Chapter 4 – Fiction, Odds and Ends
4.5 Exotic New Model Armies (NMAs)
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4.5 4.5.1 4.5.1.1 4.5.1.2 4.5.1.3 4.5.1.4 4.5.1.5 4.5.1.6 4.5.1.7 4.5.2 4.5.2.1 4.5.3 4.5.3.1 4.5.3.2 4.5.4
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Exotic New Model Armies (NMAs) Customized Regular New Model Armies (RNMAs) Cut-Away Model „Golden“ Centaure RNMA with Trigger Stop Centaure Revolving Carbines First Marshal? RNMA with Modern Target Sights Belgian Frankenstein Gun Customized Civilian Models Civilian Turned Avenging Angel Customized Marshal Models Cavalry Combo in Disguise Marshal with Tiffany Grip Significance
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In this chapter we will be looking at several unusual, very different, one of a kind but also somewhat strange Centaures. These variants were brought to our attention from pards and pardettes in North American and Europe since we started the research program in 2007. Some of the specimens were found at internet auctions or presented at collectors‘ or Western forums. One thing is for sure, the modifications you are going to see done to our favorite Belgian C&B pistols are all custom alterations. They share one important characteristic: The maker or gunsmith who did the initial modification is unknown. He or she cannot be traced back to one of F.A.U.L.’s importers or key dealers.
The modifications might have been an attempt to replicate a historical pattern, they were executed to serve a special purpose, and some are just cute embellishments performed in a most unusual way.
4.5.1 |
Customized Regular New Model Armies (RNMAs) |
We start the show by sharing impressions and information on seven (7) customized Regular New Model Armies (RNMAs) spanning the curve from highly unusual to almost obscure or from cut-away to Frankenstein.
4.5.1.1 |
Cut-Away Model |
Even today gun makers provide cut-aways of regular production guns to the military or police for basic pistol training (, -omit) and also as demonstration pieces for exhibitions or their dealers to present function and interaction of internal parts. You probably agree we can exclude military or police here as the target group for this Centaure cut-away, leaving the exhibition or dealer option.
This Regular New Model Army (RNMA) was sold around 2o1o years at German auction house Hermann Historica. The serial number was not disclosed, nor could we do a physical inspection back then. No information is available if this Centaure was possibly proof tested before her transformation into a cut-away.
4.5.1.1_1 RNMA cut-away 1st variation 2nd sub-variation
It is not known who executed this cut-away job. It could have been a technician at F.A.U.L. but some outside gunsmith just as well. According to visible features like the 4th version hammer spur and the high-profile front sight this is RNMA 1st variation 2nd sub-variation is from the early 1970s.
4.5.1.2 |
„Golden“ Centaure |
Who applied the gold leaf to this Regular New Model Army (RNMA) from 1965? A pard from Florida offered RNMA 3rd variation 2nd sub-variation #4331 in early January of 2013 at GunBroker auction house in the U.S.A. Here is what the seller wrote: “This one I have is 99 % gorgeous blue and case colors. cylinder unturned and of course never fired, looks like the wedge has never been removed. This must have been a higher-grade purchase with the gold leaf”
As could be expected she drew a lot of attention at GunBroker. Now she is a happy safe queen in a country on the Eastern banks of the big pond.
4.5.1.2_1 RNMA #4331 came with anodized aluminium centennial coin
4.5.1.2_2 Close-up #1 of centennial coin
4.5.1.2_3 Close-up #2 of centennial coin
Did you ever see gold washed Centaures in a similar fashion? The seller advised the previous owner had told him he really had three such pistols. Where are the other two?
4.5.1.2_4 RNMA #4331 gold leaf applied to the cylinder scene, proof marks on cylinder and barrel marking
No proof can be presented that the gold leaf was applied at or on behalf of Centennial Arms Corp. of Lincolnwood, IL during the middle of the 1960s, nor do we know if it was done at the Centennial Arms shop. Who added this gold anodized aluminium centennial coin that came with #4331? Was this to further enhance the attractiveness of the pistol in 1965 towards the end of the Civil War centennial festivities, or to market her as a CW commemorative?
4.5.1.3 |
RNMA with Trigger Stop |
Below RNMA 1st variation 2nd sub-variation #10522 from 1970 has been discovered in the U.S.A. with a trigger stop! The installation may have been executed by a gunsmith.
4.5.1.3_1 RNMA #10522 with custom fitted trigger stop
4.5.1.4 |
Centaure Revolving Carbines |
Is this Centaure Revolving Carbine a prototype from F.A.U.L., the work of a gunsmith or an ambitious tinkerer? I “found” this Regular New Model Army (RNMA) 1st variation 3rd sub-variation #7057 project gun early in 2009 during one of my internet searches. She was offered by a French auction house with some descriptive text but without pictures. In October 2010 I “rediscovered” her at another French auction. This time the below grainy low-resolution picture was attached. It showed this cute little revolving carbine with a shoulder stock permanently attached to the frame.