AlanDavison
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Everything posted by AlanDavison
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I will use the laser etched deck, saves a lot of work and time. From Bobs picture you seem to be a proficient scratch builder, so are well able to “kit bash”. Chris’s innovations are first rate and I am sure will encourage more modellers to take the plunge into wooden ship construction. Bearing in mind the cost of wooden kits and the fact that some were designed and first produced 30-40 or more years ago, it is refreshing to see a Vanguard Models using the latest techniques such as laser engraving and resin castings to bring the hobby into the 21 century. -
Hope Chris's next kit is something with three masts. A light frigate would be nice!
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Wooden decking kit for Academy Warspite
AlanDavison replied to bigcreekdad's topic in Plastic model kits
I have built several plastic model ships and I have never used any of the ‘wooden’ deck kits. To my mind they are too bright, too out-of-scale and too brown/yellow. If you consider a wooden deck would weather and be washed down ending up a very pale greenish, greyish brown. Also remember some warships had their wooden decks covered or painted, so check you references carefully. You also need to consider ‘scale effect’ which means that a models colour will be less intense than in 1 to 1 scale. . -
Chris,
Nice to know that Speedy is almost there. It will be the pear / cherry version for me
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Model Shipways Fair American vs Syren US Brig
AlanDavison replied to WalrusGuy's topic in Wood ship model kits
Vanguard Models in the UK is a new company and is about to release their second kit which is a model of a two masted brig sloop HMS Speedy. Their first kit of an armed Reveue cutter is excellent in both design, instructions and timber quality. It would be worth a look as it will include several new innovations and also come in a range of options in respect of material. Not sure what the shipping cost to Canada would be though. -
BH, Thanks for the info & picture.The chain is quite small, no wonder I missed it in looking at photographs. At 1/64 scale the link would be very small, 1/64" for a 1" link or 0.4mm. I have seen people use twisted fuse wire or thin copper wire to represent chain in the past. Something you might consider? Alan
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Just a quick, can you explain the use of chains attached to the gun carriages. Something I've not seen before in any book or build logs for 18th century sailing ships. Thanks
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Just sent a pleasurable hour reading through the construction manual for Speedy.
I am most impressed with the new innovations Chris is introducing e.g. Laser printed deck, prefabricated hatches and combings, resin cannon and more photo etch (PE) than you can imagine. Only one more innovation to go - 3D printing??
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BE, The Syren guns don't look right to my eye and the white metal barrels you have are certainly worse than the set provided in my kit. I will try to remove the striations on my guns by using a small needle file and then coating with a number of coats of self levelling primer before painting black. Regarding alternative barrels you might also like to look at 3D printing, Shapeways have a web site showing several manufactures who produce all sorts of 3D printed items some of which include ships cannons, belfries, ship wheels and such in several scales. It takes a while to navigate to where you want to be, but you might find something useful. I believe you can also ask them to make bespoke items as well. Regards Alan
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Chris
Good news indeed about Speedy. Will hopefully see it on sale in early November.
Regarding Alert which I am building, can I say what an excellent kit this is. I am half way through first planking and have had no problems so far, country to some of the comments in the building logs posted elsewhere . But, and there is usually a but, I note you do not include any rigging for the guns, I assume this was to keep costs down. Secondly I note you have not shown any foot ropes to the sail yards or man access to the Topgallant sail yard which I believe might have been a rope ladder. Nevertheless less, despite my "buts" a truly cracking kit.
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Hi Alan,
Thank you. I am sure cutters did not have footropes on yards, as the sails were set near the deck, the yards were brought down, much like the royal yards on larger ships. I know the Anatomy of the Ship book shows no footropes, too.
Regarding rigging for guns, I personally hate it because they never look right, especially at such a scale, so I never add them on any of my models if I can help it - it had nothing to do with keeping costs down. Contemporary models never show the carriage tackle, and the models look all the cleaner for it. However, I think for the larger models, I will include it, as I know many do like to add this.
Thank you,
Chris
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comments, I only mentioned footropes as they are shown a 1/48 scale scratch built model by Krall Attila in a series of photographs show on a Hungarian(?) web site by the name of "Shipmodell".
I take your point regarding gun tackles and I apologise if I seemed to suggest you were skimping in order to reduce costs.
I am looking forward to the forthcoming Speedy which I understand is close to release.
Kind regards
Alan
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I am following your log with great interest as I am interested as to how the new Vanguard kit turns out, me being a fan of Chris Watton's work. I am temped to buy the kit of the cutter, but having already built Lady Nelson I will wait until he releases the HMS Speedy in the Autumn. Nothing to do with you, but I find Kurt Johnsons comments a little irritating as he makes a lot of rather odd comments about you go about your build, like "are you going to do this or that" or "I was thinking that I would do ..... in my build"
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I thought I might just chip in and say that I find Mr Color paints by Mr Hobby to be excellent. They have a fine pigment, good covering capacity and are in my opinion one of the best hobby paints on the market. They are readily available on the web in the Uk but not sure about your neck of the woods in Australia. If they are available to you, buy a jar and test them out and let me know what you think. Alan
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Hi RMC - Thanks for the response, of course it is unto you to finish the bulkhead as you wish and if you want it curved that's fine, however I would urge you try and make the door flat. Regarding colours there is an interesting article by Jonathon Kighorn in the 2011 Shipwright Annual entitled "The painting of ships 1750 - 1850" which is well worth reading. In it he says "an affordable blue was widely available from the the 1750s in the form of Prussian blue......and provides an intense deep blue colour". Hope this helps with your deliberations. I Agee that transfers are best avoided and it is unlikely that the screen was decorated anyway..The shipwright annuals are published by Conway Publishing which used to be Conway Maritime Press if you are interested.
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RMC I have been following your log for a while now and I am impressed by your work. In your latest post you refer to the quarter deck bulkhead and its construction. It is my opinion that these doors and screens are likely to have been straight and vertical, not curved, as they would need to be removed and stored when the ship was cleared for action - storing curved partitions and doors would present a problem. Also consider how you might open a curved door! My advice would be to build the bulkhead as a vertical structure. Finally regarding colour, our modern range of colours would not have been available in the 17-1800s, so bright yellows, greens and blues are best avoided. Likely colours are black, white, ochre and browns. Natural wood finishes are also unlikely as most wood would need protection from salt water, also only the most prestigious ships would have ornate decoration, but how you finish the model depend whether you are seeking to make a display model or an historic replica. Alan
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