Tent
A tent is a small shelter made of coarse linen cloth, supported by one or two poles, with a cross piece at top. The cloth is spread out and drawn tight towards the ground, to which it is firmly fixed by pickets. A little trench is dug around it, and the earth thrown up into a small bank, so as to guard the interior as much as possible from the effects of rain. (fig. 90 and 91)
There are two kinds of tents. 1st. The small tent called canonière by the French, (fig. 90) which contains, at most, 8 soldiers. It is 12 feet long, and 8 wide, each tent pole is 6½ feet long, and the cross piece as much. The entrance is on the smaller straight side.
2nd. The large tent (fig. 91), which will accomodate 16 soldiers,* or 8 horsemen, (with the furniture of their horses). It is 20 feet long and 13 feet wide, the height of the pole, (there is but one,) 6½ feet, and its thickness 3½ inches. The smaller sides are usually round, and the entrance is upon one of the long sides.
* The large tents cannot, conveniently, hold more than 14 men, nor the small ones more than 7, but some of the soldiers are always on duty or detachment.
Source: Lallemand, Henri Dominique: A Treatise on Artillery (New York 1820)
Scale Model Tents
Scale models of the French Napoleonic “canonière” tent may be built by draping fabric or tissue paper over wooden, plastic, wire, or card tent poles of the proper scale height and width. Painted with white glue, the fabric may be properly shaped and hardened. Guy-ropes made of thread or string, and tent pegs made of wood, plastic, or wire are required as well, particularly in the larger figure scale, where such detail would be clearly visible. In the smaller micro armour scales, tissue paper may be draped over card or wood formers of a triangular design.
| Scale | Height | Width | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | 6½ feet | 3½″ | timber |
| 1:16 | 124 mm | 6 mm | twigs, basswood rod |
| 1:22.5 | 88 mm | 3 mm | twigs, basswood rod |
| 1:30 | 66 mm | 3 mm | twigs, skewers, basswood rod |
| 1:32 | 62 mm | 3 mm | twigs, skewers, basswood rod |
| 1:43.5 | 46 mm | 2 mm | twigs, matchsticks |
| 1:48 | 41 mm | 2 mm | twigs, matchsticks |
| 1:50 | 40 mm | 2 mm | twigs, matchsticks |
| 1:56 | 35 mm | 1.5 mm | twigs, styrene rod |
| 1:64 | 31 mm | 1.5 mm | twigs, styrene rod |
| 1:72 | 28 mm | 1.2 mm | twigs, wire, styrene rod |
| 1:76 | 26 mm | 1.2 mm | twigs, wire, styrene rod |
| 1:87 | 23 mm | 1 mm | twigs, wire, styrene rod |
| 1:100 | 20 mm | 1 mm | twigs, wire, styrene rod |
| 1:120 | 17 mm | 0.7 mm | wire, piano wire |
| 1:144 | 14 mm | 0.6 mm | broom bristles, wire, piano wire |
| 1:160 | 12 mm | 0.6 mm | broom bristles, piano wire |
| 1:200 | 10 mm | 0.4 mm | piano wire |
| 1:225 | 9 mm | 0.4 mm | piano wire |
| 1:250 | 8 mm | 0.4 mm | piano wire |
| 1:285 | 7 mm | 0.3 mm | piano wire |
| 1:300 | 7 mm | 0.3 mm | piano wire |
| 1:400 | 5 mm | 0.2 mm | piano wire |