Chris Watton and Vanguard Models news and updates

[Morgan]

Hi Chris,

 

This is certainly the type of option I’d be interested in.

 

Gary

[chris watton]

I did have to simplify the heart blocks, as they originally had the correct number of semi-circles/notches for the lanyard rope to fit into. however, the laser was spending too much time in that area (not that I mind the time), and so the parts were more burnt that I thought was acceptable. They are very small, however, and when in place, these notches are hidden completely anyway.

I will also start to laser etch the part number into the structural parts.

[Vane]

Those lazers are increadable! Putting modelling to a New level.  How much do they actually costs?

[mtaylor]

Looks great, Chris.  You got the hang of running the laser quickly.  Can I ask which brand and the laser power?

 

As for the etching... low, low, low power and speed will need to pretty fast.

[chris watton]

Cheers guys, and Happy Christmas!

 

The machine wasn't cheap (hence the business loan) due to the quality laser tube, plus you do not just buy the machine, you also need the fume extractor and special compressor for the airflow. I also bought a special airflow nozzle that focuses the air better, so the cutting area on the parts should look cleaner. But I haven't attached this yet, as it requires me to manual focus rather than auto focus the laser.

 

I am thinking of perhaps added those laser cut pear ladders in with the Speedy kit, rather than the standard Amati fittings, if I can fit them on the 1mm pear sheet..

[DelF]

Well, Father Christmas came good and I found the Master Shipwright version of HMS Speedy under the tree yesterday (hardly surprising as I'd ordered it - it was just my wife who'd insisted I wait until Christmas Day - the meanie!).

 

I can't remember the last time I felt such a sense of anticipation when unwrapping a present and the thrill was worth the wait. The quality of the kit was all I hoped for, and more. I got the box out again first thing this morning and have been drooling over it for another hour or so. Everything just seems so well designed and presented, from the 10 plan sheets and comprehensive manual, to the neatly packaged fittings, all with labels cross-referenced to the parts list. 

 

In one of my more anal moments examining the parts list I added up the photo-etch numbers and found there were 1,433 of these metal components alone.  The quality and detail in these pe fittings is excellent. 

 

I can't wait to get started. My only concern is that I'm already part way through two other builds and I want to finish at least one of them before starting the Speedy so that I can give it due attention.

 

A huge thank you to Chris Watton for designing and producing such a superb kit. He deserves every success.

 

Derek

[chris watton]

Thank you, Derek, I am so pleased you like the kit. Alert (which is being brought up to Speedy fittings & material standards) was like a trial by fire for me, and Speedy is the result of more experience and more supplier contacts.

 

There will be a new version of Speedy soon. I am just waiting for the pearwood blocks. I am sure I have mentioned before, but this will be the main version, which has pearwood laser cut parts and planking, and drop down options for the Cochrane book and pear blocks. This makes the kit like the original Master Shipwright versions, with the only difference being the second planking is pear and not box. Also, the new kits will have the new laser cut ladder kits in pearwood, which have been designed (did these yesterday)! to fit exactly for the two Speedy companions.

 

I have not had chance to continue the development of my third kit for a while, as I have had a lot to sort out and re-organise, for the better in the long run I hope - no longer having to pay someone else for the laser cutting is a huge plus..

[chris watton]

Forgot to mention,

 

The original Alert kits (limewood laser cut and cast metal cannon) are now on sale for a set time, the pearwood planking version being £145 and the Tanganyika version £125. Have just done a small update to the home page of my website to advertise this. 

[Vane]

1 hour ago, DelF said:

Well, Father Christmas came good and I found the Master Shipwright version of HMS Speedy under the tree yesterday (hardly surprising as I'd ordered it - it was just my wife who'd insisted I wait until Christmas Day - the meanie!).

 

I can't remember the last time I felt such a sense of anticipation when unwrapping a present and the thrill was worth the wait. The quality of the kit was all I hoped for, and more. I got the box out again first thing this morning and have been drooling over it for another hour or so. Everything just seems so well designed and presented, from the 10 plan sheets and comprehensive manual, to the neatly packaged fittings, all with labels cross-referenced to the parts list. 

 

In one of my more anal moments examining the parts list I added up the photo-etch numbers and found there were 1,433 of these metal components alone.  The quality and detail in these pe fittings is excellent. 

 

I can't wait to get started. My only concern is that I'm already part way through two other builds and I want to finish at least one of them before starting the Speedy so that I can give it due attention.

 

A huge thank you to Chris Watton for designing and producing such a superb kit. He deserves every success.

 

Derek

Just do like me... put the rest on hold and fire away 😉

[ccoyle]

Well done, Chris. Having an upgraded wood option (e.g. pear) is something I think kit builders have long yearned for.

[Vane]

One interesting thing would be to see some "comparison photos" of how the difference in different wood will look like. It doesnt need to be the full ships but just something which will explain the difference in style using Tanganyika, pear,  box and walnut. 

