chris watton

If the bottom is painted white, and the main wale is in place, there is not a lot of actual pear planking visible, so do not worry too much. Anyway, no matter how precise the planking, there is always a hell of a lot of filling and sanding required between coats of white paint.

Nice save. I did actually give a 1.5mm extra length for those bow parts, to take into account differing builds, so it's disappointing to see yours do not meet. Regarding the coamings, I never try to sand the edges until the top and bottom patterns are firmly glued together. I do have scrap sheets for spares, if you wanted a new coaming set.

I had originally done the outer skin in 0.6mm pear sheet, but this did curl too much when applying glue, so this was changed to 0.8mm, which was much better.

Another little update. Since the beginning of 28th September until last week, we had builders here to convert our garage into a proper unit, split into two rooms, one room for the laser cutting and raw materials, and another for packing (and gym...). They did quote 2 weeks, but it was over 5 weeks. We have a new roof, floor levelled and walls skinned in OSB boards, including the partition. All new shelving arrived yesterday, so this week we are fitting the rooms out. Next Monday my new laser machine arrives, so I will be able to develop much larger kits (Sphinx is the largest I could go with my current machine, unless I split the keel, and I prefer not to do that if at all possible) I now have all Vanguard Models kits in stock, after a nightmare couple of months chasing suppliers up with my orders (notably, photo etched brass). As I have mentioned, because of the headaches this has caused me lately, my next three kits are having the photo etched sheets produced locally here in the UK. They cost more, but then again, all photo etch suppliers are increasing prices anyway, due to shortages of raw materials. Right now, I am laser cutting the Nisha and Erycina production parts. Today I received the 3-d printed castings for the kits, as well as sample sail sets for each. The production versions are being made now, so will hopefully be ready in time for the kit releases. I have read all the build logs, most notably the Sphinx logs. When designing/developing Sphinx, my design philosophy for this kit (aside from wanting to develop kits that I would want to buy) was to make the build as painless as possible for builders who were used to kits like Fly, Vanguard, Duchess etc.. So intermediate modellers. I wanted to include cut parts that are never really included in older kits, where these parts are either left off altogether, or the modeller needs to make them from strips of wood or blocks of wood. All they then need is final finishing and, in some cases, like the quarter gallery, all three edges require shaping. But for the most part, if the parts are not painted, the top and bottom edges need slight filing/sanding to remove the char, which, being laser cut, I can do nothing about. Sphinx will still take a while to build, but a lot of that time should be cleaning up pre cut parts, and not making them from scratch. In summary, wooden model kits are not designed to fall together when you shake the box (as many allude to Tamiya), but each part still needs to be worked on and test fitted multiple times, and maybe adjusted, before fitting. Sphinx takes 8 hours to produce each kit. I have said before, if I designed each kit like most other mainstream manufacturers, I could honestly produce a dozen or so new kits per year, as there's really nothing to them. But where is the fun/challenge in that? When we get time, we will add a section on my website, grading each kit according to the experience required to build each kit. Cheers, Chris

I cannot supply you with my master files that I paid a lot of money to commission, sorry. As Jim says, it is easy enough to rectify with small brushes, I have never got the painting right on such thing on the first pass

Hull shape (Erycina was a thoroughbred cutter when built in the latter half of the 19th Century - Nisha is early 20th Century with a broader beam aft), rig, deck fittings (apart from steam winch, tow post and chain pipe). They both are quite different and designed from their own particular lines - if you're thinking one is just a scaled up (or down) version of the other. I try my best to make each new kit bespoke, with their own laser cut parts. Some of the parts look similar simply because they both had more or less the same job - but all of Erycina's laser cut parts, be it the winch posts or helmsman grating under the tiller arm would look a little silly on Nisha.

This thread is purely for my range of products, so yes, they are Vanguard Models kits. A lot more details will be revealed over the next 3-4 weeks. A while ago, a customer on here asked about flags, saying they would prefer flags over the free coaster. The problem with this is that I do not charge for the coasters in the kits (usually put them in for the first batch of new kits), as I produce them myself. I cannot produce the flags. I have been looking for a supplier of quality flags for one of my future developments, and the best pricing would add £25-30 per kit for the quality I would want for each set. This is why you get a free coaster and not free flags. I also would not pay for the flags, they are simply too much, and add too much to kit price. A coaster does not so much.

