The Swedish warship, Vasa, carried two of these old-fashioned naval guns, probably in the forwardmost ports of the lower gun deck. However, carriages on the original shipwreck were found for eight of these types of guns. Clayton Johnson built this historically accurate heavy 24-pound demi-cannon at 1/10 scale.
Clayton Johnson has built not one, but two impressive scale models of the Swedish warship, Vasa. The ship itself has a famed history as one of the largest and most ornate vessels of its time, but also because the Vasa sank in 1628 less than 2,000 yards into its maiden voyage. Fortunately, the warship was remarkably well-preserved after lying on the seafloor for centuries, and is now on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mr. Johnson went to painstaking lengths when making his two Vasa models, which were built at 1/50 scale and 1/144 scale, respectively. The models were so accurate, in fact, that they were donated to the Vasa museum along with some scale cannons and associated block and tackle for a different 1/10 scale model that belongs to the Vasa museum. In fact, his historical research on how the ship was originally built, and the accuracy of his models, has been consulted by Vasa Museum research staff. We thank Mr. Johnson for donating seven of his historically accurate scale model warship cannons for display at the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum.