chris watton

11 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

I don’t know how you manage to design and build so many ships so quickly. She is a very interesting looking ship with the drop keels and bow chasers.

I did rush the rig, cut a lot of corners, meaning it took around 5 days from shrouds to braces - but I only need the model to look presentable for box art...

One down, one to go...

11 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

Stopping by your website watching for Adder/Sherbourne updates and spotted you have a “Customers models” section, a nice touch. Are you actively wanting those sending or you approaching builders directly?

You can send them via PM, no problem! 

Am currently masting and rigging Adder (only on shrouds, first job for rigging), this will be another two weeks, then I do the same for Sherbourne. After this, I need to put the manuals together (last job, which will take a full week at least - plans are already fully complete). So am thinking the end of next month for release, assuming no delays for printed stuff. Whilst trying to finish the models, I am also laser cutting the production sheets for each, which is about 30% complete as I type. All PE is already here with me and all resin fittings complete. Adder will go in a Grecian sized box, and Sherbourne Fifie/Zulu box.

After these two, work will start on a medium sized kit, but I will take my time on this, I feel I need to slow down a little....

CA gel, it is what I used for the prototype model for your kit, and is used for 99% of all my second planking.

21 hours ago, AJohnson said:

Thanks Ron, I agree about Vanguard kits, as the basics are so well taken care of for the builder and the instructions/plans so comprehensive, it makes "assembling" the kit straight forward; I won't say "easy" as that could be misinterpreted by the newcomer.  This frees up energies often absorbed with rectifying short comings of other kit manufacturers and allows the builder to go off in whatever direction they desire.  The fact so many of us modify and even mildly "kit-bash" Chris's kits is a compliment I think to his designs.

Thank you, I do not mind at all - for the more experienced, kits should be seen as a blank canvas to which the modeller can stamp their own interpretation to the finished model.

Looks fantastic, I like this little kit, as there's so much going on along the deck.

22 minutes ago, flyer said:

Very nice!

 

This seems to be a 18ft cutter. Do you also plan to offer a smaller 12ft or 14ft boat, suitable for your smaller vessels, such as Alert?

I have shrank the file for a 16 footer (3-d print and laser cut parts), which I shall produce in the next few weeks (64th)

I say a few weeks because right now, I am laser cutting production parts for Adder and Sherbourne.

The thread diameters are given by the suppliers, but I know 0.1mm is not really 0.1mm, it is thicker than that, so do not put too much stock in the diameters for the thinnest threads - what is suplied is as correct as I can get it. Ratlines were not thick rope as their job was to take the weight of one man at any one time.

30 minutes ago, JeffT said:

They would be nice if available in the other boat types as well, like launches and yawls for example 😃

I do plan to have a full suite of these in this form, but they take time. Concentrating on clinker boats first is my priority, as these are never easy to plank in small wood form. Not quick to produce, too, the smallest takes 5 hours to print, the middle size 7 hours, and the 32nd scale hull is 12 hours.

Now live:

Cutter (full kit – various scales) – VANGUARD MODELS

10 minutes ago, oakheart said:

Oh the joys of being freelance - your own boss 🙂

 

Tim

48th laser cutting done, so will be live soon

14 minutes ago, oakheart said:

Hi Chris, just went to your website, looking for 1:48 version of your new 3D printed cutter but I could not find it?

 

I need it for my build of cutter Speedy

 

Tim

It is not up yet, I need to produce the laser cut parts, which I shall do over the weekend

Another small update.

I was never happy with the 3-d printed cutters I offered, being quite generic. I aim to put this right by having a new set of boats done over the next year or so.

The first is the first of 2 cutter hulls, and the lines used are the same lines I used when designing the laser cut wood 18 foot cutter, so it is more of a direct replacement for the laser cut version.

This is much more detailed than the old 3-d printed cutter, with more internal detail and correct hull shape, complete with clinker planking.

For now, there will be three scales for this, which will include the hull and laser cut pear thwarts, knees, rudder, fore and aft flooring and oars. Scales will be 1:64th, 1:48th and a few at a monsterous 1:32nd

8 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

Thank you rlwhitt,

In the UK I obtained the ball bearings from a company called Simply Bearings. as per link below.

 

2.5mm Diameter Grade 1000 Hardened 1010 Carbon Steel Ball Bearings Simply Bearings Ltd

 

They are certainly consistent and available in various sizes. I'm sure you must have similar suppliers in the USA.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

They are certainly much cheaper than the black acetate balls I supply with the kit.

14 minutes ago, rlwhitt said:

Hi BE, impressive work all around!   I like what you did with the cannon shot, they look quite realistic.  Can you tell us the source you used for those balls?  I've been looking for something better than the plastic ones too.  One option I've found is lead shot from a shotgun shell.  They look right, but they are not very consistent size - you have to pick through a whole bunch to get a set the same size.

Cannon balls are included in the kit

14 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Hi Chris, are you also getting delayed notifications too? 

 

@James H I’ve gone through and thinned down the number of topics I follow, but I don’t think that helped. 

Andy

James asked me reply, to test the lag.

Testing 2

Testing

16 minutes ago, Vane said:

Interesting concept, she looks great! I think several of your old design deserve revisits. Just look how far you have taken this since the Diana days. When I compare my Snake to Speedy for example it looks so "bulky". Its nothing wrong with the old Snake but just imagine how it would look like/and build with your new design style and mtrl.

