chris watton

OK, HMS Surprise, the Jack Aubrey HMS Surprise, with the 9 pounders and 36 gun frigate main mast is a definite for next year.

I did actually do a design for a 72nd scale Surprise way back in 2006, but, as with so many other developments, never materialised, instead having to move on to magazine part work fare. (Sigh...). If I do go ahead, the new one would be 64th (of course) and a lot more refined than my original designs. (Didn't have any stern cabin detail) Not interested in Beagle (as there are more than enough kits of that already), but may do a Cherokee Class (Coffin Brig) at some point, and will definitely do a classic Royal Navy 18 gun brig Cannot remember the name of the books, they were in audio form, which I listened to when I had my day job. I have Royal George earmarked, so no 90 gun ship, and if I were to do a 60 or 70, that would be Centurion or an Elizabeth Class from the first half of the 18th Century, and as for a 50, I already have Bristol lined up to fill that gap.

I have read a few of these books, and they are fine, but not of the same calibre as the Hornblower and Aubrey series, I think. Plus the name of some of the ships is highly questionable - Buzzard for a frigate, or Caligula for a ship of the line!

To be honest, if I had my way, the next half a dozen kits at least would be frigates! But I cannot... I guess it could be argued that Surprise isn't really a frigate, but a corvette, as it was no larger than the 32 gun Amazon Class from the 1770's! (although a few of that Amazon class did go on to serve well between 1793-1815).

Still happening, but will do that later. Bristol is quite large (although Indy is longer), and I have to make sure I have time to produce all the parts and have all the materials available- - and I do not want another very expensive kit out so soon after Indy.

Whilst continuing to develop this nice little Baltimore privateer schooner, I am thinking of what else to do in 2023. As I have Indy, I am almost compelled to develop a Patrick O’Brian vessel from the Aubrey & Maturin series, HMS Surprise (much smaller than Indy), complete with Aubrey & Maturin figures. I am not sure, what you guys think?

Not easy, but I did make sure I took the lines of the 2 decker in the initial designs for Indy. (well, I had to, as the razee lines show just the profile...). However these 'raw' bulkhead lines are not 'tweaked' to ensure a perfect run of the planks, which is a very big job in itself. As Royal Yards were rigged 'Flying', they will not be shown on the model with no sails, but there is nothing stopping you adding them!

OK, finally, Indefatigable pre order is now live: HMS Indefatigable – 1794 – VANGUARD MODELS The first batch will be ready to ship mid-late February.

That is gobsmackingly amazing!

OK, I streamlined the pricing options and now have the box details for shipping. Here are the prices: VM/12 HMS INDEFATIGABLE (February 2023 Release) £1350 VM/12/Box HMS INDEFATIGABLE Boxwood Planking (This replaces all pearwood and red alder planking (Decks) £1800 VM12/D1 HMS INDEFATIGABLE Laser engraved deck set (Very Limited supply - Red alder planking still included) £120 VM12/CP01 HMS INDEFATIGABLE PE copper plate set (Including rudder shape PE)_ £150 VM/12/PB HMS INDEFATIGABLE Pear block and deadeye set (This set replaces the standard set) £140 Box details: Box weight – 14.5kg Length – 990mm Width – 370mm Depth – 195mm The box weight is well over double that of even Sphinx. The box dimensions are those for the shipping sleeve. I wanted to keep the length under 1 metre, as I know some postage rates go up a lot past this point.

No wooden kit is easy, but the difficulty can be mitigated, but never erased completely. All we can do is give the modeller the best chance possible to build and end up with something they can be proud of, and most of all, enjoy the experience.

They should all be for sale separately except the boxwood option, as the pear needs to be replaced.

Oh, I did forget to add, all laser cut parts have their part number laser etched next to them. In some cases, this doubles the time each sheet is on the laser bed, but it does lessen the ambiguity of identifying the parts, and there are a lot of parts!

