chris watton

Thank you, Kevin. You're not too far away from us, too!

Very nice job you have done there.

LOL, Silly me, didn't notice the change in thread title! Have new camera background stuff arriving today, for pics of construction stages...

Will have a look into that. However, the first three kits have already been mapped out, and am pretty sure what the forth and fifth will be (have already started the drawings for the 24, 12 and 6 pounder barrels for the second kit, ready for 3-d printing). For now, I want to stay in the mid-18th Century era, as for me, this period strikes the best balance between beauty and functionality - no OTT decoration (or 'useless froth' and the seamen who would have to endure the splinters from them when in battle, called it), but just enough to be pleasing to the eye, and graceful curves of the top of the gunwales and wales themselves. One thing I realised, I will be able to keep all of the prototype models, as I have no need to send them away to Italy when complete! ETA - When I have some progress pics of the Alert model building, should I start a new thread, do you think?

Hello Chris, Yes, the sail plan is as the AOS book, 6 sails in all, with three being the square sails.

Hi, Thank you for all of the very kind comments, they are very much appreciated help me realise that perhaps I am not as mad as a hatter for doing this. Been a while, but I have been working away and trying to sort everything out that I need. I have just had the laser cut files and photo etch arrive for me to start building the prototype for the cutter Alert (64th scale) - I have attached a pic of the very first dry fitting of parts (about 5 minutes after receiving the parcel..) I originally turned the 6 pounder cannon and half pound swivel gun on the lath, for the masters. Then, I started researching further 3-d printing and better 3-d software packages. The cannon barrels are now 3-d printed (complete with motif). All other fittings which are usually 'off the shelf' types are also drawn in 3-d and then 3-d printed for the masters. I love this method, as it gives me complete control so that every fitting to each model can be bespoke, and match exactly what was on the real thing, rather than an approximation. Also, the octagonal drum winch was initially designed using many parts from both laser cut wood and photo etch, but was worried it would be a little too fiddly for some beginners, so I re-drawn the assembly as one piece and had it 3-d printed. I have drawn all hull, mast and rigging plans for Alert, including sail plans for those who with to rig her with sails. I am not yet skilled enough to draw figureheads and other decoration in 3-d CAD, so have to sub-contract that work out. I did sell my beloved car (last weekend, in fact), so I now have some money to invest in the development and release of the first few kits (I hope). I can say that the next model will be a lot more ambitious than Alert, being roughly the same size as something like Vanguard. As soon as kits are ready, they will be released. Cheers, Chris

Hi Jax, Yes, the sausage dogs are still here, all present and correct!

Thank you guys for the replies, all are very much appreciated (just got back from work..) OK, I plan to work on the Alert cutter first, followed by a mid-18th century brig, heavy frigate ( I have three frigates in mind altogether) and then a very nice looking 5th rate. That is as far as I can go at the moment. I have found a laser cutting company in the UK, and have plenty of viable options for the PE work. Will probably end up selling my car to invest further if the first model does OK. Not sure how to go about getting the 'off the shelf' fittings like blocks, rigging, ladders etc. yet... The models with gun ports will have the new way of incorporating the gun port frames into the hull, like Victory and Bellona - I was never 100% happy with the pre cut gun port patterns as you only have to get one side slightly off and nothing will line up properly, plus you then have to build up the inner edges to simulate the correct thickness of each port. I first did the pre-cut patterns for gun ports on the Cruiser 20 years ago! It will add cost to the kits, as there is a lot more laser cutting and a lot more parts involved, but at least I know that every kit will have their gun ports always in their correct positions. About the Chinese and copying stuff, not much I can do about that, except not sell anything to them! Hollowneck, I received your message, thank you, I will have a good read of that tomorrow (or later today), when I am less tired. Cheers, Chris

Hi Jan, I did state that I want to develop subjects that I like and have always wanted to design and build, at least for now. If I started off by doing obscure subjects I have little interest in, then I would be putting myself in the same position as I was before, working for someone else. The problem with later period ships of the Nineteenth Century is the fact that most are just plain dull by comparison to their earlier relatives (more functional). Plus there is still a rich vein of subjects to tap into from the 17th and 18th Centuries. I think there is a lack of steam ship/transition model kits for a reason, they do not sell, not attractive enough to most, I guess. I don't mind smaller scales, as using PE, they can be as detailed as something twice the scale, but there is little difference in production costs in 2 different size kits with the same amount of detail, as cutting times and materials are roughly the same. So, if you see, say, a frigate of the same type in two different sizes and both cost roughly the same, which one will most always go for? I guess you could dumb the kit down to make if cheaper, but then what separates your products from everyone else's? We are a niche within a niche, and have to chose carefully... Cheers, Chris

Yes, that was the last model I developed fully for Amati, I figured it would compliment their Bounty. Please take note, I have no further dealings with Amati, so have as much clue as anyone else regarding release dates of their kits. For the cutter kit, should it be named Alert or Sprightly?

