markjay

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday.
Keep rock'n the Model Ship World!

Happy birthday Chris - and I hope you've managed to fit some appropriate celebrations into your day.
 
So you reckon you may have another 20 years of making kits?!  Well, when you get there that  would make you just a couple of years older than my current age - and I've only just started!!
 
Nipper

Congratulations, Chris, on your 56th and for all of your amazing success with your Vanguard models. I've got 20 years on you and, when I look back to 20 years ago, I can't believe has fast those years flew by. The laws of physics get turned upside down around age 60 and time actually speeds up! 
 
Can't wait to see the American privateer you are working on. Any projected date for when it may hit the market? The suspense is building by the day! 

My warmest greetings to you on your special day!

Thank you, guys, for the birthday wishes! I started in this 'Industry' when I was 26, so have spent well over half a lifetime doing this stuff now!
 
Today I have been mainly doing the American privateer designs and more Sphinx laser cut sheets for a Krick order, no let up!

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Happy Birthday Chris, you’re a youngster!!!  I’m counting on you having more than 20 more years of ship building left in you!!

I don't know why, but I'd always assumed that you were much younger than I. You are younger, but not that much!

happy birthday Chris

Happy Birthday Chris, may you have many more.
 

Health and happiness, Chris, on your 56th. (Young pup!)

Happy birthday Chris!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Thank you, Kevin! Yep, 56 now, so probably have at least another 20 years of doing kits, all being well...

Many Happy Returns @chris watton

Finally an update. I said this would be slow and I wasn't kidding. I've started to cut out the frame parts in preparation for assembly. There are 2 types of frames; single layer, double layer and triple layer. Here are some pictures to show an example of each. There are 53 total frames to build. This will take some time. I cut up the frame drawing to separate each frame drawing and then made a copy of them all.
 
This is a single frame. Not much to say here other than its unique method of assembly. As you can see there is quite a bit of laser burn to clean up. I'm going to need to come up with a very cautious way of doing that. When its time to assemble I'll put some double sided tape on the plan to hold the pieces in place in order to make sure all the parts are lined up correctly.

Here are a couple of examples of a double layer frame. This first one is frame 10. The parts are marked a and b to eliminate confusion. a is the front facing layer I think and b aft facing. I need to be sure I have that right.
Note the handy bevel lines. I need to be sure I glue these together in the correct orientation. I think the bevel lines on the a-layer should face forward and the bevel lines on the b-layer face aft. I hope I'm right. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The a-layer faces front and the b-layer faces aft. That's clear on the profile drawing.
Also note the bevel line on the mating surface of part10b3 where it attaches to part b2. Those two mating surfaces need to be beveled before joining together. I'll need to brush up my beveling skills, they're not good. I'm also debating on whether I should prebevel or bevel after the frames are glued on during the fairing process. Either way, the bevel lines need to disappear. Or should this be done before the layers are glued together? These frames have steps also. There some spacers supplied in the kit to help with that. Its important to get that right. The steps can be seen on the plans so that's helpful.

This one is frame 17. I'm a bit puzzled by the bevel lines here as its only on 4 parts so not sure how to proceed. I'm assuming there is just some minor beveling needed so may just let that go until its on the model.
 

 
And finally a triple layer frame. The next 3 pics are frame 19. No beveling needed here apparently. Not too difficult , just make a sandwich, a on top of b on top of c. These frames also have steps but it will be a little easier to deal with since the middle layer b provides a flat surface to glue the other two layers to.
 



 
I'm cutting all the parts out and storing in sandwich bags so none of the parts get mixed up. I did mark each part on pencil with its part number also.
 

 

Box 3


This is a smaller box than the other two, but nonetheless full of many, many parts. The first sheets here show parts for the mast tops which are very indicative of that period of history. Here’s a preview of the remaining timber sheets in this kit, including some square section rod. As we currently have only half of the instructions, it’s quite difficult at the moment to be able to identify many parts, especially if they pertain to anything more than basic construction, minus masting. You’ll also see that we have been sent kit # 00041 too. Quite a low number, indicating the newness of this release.










 
 
Like most kit releases these days, there are a number of photo-etch parts. This box contains three frets of PE brass for eyelets, hinges etc.

 
Flags are supplied with this release, nicely printed onto an antiqued cloth material. Sails are also included, and the builder will need to cut thee out and add boltropes etc. If you don’t want to make the sails but still want to fit them, then you can buy pre-made ones from the website, and even ones that have been totally finished/antiqued too.

Instructions
As previously indicated, this kit contains parts 1 & 2, bound as a single volume. We will receive the remaining two volumes as soon as they are available. As I want you to get a feel for the construction of this model, I’ve presented a good selection of images from the manual, to better acquaint you with the construction of this unique model kit.

















 
 
 
Conclusion
In the right, competent hands, this kit will most certainly build up into a beautiful olde worlde Galleon representation. How you paint/finish the model will be more of an individual choice, but if you’re willing to have a go, then the set of paints specifically for this kit, would be a perfect choice. This model will require a keen eye and exacting nature, to be able to complete as per the box art, so you should take your time at every stage and carefully plan ahead to make sure you don’t mis-fit parts anywhere. You definitely get a lot of kit for your money here too. Make sure you have space enough to store those three boxes as well as build this very large model. 
 
What do I think of San Bartolome? Well, she’s a very impressive depiction of a 16th Century Spanish galleon, and her shape reminds me of the San Francisco kit from Artesania Latina, as that was the first wooden ship model I ever built. This is a wonderful kit and one that I’d love to see our members build here on MSW. 
 
I will post a review of the associated sets for this in a separate article. 
 
My sincere thanks to Pavel Nikitin for the review kit seen here on MSW. To order, click the link at the top of this article.
 
 
 

Chris, you've got me hitting my resource material trying to figure out the lines of the new venture. The stern looks interesting to me. Maybe a small contest to keep us all busy researching American Clippers is in order.

I know a secret... 😉  Looking forward to the development of Number 13!

Chris, you've got me hitting my resource material trying to figure out the lines of the new venture. The stern looks interesting to me. Maybe a small contest to keep us all busy researching American Clippers is in order.