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chris watton

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Everything posted by chris watton

  1. chris watton
    Yep: I think for around 470 Euro, and looking at the detail, it is too much, you may be better off with the Trumpeter offering.
  2. chris watton
    I did add this on Indy, but really it's only for those who really know what they're doing, and added for completion's sake. But Jim is correct, for those 99.9% of those building from kits, this is no big issue -a and for those 0.01% that want to, can by all means add the taper, ensuring that it does now mess up the figurehead slot. ETA - Added a pic from my Amati Victory manual I did a decade ago, showing the taper to the rudder designing into the copper PE - so adding taper is by no means a new thing.
  3. chris watton
    OK, Grecian is now fully complete and available for pre order: The Baltimore privateer schooner Grecian 1812 – VANGUARD MODELS I also have some extras for the Grecian kit, pearwood blocks: Grecian Pearwood Block Set – VANGUARD MODELS US Flag: Grecian flag for US service – VANGUARD MODELS PE copper plate set (to replace copper tape that is standard in the kit) Grecian Copper Plates set – VANGUARD MODELS And finally, a Grecian paint set: Grecian paint set – VANGUARD MODELS A big thank you to Jim for the superb build, pics and text for the manual! I have attached a pic of the box label. Like the actual model, the box is long and sleek.. Now, I continue to work on Trial Cutter, the 14th kit. Next week, I will receive a truly massive shipment from Italy of photo etched sheets for almost all of my range (Fifie. Zulu, Sphinx, Duchess, Grecian etc.) plus my Trial Cutter sample sheets, so I can continue with this model. Also included is a new set of Speedy PE. This kit will be out of stock (I think we have one left) until I have completed a little re design and updated the plans and manual, which I shall do once the Trial Cutter is complete.
  4. chris watton
    ...and a limited number of pear block sets
  5. chris watton
    I have set the kit price at £325.
  6. chris watton
    And a very nice job Jim has done on Grecian, too! For the production kits, I have changed the anchor hawse to something a little smaller in diameter. I have just completed the build manual, and have only the box label to complete, which I shall do tomorrow, with all files being sent off on Monday for printing.
  7. chris watton
    Always best when researching to look at more than one source for info. For example, in Riff Winfield's 'British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792', it does state for Pegasus ' 'First Cost - £8,688.5.10d including fitting and coppering' It is very easy to to think that only one source is Gospel, I cannot allow myself to fall into that trap. ETA - At the time, Amati wanted me to make sure this was different to Fly, so I researched what the differences may be, coppering was one of them. I personally think ships of this period look better with an off-white bottom, however.
  8. chris watton
    The amount of gun ports lids I added for the Diana kit is correct, I would not add any more.
  9. chris watton
    What a superb looking model!
  10. chris watton
    If you look at a 2 or 3 decker, you will see the same, the upper gun deck (which incorporates the Weather Deck) has few gun port lids PS - Diana was my very first wooden ship kit design (25 years ago)! I have learned a lot since then, so apologies for its many shortcomings.....
  11. chris watton
    Having only a few gun port lids on the upper, or as is the case for a frigate like Diana, the main gundeck, was standard practice, it seems, for the British ships at least. It is important to note that the crew did not actually sleep on the gun deck, but the deck below. This was the nice thing about working on a frigate, each crewman had a lot more space to themselves than larger, or smaller vessels.
  12. chris watton
    For me, any steel hulled vessel is better in plastic/GRP and all wooden vessels are better in wood. I would never choose a plank on bulkhead version of say, Titanic, Yamato, Bismarck over a plastic/GRP kit version, makes little sense to me unless the model I want to build has not yet been made into plastic kit form.
  13. chris watton
    Ah, OK. I have always put the mast caps on from the tops and slid down into position. If I didn't do that, then I would square the lower part of the mast enough so it could be fitted through the mast cap hole.
  14. chris watton
    You can push the topmast through the hole in the mast cap and then add the fid.
  15. chris watton
    Thank you. I did know, I have read this book twice over: The Struggle for Sea Power: The Royal Navy vs the World, 1775-1782 by Dr Sam Willis The Struggle for Sea Power: The Royal Navy vs the World, 1775-1782: Amazon.co.uk: Dr Sam Willis: 9781848878471: Books Highly recommended.
  16. chris watton
    Glenn, that is a fantastic job you have done there, well done!
  17. chris watton
    I find that working for myself is much better, I can streamline my projects. What I start, I can finish, rather than when being paid by someone else, having to put up with starting one project and half way through, asked to drop that and start something else. Rinse and repeat.. No plans for 48th scale for my main line of kits, very happy sticking with 64th.
  18. chris watton
    Yes, decks, inner and outer bulwarks, spirketting and main wale all have etched detail, including trenails. (Even gunwales have scarphing detail). Haven't worked out a price yet, as I haven't long started this one. I did want it to go in one of the smaller fully printed boxes, that the last four fishing boats use, as I love those. However, I realised that if I were to use those, I would have to either remove the longer parts like the bulwarks and gunwales from their host sheets, or split them. Neither option was palatable to me, so it will have to go in a Fifie/Zulu sized box.
  19. chris watton
    Paint the area above waterline to the top edge of the main wale black, leave the area in between the main wale and upper rail wood, and the area above the upper rail black. That would work
  20. chris watton
    Hull alone is around 335mm long. With masts and spars around 560mm long and 520 high overall (including drop keels) Kit will come with mirrored base. For the drop keel winch drums, I originally did these in laser cut wood, but was not happy with this solution, so I designed the drum in 3-d with a hole big enough for the 1mm brass rod to slide through plus another smaller offset hole to take the 'rope' that was attached to the drop keel, to lift it up and down. These are 3-d printed, so the holes will always be there on every one. I think this was the better solution. Each keel has an engraved line, so you know exactly how far to drop the keels.
  21. chris watton
    Cheers! A big part of this is James Hatch, who has been building the Grecian, photographing the stages and writing the text, leaving me free to start Trial Cutter. I thought I'd try that out and see how it went, and it seems to have gone very well, adding the outer bulwarks after the planking was complete and painted meant that it was free from any potential sanding/glue marks or paint overspray. No soaking in water at all for inner and outer bulwark patterns, but I did for main wale, but for the final kit, this will be in 0.8mm pear, not 1mm, so that should negate the need for soaking in water.
  22. chris watton
    I meant to add this pic in my initial post, the three that didn't make the cut, although the first, the one furthest away was always just a test to see how the initial designs looked - the one in the middle was used for all bulwark template patterns, and the nearest almost was the one, but decided to change the sliding keel parts so the modeller could add them once the hull is complete, rather than fit them before the deck is added.
  23. chris watton
    I did actually download all those pics and used them as a reference for some areas! The actual plans and contemporary model are so different in places!
  24. chris watton
    Around 8 weeks, I should think I have been taking pics during the build for the manual, and most of the hull is now done. Like Grecian, the channels are slotted and glued into place, as are the inner bulwark fittings like the pin rail and cleats - no need for drilling and pinning in place on this one.
  25. chris watton
    I think the best thing to do, if you are undecided, is to buy both! lol

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