Gribeauval 12lb Cannon

In 1776, Jean Baptiste de Gribeauval was assigned to the position of general of artillery in the French Army. In this capacity, he trained younger officers, including Napoleon Bonapart and was able to implement his artillery reforms on a broad scale. He increased the wages given to soldiers and improved the living quarters of lower-ranking men. In addition, Gribeauval was able to standardize the caliber of cannons and increase their mobility by reducing tube lengths and weights. He also introduced the howitzer, which was commonly used by other armies of the time. Gribeauval designed waterproff ammunition wagons that were lighter than their predecessors. He developed specialized training for officers that incorporated aspects of career management. Gribeauval’s reforms made the French army a leader in the use of artillery. It remained a superior European fighting force into the nineteenth century.

Gribeauval’s artillery reforms indirectly affected the fledgling American army.  Gribeauval’s proteges; several officers who had been trained by Gribeauval, later served in the fledgling American army. One of the most influential of Gribeauval’s proteges was Louis de Toussard. Many of Gribeauval’s artillery reforms were adopted by the American military, and remained in effect until after the Civil War. They continued to play a role and influence the U.S. military through World War One.

  

Masterpiece Models - http://www.masterpiecemodels.com - asked me to produce a pair of Gribeauval Cannons to be included as a part of a larger exhibit that Masterpiece Models has been commissioned to construct.  I was asked to depict the cannons as they were used by the United States Marine Corps during the War of 1812. 

 

 

 

To get started, I was able to use some common parts from the American Civil War era cannon as offered by Verlinden.  These parts included the cannon itself, the wheels, and a portion of the central base where the wheel axels and cannon are secured. 

The balance of the construction of the these cannons was a challenge to my limited scratch building skills.  The most distinctive feature of the cannons from the earlier period are the large, split trail – as opposed to a singe trail found on later pieces.   For these tails, one of the cannons has its tails made from plastic styrene, while I chose to use bass wood to carve the shape of the other.  The numerous fittings, rings, handles and bolt details are all made from Evergreen strip and copper wire.

Each cannon was primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000, then painted using Tamiya acylic paints.  The weathering was done similarly to my armor models with extensive use of acyrlic and oil filters.  Final weathering was done with a good dusting using MIG Productions pigments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am very excited to be a small part of this larger project and I hope to bring you further updates as they become availiable.

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