You may be right, it is about the same length as Victory isn't it, and that model in 64th is an absolute behemoth! Anyway, I intend to focus on British subjects for the first lot..

I think that would be quite popular, I have the Anatomy of the Ship book for that, may have a set of plans for it too, given to me by a friend in the US.

Cheers I had considered a Leda class frigate, but decided on another class of heavy frigate due to the abundance of research material available (and I like the name). If things go well, I may end up doing quite a few classes of frigate, as they're great for the (competent) novice, intermediate and expert alike. But am getting ahead of myself, the plans I already have haven't been scanned and put onto my thumb drive yet..

I have no idea, I have no contact with Amati now, so could not tell what's going on with that kit. My wife suggested that, I have done that for Black Pearl and a large Elizabethan galleon I did for Hachette - so that's possible. I would need to have at least a dozen of my own kits out before even thinking about conversion kits. Are there any decent drawings for Nonsuch? If things work out, I would love to do a Royal George (1740's). A nice period, not too gaudy and not too plain..

Thank you, I would think that doing a cutter or similar would be a good idea as one of the initial kits. I have a lot of info for the cutter Alert, but that is clinker planked, but I guess if it were aimed more at a beginner, carvel planked would be OK (and the people that are more experienced could do the clinker planking). Just a though..

Thanks guys, really appreciate the positive comments - at one point I did wonder if I wanted to design anything again! I now know it is period ships I enjoy designing and building the most, so I guess I'll stick with that. I have my copies of several ship lines plans being digitised right now, should be ready in a couple of days for me to pick up. I will probably start with something more simple, and then something larger and more involved. I will keep you updated - I have been away for a while because I was simply burnt out with designing, more significantly, designing stuff I have zero interest in. Needed a little time to re-evaluate what I was going to do. The conclusion is that, I know how to design these things with my eyes closed, so why not design subjects I enjoy the most, and then hopefully sell them to like-minded modellers. Cheers, Chris

Thank you! It is both exciting and scary at the same time...

Hi, It has been a long time, but thought I would update you all. I no longer work for Amati, I finished in May this year (No animosity involved). I currently work part time for a prototype model company and also do some work for Sergio Marletti, the man I connected with so well when he was design manager at Amati. After some thought and a five month break, I am thinking about designing my own model range of period ships under a new kit range name. I will only design what I think people will like (and me, of course), and will make them as detailed as possible. I have received plans from the NMM for several subjects that piqued my interest, so very early days.

For a first wooden ship build, you are doing a stunning job. Very well done, it looks great!

I am not offering the 1765 version of the kit. I don't think I have ever stated I was. The truth is that if that version was offered, no matter how much aesthetically pleasing it would look, it would not sell well enough to justify the extra development costs. Anyway, I have been working on Prince, and while waiting for the new carvings to arrive, I made up the new spiral staircases. The old ones were Amati fittings, and each set was exactly the same. I designed the new sets to reflect the ones on the Science Museum contemporary model, with the correct number of steps and decoration for the side rails (laser cut and PE parts). Everything on the deck is dry-fitted only, and nothing is finished or varnished yet..

OK, I asked Amati about the Rob Roy (Scottish fishing vessel), and it is almost ready for release: Very early next year, January or February they hope.

It should be, I finished that ages ago! I will ask next week.

Hi Kevin, No, it was a commission for Krick, who was at the time, a German distributer. It was just a bog-standard Panart kit. This was 6 years before I started to design the 72nd scale Victory (I left before the model was finished, but most of the designs were already done, IIRC). I didn't design Diana until 1998, which was the first wooden kit.

I don't know if I have ever posted the following pics before, and they're not very good being scans. The Sovereign of the Seas was the 4th wooden model I had built at this time (1992, in my early 20's)! I remember saving each week until I could afford it, and went off to the model shop to buy it (£547). I have always loved the lines of the 17th Century ships, and planned to go to town on this model. The base model was fine, but the wales did not strictly follow the ones above, and I know the top of the bulwarks curved more or less the same as the wales, so much kit-bashing ensued, and I did what I could for a relative beginner (before this I had started out with a Billings Will Everard, then a Billings Bounty, which just had a block of wood supplied for the single boat, with the modeller expected to carve it out him/herself. I then built the new kit (at the time) Superb, a Mantua kit, followed by Sergel's SOTS). I think it took me a year and a half in my spare time, but I loved doing all of the research and righting the wrongs of the kit, the stern and rigging especially. I am sure I used only 50% of the supplied castings which were, on the whole, terrible and required much fettling to make them fit perfectly. Those are the only pictures I have of this model, I just remember really enjoying the build and research process. This was the first Victory I made, it was for Krick in Germany in 1995, so they had a display model of the then new Panart 78th scale Victory, so I couldn't change it that much. Again, they are scans, so quality is shocking... Can't believe that was over 20 years ago, where does the time go!

Excellent work, very neat! I have always liked this kit, and from a period rarely covered.