if
you'd asked for two of the same; you would have got them.
The ACW gun is pretty straightforward as
seen here (a crude'ish 'Parrot Rifle'?), but I think the smaller 'naval' barrel
may be designed to convert this into a Napoleonic 9-lbr, but as most lists
suggest an ACW pair of field-piece and howitzer, with similar pieces in use as
Napoleonic artillery it's still not clear [to me].
Speaking of naval guns; 'The Naval Gun' (for which there were never
offered sailors or marines?) is a large looking thing from a big ship's main
gun-deck, indeed it is the biggest barrel of all the samples in my collection,
by quite a margin.
As with the ACW photograph, this represents one complete set from the mid-years, one disassembled, the other ready for action and with both I only got two identical barrels?
So we come to the two question marks, they
are definitely Spencer smith, same 30mm+/- size, same chocolate soft ethylene
polymer, same drilled-out ends (nice touch) the one on the left could be the
ACW/Nappy 'howitzer' or the Nappy 9-lbr conversion of the ACW carriage?
The one on the right could be a 6-lbr,
appearing on some early lists? Or something for fitting to a ships deck? Or
something missing its carriage? Or something . . . ?
So looking at the line-up again; AWI with a
long barreled filed-gun and short barrel which may also be the Napoleonic
and/or ACW howitzer barrel
Then the ACW which is also the Mapoleonic
carriage, both possibly taking the larger (parrot) gun as a 12-16-lbr, and the
smaller question mark as a 6-9-lbr? And/or taking the AWI howitzer barrel - as
same?
The naval gun which may take the smaller
question mark, the 'spare' or 'limber' wheels, to which were added larger metal
ones in the later years and then the question marks themselves, both of which
remain questions marks!
This won't help . . .
Listing - Artillery Only
Mid 1970’s Production (approximately 1974)
Standard Range
Napoleonic
- Bag of 4 Cannon (2
field & 2 howitzer)
American War of
Independence (suitable for conversion
to 7 Years War)
- Bag of 30 Artillerymen
and 4 Cannon (2 field & 2 howitzers)
- Bag of 4 Cannon (2
field & 2 howitzer)
American Civil War
- Bag of 30 Artillerymen
(officers, buglers and gunners)
Early 1980’s Production (approximately 1981)
Standard Range (1980’s)
Napoleonic
- Bag of 2 Cannon (field)
- Bag of 2 Cannon
(howitzer)
American War of
Independence (suitable for conversion
to 7 Years War)
- Bag of 30 Artillerymen
and 4 Cannon (2 field & 2 howitzers)
- Bag of 2 Cannon (field)
- Bag of 2 Cannon
(howitzer)
American Civil War
- Bag of 30 Artillerymen
(officers, buglers and gunners)
- Bag of 2 Cannon (field)
- Bag of 2 Cannon
(howitzer)
Additional Items
- Bag of 2 Naval Cannon
(24-lbr.)
- Bag of 2 Cannon
(6-lbr.)
The 'Old Rectory' Years (circa 1992)
Plastic Range
American Civil War
P6 - 24 Artillerymen
P7 - 2 Guns (1 each of 2
designs? Can be used as Napoleonic Howitzers and Field-guns)
P10 - 4 limber wheels
(all one size, smaller than all gun wheels)
Metal Additions to ACW
Range
P11 - 4 Wagon Wheels (2
large, 2 small)
American War of
Independence
P17 - 21 Artillerymen
P18 - 2 guns (1 Howitzer,
1 Field-gun)
Napoleonic War
P25 - 2 Guns (6-lbr’s)
Plastic Sample Packs (contents differ)
SP1 - Standard - 18th
Century (15 foot, 2 mounted, 1 gun)
SP2 - Standard - Napoleonic (8 foot, 2 mounted, 1 gun)
SP3 - Standard - American Civil War (11 foot, 1 mounted, 1 gun)
Other Items
SP2 - Standard - Napoleonic (8 foot, 2 mounted, 1 gun)
SP3 - Standard - American Civil War (11 foot, 1 mounted, 1 gun)
Other Items
P26 - Naval Cannons (2)
P28 - ACW Beginners Pack
(270 foot, inc. gunners, 66 mounted, 4 guns, rules, some metal)
Metal Range
American War of
Independence/Severn Years War
AR1 - Artillerymen (pack
of 3)
AR2 - Howitzer
AR3 - Field-gun
American Civil War
CR1 Artilleryman (pack of
3)
CR2 Cannon (duplicates as
Napoleonic British 9-lbr.)
Internet Era Plastic/Metal Changeover Years
Standard Range
AR1 - Artillerymen (pack of 3)
AR2 - Howitzer
AR3 - Field gun (12-16-lbr. barrel)
AR3 - Field gun (6-lbr. barrel)
AR4 - Wagon wheels (4)
Civil War Range
CR1 - Artillerymen (pack of 3)
CR2 - Cannon (duplicates as Napoleonic British 9-lbr.)
Current (June
2017)
Spencer Smith 30mm 18th Century Figures
AR1 - Artillerymen (pack of 3)
AR2 - Howitzer
AR3 - Field gun (12-16 pdr barrel)
AR3 - Field gun (6 pdr barrel)
AR4 - Wagon wheels (4)
Spencer Smith 30mm American Civil War Figures
CR1 - Artillerymen (pack of 3)
CR2 - Cannon (duplicates as Nap. Brit. 9 pounder)
Eriksson/Tradition Range (sold
by agreement with Tradition of Sweden)
Swedish Artillery 1700 –
1750 (Charles XII)
41A - Officer
41E1 - Gunner with match
41E2 - Gunner with rammer
41E3 - Gunner with ball
41E4 - Gunner, aiming
41E5 - Gunner with lever
41E6 - Gunner with powder trowel
41K - Driver
41SHv - Artillery Horse, left
41SHh - Artillery Horse, right
TK1 - Light Artillery gun
TK2 - Heavy Artillery Gun
TK3 - ?
TK4 - Limber
TK5 - Traditional Charles XII gun
This
was found in the Spencer Smith folder while preparing these articles, I don't know where it came from or when (2014?),
it could be a feeBay lot, it could be from someone called Clive, it's been
cleaned and cropped but if you recognise it and want it removed, it's no
problem; just eMail me.
It
helps to illustrate how large the guns are in comparison with the figures - useful - as
I for some reason decided to divorce all the artillery from the crew-figures in
these posts . . . Doh!
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