chris watton
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Everything posted by chris watton
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I have just had an email back for the laser cut people. The 2mm was specified by me as MDF (non grain) parts, but they arrived to me in 2mm limewood. I am having these parts (17, 18 and 19) re-cut in the material I originally specified. When I receive them, please let me know if you would like these as replacements, and I will send them out. Thank you, Chris- 335 replies
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- alert
- vanguard models
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I had 100 kits worth made. When I need to have another load done, I shall change the parts so that the end slots on the stern frames are 'L' shaped, rather than 'U' shape slots. You could cut off the ends so you have parts that look like the drawing - but they should fit if you slot them into the rear most bulkhead and then slot that bulkhead in place.
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I have added a small amendment in my covering letter I put in each ALERT kit, concerning the stern counter/board frames: "Please note that parts 17, 18 and 19 should be slotted into the rear most bulkhead (the one that is angled) before the rear most bulkhead is slotted in place in the keel." The 2mm sheet was meant to be 2mm MDF (this is what I had when building my model), but for some reason, the production sheets are all in limewood. This is great, but the 2mm MDF is always 2mm, which is why I chose the material for these parts.
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OK, just sorted out a few more pics, mostly from the manual (There are 917 construction pics and well over the same amount for line drawings) The first is the orlop, when I started the build, I was still waiting for the many sheets of PE to be delivered, so couldn't add the gratings (all PE so I could design to exact size). Some pics show the model a little rough around the edges, this is because it is before any final model touch ups..
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Here are the three deck levels, but the assembly starts at the orlop level. I know some baulk at the thought of using MDF (I did to begin with, if I am honest), but it is the perfect non-varying thickness of quality MDF that allowed me to think of such designs. Plywood thickness is never constant, if I used that, this assembly would have been a disaster, some hulls may end up being a few mm higher than they should, and some a lot lower, as ply thickness can vary from 5.6-6.4 for 6mm thickness. The structural integrity of this hull is very strong, plus all gun ports already worked into the hull structure, so no guessing or marking out needed. The way this is designed is that you can build up to one deck level and detail it very easily without obstruction, and when complete, build up the next level and do the same, like a layer cake. ETA - Even all of the gun port sills and gun port lids were pre-cut to fit each individual gun port.
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Here is a drawing of the stern, with all the PE parts in place. In the kit, there is an option for how you want to show the windows. You can have them open, part open or closed. If some are open, you can peer through them and just make out the deck detail along the hull. The balustrades in between the window tiers have the exact same number as the real thing. I taken a lot of pictures of the stern when at Portsmouth, and imported the best into my CAD program, and then traced the outlines of the decoration so it should be all a near exact match for the real thing. I know that one version of Victory has these parts all out of proportion, I didn't want anything to stand out that may be wrong.. Also, on my visit, I noted that the poop screen bulkheads have hinges at the top, presumably to fold the bulkheads up and stowed under the poop deck when cleared for action. I threw out the old version of the bulkheads I had already made up and replaced them with the new ones with better detail.
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Those stern transom frames were originally the height of the stern transom top edge, but they are sacrificial above deck level, I shortened them so they'd be less inclined to break before time.
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I had the Tanganyika wood strip arrive yesterday, so Alert is available with two prices, the 'premium' with the pear and box wood, and the new version with the Tanganyika strip, which is £20 less. The MK shipment should arrive next week, so their kits and blocks will be available on my site. I think I have priced everything quite reasonably. This week, I have been mostly doing the Speedy mast, yard and rigging drawings (6 x 50x70cm plan sheets), which will then be transferred from CAD into Adobe, where I will add text. I will be receiving the Speedy prototype parts (laser and PE sheets) next week, too, so gonna get even busier!
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Don't quote me, but I think there may be some real movement regarding Amati releasing the 64th scale Victory. I would be so happy to see this released - I no longer work there, but this was two years work for me, and would be fantastic to see it available to buy.
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I will do the figures in 48th, but the first lot will be 64th and 72nd. I have to pay to get the files in the different sizes 3-d printed, which isn't cheap. I suspect I would be lucky to cover the costs of just the printing, even before I have to pay for the resin mounds and castings, for 48th scale. But I do intend to extend to the larger scale at some point. If all goes well..
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Amati own the rights, they paid me to design it for them, so it is 100% Amati's kit. I have got more pics, also, if you do a search on MSW, there is a long thread that is full of development updates with lots of Victory pictures I took. I have added the one with my step daughter (she'll be pleased I dug that one up), so you can get an idea of the size. Most other pics are in the large format (for the building manual), so too big to post. ETA - I have added a couple of (very bad) pics I took when I delivered the Victory model to Amati, she is sitting next to Vanguard.
