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chris watton

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Everything posted by chris watton

  1. chris watton
    Thank you so much, guys, very much appreciated! These new kits do need a lot of time spent on development, and with Sphinx, it needed a lot more than any kit I have done before, Victory included. It really is a mad kit! Even full time working on these, larger kits will still require 6 months minimum development time, from conception to finished prototype, but I do plan to do a couple of smaller kits after Sphinx (including more ships boats, cutters etc.), before starting on a (really) big one.
  2. chris watton
    Just another very small update, but a big one for me... I have now left my day job to concentrate fully on Vanguard Models. It got to the point where something had to give, and Vanguard Models won out. So, hopefully, I have made the right decision, and in the meantime and from this day forward, all of my time energy will be focused on new developments. I still feel very apprehensive, as this is a new sensation for me, but felt I had to do this. Also need to say a big thank you to Jim Hatch, who has helped with prototype models, photography and manual text immensely, meaning the kits have been finished a lot quicker than I could have hoped. When a development is complete, I make sure they are brought into the market as quickly as possible, and Jim has been a very big part of this, so credit where it is due. So, because I do not have to worry about getting ready for a 12 hour shift, I think I will get all Sphinx CAD plans complete by the end of next week, which I will then send to Jim for the rigging (he already has all plans except rigging). I am also most grateful to all of those who have bought my products, and making the decision to move full time developing new products easier. ETA - My wife's leg/knee is healing well, and she can now get around without any aids!
  3. chris watton
    Will try and remember to add - It is always something that I have done automatically (running the lines through the futtocks), and it seems I committed the sin of assuming that's what everyone knew, and did, as in over 2 decades, this has never once been mentioned! I replied when I got home from work early this morning (1.30pm-12.30am Mon-Thurs) - so if some think my replies are a tad tardy, this is why..
  4. chris watton
    Hiya! Regarding the 'run' of the rigging, I I have seen some contemporary models with holes drilled through the lower tops for each line, and, as has already been mentioned, thimbles were used to direct the run, this was especially true for the topsail yard ties. I suspect there would have been thimble type blocks seized along the futtock staves, to help keep the various lines separate on their way down to deck (or shroud cleat). However, at 64th scale, they would need to be tiny, as if too big, would make the futtock staves a little too much. With that in mind, I usually just direct the rigging lines past the staves and down to deck, keeping each line apart (where I can) by the shrouds.
  5. chris watton
    This was my first ever period kit design (23 years ago), so was finding my feet....
  6. chris watton
    Jim hasn't added the three gun port lids per side (last three gun ports have them) yet, but they are included (pre cut, of course)
  7. chris watton
    Nope, no change at all for all non UK customers. VAT only applies to the UK customers.
  8. chris watton
    I have been told by my accountant that I have to now become VAT registered. Up until now, I was not liable for VAT registration in the UK, as turnover has to reach a certain amount be being legally required to. This means that all of my products I have sold this far have not had VAT added. This is about to change. Now, when the UK was a part of the EU, EU and UK customers paid VAT and no import duty. The difference now is that EU customers do not pay the UK VAT but import duty instead. For example, in the UK, a £300 kit would be £360 with the 20% VAT added, but EU and world wide customers will just pay the £300, and then whatever import duty costs your country has.
  9. chris watton
    No, it has been designed from the start as a complete kit. As dowel and other rigging materials are but a fraction of the cost of the actual hull model, with all the time and materials that go into that, it wouldn't really make a big difference in price. I guess you can choose not to add masts and rig. The rigging for Sphinx will be a mix of Gutermann (0.1mm beige and fine black for ratlines) and Amati thread. If I had the time to make my own rigging thread I would. However, I barely have time for developments themselves right now.
  10. chris watton
