HaT Hotchkiss Conversion to 1895 Colt Machine Gun
Dated: September 26, 2008
The purpose of this conversion project was to convert HaT's beautifully detailed Early WWI French Infantry's Hotchkiss Machine Gun into an "1895 Colt Machine Gun" for the Spanish-American War & Boxer Rebellion. Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders had 2 at the Battle of San Juan Hill and the U.S. Marines used these in the relief of Peking of the Boxer Rebellion.
I did only a few things, (1) carefully sculped (cut out) a pistol handle at the back end from the solid stock gun, (2) trimmed the barrel straight, (3) attached an ammo box, and (4) cut off the elevation wheel from the tripod. That's all.
For gunners, I used the HaT-Airfix reissue of the Airfix WWI American Infantry. I trimmed the hats to look like Stetsons, rather than the Montana Peak hat. Two of the kneeling figures work perfectly as the pictures show.
Regarding WWI French Hotchkiss: To get the most out of the stock HaT Hotchkiss, I trimmed off the back of the gun about 1mm. Then I slimmed the end down to fit between the hands of the gunner. I cut a wedge shape out between his hands. The gun then presses in. Then I spread the tripod feet over the gunners legs so his toes stick out. He sits perfectly this way.
The "Mountain Gun" was purely an afterthought bonus. I made it by converting the old Atlantic/Nexus Russian cannon. Mountain guns like this were used by the American Army in the Phillipinnes during the occupation after the Spanish-American War. Which is the only reason I included it here. And yes, it would also work for the Colonial British in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Cheers - Dave Hennen
USA
HaT Hotchkiss Conversion to 1895 Colt Machine Gun
Many thanks to Mr. Hennen.