chris watton

This is it, well worth a watch, very entertaining, and Ab is in there somewhere!

Here is the finished STL for Aubrey

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?

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.

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.

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.

A mere trifle, I'll get right on it!

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.

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!

As I understand it, this figure is a work in progress, and sent to me just for comfirmation that the seating position is OK

And progress with the second Aubrey figure....

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.....

You are correct!

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!

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)

UK

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!

That is a very neat job, a lot neater than mine!

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.

I wasn't going to do it just yet, it was way further down the list, but Mary Montagu-Scott, the Trustee of Buckler’s Hard Shipyard Trust, convinced me, so I will have their logo on the kit box too. They are currently excavating the building slip where the Agamemnon was built, and she has big plans for the future of this historical site.

Not all all! In fact, I am always filled with self doubt, wondering if I have done the right thing/gone too far and wondering if each new release will sell. I don't take anything for granted. I just strive to do my best, utilising the knowledge I have accumulated over the decades, and designing the kits in a way that if I were buying it, I would be more than happy with it. The only issue for me is the fact that these complex kits take a very long time to produce due to the sheer amount of cut/engraved parts. But if people enjoy the kits, for me, it is all worth it, as a kit should be a joy to build, not a chore. I don't really know much about this Surprise. My time there seems like many lifetimes ago, and that Surprise is well after my time there. (I was there from 1994 until late 2001, with the Nelson's Navy range starting in 1998 with Diana). Surprise is definitely the largest kit I can do that has no planking at all from the top of the main wale position up, above this, everything is laser cut/engraved - no cutting out the gun ports. For this kit, I have had to order some very expensive pear sheets, 0.8x150x800mm, for the inner and outer bulwarks. As there are no fenders, the parts are full length as there is nothing along the sides to break this up. I think I have another 2 months’ work on Surprise (CAD plans etc. plus I am still waiting for a couple of final things like stern lantern and Aubrey and Maturin) and in the meantime, start production and after this, make a start on Agamemnon, a subject I always meant to revisit and do it full justice. (I hope)

Of course!

The chimney is posable as it is a push fit, you can rotate it however you wish

Yes, the bracket for the 18-Pounder carronades is fixed/pinned to the sill. In the final kit, the middle bulwark patterns will have a small slot at the centre of each lower sill position to take the pin to secure the bracket, with he bracket itself being cut from PolyBak.

My copy isn't arriving until 14th September!