Jim gave me a couple of pics of the new kit production prototype models, Erycina and Nisha. I am aiming to have these released before Christmas. However, this all depends on whether the boxes will be delivered on time. I am having these made in the Czech Republic, so the box tops are full colour printed. Nisha, the small Brixham Mumble Bee will have a 4 pre made sail option and Erycina, the Plymouth ketch, will have 5. I live the lines of Erycina so much that my pre-prototype hull now sits on out mantlepiece! (Nisha has the white lower rail and black upper bulwarks, and Erycina has the green, with both awaiting their lower hulls painted)

Just a quick update, with a more substantial one in the next two weeks. I have just received all of my Sphinx photo etched sheets, so the kit is finally back in stock. I ordered more than usual, and wasn't sure if the PE company got the message in time, but it is all now here. I was meant to have this mid-September, but for some unfathomable reason, the term 'Repeat order of at least 50 sets each' translated into '20 sheets of one set of the 5 required'! So from mid-September till now has been hell for me! Because of this balls up, for my next two kits, I am having the PE sheets produced here in the UK, and not in the EU. I will do a nice update in the next two weeks...

Just 'WOW'

The main wale does fit as it should, it was trial fitted many times, and had many micro adjustments to the finished production part so it fitted as well as it is going to fit. With so many curves required to fit the hull shape, these parts always look a little odd. But they do fit.

Next batch shipping at the end of next week or beginning of week after, after receiving photo etch delivery confirmation. I put in and paid for (a lot of money) a 'Repeat Order' of Sphinx photo etch sets in August. Due to miscommunication within the Italian PE company, what they sent was one of the 5 sets required, making this my month of hell. Problems now resolved, so all back to normal at the end of next week.

There should be two slots for the two (each side) timberheads to locate into. Not a problem though, just cut off the half-engraved areas on the timberheads and glue in place.

I have a feeling the wrong part is glued to the top of the quarter galleries, they look MDF to me, and the parts that should fit are 4mm pear, 481 and 482. They have bevelling lines etched on the tops. It would be much better if you dry fit parts, and check, check and then check again before fixing anything in place. Some parts do need shaping, as this is not a plastic kit. The stern and quarter galleries require much attention to attain a decent result.

Just had my decals arrive for Nisha and Erycina. I know a few asked about the vessel registration numbers from my previous kits, so I contacted Eduard and they produced me these for the new kits. Very small, but hopefully, they will make a difference to the finished models.

Damn, that is stunning! I think the black main wales will look great against that hull.

Of course!

Manual is the same, it just has the parts list corrected and extra pics for the masts and yards, which are fully detailed in the plans. One of the reasons for the price increase is the higher cost of the Rev 2 manual, these are not cheap...

Little update: I am expecting the Sphinx photo etched sheets to be delivered next week. These are all I am waiting for, as the rest of the kit contents have already been done and boxed. Sphinx is now available to pre-order. This is the Revision 2 version, with the thicker manual and revised parts list. Right now, all laser production is stopped for two to three weeks (but all kit laser cut sheets have been done and all is in stock), as our large garage is being converted into a proper unit to house two laser machines and a separate area for materials and packing. I take delivery of my larger second laser machine at the end of next month. This larger machine will allow me develop much larger kits and cut thicker materials faster. The garage conversion and new machine are massive investments for me, but I think ultimately worth it. I am hoping to have the small fishing vessels, Nisha and Erycina out before December. These will have optional sail sets. Tomorrow, I take delivery of the waterslide decals for both fishing boat kits, these include the vessel name and registration number. These are what I am working on now.

I am expecting the sample sail sets for both Nisha and Erycina within the next two weeks. Once I have them, I will post over to Jim. Plans will show drawings for both rigged with and without sails. (There are 15 A1 sized plan sheets for Erycina, and am now working on plan sets for Nisha..)

I think what I shall do is continue doing what I do. I know I will never please everyone (and the loudest critics are usually the ones who would never buy your product anyway), but I like to think I know enough as to what most would like to see in a kit, I just think of what I would like to see in a kit that I paid my own hard earned on. I will source flags at some point, but right now, I want to concentrate on new kits, this is where my investment money is going.

My preferred method is to use a 6 or 7" length of 1.5-2" 0.8mm ply with the abrasive paper wrapped around it, and then, in very technical terms, sand the crap out of the hull until the edges are no longer black. Works every time for me!

Nice work, Glenn! Do not worry too much about the pear quarterdeck beam pattern, it is inset slightly, so that char showing is fine. And again, do not worry about breaking a few of the upper tabs, this is almost inevitable - as long as you still have couple left by the time you add the outer skins, that is fine. Even if all of them broken off, you probably still would be fine..

Glad you like the coaster! I only do these if I have enough time and after everything else is cut. Each sheet does 24 coasters, and is four and a half hours engraving/cutting time per 600x400mm sheet, as the etched hull drawing has a lot of lines and curves. If I get time, I shall do some in the clear acetate.

It is something I shall look at in the future, I need to find someone that can print in good definition and appropriate materials, yet be cheap enough not to add too much to overall kit cost. Regarding the stand (two in each of my kits), if I put in enough options to please everyone, there wouldn't be enough room in that cavernous box for the actual kit - and then there would be a few who would still not be happy!