chris watton

All but two of the plans on the walls are 64th, with Dreadnaught and Warrior being 48th. I have a lot more I have printed off in 64th, but didn't want to over do it...

OK, I am now moved into the new unit. Laser machines were installed Friday, and both are running right now! Still a lot of work to do and loads of other stuff to set up (plus bringing all materials for the shelves), but laser production at least has started again. (Am waiting for Biffa Bins to send us new bins so that we can get rid of that mountain of packaging...)

I always add rigging hooks to the PE, even when they don't seem to be used, always handy....

You would need to ask Amati, as they own the designs, as I was paid by them for the developements.

Thank you I cannot do anything about the Victory. I have contemplated designing a third, but it is a very long development, and not sure my heart would be in it for the 2-3 years it would take. But I always get emails asking if I will do a Victory, so always torn on the issue.. I think Royal George would perhaps make a welcome alternative for a British 3-decker. I have even contemplated HMS Temeraire (1798), but I know full well that once done, and when painted in her Trafalgar colours, people will think it's Victory (as it was virtually identical in size and layout), and when realising it isn't Victory, they will moan asking why I didn't do that one instead! I wish it wasn't this way, but sadly, seems true judging by the amount of emails I get asking if I have a Victory...always been the same. Cheers I know something like Royal George will never 'Fly off the Shelves' because of cost (estimated £2-3k), but it is one I have always wanted to do - and I no longer have no one pulling the purse strings telling me I cannot! I will look at the US sloops of war at some point, but I already have around 5-6 years of developments booked up! A 3 decker with perhaps all deck detail and deck beams is a 3 year project - If it was designed like I did a couple of decades or so ago, with an empty hull and 80% dummy barrels, perhaps a year tops - but where's the fun in that... Now, I just worry that I will not live long enough to develop all the subjects I want.....

I would imagine yes, royals were used on such vessels at that period. They usually aren't shown because they were classed as 'Flying', meaning no lifts, just hoisted up when needed. (as far as I know, at least) Also, yes to flying jibbs/jibbooms, which were introduced in the late 1790's - so between 1806 and 1811, they would very likely have been used.

Modelers central was our Australian distributor, but only ever put in one order when we first started. My last direct communication was an email saying: Dear Chris I hope you are well We have sold our business. The new owner is Mr Simon Vos Simon will be making contact with you soon to place an order. I'd like to thank you for your great service over the past few years Thank you This was 3rd August last year, not heard anything since.

I cannot recall right now, but I definitely read it in one of my books when looking for as much detail as I could when researching.

When researching for Adder, I too wanted to know what type of boat they would have had, as I intended to include one. To my surprise, I read that this particular class were not issued with a boat, I assume because they operated near the shore.

Looks amazing! I have seen many kit built models with a lot less detail than what you have done in scales much larger!

There certainly are plans, and very good ones, too: MONOGRAPHIE DE LA RENOMMEE - Frégate de 8 - 1744 - Ancre

Looking good! I just checked the amount of 'Keys' on the 2mm MDF sheet, and there are a total of 8, with only 5 required, so you should have 3 extra

I never said I was doing a kit of Tourterelle - what I said was that there are 2 figureheads in the kit, one fictional (as seen on my prototype), and the original, which we used the Tourterelle for the detail. So you can build the Tourterelle from the Surprise kit, if you so wish, as they are the same class of vessel.

This is the 3-decker I have earmarked for my 'Flagship Kit'

There will be only one optional extra for Surprise, the machined walnut blocks. All else will be standard for the kit, PE copper plates, flag set, Aubrey and Maturin figures etc.

I wonder what people would think of this as a kit in the (distant) future, a behemoth of a 2-decker (for a British made ship) - the Second Rate 80-Gun Foudroyant - just a couple of feet shorter than Victory:

I think pre orders will be around March, when the build manual is complete and ready to be sent to the printers. Also, assuming I will have completed all production laser cut parts for the first 100 kits by then...

Thank you and Happy New Year to you and everyone on here! Laser machine running today with Surprise production - but have to stop to do more Sherbourne laser cut sheets, keep running out for that one! There will be a pre order window for Surprise. If I can, and if I have the time; for every pre order, like the Indy, I shall try and do a personalised nameplate with the name of the purchaser on each nameplate.

If it's for mainly period ship modelling, I think a small lathe would be very useful for masts and yards. A Dremel type multi function drill is always useful, as is a belt sander and electril sanding mouse.

Well, we start moving some stuff into new work unit tomorrow. The laser machines will not be moved until mid January (laser machine engineers are moving them and setting them back up). I did a little floorplan to see what I needed, rack and worktable wise, (which is now all ordered and arriving next week) and this is what I came up with: I am sure that after the year is up, I will need something larger, but for now, it is three times the space I have right now, and I will be able to run both machines in concert for the first time! Hope everyone's having a great Christmas week!

Sphinx has the same: In fact, most ships of this period with quarter galleries have this. And here is the one on the original Surprise plan:

If the price looks too good to be true... The price of their Victory on the main site is around $1400, the one on that site you bought from is showing $259.99. This huge discrepancy should have set off massive alarm bells with it being over $1k cheaper than the main AL site.

Merry Christmas!

The Krick Alert was the very first model I did that put me on a path to where I am now. My local model shop told me that they were asked by the manufacturer to find someone who could build these models and write the instructions in English, as they were only in German (Alert and Gulnara). This led to my first job in the industry! Alert was a very nice kit at the time (1994), very high-quality parts, from what I remember (no pics unfortunately) It isn't the 1777 large cutter Alert, but more a generic early 19th Century 'Revenue Cutter', the lines of which I have since seen in quite a few other similar kits with different names.

Speedwell will not change at all from Chuck's designs, I will literally be producing what Chuck designed, with only slots changed to take into account the metric rather than imperial sizes - and materials that I use like pear.