Hearts of Oak-Painting a Royal Navy Gatling gun

Hearts of Oak-Painting a Royal Navy Gatling Gun

A lovely traditional song to get you into the mood

While today the job of policing the world falls to the United States, back in the victorian era at the height of British Imperial strength, it fell to the Queen's Navy to deal with troublesome regions throughout a world that to today's population is not as alien as it would at first appear. The backbone of the Royal Navy were its' sailors; and it is these sailors i shall be discussing today.

The Gatling Gun and the Navy's use of it

Designed by Richard Gatling during the Civil War in response to how he felt about the inhumane  deaths in that bloody conflict, for most fighting men in that terrible war were more likely to die of infected wounds earned in combat than battle itself (in addition to STDs and poor hygiene in general).

The 19th century will always remembered for amazing facial hair

While this remarkable weapon was hardly used in the Civil War the Gatling Gun would go on to be sold off  not only to the United States but also to various western and developing nations such as the British Empire, France and to Imperial Russia, remaining in use till 1911 (in the case of the United States anyways as us Brits had adopted the Maxim Machine Gun from around 1898 onwards).

It has often been claimed that the Gatling Gun  was initially rejected by use in British Army on the grounds that the weapon was outclassed by the range and accuracy of a disciplined block of British Line Infantrymen. However the navy had a very different view. They wanted a weapon to deal with torpedos and the rapid firing Gatling Gun was prefect for that rule. When Lord Chelmsford spilt his army into three columns from which to invade Zululand with, two gatling guns were utilised in column No.1 under Colonel Charles Pearson; who used the guns in anger against a force of 6,000 zulus arrayed against his steady advance on the Zulu Capital of Ulundi. Crewed by Royal Navy personal, the use of these sophisticated weapons against the hordes proved decisive (although he would choose to withdraw when he was faced with tougher opposition).

So I should probably stop procrastinating and get on with the painting guide right?  

Painting the Gatling Gun and Crew

Like almost everything else in my newly created Zulu War Model collection, this fantastic metal set comes from Perry Miniatures, in this case their Sudan range. After all the Sudan War (or at least Britain's involvement in that conflict) was only 5 years or so later (1884-86)  so using these figures is hardly anachronistic. Also like the rest of the collection, these models were painted using Games Workshop's range of paints

The Gatling Gun 

• The main body of the gun was painted in Retributor Armour. After that i applied a wash of  Reikland Wash over all of the gold. I then did a drybrush of runefang steel all over the golden areas. 

• The wooden areas were painted with XV-88 while the metal was painted using Leadbelcher. After all of this was done I washed these areas with a thinned wash of Nuln Oil.

The Naval Crew

• Most "modern" navies in this period had a very recognisable uniform, all of them following s similar set pattern. While of course the many nations had their own flairs to this set tradition, this guide could also work for a few of the other navies in the last decades of the 19th century. 

• Because i felt it would help the white get applied quicker and with little fuss I sprayed this model with a grey can of paint you can buy at GW for about £12 (because wargaming is never really cheap at all when one thinks about it).

• First i started by painting the uniform and trousers Kantor Blue, a sort of Prussian Blue colour which can easily used for quite a  few different historical projects such as Civil War era Union Infantry or Napoleonic Prussians. After layering it on my Sailors i would apply my usual thinned down wash of Nuln Oil which is by far my favourite GW wash.

• For the light blue jean collar at the top of the uniform i choose the relatively bright colour Temple Guard Blue. I then darkened this fluorescent colour with an older Citadel wash that i bought many years ago, "Asurmen Blue". I love this colour and while it has mostly been relegated to a slightly less important role now that i have started using Nuln Oil for my dark blues, it is still a wash I rate highly. I also attempted a white stripe along the outer square of the blue but I feel it wasn't the best 

•  To get the best possible result for white I first did a basecoat of Celestia Grey followed by my standard Nuln Oil Wash. Then came to the layering, where i applied a few delicate layers of Ulthuan Grey to get a lovely greyish white colour suitable for the era. It could be considered inaccurate to paint the white areas in such a bright configuration considering how arid and dusty the grasslands of Natal and Zululand were and are to this day. 
• I used the same process i used with my British Line Infantry when it came to the skin, ie a few layers of Cadian Fleshtone and a thinned wash of Reikland Fleshshade. Each model has a different hair colour to his counterparts which i felt was slightly more realistic. 

Parting words

Well painting these models was quite an enjoyable experience. While i doubt i will be using weapons team very much due to the inherently large points cost in the games i will be playing, the fact i have painted it to look at least bearable for the average wargamer is good enough for me. This has been CommisTzarSmith, wishing you the best in your wargaming endeavours.