Guns: Again

[chicklewis]

What were you and the nurses doing in Herat, and how long ago? 

Chick

[Will Bailie]

April this year, I took a detour on my way home from a 13-month posting at a hospital in Kandahar.

I can post some more holiday snaps later, but I'll put them in a different thread as we're wandering away from the topic at hand!

[Siaba]

Merely part quoting the title of a popular Serge Gainsbourg tune old boy. No idea what année érotique, the other part means but I gather it might be an ode to the joys of the year anno domini 1969

"année érotique" means "erotic year"

[carlos marighela]

Many thanks but why would 1969 have been such an erotic year? Was it relief at the prospect of not being teargassed on the streets of Paris, like the previous year? Did Mme Birkin's charms have a particular lustre that year? Or was that naughty Monsieur Gainsbourg hinting at something else? 

A troubled non-francophone

 

[sukhe_bator]

Following on from Arthur's comments on Chinese cannon
They typically had blackened ironwork and red painted woodwork
The patina of surviving barrels varies from a wrought iron brown like this one in Canterbury

To roughened verdigris bronze on these ca.1850 Chinese pieces at Firepower

The woodwork was invariably painted/lacquered red as on this small cannon and bed captured ca. 1860 (after conservation) at Firepower, Museum of Artillery

The carriage is based on one featured in a series of illustrations from the Illustrated London News made at the time of the European campaigns against the Chinese in the C19
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.oldprint.co.uk/low_res/544.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.oldprint.co.uk/search.php%3Fq%3De%26search%3D1%26page%3D55&usg=__xw9oW84kwSUPkadYTvLwqfrJUUM=&h=360&w=480&sz=49&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ybNyd1COidtjkM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=170&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522illustrated%2Blondon%2Bnews%2522%2522chinese%2522%2522cannon%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26biw%3D1255%26bih%3D809%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=126&vpy=87&dur=4297&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=137&ty=96&ei=TRCrTKoq0MWzBqe36dED&oei=TRCrTKoq0MWzBqe36dED&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

[Arthur]

Many thanks but why would 1969 have been such an erotic year? Was it relief at the prospect of not being teargassed on the streets of Paris, like the previous year? Did Mme Birkin's charms have a particular lustre that year? Or was that naughty Monsieur Gainsbourg hinting at something else? 

A troubled non-francophone

 

Would you by any chance imply, at the risk of forever compromising your childlike innocence, that 69 may have something to do with a certain sex position ? Get thee behind me, Satan... 


Not that we're talking smut, mind you : this is merely an erudite conversation about chanson française...

[Major Weenie]

Ignoring the suggestive numerology,

And on to the canons

1.) Many thanks for Chinese gun info.  Looks like Vallejo red, with a wash of Vallejo 'wood' (which is a sort of red color that I use to shade red coats), and black metal work with a brass barrel.

2.) The French 75 is now more intriguing.  The photo of the 'well maintained' version is mostly in shade, but part of the barrel projects into the sunlight.  That looks like... Some sort of light grey, with a bit of blue, or green, or even a tad of 'bottle green' mixed in?

Certainly worth an experiment.

Again, many thanks,
MW.

PS - And, of course, the only actual French 75 I have a model of is part of a Federale force from 1910 - 1916.  So who knows what color they painted that.

[Arthur]

Why, Jane Birkin was no 75, but she was definitely canon in the mid-70's...   

And yes gents, I'll get me coat...

Never let the boys play with your guns, Major Weenie, lest you end up with a collective hijacking of your thread

[smirnoff]

For the French Blue I use the Foundry 'Night Sky' triad. You will need to do a tad of mixing between shades but it gives a really good French blue-grey.

[carlos marighela]

Get thee behind me, Satan... 

I think that's an entirely different proposition and indeed position, Greek not French I believe.

[Major Weenie]

<insert lascivious comment here>

So the noble Smirnoff is suggesting a 'French blue grey' rather than a 'French green grey' ?

Yikes!  Dare I suspect that all my artillery, except for the now officially Chinese muzzle loader, will be some shade of blue grey?

Regards,
MW

[carlos marighela]

Having steered the debate back from muzzle vs breech loader, I'd say go for some variation of grey for the modern gun. Most of the foreign guns purchased in the 20th C were probably in their factory applied colours anyway. The photo I've seen of a Krupp 75 during the Chinese revolution suggestssome form of lightish grey but of course it's a b&w photo.

For the muzzle loader red is a good choice but yelloow might be equally good and more dramatic. Red and yellow are popular colours in Chinese culture yellow being associated with nobility. Bronze or black barrels according to taste.

[sukhe_bator]

Red was applied to the vast majority of weapons, Yellow had more Imperial connotations so was on the whole a 'reserved' colour.
Jingals at Firepower (ignore the pyramidal display mounts)

The original tripod mount

[Major Weenie]

Yikes!

Thanks for all the 'gun info,' but now those photos of Jingals...

So my Imperial jingals, in darkened silver with 'natural' wood must now be repainted in red & blackened steel ?

Oh the humanity!

Regards,
MW

[sukhe_bator]

I have seen a lot of Chinese historical weaponry over the years, matchlocks, small artillery pieces, polearms etc. in my day job (Museum curator). I have yet to come across one where the woodwork wasn't painted/lacquered red.