SeaWatch Books

3 hours ago, GrandpaPhil said:

Is there any news on when the monograph for the Royal Yacht Fubbs will be available for purchase?

Hi! I should have an update in the next week or so about timing. Stay tuned!

Watch the unboxing video here: https://youtu.be/9MmKWya-bO4

Hi Everyone,

Look what arrived today! The entire shipment is due at the warehouse Monday so hopefully we’ll be shipping orders by mid next week!

Enjoy the weekend!

Mike

Hi All -

Not sure if you saw the announcement but the book is now at the printer! I’m waiting for the specific ship date but we’re are shooting for end of April. 
 

Mike 

The Watch  February 2024 Captain's Log Happy February! I realize it's been a few months since I sent out a newsletter - it was a very busy end of 2023/beginning of 2024. But, I am delighted to use this first issue of the year to announce that Volume III of the Roger's Collection of Dockyard Ship Models is finished and is at the printer! I know it has been a long time coming and I appreciate everyone's patience. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, there is still time. Note that once we start shipping, the price for new orders will be going up.   With Rogers III now finalized, we can turn our attention to some other projects in the works including David Antscherl's Fubbs, which I had mentioned in September, and a new book by Ab Hoving (see below).    Plus, I have news about a new author...   Cheers, Capt. Mike   Introducing Dutch 17th Century Ship Models in Paper Ab Hoving and his son Emiel are back with another beautifully designed book about 17th century Dutch ship modeling, but this time using paper as the primary building medium!   In this introduction to scratch building ship models in paper, Ab provides detailed overviews for building a "smalschip" and a Pinas based on Nicolaes Witsen's 17th century work. He also provides thoughts and tips for other merchantmen and men of war. The book includes plans that can be used to build your own paper models following Ab's commentary and Emiel's photos and illustrations.   If you've never tried your hand at building a paper model or thought the pre-printed paper "kits" never looked great, this is the book for you. And it's a perfect companion to Ab's other books on Dutch shipbuilding and modeling.   Stay tuned for more details and release date! Gary Morgan Joins SeaWatch Books' Author Roster I'm delighted to announce a project with new author Gary Morgan. You may know Gary from Model Ship World where he goes by the handle Morgan. He had recently completed a very intriguing and thoroughly researched investigation into the appearance of HMS Victory at Trafalgar. Read More on Our Blog

Hi All -

Important update: Last night I hit send on the files to the printer! I'll post a notice on MSW when I have a more specific delivery date (Friday-ish), but we are looking end of April.

Thanks for everyone's patience!

Mike

Hi All,

ok a bit of egg on my face. When asked I looked at the table of contents and didn’t see either ship referenced. 
 

Upon further reading, I realized that the Shannon is thought to have been Model 23, which Grants book makes a case against (and hence not specifically mentioned I. The TOC)
 

Fair American is Model 60, which is not covered here but I believe will be in Volume IV. 
 

Thanks for keeping me honest!

Mike

5 hours ago, uss frolick said:

Mike, will the Frigate Shannon and the Brig Fair American be covered in this final volume?

@uss frolick No, I don't believe either of those models are part of the Rogers collection. Regardless, neither are covered in Volume III.

@Mark P sorry - Yes! You can order now. It had to do with the estimated ship date passing. But I updated everything and it should be working again.

Hi Everyone!

Allow me to provide an update here. First to @Mark P, my apologies on not returning your email. I am looking into whether my spam filters are blocking emails from the website (I've had a few people mention this to me recently).

To everyone, I am sorry for the repeated delays and I am embarrassed that it keeps happening. Simply stated, when I turned on pre-orders last summer (!), I thought the book was further along and that there were just some simple edits to do ahead of sending it to the printer. It was actually a much more involved process to get it print ready (note this is on me, not the author). Then, each time I think we're close, I find something else in the layout.

Here's where things stand: I am expecting the final layout from the designer in the next 24-48 hours. Then we just have the dust jacket to finalize, at which point it will go to the printer and when it does, I will have a rock solid delivery date.

This is not how I wanted things to go - chalk it up to some rookie mistakes on my part. But we are on track and as always thanks for your patience.

Mike

On 5/12/2023 at 9:02 PM, CiscoH said:

pre-ordered👍🏽

Thank you!

On 3/11/2023 at 8:46 AM, Archi said:

So when can we order Rogers Collection Volume Three ?

