Toy soldiers need toy artillery support. This Penncraft naval gun was always handy for use with Lincoln Log fortifications. Its non-firing but can still send a lot of pretend iron downrange.
Tootsietoy 3" parrott rifle
As a little kid this was my first gun; I'd fire BBs from it at my army guys
It was a steady shooter.The scale of this little gun is actually pretty accurate, as was its firing; this spring-loaded shooter knocked down lots of plastic soldiers .
I painted the carriage on this Penncraft Napoleon with its very shiny tube. As a kid I could usually find these at any historical tourist attraction, I think I got one at Greenfield Village in
Dearborn Michigan.
A typical souvenir cast-iron Penncraft with "VIRGINIA" on the trail. Even as a kid I was kind of a stickler for scale and guns like this were just too big to find themselves on the firing line of my bedroom-floor battlefields.
An Americana combination Whitworth rifle and...
pencil sharpener! !
A Britains Royal Artillery Gun, this one is a little battered but it still shoots well .
A Britains Howitzer with threaded elevation screw and firing lever. These shoot little metal projectiles.
A Japanese knock-off of a Britains Royal Artillery cannon. I really like the complexity of this gun with adjustable elevation and intricate breech mechanism, and it shoots well.
This is a masterpiece, the Britains 4.5" naval gun. This is the gun which made possible the modern wargaming as invented by H.G. Welles. I made hardwood projectiles for this gun which I've fired for distances of over twenty feet.
A crazy big made-in-india tourist trade cast iron gun. The breech screws off and there's a hole in the knob making me think this for using with firecrackers.
As big as I can go. The tube of this parrott I turned on my woodlathe.
What fun!
Soldier on!
Mannie
7 comments:
Wonderful article!
Hugh
Go Go Gunnery! A great collection of Artillery pieces you have there Mannie. Saint Barbara would be proud!
Cheers
Lovely collection. As my interest centres around 1890-1910 FLW my own modest collection is largely the Britains toy guns. Interested to read that there was a Japanese knock-off of the Britains field gun, wonder how many of these have been sold on eBay as the real thing?
My personal goal is to get my hands on some sort of 54mm Krupp breach loader...Or at least made a non-firing model of one.
What an excellent selection of weaponary !
Could make a YouTube vid of your guns in action, shooting toy soldiers of course :)
That was fun! I just picked up a Britains Ltd. "Civil War" cannon that still fires and has the elevation side screw. It will do duty as a "Krupp" for my 1870 Prussians. I think it was a late 1800s British colonial gun that Britains re purposed for the US market. STEPHEN BEAT take note.
Very nice post. I have all three of four the Britain's cannons you mentioned in your post. I don't have the naval gun. They are amazing toys, realistic, attractive and durable. Thank you for letting share
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