chris watton

Some other pics of the laser at work...

OK, today I have been laser cutting sheet samples, to how the quality for the underside has changed, and these are the results Pictured is 1mm and 2mm sample sheet, showing upper side and lower side. I am quite happy with this. The sheets are not production sheets, but just test beds for a few changes to some stuff, to see how they look and to decide whether to keep in production files.

Thank you Sceatha, much appreciated. The era a couple of thousand years before 1177bc and a thousand years after this fascinate me. I do have the book Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean by Charles Freeman, and have read it many times. I have always been fascinated with trying to understand how first civilizations came to be, and start working together, and then fighting..

Thank you Sceatha, I have just ordered the book from Amazon, being sent via California!

Loving this build. I would love to do one of these vessels one day. Are there any books with decent line drawings (I know most would be speculative)?

Hi Bob, Regarding the differences between the original Alert and second edition, the changes are in the laser cut parts. All laser cut parts for version one were cut in Italy, and all wooden sheets are basswood, including the main sub deck. Version 2 has all wooden laser cut parts in pearwood, and tighter tolerances for slots in the MDF laser cut keel and bulkheads, and the main sub deck is 0.8mm birch plywood. Version 1 had white metal cast cannon and version 2 has black resin cast 6 pounder and half pounder barrels. Wood strip is the same, but you can specify if you want the laser etched deck to replace the deck planking strips, and photo etched sheets are the same for both versions No photo's of Flirt yet, as the prototype model is about to be started, but it will look a lot like Speedy without the copper plates and no flying jibboom, and missing the four timberheads located on the fore gunwale of Speedy. Lady Isabella will be available as soon as I receive the printed material (manual, plans and box label), the file of which we sent to the printers yesterday. The Fifie, Lady Eleanor will be release almost at the same time.

Cheers, but I have already designed a similar vessel for Amati with the powered version of a Fifie, I am concentrating on 64th scale subjects only for the foreseeable future. Just waiting for the plans, box label and colour instruction manual to be printed now!

That is Flirt's lower deck shown (Master Shipwright version). I will probably do Alert's sister, Rattlesnake at some point, but completely new designs, but no plans for any 48th scale stuff, I want to stick with 64th. The next 6 kits are all planned out and are all 64th. My wife is now packing the Zulu laser cut and PE parts in the boxes, all I am waiting for is the plans, instruction manual and box label..

Hi Vane, The first batches of laser cut for Speedy (including all Master Shipwright kits) were sub contracted to another UK company, who did an OK job, but quite expensive. I didn't get my laser machine until late December, and it took a while to get to grips with it, so I sub contracted another 20 Speedy kits to be laser cut, lest I mess them up. A lot has changed since then, and I would not consider sub contacting laser work out, not now that I know what my machine is capable of. I have never noticed the lines on the edges of that 2mm MDF, I do not think they are there on later kits. I had already made 2 models, one complete and one complete hull using the same laser cut files, and didn't notice those lines along the edges, I just knew the parts fitted together very well and I was happy with all of the fit. At the time, I used the best people I knew, who replaced the Italian sub contractors, as the latter samples were way too sloppy a fit. Regarding where I am now, I have attached some recent laser cut samples I have done myself, for the future Flirt 2mm wood anchor stocks, and also the main anchor body in 2mm MDF. There are no wavy lines on these along the cutting edges. I have also attached a few pics of current state of laser cutting, these are the Flirt MS 2 and 3mm laser cut parts. For the 2mm, I have shown sides of the sheets - I have spent a lot of time to eliminate laser blowback (as evidenced in my previous post), to make the laser sheets as presentable as I can, whilst also fine tuning both laser cutting and engraving, which the special edition Flirt parts should show. ASAT - Regarding Bristol, this was meant to be my second kit. However, because my business plan has changed, and want to produce higher quality kits with higher quality materials, the costs involved for larger kits is much, much more. Initially, Bristol was going have lave laser cut basswood parts and Tanganyika planking. It still may come with Tanganyika (as the stock I have is very good and the colour is perfect), but it will have many sheets of pear or similar, which costs a hell of a lot more than cheap basswood. With this in mind, I need to work up to the larger kits a little slower than originally planned, due to the (much) higher investment costs of even the smallest kits. But what I hope and am aiming for is that all kits will be of similar high quality. Bristol is not scrubbed, as I have already invested a few thousand pounds into the development, it is just delayed, and that delay will ensure Bristol and others that follow will be as perfect as I can make them.