Thank you

I will not do another Cruiser Class, but I have a slightly earlier 18 gun brig earmarked, Diligence Class, Harpy (love the name, and it was in action throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars), which has nicer lines (almost like a much larger Speedy) and only a few feet shorter along the gun deck than Snake/Cruiser, being 95 feet (Cruiser Class was 100 feet). But the exact same armament as the later class, 16 x 32 pounder carronades and 2 x long 6-pounder chase guns.

OK, this is the 16th kit and will be released in concert with Adder (both developed together), and it is a revisit, as I felt I wanted to do it a little more justice.

Here is the new design for HM armed cutter Sherbourne, 1763, designed by Sir Thomas Slade and using all of the reasearch I could lay my hands on to develop an accurate representation of this cute little cutter. This will be the last for my range of naval cutters, being content with a small (Sherbourne), medium (Trial) and large (Alert) cutter.

I have added 8x3 pounders, but in reality, she was armed with 6, and she is shown with 12 swivel cannon, but only allocated 8 for the real version - but some moan if they cannot fill gun port slots or populate all of the swivel posts...

As with Trial and Adder, all detail at main wale level and above is all pre cut with laser engraved plank lines and treenails. I decided not to paint the inner bulwarks red so the detail could be more easily seen.

Hull just needs a final spray varnish, then it's ready for the masts and rig, which I shall do together with Adder.

Oh, 64th scale, if anyone asks...and I haven't skimped on the bulkhead spacing....(17 bulkheads)

ETA - the skeletal hull was a pre prototype, and the first time I fitted the parts together from my initial designs.

2 hours ago, Vane said:

Speaking of sales and perhaps this is company secrets... but just out of curiosity. You now start to have a very good lineup, what kits are doing well and is there any kit that has suprisingly low numbers for some reason?

People have expressed lots of suggestions on what you should develop next but what is actually selling in practice?

It is strange, in that they all seem to sell well, but do so in phases. For example, one week it will be all Trial Cutters, another week Speedy's, then Sphinx, then a run on Indy's etc.

I did try to get threaded bars for the carronades in the appropriate diameter. However, the quotes I got were comical.

14 hours ago, Oboship said:

No idea how well this will sell....

 

I guess that there will be a good market for Adder and that the kit will sell quite well, just because the ship is different and special compared to other kits on the market, as @Ajohnson already stated. At first glance she looks "similar" to Alert or Trial. But at a closer look I noted a few other different things: e.g. the deck looks rather straight, tidy and more clearly arranged, and the two big guns on the bow give her a certain individual appearance. I don't find her ugly, but rather interesting and attractive in her own right. Is Victory a beautiful ship? She's impressive and iconic to us but not a real "beauty" like the schooner America or the Blue Nose and her sisters (just my humble opinion...).

Chris' statement "This was meant to be a nice cheap and simple kit..." should not be underestimated. His love or inclination to extensive detail doesn't necessarily mean that a simple VM kit is easily and quickly built 😉 (I'm thinking of the brass parts like cleats etc. ) ...  This was ment as a purely postive side note😊😊

She will sell alright!.👍

Best
Uwe

 

Thank you! 

These kits with the pre-cut and engraved upper details are a lot quicker to build than standard planking all over kits. However, you do need to be careful in applying them, as they are essentially finished parts, only requiring a light varnish to the finished build. For Adder, I gave the bulwark parts (and wales) a soak and then clamped in place and left for over a day. When the clamps are removed, the curves stayed in place. I think it would also be a good idea to cover the finished outer surfaces with masking tape to help avoid any possible glue marks - but as long as you are careful and do not rush or glue parts sooner than they should be, all should be fine, and once these bulwark parts are fitted, the rest of the assembly should be a breeze. This is because all fittings for the deck and bulwarks, both inside and out have pre-cut (or engraved) positions/slots for everything that is fitted to them, like cleats, eyebolts, belaying racks, channels etc., negating the need to mark anything out onto the model from the plans. (I always hated having to mark out and drill the eyebolt positions in the inner bulwarks, always so awkward to do). This does make the kit more expensive than lagacy kits, but the upside is that the modeller (I hope) has a much better chance of finishing the model and, more importantly, actually enjoying the experience, rather than give up in frustration.

I did use my AK paints for most, but for the cannon carriages I used red oxide spray paint, and for the white bottom a can of matt white spray I bought from Amazon for around £5. The whole hull was varnished using my AK water based matt varnish, which is great, easy to apply, dries very quickly and easy to clean the airbrush.

I do get emails asking if the black resin parts should be painted. Of course, they should be. Would you leave the hull of a plastic battleship kit in its grey plastic, because it is more or less the same colour as the finished model? Of course not, and the same applies to the cannon, they must be painted.
 

5 hours ago, uss frolick said:

Was this the same 14-gun brig Boxer that fought the USS Enterprise in 1813?

No, that would have been a much later namesake, with all of the 1797 Acute Class being decommissioned well before 1812.
Adder was part of a class that was second generation for this specialised type of vessel (The first being Conquest Class in 1794). Later classes like Archer and Confounder are less interesting, as they are nothing more than smaller standard brig hulls and armed with only carronades. Almost a pre curser to the Cherokee Class of brigs, as they were, at that time, expected to operate a lot further from home waters, as the threat of an invasion of Britain receded.

38 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

I've always thought this vessel has very pleasing lines.

I love the wine glass lines of this hull, which is why it is high on my list for a rare revisit.

Just now, usedtosail said:

Oops, sorry Chris. I got so excited from the pictures I forgot what I had read.🤪

 All of my kits are full kits, all include masts and rig. In fact, all plans for this one are already complete, including the mast and rig plans.