1:72 Colonial Wars Gardner Gun

HäT 1:72 Colonial Wars Gardner Gun

A set in 1:72 scale from the brand HäT. The package contains four Gardner guns and twenty-four figures in six poses. The weapon can be set on a naval mount as well as on a wheeled carriage for use ashore. Among the figures you will find two gunners, an officer and three sailors with rifles, and three heads with a sailor's cap are enclosed in addition for variety. The plastic is unpainted.

The real subject

The Gardner gun was a hand-operated multi-barrel weapon used from the eighteen eighties above all by the Royal Navy. The crew turned a crank and the weapon fired a burst from several barrels. Naval landing parties took it ashore with them and deployed it in the colonial campaigns in the Sudan and in southern Africa. Against close-order attacks it was exceptionally effective, but in sand and dust it suffered from jamming.

Building and painting tips

Line the parts up dry first, above all the joint between the weapon and the mount. Decide in advance whether you are building the naval or the field version, because the mount also determines how the crew is arranged. Do not paint the white sailors' clothing in pure white but in a light gray with lightened edges. Darken the barrels of the gun and go over them lightly with graphite; the metal sheen then looks natural.

Who the set is for

• for builders of dioramas from the colonial wars
• for players of wargames who need fire support
• for collectors of nineteenth-century naval landing parties
• for completing the British colonial sets of the same range

The model is supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and accessories are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.