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Overall, she is 1.6 metres long. It dominated my large dining table when finished her. There are no dummy barrels on this one, all fully detailed carriages with full length cannon. There should be a thread with a lot more pics somewhere on here. I do not work for Amati any longer, so cannot tell you when it will be released. What I do know is that I did complete everything, designs, instructions, manual, plans. I think Amati are worried the kit will cost too much, but I suspect it would still sell. But, as I said, I no longer work there, it may be an idea to email them, asking for it to be released - it would be nice, as that development was two full years of my life. Even took a trip to Portsmouth to take my own research pics.
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Hopefully Amati will release my new design for Victory, which I completed around 4 years ago. The Amati version is fully detailed inside and out.
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Cheers Jim, I am having them done in 64th and 72nd for now, with possibly 48th later down the line
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Just had the renders of my Lord Nelson emailed to me for approval. Am quite happy with this..
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Thank you, Gary. I am so pleased the external sleeves are doing their job. A nice company made them for me, after giving dimensions. I received them two days later. The third kit is something that my head has been telling me to do, but my heart wants me to do Bristol a bigger 'wow' kit), but at this stage, the one I have chosen makes more sense, as it will be pretty...
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Absolutely! Have decided of a slight change of tack for third Vanguard Models kit, Bristol will now be the forth kit.
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Just thought I would mention that I have had talks with the nice people at Master-Korabel about their fantastic range of kits and fittings/blocks, and am very happy to announce that Vanguard Models will be the UK stockist for their fine products. I should have some stock arrive next week, with details going on our website soon.
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OK, we just had our sleeve boxes arrive. These are 6mm thick double walled cardboard - all kits will now be shipped in these:
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Hi Guys, thank you for all of your comments. I will say that this venture is a new experience for me, doing stuff that others did in the past like putting together the manuals, box art, kit packing etc. We will get better with experience, as some aspects of the kit I am doing for the first time, and is one hell of a learning curve. The main priority right now is box strengthening and making sure all kits get to the customer in perfect condition.
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Thanks guys Of all the worries I had yesterday, damaged kits wasn't one of them. I was worried whether you guys would like the kit when you opened the box, never thought for a second they would arrive so beat up! Also, it's mad that the US and Canadian guys receive their kits before the UK orders, I do not understand that! I should be getting a quote for thick cardboard sleeves sometime today. I did have some tiny boxes arrive today, for the figures, looks like these will be quite safe. ETA - the Alert manual is a3 size, I chose this size because I knew I could just about fit the Alert 64th scale profiles on this size, so I could have everything, instruction and plans-wise all in one manual. Plus, I always hated how small the text kept getting in new kits, needing a microscope to read anything - I wanted to redress this... Speedy will probably have an A4 manual and separate plan sheets for profiles and mast, yard and rigging, as that's a little bigger.
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Just got back from work, and am shocked at the state of the box and contents! I know we (well, my wife..) took an age packing each box carefully. I will have to look at adding a sleeve. If anyone has damaged parts, I will gladly send replacements, so don't worry about that. I have saved some of those pictures and will fire off an email to UPS right now.
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I have had 50 x 1:64 scale cast resin Cochrane figures arrive, but am waiting for a professional painter to paint a figure for me, for picture purposes. Plus I need to find suitable boxes for the ones that will be sold separately. There are two castings, the main figure and the sword. I am also having a Lord Nelson figure sculpted (for Bristol) right now. I will have 50 of each scale cast when it's ready (64th and 72nd).
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I ordered enough strip to cover 100 kits, so no extras right now. I did then order the same amount of cherry strip, which I will add as an option at some point. (or, as mentioned, if anyone reads this on here and wants to order one, just let me know). I wanted to make sure I had enough second planking strips for 100 Alerts and 100 Speedy's. I had to order a lot to keep the unit price down, but even so, the cost of pear and boxwood was still very high, and is the reason for the £180 price tag (should be a little more, as I changed the winches from metal to cast resin, but I swallowed those costs and put it down to experience) I am trying to secure some 'standard' wood strip (walnut and/or Tanganyika) and add this as an option for a £155 version of Alert. But I need to make sure I can get it before anything else. Once I have more money coming in, I will order more strip for sale but right now, I need to concentrate on the actual kits.
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