M1861 Springfield Rifled Musket

Prior to the sculpting, some research was done via the internet. It should be noted that another commonly used musket during that period was the Enfield rifled musket, which was imported from England. There were some differences between the two, such as their bore size, hammer, rear sight and butt plate. Some simple scaling was done hence the model musket measured 89.1mm in length. It is meant for a 120mm figure.

The basic materials for this model musket were: a steel rod, basal wood, epoxy putty and aluminum foil from the powdered milk container. The steel rod was cut to length of 65.5mm. Putty was applied along its length. Upon hardening, it was craved down to size before finishing it off with some sanding.

The butt was made from a piece of putty covered basal wood. The basal wood served as a scaffold for the soft putty in order to achieve it required shape.

When the putty had hardened, it was craved with a sharp blade to its final shape and sanded down to the desired thickness. Finally both the butt and the barrel were joined together with putty and polished by wet sanding.

The butt plate was made from aluminum foil. Instead of cutting it to shape first, the foil was glued onto the back of the butt. Once it had adhered, it was trimmed to size with a sharp blade. For small items such as the hammer and percussion cap holder, they were made separately. The hammer was made on the back of a paint container. This was necessary as it was too small to be properly handled with the hands. While the putty was still soft, it was gently shaped using blade and toothpick as shown.

Putty was applied to where the hammer and the percussion cap holder were to be located. Once hardened, it was filed flat and a piece of pre-cut aluminum foil was glued in place.

Finally the hammer and the percussion cap holder were glued as shown.

The 3 bands that held the barrel to the stock were made from rolled putty. Prior to this, 3 thin strips of aluminum foil were glued in place. Once done, the rolled putty was applied and flattened by the finger with talcum powder. The straight edges were achieved by using a sharp blade to slice away the excess putty. Preferably this should be done when the putty had partially cured.

Next the rear sight post, trigger, trigger guard and sling holder were made. The trigger was craved from a piece of cured putty and its guard was cut from aluminum foil. The screw heads were made from thin bits of putty flattened with the finger.

Finally the musket was completed.

After cleaning up, the musket was primed and ready for painting.

The musket was eventually modified based on feedback from a member of planet figure. The modifications made were the butt which should be curved, the barrel band spring which should all face the same direction and the nose cap which should be shorter. I hope that you have enjoyed this article.