Chris Watton and Vanguard Models news and updates

[chris watton]

Just had the renders of my Lord Nelson emailed to me for approval. Am quite happy with this..

 

[jimvanlan99]

Wow, Chris, that is incredible.  Very nice job.  You have probably said before, but I forget.  To what scale are your figures?  Jim 

[chris watton]

Just now, jimvanlan99 said:

Wow, Chris, that is incredible.  Very nice job.  You have probably said before, but I forget.  To what scale are your figures?  Jim 

Cheers Jim, I am having them done in 64th and 72nd for now, with possibly 48th later down the line

[Matrim]

Lovely, I must admit when I finished my Bounty I was considering  back to my potential scratch built Amphion but may squeeze an Alert kit in first (my niece's daughter has been begging me for a model as well)

[James H]

30 minutes ago, Matrim said:

...but may squeeze an Alert kit in first (my niece's daughter has been begging me for a model as well)

 

You know it makes sense  

[captain_hook]

On 6/25/2019 at 10:37 AM, chris watton said:

Absolutely!

 

Have decided of a slight change of tack for third Vanguard Models kit, Bristol will now be the forth kit.

Ahhhh!! Can‘t wait to see a Bristol kit (and to get one).

[Landrotten Highlander]

Love the look of these figures.  Can they be produced at 1:48, since these pictures are computer renderings I think it should be possible.

[chris watton]

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..

[Landrotten Highlander]

Let me know when you do, I will purchase a number of them.

[chris watton]

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!

[Dave B]

Hi, I'm just curious about how long it has taken for people to receive Alert who live in locations of the Midwest or further west in the USA? I live in Missouri, order placed June 12th and nothing has arrived yet but that may be perfectly normal. 17 days since I received confirmation that my order was complete from Vanguard Models. Thanks for any others experience with shipping times to my area of the US.

 

Dave

[JeffT]

32 minutes ago, Dave B said:

Hi, I'm just curious about how long it has taken for people to receive Alert who live in locations of the Midwest or further west in the USA? I live in Missouri, order placed June 12th and nothing has arrived yet but that may be perfectly normal. 17 days since I received confirmation that my order was complete from Vanguard Models. Thanks for any others experience with shipping times to my area of the US.

 

Dave

I'm in Utah and received mine in about a week.

[Dave B]

Thanks Jeff. Chris has already contacted me and it's all taken care of! Excellent customer service!

[chris watton]

8 minutes ago, SpyGlass said:

Blow he beat me to it!!  Had me worried for a bit - I had NO idea that MO was a short form for Missouri

Mighty Mo!

[chris watton]

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.

[Kurt Johnson]

Chris,

Is the part going to be changed then?

 

Kurt

[AnobiumPunctatum]

On 6/27/2019 at 5:41 PM, chris watton said:

Cheers Jim, I am having them done in 64th and 72nd for now, with possibly 48th later down the line

That are good news. I will wait for the 1/48 scale figures. Have you also planned some sailors and gun crews?

[chris watton]

8 hours ago, Kurt Johnson said:

Chris,

Is the part going to be changed then?

 

Kurt

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.

Edited July 3, 2019 by chris watton

[chris watton]

Just had some of the Speedy prototype parts arrive. A lot more parts than Alert, and 15 bulkheads..

 

I had one PE sheet missing, so will take a pic of the brass sheets when I receive, but the copper sheets look fine. For the nail heads, I copied exactly a picture I have of an original Victory copper plate.

 

I have tried to make no compromises with this kit, and bought my own supply of 0.8mm ply for the more critical parts. below is not all of the laser sheets, I have the laser engraved deck too. I think I will separate the 1mm wood gunwale into two parts per side, to minimise the chance of it breaking.

 

I have since removed the holes around the rims of the lower tops, as for the period I am basing the model (1800-1802), crowsfeet would not have been rigged.

 

I have even included a few hatchets in the 0.4mm PE, as I know they used these to remove tangled rigging when in battle, and Speedy was in battle a lot!

Edited July 3, 2019 by chris watton

[chris watton]

OK, have took half a night from work, to continue with Speedy. From tomorrow, I shall start adding pictures of the development, and you guys can tell me if you like the way it's going, or if there's anything I should change (within reason, don't ask for all exotic wood parts..)

 

I have already build up one Speedy hull up to the second planking stage, and all was fine. I will now work on this second prototype, which will (hopefully) iron out any little things I may have missed from the first build. I will build this second prototype up to adding the pre-cut gun port patterns, as once that is done, all major structural work is finished, and I shall continue with the first prototype until complete.