Just a quick update. The Zulu is complete, and just waiting for the printers now. I have attached a pic of the box label, which I finished yesterday. Fifie will not be too far behind, thanks to Jim Hatch, and also thanks to Jim for helping with the Flirt development, which I anticipate will be ready July/August, with a very, very special Master Shipwright limited edition. And while Jim works on Flirt, I can work on another development. I had my new 'pin bed' arrive this morning from the US. The pins are magnetic and they raise the material from the bed to reduce/stop blowback on the underside of the material. Looking forward to trying it out.. Hope you're all keeping safe! Cheers, Chris ETA - I put in a large order for Master-Korabel stuff this week, but was told Russia is in complete lockdown for the next few weeks, so I cannot get any new stock until the world opens for business again...

I know this place does bespoke acrylic cases: https://www.strikingdisplays.co.uk/display-cases/custom-display-cases/custom-sized-display-case.html#DETAILS

No problems at all, it at the very least gives me a chance to explain certain aspects of design/material choices. ETA - I did the top of the ship's pumps for the same reason. I designed them initially in 3-D CAD, but the people who do the casting for me told me the parts were too fine to be cast correctly, they would need 'beefing up'. I preferred to keep the scale appearance, so opted for PE parts instead, as they look better, more 'delicate' when in place and painted. Again, commercial choices were out of the question.

I know that for the Amati 64th scale Victory, I had to choose the smallest belaying pins Amati did. Up until then, they were hardly ever used, as most 'chubby' wooden ones went into the kits or shiny turned brass pins. What I used for Victory I just about got away with, scale wise, as the model is so large anyway. I just about managed to add every belaying pin that the full size ship had. If you look at most commercial models, there are a lot less pins than the real thing, this is because what is used in the kits are comically over size.

If they are painted (or sprayed), the paint gives them a more rounded appearance, kind of like those little Tamiya PE figures for the warship kits.

Hi I am sure I explained my decision to go for PE belaying pins. Top be honest, I have no problem buying standard belaying pins, cost is definitely not an issue, they are so cheap. The problem was one of size, the smallest belaying pin I could buy was a lot larger than the actual scale size pin. Perhaps we are all too used to seeing oversize pins on model kits, and think it is the norm. When drawing the pins from scale drawings, I was initially surprised at just how small these were in 64th scale (As I too am too used the standard fare). This is when I took the decision to make them in PE, for true scale appearance. What is the point of endeavouring to design all parts as accurate as possible, scale-wise, and then using big fat oversize belaying pins. Cost doesn't enter into the equation, as far as I am concerned, I just was as much scale accuracy as my budgets will allow - and costs for standard belaying pins doesn't even come into the equation, so please do not think for a second they are in PE due to cost. In fact, the PE is one of the most expensive materials that go into kits.

