chris watton
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Everything posted by chris watton
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Sorry to read this, Glenn, you have our thoughts and prayers. -
The differences seem to be mainly on the upper deck arrangements, with hatches in different positions, and the upper bulwarks slightly different, too. For future developments, I shall not be so quick to plaster it all on here. Once a development is near completion, ony then shall I announce it. I would rather not do this as I too get excited telling you guys, but it seems I have little choice.
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Igor's very first job for me was the Surprise lower drop, the rest of Surprise 3-d printed parts was done by another company (figureheads and the Aubrey/Maturin music scene) and a nice fellow from Canada (Lantern, boats, done previously, and stove), and a few things I did myself (like the new pump bodies, rudder fittings and carronade wheels) Igor's first big job for me will be the figurehead, decoration and a few other aspects for the new development of HMS Agamamnon. I suspect this will not be his last job for me.. Today I ordered and paid for the production photo etched brass sheets for Surprise, which are being done in Italy and will be ready well before kit release. In fact, all of the Surprise PE copper sheets will be with me this week (ordered those extra early in case there was any issues with supply).
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OK, we now have Sherbourne's back in stock (keep running out...) Also, I have made up 5 Flirt Master Shipwright kits (boxwood), which are also in stock.
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I will have other scales available at some point, but not for a while, as we are very snowed under right now.
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And here is the full scene, Aubrey, Maturin, table with candles and music note stand - standard in all Surprise kits.
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This is it, well worth a watch, very entertaining, and Ab is in there somewhere!
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Ab, was it my imagination, or did I see your good self in a You Tube doc relating to 17th Century sea warfare, which was quite excellent?
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Regarding my research for Agamemnon, and the Ardent Class in general, I shall preempt any possible concerns regarding the stern and number of stern lights/windows. For me, it is settled that this is a true reflection of the Ardent Class, designed by Slade: Now, it is very easy to get confused with another HMS Ardent, a Crown Class 64 launched in 1782 , so two decades after Slade's Ardent, of which the plans do show the stern and with 8 windows on the lower tier. But it is NOT the Ardent of the early 1760’s, of which class the Agamemnon belonged. The only plans of all of the Ardent Class (I know this because I bought a copy of every single available plan just to make sure) that show the stern detail is that of the Indefatigable, as shown above, and it is this that I shall be working to. I do not care so much about what paintings show, they can be wrong and most times done many years later. So in lieu of anything more concrete than the actual plans of the original, which I am working to, the above stands. According to my research, Agamemnon, all of the Ardent Class, had 7 lower lights at the stern, and not 8, and the kit will be modelled/developed as such.
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That is already done. We have sent small parcels via RM in the past couple of days to the US. The customer pays more in postage (done automatically on our 'Live' Royal Mail shipping system) to cover the new tax. We do not send kits with Royal Mail, however, they only ship via UPS, as most parcels for kits are too large for them to accept.
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Development costs for Surprise are already very high, as I have ordered, and still ordering the materials for production, so no more figures at release. (costs of the large 0.8mm pear sheets for the engraved bulwarks and the 0.1mm PE copper plates in particular are very high). When I decided to develop Surprise, I envisioned from the start having an Aubrey and Maturin figure in the cabin, playing their instruments. I thought this would be a nice little touch, as you could see their silhouettes through the stern windows and upper deck beams. These figures are not cheap to commission (and lead times are very long), but I felt they would be worth the cost, as I always trust my initial decisions when working out how I want a new kit to be presented, and what's included as standard to enhance the experience for the modeller.
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A mere trifle, I'll get right on it!
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Ask again in a couple of months, as I am knee-deep in Surprise development right now, I would need to set up new files just for your scale.
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Not as bad as an enquiry I just had, asking what stain I used for the pear colour on the pear wood I use for the kits to give that pear wood colour, as I don't mention the stain at all!
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As I understand it, this figure is a work in progress, and sent to me just for comfirmation that the seating position is OK
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OK, Surprise designs 100% complete (save any slight alterations I may need to do if Jim suggests any needed) This morning I received my final STL (3-d print) file for one half of the Aubrey/Maturin duo - he is the final Maturin file (with thickened parts as per my request): I am now just waiting for the Aubrey figure with instrument and the stern lantern files. These figures will come as standard in the Surprise kit (2 x Aubrey poses and 1 x Maturin) Assuming of course, that I can get them to print OK.....
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You are correct!
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I am very happy to tell you that igorcap (igorcap - Model Ship World™) is now my digital carver. Igor has already done the lower quarter drop for Surprise for me, and his first main project for me will be the decoration for my next development, Agamemnon. Thank you, Igor!
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OK, my wife just posted a small parcel to the US. All that has happened is the postage cost has increased slightly to take into account the new tariff charges, so this charge (10%) means that the postage costs has increased by 10%. A package worth £84 has an additional charge of £8.40 on the postage cost. ETA - for kits or orders over 800 Dollars, you would have always been paying the duties anyway, as these new tariffs rules only relate to orders of 800 Dollars and under. (we assume, anyway)
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This is quite frustrating for us, too, as we have not had a single communication from our carriers about the new tariff rules, and trying to decipher the rules is proving difficult. As far as I am aware, the US is getting rid of the no charge waiver for any product or shipment under 800 Dollars – which would not affect our more expensive kits. All states in the US seem to have their own rules about what they charge the customer, and the forms I must fill in (some need something called a TSCA form, but only a few states, the majority do not). But for the new rules that come into effect today, no one has told me anything at all – neither my government or my carriers I use to ship the goods!
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I think my final pics of my mule belong in this thread, too. Am very much looking forward to seeing what magic Jim works on her... I am currently dong the full parts list (always fun...) and making sure every single part is assigned with a part number for the final production cut files. At this time, I can confirm that for the first 100 kits, photo etched copper plating will be included as standard for this kit, with the only optional extra being the CNC blocks (because not everyone wants masts and rig and most are happy with standard anyway) Some have asked in the past about including the CNC blocks as standard. This would be impossible for the quantities I order. You see, ordering just 30 Indy or Sphinx kits worth of CNC blocks takes literally at least a whole season, with the costs many times higher than standard blocks. So they will always only ever be an option.
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