 

I may add another two spacer tabs to the stem post, where the planking slots into, based on what I have seen on the Alert build, to ensure there are no problems with this area.

[chris watton]

OK, I have put together the basic hull structure, and changed a couple of things since my first build. All of the MDF parts are glued together (superglue gel mostly for a 'speed build').

 

Everything has gone together fine, no problems. I have changed the stern lower counter and upper stern board. before, the upper pattern was to be added once planked, but I realised just how fragile those stern frames are, more so since I changed them since my first build, to be less unobtrusive. With this in mind, I now show both the stern counter and stern board glued in place as soon as possible, to give the very light and fragile stern area some rigidity. I have also moved these two parts over from the 1mm wood sheet to the 0.8mm plywood sheet, so they have extra strength. The lower decks are the correct height and also have the correct sheers.

 

I will add another two tabs to the stem post to minimise it splitting.

 

I have also attached a pic of my first build, which is in pear, in the process of being sanded after second planking was complete.

[druxey]

Some interesting design details there, Chris.

[chris watton]

34 minutes ago, druxey said:

Some interesting design details there, Chris.

Thanks! Just a continuation of where I was heading when designing for Amati. Although I am still unsure about the slot in the stem pattern, I am wondering if it will cause more headache for modellers down the line with complaints about them splitting. The upside of it is the fact the planking at the bow follows the same line as that on the original plans. But I shall see how I get on when adding the ply gun port patterns. I want people to enjoy the building experience, not be frustrated with it.

 

The only things I changed from the first prototype parts are the stern frames and order of fixing the upper stern board/transom, and the addition of a door opening on the 9th bulkhead, in case anyone wants to detail the lower decks.

Edited July 5, 2019 by chris watton

[James H]

Great to see this one come together so quickly. It must only have been a few hours since you said you were starting this 🤣

[Gregory]

Just a thought Chris, you might consider a built up stem of 2 or more pieces where you can get the grain to follow the long axis as much as possible.

You are way ahead of me in doing this sort of thing, but I am just learning with a laser cutter, and experimenting with fabricating some embellishments to one or more of the kits I am working on.

 

One of them is the Corel Resolution kit, that comes with the typical veneer stem, keel and stern..

 

 

I orient my pieces to align with the grain of the stock I'm using.

   

Still in the early prototype stage for me, but I hope to improve as I go along..

 

[chris watton]

9 minutes ago, Gregory said:

Just a thought Chris, you might consider a built up stem of 2 or more pieces where you can get the grain to follow the long axis as much as possible.

You are way ahead of me in doing this sort of thing, but I am just learning with a laser cutter, and experimenting with fabricating some embellishments to one or more of the kits I am working on.

 

One of them is the Corel Resolution kit, that comes with the typical veneer stem, keel and stern..

 

 

I orient my pieces to align with the grain of the stock I'm using.

   

Still in the early prototype stage for me, but I hope to improve as I go along..

 

Thanks. I did actually do something similar with the Amati Fifie model I did a decade ago, but this could be done as the keel was all one part. I did think about making the stem from 3x1mm wood parts, but the variations in thicknesses may be too much over time, plus expecting all modellers to align three almost identical parts up perfectly (full pattern in middle with outer patterns 1.5mm shorter at hull edge) is maybe a big ask. The chances of the part being glued in a position that is slightly off angle are higher, which would be accentuated by the prow pattern when this is glued after planking is complete. I wanted the outer prow to be separate as I know how vulnerable this 3mm thick part can be when planking and sanding - but at the same time, a stable basis for the front planking, which is always a slight issue.

 

 

[chris watton]

Right, just gave the 0.8mm ply gunport patterns a good soak and just clamped one side into position without glue to check fit. Looks fine, less than a mm to tale off at the stern.

 

Once both sides are securely glued in place, the structure should be a pretty solid base on which to start the planking, and due to the amount of bulkheads, the sleek hull form should also be perfectly kept.

[chris watton]

I kept the cannon tackle eyebolt holes in the patterns as drilling them out before fully planking the outer hull works fine. Wonder if I should add the location holes for the inner bulwark cleats?

Edited July 5, 2019 by chris watton

[chris watton]

As this is quite a small model, the topmast cross trees would very fragile in wood, even ply once the hole has been laser cut. If it was to be cut in wood, the cross trees would have had to be drawn too over sized. To remedy this, they are now in photo etched brass form, and much stronger to take the topgallant shrouds.

 

There is a problem with the jibboom rest though (left of the picture), which needs to be sorted..

[Kevin]

wonderful watching this come together