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PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 7:58 am 
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Location: Cypress, TX
Some years ago, I did an 1830's Texas Navy ship board display at the Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas.

This is it in part.

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The WWII aircraft carrier Lexington is in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Lexington museum curator there saw my display at Camp Mabry and contacted me. He was also putting together an 1830's Texas Navy display and wanted me to provide the armament.

I have been working on this for a while. I am close to being finished with all the things I am to provide.
My scheduled install date on board the Lexington is sometime in Late October.

I thought I would share what I have done so far and continue this thread as I progress.

Here is some stuff.

A rack of belaying pins.
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Sponge buckets
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Cannon carriage recoil ropes
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Cannon carriage blocks and tackle for returning cannons to their firing position.
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Racks of cannon balls.
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Cannon service tools. Sponge, Rammer, Worm, Powder ladle, Linstock.
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Items I made for the shot display.
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I cast these out of lead.
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Mounted on the display table. The bottom part of the table was provided. I made the top.
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Grape shot
Jointed bar shot
Bar shot
Sabot mounted round shot with canvas powder bag attached.
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Chain shot
Sabot mounted round shot
Expanding bar shot
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This is a hands on display. Everything is secured to the table.
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One of my goofy drawings that I do all my work from.
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Building the 16' 3" long ship rail.
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One of two gun ports.
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In progress
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These are not the actual cannons that are going in the display. The ones I'm using are almost exactly like these two but with some carriage modifications. These are my concrete guns I cast. I will be using a pair just like them but don't have a picture yet. They are currently not assembled.
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The hand rail with two gun ports is now disassembled and getting ready to be painted by my lovely assistant.

I will post more pictures as I progress and certainly during the on board installation.

I made everything you just looked at except the sponge buckets. Those I purchased.

Thanks for looking!
Zulu

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:23 pm 
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Wow! That's impressive stuff Zulu :thumbup:

You cast the cannonballs yourself??? How about all the other metal parts?


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 4:42 pm 
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Jim2 wrote:
Wow! That's impressive stuff Zulu :thumbup:

You cast the cannonballs yourself??? How about all the other metal parts?


Jim,
Yes, I cast the cannon balls. I have made them out of cement, lead, zinc and aluminum.

All the other metal work is hand forged by me.
Zulu

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 6:25 am 
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What is the copper scoop thingie? Powder measure?

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 6:43 am 
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Yes Gene, It's for loading loose powder into the barrel.
Zulu

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:12 pm 
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Zulu wrote:
Yes Gene, It's for loading loose powder into the barrel.
Zulu


Thought so. Michael, if I ever win the lottery, I'm gonna be a'knockin' on your door. A pair of firing full size light field guns would look great in my front yard. :-D

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:22 pm 
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Gene wrote:
Zulu wrote:
Yes Gene, It's for loading loose powder into the barrel.
Zulu


Thought so. Michael, if I ever win the lottery, I'm gonna be a'knockin' on your door. A pair of firing full size light field guns would look great in my front yard. :-D



Gene,
You will need to win the lottery. :(
Just sayin'.
Zulu

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:53 pm 
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Finally, I was given the go ahead to deliver and install my stuff on the Lexington.
Was only there two days. Got back last night.

Here is how it turned out.

They didn't have the display lighting finished so the pictures are a little dark.
The mural in the background was done by someone else. It is a battle scene against a Mexican ship.

The mural is three feet beyond my hand rail.

Anyway, here it is.
Zulu


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:23 pm 
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Stunning!


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 5:22 pm 
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I hate to use a word that is overused, but that is AWESOME! Just AWESOME!

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:10 pm 
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Beautiful work Zulu! It must be great to see it displayed on The USS Lexington too! That's awesome man :thumbup:


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:46 pm 
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Words escape me, Zulu!

But I've been meaning to ask you ...

I've done a fair amount of concrete work, construction wise that is. I'm curious as to how you get such a great finish on those barrels. As I recall you cast them in a vertical form. Do you use a plasticiser/water reducing agent to get such great consolidation and avoid water pockets? Or do you do some patching afterwards? What ratio of concrete materials do you use. That is if it's not giving away any trade secrets. (grin)

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Cheers - Dennis


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:19 pm 
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Dennis,
I do cast them vertically.
I "rod" the cement to remove as many air bubbles as I can.
Pockets do show up but they are easily filled after the fact.
I don't use any additives.
I use one part Portland
Two parts sand
And as much water as it takes to be able to "pour" the mixture down into the mold.
Usually about a little less than one part.
I have, only recently in the last year, started using a garage floor epoxy paint for the finish.
It appears to work the best.

Thanks to everyone for the comments.
Zulu

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:40 am 
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Location: Faribault, Minnesota, USA
Zulu,
Amazing job, as always.
What is a linstock? Something to do with a fuse?
Norm


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:51 pm 
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Norm,
A linstock is a rod with a forged head on it that holds slow match.
The slow match is lit and it burns very slowly. To fire a cannon in the 18th century, you leaned over, held the rod out and touched the burning end of the slow match to the vent hole which was full of gunpowder.
That carried a blast of flame down the vent hole to the powder charge and fired the gun.
Zulu

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 7:26 am 
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Someone please let me know if this works.
It is a short video of the exhibit installation.

You need to give it about 30 seconds to load.
Zulu

https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=ht ... z=86369518

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 10:56 am 
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Zulu,
The download worked for me. Thousands of people will see your work, you and your assistant should be proud.
Norm


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 27, 2018 12:07 pm 
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You might look into the plasticisers I mentioned, water reducing agents. You can cut your water amount almost in half and get exceptional consolidation, no air or fewer air pockets. Amazing stuff.

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Cheers - Dennis


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