Am organising getting this from the US

Hi Guys (and gals), Thank you for all of your very constructive comments, they are all very much appreciated. I have been very busy, but busy doing many things. Regarding the friezes, I will look into this once I need to look into it, and I promise, I will be like a dog with a bone. My gut instinct is telling me that very thin high quality decals would be the best choice to give the impression of a non-kit finished model. I want the models to look as if they were not built from a kit. But I have no idea of costings for such decals yet, and I do not need to think about this for at least another 6 months. I know how I want the finished models to look, I just need to find the right solutions to achieve this. PE works well because it is nigh on fool proof. What I have been concentrating on is getting the two little kits ready (working on manuals right now), and learning more about what is and is not possible with my laser machine. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out a better way of lying the materials on the laser bed. The one that is specific to my machine has the optional honeycomb bed, to which the material rest on during cutting. My issue has been that the honeycomb grid is spaced to close, about 10mm square. This gives the back of the material a 'char grilled steak' effect'. To counter this, I am having a set of conical stand offs made, so the material is only sitting on a few points. I have experimented with some makeshift stand offs, and they seem to work very well. What I want is both sides of the material to look as clean as possible, and this problem is sorted. I have to still lay very thin materials like 0.8mm ply and 0.6 veneers on the honeycomb bed, as they need taping down, but for the rest, I can lift up from the main bed for a much cleaner cut, especially to the underside of the materials. I have looked at some of the earlier cut files for Alert and Speedy, and tweaked where necessary (Alert 3mm MDF now have less tabs on the bulkheads, and the tabs are all located on the top of each sacrificial bulkhead tab). After the two fishing boats are released (all laser cutting and PE has already been done for these), HMS Flirt will follow, I have ordered all of the wood and other materials for 18 very special Master Shipwright versions of this particular kit, and I think that some may appreciate the material chosen. The standard kit is different enough from Speedy that it will have new plans, manual, PE and box - but I do have a very good friend building this for me, so I can concentrate on the next main Vanguard Models kit. Talking of boxes, due to the current situation, I cannot use my usual printer and supplier, so I have had to order plain white corrugated boxes for the Lady Isabella and Lady Eleanor, and will have to paste a large colour label of the box front. And that's it, that's what I have been doing. Fishing boats will be ready for release in around 3 weeks, then Flirt, and in the meantime, I will concentrate on the next main kit. Right now, though, I am knee deep in Abobe InDesign doing the fishing boat manual... One last thing, I have an Easter offer on all kits at the moment, with 10% off kits, including Master-Korabel. Cheers! ETA - regarding flags, they are something I will give more thought to, as I would like to include them at some point, but right now, material costs are high (as I am bringing out three kits very close together, time wise), so need to make every penny count.

Looks perfect to me!

I have always been of the mind that I do not care what materials are used in the making of a scale model as long as the finished model looks accurate. This is one aspect of modelling that I have never changed my mind about - As long as it looks right, I really do not care what the material is under the paint as long as it is stable. Plastic strip is used a lot, especially for thin upper rails, and 1x1 wood can look a little too rough, sometimes even split slightly when curving around the bow area. Ribs for boats are usually done in 0.5x1 plastic strip with the end result being better scale accuracy in most cases. For commercial, you cannot assume too much, and you most certainly cannot assume the modeller is going to want to paint on the frieze work themselves, that would almost equate to a 'semi-kit'. So it's either PE or decals - but not paper. But bare in mind that these are my own thoughts, many others will have differing views, depending on what works best for them.

I first did the thein PE brass friezes with Fly 16 years ago, and it does seem to work well and look good. However, I was always aware that the friezes were painted onto the hull. A few of my future developments have this painted frieze work shown on the original models and in some cases, the plans, too. To my mind, the best solution would be high quality waterslide decals (not paper). I have a couple of contacts for this, and when the time comes for me to look into this further, I will weigh up the options.

That very question is something that I will be looking into for future kits, as I agree, I think having the friezes as decals would be much better and more in keeping with scale accuracy.

Hello Glenn, you are correct. I would never advise or expect any modeller to simply glue a ring to the hull! The rings would always be attached to an eyebolt.

Here is a line drawing taken from Speedy designs, please note the gun ports, they are the same for the pre-cut patterns, as they are taken from the pre-cut patterns. They are the same as the original Admiralty draft. I am assuming optical illusions come into play with some pics. They are all 90 degrees to the keel, vertically, but almost follow the sheer, but not quite, as per the original plans. ETA, Just included the actual laser cut patterns for the gun port parts

Agreed, the stern doesn't look half bad at all, they have made improvements. Regarding parts of the stern interfering with the windows at the centre, just mark and cut some of that area away both on the main keel at the stern and the pattern that intersects it, It will make little difference at all to integral strength, and you can use your LED's.

Rigging, for the most part, is easier than some think. Once all the blocks have been added to the masts and yards, it really is almost as simple as a 'joint the dots' drawing. Once shrouds and ratlines are out of the way, it is 'plain sailing'