Well off topic. Thought I'd share pics of my small scale firing cannons

[Neil Young]

I agree that the brass and stained wood make a much more impressive stand-alone presentation. Believe me, it was painful to cover over that bright barrel with cannon black. However, for my current project, which will display the gun in an accurate representation of the actual installation, it needs to look like the actual gun. I just finished building a model of the USS Constituttion and the battle station is a companion piece. I hope that the final product will overshadow the changes in the gun. I'll post photos when I'm finished. I'm attaching a photo of the ship.

Neil