We are taking pre-orders now! 😁

https://seawatchbooks.com/products/the-rogers-collection-of-dockyard-models-at-the-us-naval-academy-volume-ii-the-third-rates-by-grant-walker

@mtaylor and @Mike Y Great points and something I’ve been concerned about. Here’s how I plan to address those possibilities:

• In the event that Kotobee goes out of business, I would absolutely move everyone to the next viable platform. There are a slew of options - right now Kotobee is the best value for us to deliver this capability.
• In the event that SeaWatch gets sold or closes (likely not to happen for years!) I would make sure that all e-book customers get taken care of - either through contractural commitment from the buyer in a sale or through direct ownership of digital files in a shut down.

My philosophy is that there should be zero risk for the customer in doing this.

Mike

31 minutes ago, LyleK1 said:

As stated the march of progress goes on...

I have a couple of e-books related to the subject of model ship building. In every case, I have ended up buying the book!

I find the book easier to have next to me when I'm using it as a reference.

 

But I do wish you well.

Thanks for the feedback! Perhaps some books will be better for digital than others. And maybe we can get younger folks into the hobby this way! ;0

1 hour ago, Paul Le Wol said:

A lot of your books come with plans and/ or CDs. I’m assuming that they would not be eligible to be produced as e-books.

If we did books that include plans, we'd make the plans available as physical components. Any content on CDs would actually be included with the book - one of the advantages of the digital reader is that it can include videos, PDF files, and other media.

1 hour ago, VTHokiEE said:

I love the concept, I think it’d be awesome to take my Seawatch library with me on travel - I’m way behind reading them. I unfortunately I don’t think that I can justify buying the books on both platforms and I think for many build guides I personally prefer a print version. However there probably are other titles that work great as eBooks for me. Regardless, I wish you the best of luck bringing the offering forward!

Thanks! This will evolve I'm sure. One of the neat things with the digital platform is we could include videos and such, which would be of great use in build guides. But I understand how the print could be better for those.

I'm excited to announce that SeaWatch is dipping our toe into e-books! While we pride ourselves on beautiful, high quality, printed books, we must acknowledge that the digital format for books is here to stay. There are several benefits to e-books:

• You can zoom into pictures to get more detail
• You can easily travel with them
• There is no shipping costs to receive them (this should be of particular interest to our international readers!)
• They don't go out of print

Our first e-book is Rob Napier's new book Caring for Ship Models: A Narrative of Thought and Application. (Thank you Rob for being open to this!) It is our intent to expand this based on author interest and I hope to next add some of our currently out-of-print books until we can get those reprinted.

One thing I'm considering is that if you order an out-of-print book as an e-book, when the book is printed we can ship that to you and turn off the digital version (feel free to let us know what you think of this).

A word on pricing: we do not plan on discounting e-books relative to their physical counterparts. The reason is that we believe the books - regardless of their media - have inherent value. It's their content not their physical properties. And, while there are no printing costs with digital books, there are costs in creating them, hosting them, and updating them. That said, for those that want to own both, we plan to offer a bundle at a 10% discount.

Note that since our books are very visual, we are not making them available for Kindles or similar e-readers. We have have partnered with a firm called Kotobee to create our own online library and digital e-readers (currently available for Windows and Mac with iOS to follow soon). When you order an e-book, you will be sent a link to register for the reading platform. On subsequent purchases, you will see the book appear in your library automatically.

As we go down this road, we are of course open to any feedback so please let us know your thoughts. Are you interested in e-books? Are there any titles you'd like to see first? 

On 12/14/2022 at 1:30 PM, Knocklouder said:

A very big thank you to Mike the 

Sea eo of Seawatch Books, who took the time to make sure this, computer  eliterate customer received his book, with personal service like that this company well go far. I know I will buy from them again for sure. Thank you Mike 

Glad to have helped and thank you!

Hi All -

Just in time for the holidays, Rob Napier's new book Caring for Ship Models: A Narrative of Thought and Application is in! 

Caring for Ship Models is delivered in four parts: Part One, a prologue, introduces Rob and his involvement with ship modeling. Part Two offers perspectives on various aspects and philosophies of the ship modeling experience. Part Three focuses on physical processes Rob has used during his career. Part Four reviews what might be called case studies that examine influential and interesting projects.

This book is one you will absolutely want in your collection and will be a valuable reference for years to come.

Also, we have new international shipping rates finally, which are much less than they were earlier this year.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Mike

Hi All -

I'm delighted to announce that we are now accepting pre-orders for Rob Napier's new book Caring for Ship Models: A Narrative on Thought and Application. 

