Smithy
03-09-2014, 09:54 AM
It's happened here and I unfortunately was almost a part of it. What I'm talking about is the assumption of what you read or have read on line just has to be the truth, no matter what the truth actually is. I felt like such a jerk for being a part of that and simple apologies are never quite enough to fix the matter. What I am referring to is a person's status. As an individual, a manufacturer, salesperson, company head, poster, you name it as they all apply. There is a company known as Classic Cannons, and also known as other's as well like Scale Artillery. The reason for the lengthy amount of names, rather domain names, is that each and every idea Austin Gillson has come up with he has thoughtfully decided to at least get his name in the pot to more or less secure the moment he has come upon an idea, you know, the sell-able kind with the purchase of a domain. I actually was sort of part of one of his as I'd been looking for a stainless Thunder Mug. Not the small ones you see on Ebay, but a monster of at least a foot tall with a 10" golf ball bore, 4" at the muzzle and 6" at the breech with handle base and ramrod. Austin did all he could to try and comply with my wishes, but it came down to the fact I wasn't going to take a second mortgage just to fund the purchase of materials necessary for its construction. So with Austin's advice I chose to go the more conventional route with an appropriate steel alloy and Austin met and exceeded my dimensional requirements and then some. It was the first one of this type that he had done and did an absolutely beautiful job on it.
Well, the finished Thunder Mug weighed enough to do some serious damage to itself from the normal shippers we are all familiar with so he looked around and saw a steel bucket (around the 5 gallon size) that he had received steel balls in (cannon fodder no doubt) and decided to ship it in that container. Due to its weight and only one way to carry that weight, it guaranteed that the package would remain upright the whole way and not to be stacked on a shelf or other packages where it could fall. As suspected it arrived sitting flat on the floor of the UPS truck and was carried by the handle upright the whole way to my door. The balance of units he made much to the same description gave rise to the name Bucket of Thunder.com.
His work is flawless and he is a man of his word. Things do crop up in life that we all have to deal with as does Austin, but he never forgets a customer nor leaves him/her hanging. And what ever wait one might go through be it for materials, supplies or just family emergencies, the finished product is well worth any sort of wait one may encounter. My personal wait times were all under a month except for that stainless attempt that I backed out on. (they don't give away stainless it seems).
So check out Classic Cannons or Scale Artillery and give Austin a call. He is a wealth of information if nothing else and is a joy to talk to. That and he's not just fixed on a few select models as he'll take on just about anything save a full scale Dictator mortar or the German Super Gun that was supposed to be able to hit England from Europe. Yes there are upper limits to what can be made, but he has made some really big stuff before and will in the future. Again Austin, a public apology for jumping the gun and assuming things that were NOT true. Not only not true, but never have been true either. You are a stand up guy I've had the pleasure to know and to do business with. Keep up the good work. Smithy.
Well, the finished Thunder Mug weighed enough to do some serious damage to itself from the normal shippers we are all familiar with so he looked around and saw a steel bucket (around the 5 gallon size) that he had received steel balls in (cannon fodder no doubt) and decided to ship it in that container. Due to its weight and only one way to carry that weight, it guaranteed that the package would remain upright the whole way and not to be stacked on a shelf or other packages where it could fall. As suspected it arrived sitting flat on the floor of the UPS truck and was carried by the handle upright the whole way to my door. The balance of units he made much to the same description gave rise to the name Bucket of Thunder.com.
His work is flawless and he is a man of his word. Things do crop up in life that we all have to deal with as does Austin, but he never forgets a customer nor leaves him/her hanging. And what ever wait one might go through be it for materials, supplies or just family emergencies, the finished product is well worth any sort of wait one may encounter. My personal wait times were all under a month except for that stainless attempt that I backed out on. (they don't give away stainless it seems).
So check out Classic Cannons or Scale Artillery and give Austin a call. He is a wealth of information if nothing else and is a joy to talk to. That and he's not just fixed on a few select models as he'll take on just about anything save a full scale Dictator mortar or the German Super Gun that was supposed to be able to hit England from Europe. Yes there are upper limits to what can be made, but he has made some really big stuff before and will in the future. Again Austin, a public apology for jumping the gun and assuming things that were NOT true. Not only not true, but never have been true either. You are a stand up guy I've had the pleasure to know and to do business with. Keep up the good work. Smithy.