    Jim is doing a fine job on this prototype, it looks a lot better than I ever dared hope. I have done 19 plan sheets (50x70cm) for it so far (6 sheets are dedicated to laser and PE parts identification), and they are mostly supplementary to the manual, apart from masts and yards. I just have the rigging plans left to do, so probably 22 plan sheets altogether, along with a very thick step-by-step manual.. I have had some lanterns made specifically for this model, and I should have these soon. Well done, Jim!
  11. chris watton
    Thank you! Well, when I consider that Amati Victory was two years full time work, and Sphinx is even more advanced, design wise, than that one, something has to give. For even larger developments, I feel I need the time, the deep time, to concentrate fully on the developments. I am currently working on Sphinx CAD drawings for masts and yards, but have to stop now, as work in 10 minutes... Dammit!
  12. chris watton
    Thank you! I am reaching the point where I can no longer hold down my full time day job, so have to make a big decision soon...
  13. chris watton
    And a little bit of Sphinx progress...(All deck fittings dry fitted, nothing glued yet)
  14. chris watton
    OK, as it is now two years since the first kit release, I decided to have a sale to celebrate! (Feels like it's been much longer)! VANGUARD MODEL KITS – VANGUARD MODELS
  15. chris watton
    And they can be very, very noisy, and you get dust everywhere..
  16. chris watton
    Another little update - Not much done of Sphinx (working on plans in CAD) over the past week, as work (day job) has had me very busy and no chance of furlough days - but still on target for July release, just.. I did decide to make a minor change to one of her fittings though, and am quite pleased with the new fitting, just a small thing, but they do add up. I now have a decent waterline marker on my site, plus a Minitool mini sander (which needs the transformer), which caught my eye and thought would be very useful for ship modelling (I use a larger version in my day job for certain jobs) Tools – VANGUARD MODELS I should have a full range of spring loaded sanding blocks by mid next week, too, together with spare sanding belts for them.
  17. chris watton
    Little update - We now have started to stock a small range of modelling tools: Tools – VANGUARD MODELS I am awaiting a couple more orders for more (more different sized sanding blocks, waterline markers, flexible masking tape and a special power tool/sander), which we will put on the site as soon as I have them with me, within the next week or so. I don't think I would stock craft knifes, though, as I still maintain the best to use is a common or garden Stanley Knife, more robust that standard surgical craft knifes, which bend and snap way too easily.. ETA - flexible masking tape just arrived, plus spare sanding strips for finger sander. I decided to get the flexible masking tape, as I though this would be ideal for masking the waterline, as standard masking tape folds over too much at the bow and especially stern..
  18. chris watton
    It seems I stock more pearwood blocks that I thought. We have now added 6 and 7mm sizes for the single and double blocks, so there are 8 sizes for the single and double blocks, from 2 to 7mm, and the triples have 5 sizes from 3 to 6mm. I will also be stocking a few essential tools, like plank nippers, electric plank bender, pin pusher, and a few other things very soon.
  19. chris watton
    I have mentioned before, a Tamiya Spitfire that my wife bought me inspired me to design Victory with inner detail, if plastic models have such unseen detail, why not the upper tier wooden kits, rather than the usual block model. I always liked to look at models and peer into the hatches and gun ports to try and find more detail. My new kits are simply an extension of this thought process. There will still be some tricky areas that need sanding and manipulating, like stern and bow parts. But for most other stuff, I am hoping the build will be relatively easy and a nice result at the end.
  20. chris watton
    It was a strategic buy, I knew I would be getting the door when the parcel arrived!
  21. chris watton
    The hull is disappointing, to be honest. No plate markings or waterline, first I have come across this. All kits of this sort I have bought in the past have had at the very least the waterline mark (including the Nichimo Yamato, which also had moulded positions for motors) But, as I said, I will most likely never build it, I just wanted it!
  22. chris watton
    Well done Glenn, you did a splendid job!
  23. chris watton
    Here are some more, very nicely packaged, with the sprues in the three boxes, along with a few frets of PE. Hull is quite plain, though, although a single piece.
  24. chris watton
    OK, just arrived, and wife still in hospital and arriving home shortly. She's gonna kill me, it's huge!
  25. chris watton
    Maybe! Unfortunately, Yamato was sold in the early '90's, don't even remember who to.

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