This excellent book on his life's work is both a revealing look into his professional career and also a treatise on how to care for your models to last for generations. Caring for Ship Models is delivered in four parts: Part One, a prologue, introduces Rob and his involvement with ship modeling. Part Two offers perspectives on various aspects and philosophies of the ship modeling experience. Part Three focuses on physical processes Rob has used during his career. Part Four reviews what might be called case studies that examine influential and interesting projects.

This book is one you will absolutely want in your collection and will be a valuable reference for years to come.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER ON SEWATCHBOOKS.COM

On 8/8/2022 at 8:14 AM, rtropp said:

are these the same as the set of plans that were available in 2014? If not, what is different.

I am considering this for my next build so am curious.

thanks

They should be. However, there was an error in an older plan regarding the placement of the scuppers. They should be located in the black strake (the first strake above the wales).

15 hours ago, Archi said:

Hotly waiting for Rogers Collection Volumes Three and Four !

Volume III should be out late this year! We are laying out the book now.

On 5/28/2021 at 5:45 PM, rlb said:

I am embarking on a new build.   I had thought to not start another until I finished Oneida, but progress is going slow on her, and I am not getting any younger!  Since Oneida is getting near the rigging stage, perhaps going back and forth between hull work on Euryalus, and rigging on Oneida, will keep my interest up in both.

 

I am building a proper layout board, and this is the extent of my progress to date!   It's not finished, and the framing guide is not fastened down yet.

 

 

 

 

It is based on Ed Tosti's Naiad building board, but bigger, as his was for a similar sized ship, but at 1:60 scale.  I understand why the smaller scale.  When I saw the Euryalus plans which are drawn at 1:48, I was quite surprised at the size.  However, I quite like the idea of always building at the same scale, so as my Oneida is 1:48, so also will be my Euryalus.

 

 

 

As I mentioned, I am rigging Oneida, but I have no plans to rig Euryalus.  I would have no place to put it.

 

I have one issue, as I begin.   Volume 1 of Euryalus is now sold out, and out of print at Seawatch books.  I have purchased a new Vol. 2, so I have a complete set of the second volume drawings, but I am missing some drawings from Volume 1.  I am wondering if anyone out there, who owns Volume 1 would allow me to copy the ones I am missing--I believe the ones I need are #6 Body; Bow Pieces; Rudder; Cross Section, and #13 Beam Patterns; Stern Timbers.  Or, if you own Volume 1 (with all the drawings) and do not think you want to keep it.....

 

If the book was still in print I would, of course, purchase it and support the authors, Allan Yedlinsky and Wayne Kempson; and Seawatch books.  Allan and Wayne have been very helpful to me in getting off the ground (off the ways?).  I just need to get copies of those missing drawings!  PM me if you can help.

 

Ron

 

 

Hi Ron,

I know this post is from last year, but as the new owner of SeaWatch I wanted to let you know I am planning on reprinting Vol I - it just may be a few more months given some new titles coming out. That said, let me know if I can help you on the plans front if you haven't gotten an older copy yet.

Mike

On 8/1/2022 at 6:38 AM, allanyed said:

There has been some recent discussion on the out of stock booklet on sail making by David Antscherl.  For anyone wanting properly scaled good looking sails that will enhance the model rather than degrading it like most kit supplied sails do, this booklet is now available again from SeaWatch books for $5 on line.  

https://seawatchbooks.com/products/swan-iv-sail-making-supplement-from-the-revised-and-expanded-edition-by-david-antscherl?_pos=1&_sid=aafd9ea69&_ss=r

Please note, if you have the Revised & Expanded Version of Volume IV of David's Fully Framed Model, you shouldn't need this booklet as it is included in that version.

Hi All -

I wanted to let you know that SeaWatch has teamed up with David Antscherl and Greg Herbert to continue to help you on your Swan journey and we are delighted to offer the plans for the Swan class sloop featured in David and Greg's four-part series Fully Framed Ship Model.

The plans have been drawn up expressly for model makers who wish to build a fully framed model. Drawn to the classic scale of 1:48, each set consists of two plan sheets. The first includes the sheer and profile, half-breadth and body plan. The second sheet includes all the masts, spars, etc. required for a Swan class vessel or similar ship rigged model of that period. The 35 patterns for the floors, futtocks, toptimbers, hawse timbers and transoms will be included as digital downloads for those who buy the plans. This will enable the builder to print out as many frame patterns as needed to construct each frame.

We expect to be able ship the printed plans in 3 weeks or so and you can pre-order now on our website: https://seawatchbooks.com/products/swan-plans-supplement-to-the-fully-framed-ship-model-by-david-antscherl-and-greg-herbert

Let me know if you have any questions!

Mike