The differences are that copper photo etched tiles are on a sheet, required breaking off like a chocolate bar and each glued into position, whilst the copper tape is tape, on a roll, which you need to cut to length, but due to it being self adhesive, you need no glue to fix them. One other small difference is cost. I had always meant to include the PE copper as standard, but due to lack of availability and massive price hikes, I had to change this. If it were included as standard, the kit price would be £1500. I know some will not copper the bottom anyway, especially those who have the boxwood planking option. (The copper plate PE option will have a rudder pattern, though, so there is a port and starboard pattern as well as outer edge).

Looks fantastic, well done, Kevin!

Nice update! OK, I can now finally give hard details about release dates and costs. All of the production for Indy is now fully complete, photo etched brass, all castings and laser cut parts. Production started at the start of this year, but I have had to produce a lot of our existing kits in between. The time for each kit for laser cut parts is nine and a half hours. This is only for actual laser cutting time, and does not include removing and setting up each batch of material on the laser table (plus laser/extractor maintenance etc.), so the real time would be more like 11-12 hours dedicated to each kit for laser cutting. There are a total of 51 individual laser cut sheets, and with the (very limited) engraved deck option, 53 sheets and an hour added to that overall cutting time. This is all done on my large laser machine, and for the main construction parts, materials twice the size of Sphinx. Pricing: VM/12 HMS INDEFATIGABLE - £1350 VM/12/PB HMS INDEFATIGABLE Machined Pear block and deadeye set - £140 VM/12/Box HMS INDEFATIGABLE Boxwood Planking set -£450 VM12/D1 HMS INDEFATIGABLE Laser engraved deck set -£120 VM12/CP01 HMS INDEFATIGABLE PE copper plate set -£150 I have stock for 50 kits. (Complete kits with all masting and rigging materials, as usual) For the pearwood block and deadeye set, I have 30 sets in stock. The boxwood planking option includes all hull planking strip, including deck planking, in boxwood. Right now, I have ordered enough for 5 kits, but 2 of the 5 have already been pre ordered. If people want this, I will order more. This is due in January The laser engraved deck option is very limited, due to the sheer amount of scrap wood not suitable for the job. I was meant to have at lease 30 sets, but only have 8. The PE copper option will be available by the time of the kit launch, but is now quite expensive, and did not include in the kit for this reason (copper tape is included, and is what Jim will use). I was not sure I could even get this until a week ago. The kit will be available for pre order next week, with the actual release being mid-late February

Cheers guys! Just had this book arrive: Royal Yachts – Under Sail – VANGUARD MODELS It is very nice, have kept one for my own library...

Very nice work, Glenn, well done!

I am hoping to have the first 50 kits on pre order in 3-4 weeks, and the first kits being sent out in early Feb. Everything is ready, material wise, all I am waiting for is the finished hull, so the instructions can be completed.

Thank you, guys, for the birthday wishes! I started in this 'Industry' when I was 26, so have spent well over half a lifetime doing this stuff now! Today I have been mainly doing the American privateer designs and more Sphinx laser cut sheets for a Krick order, no let up!

Thank you, Kevin! Yep, 56 now, so probably have at least another 20 years of doing kits, all being well...

Am now on my second prototype hull for the large armed schooner after further fine tuning... OK, today I finally received my Alert premium sail sets (paid for and ordered back in May)! Alert Sail Set – VANGUARD MODELS I have put in another order which should be with me in the New Year. Also, here at last is my Indefatigable pear block and deadeye stock (a lot of blocks and deadeyes)!, so these will be available when the kit is on pre order. I will finish all Indy laser cutting within the next week (damn that's a lot of material), so all that will be left is to wait for Jim to complete the hull. As soon as this is done and have finished updating the manual, I shall release. Finally, I invested in an A0 plotter, so was able to print and send Jim all of the Indy plans, which makes things a little easier for him, especially for masts and yards.

Nope.....

It is not Pride of Baltimore. I see no sense in developing kits others have already done, even more so when it's a brand new range. I prefer to do stuff that hasn't been done thus far.

It is 64th scale. I will announce the name of the vessel at a later date. I literally only started this on Monday. I think this is my very first American vessel I have designed!