The Blue Cannon Project by Ron Blackburn and Dennis Strawderman:

Here are several photos of two replica 17th century falcons on field carriages built by the Henricus Militia Captain shortly before the quadricentennial celebration in 2007.

The cannon barrels were cast by a Richmond area foundry using a 1957 Jamestown Festival barrel to create the mold. The barrels are lined with 1/4 inch seamless steel tubing for added safety. These cannons have been used in several movies as well as the HBO John Adams Series.

You can easily see the difference in the two, since one has just been repaired and painted while the other still shows extensive damage from sitting out in the rain and weather for years on end.

Ron Blackburn, in true renaissance man fashion, just finished  repairing and repainting one of the pieces and is starting on the second cannon this week.  The huge wheels on the finished cannon had rotted through in many places from years of exposure to the elements and had to be completely rebuilt.

First, Ron cut out the all the rotten wood then rebuilt the damaged area using resin. A major portion of one of the spokes was also replaced with the work done so expertly that its almost impossible to identify which one it was.

These wheels, that were already antiques when they were first put on the cannon, originally came from a carnival wagon.  Carnival wagons are an excellent source to find wheels built heavily enough for authentic looking replica cannons.

Ron was responsible for rebuilding and rigging The Phoenix,  recently restored the chauffeur area of a 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom I limousine, and now he’s restored the militia cannons, so what’s next?

View more images in the gallery The Blue Cannon Project or on our official Facebook Page