[Vane]

A question to Chris, how authentic is the various of paint and colours you have used on the Speedy? Should we blindly follow ur way or is there any things that can be done differently without messing the ship up?

[chris watton]

2 hours ago, Vane said:

A question to Chris, how authentic is the various of paint and colours you have used on the Speedy? Should we blindly follow ur way or is there any things that can be done differently without messing the ship up?

As far as I know, there are no records of how Speedy appeared, colour-wise. For a while, she was painted to look like a Danish ship to fool enemies, so you could paint her any colour and it probably wouldn't be wrong (within reason...)

 

OK, yesterday we finished putting up the insulation layer in the laser workshop, and have just taken some pics (before shiplap is applied to interior), so it looks like a set off a low budget '80's Roger Corman sci-fi film..

 

I have now cut a few sets of Speedy upgrade ladders in pearwood, which I have taken a pic of. Also, I have done a few samples of cleats. The keval cleats are done in 72nd and 64th, and the staghorns I have done in three sizes, 20, 23 and 26mm long. I will sell these in pairs. I have done a 'yard cleat pack', is this a good idea? I know I hate having to cut each cleat from wood strip, and then having to make sure they all look the same. I have located the retention tabs to they are easy to file down, and none are on the contact/gluing surface, so should sit flush to whatever they are glued to. Would people be interested in that kind of thing, do you think?

 

I will laser cut the kevals and staghorns today, and should be on the site to buy at some point during the next week or so..

 

Oh, also sorted out how to do the laser engraved decks (many pieces of plywood were sacrificed to get that far...), and have laser engraved the Speedy deck complete with small treenails.

[Sea Hoss]

Great looking parts!

[Malcolm Greig]

Cleat pack great idea. Deck looks fantastic.  Extremely impressive effort getting the laser producing items of this standard only weeks after purchase. 

 

regards

 

Malcolm  

[chris watton]

Cheers guys,

 

This is what I have done for the cleat pack, I have laser cut 8 sets, with each set containing what is on the picture

 

And the keval cleat I can sell in pairs (1.5mm pear wood)

 

Still working out the best way to do the open and closed heart blocks...

[Morgan]

Nice are you still thinking of doing something similar with the ladders as hinted at above if so I’ll head up the que with an order 😊

 

Gary

[chris watton]

Have already done the simple assembly drawing for the ladders. I think I will have to offer these as a 'Made To Order' service, as the steps cannot be changed, length wise. With that in mind, I will ask the customer to tell me the width of the hatch the ladder assembly is to be fitted into and I can then draw the custom width and laser cut them, so they fit perfectly.

 

ETA - Speedy ladders are ready, I just need to add them to the website. I am awaiting the MK pearwood blocks to offer the new version of Speedy. I have mentioned before, I am sure, but the 'standard' Speedy kit will be offered on pearwood laser cut parts only, with option extras for the Cochrane book, pearwood blocks and the pearwood ladders. The price for the base pearwood kit will be £285, with the remaining £240 basswood kits being the only ones I have left in stock, as I plan to do all kits only in pearwood for laser cutting from now on.

Edited December 30, 2019 by chris watton

[Morgan]

I’d buy in to that approach.

 

Gary

[chris watton]

Did some more work on the heart blocks, and feel they are almost there, just a little more tweaking.

Also, I have been thinking about doing a couple of small beginners kits, but easy to build and using quality materials, like pearwood laser cut parts and planking, and laser etched deck. I made a little start on one..

 

And finally, yesterday I was seeing what I could do with engraving options, and I did a few coasters!

[VTHokiEE]

You’re having way too much fun right now 😁. I’m so glad the cutter is working out for you! It seems like it is really helping to open your business opportunities up!

[chris watton]

Cheers Special mast hoops? They may be too fragile laser cut in wood, and I have no boxwood sheet. I may have some PE mast hoops from an Alert, but will have to look to make sure.

 

I have cut a few sets each of the finalised closed and open heart blocks. I am now happy how they fit together, and are pretty fool proof. The sizes I have done are (in height):

 

Open heart:

5.5mm

6.5mm

7.5mm

8.5mm

9mm

 

Closed heart:

5mm

6mm

7mm

8mm

9mm

 

They will be sold as a set of four, from £1.50 for the smaller blocks and £2 for the larger ones.

[VTHokiEE]

4 minutes ago, chris watton said:

Cheers Special mast hoops? They may be too fragile laser cut in wood, and I have no boxwood sheet. I may have some PE mast hoops from an Alert, but will have to look to make sure.

I quickly made some out of 1/16” basswood on a very overpowered 80w laser. I would bet with a weaker laser and some practice/tuning I would’ve probably had better results:

 

[chris watton]

11 hours ago, Dubz said:

I don't wanna hijack this thread too much, what I would need (in pear) would be a modification of Chucks Mast Hoops. I have to install the hoops with a finished rig so I need them in two parts I can prepare off board (sand and drill) and glue and pin "on board". Reason is that I might change my mind about hoops or rope (as Marquardt shows it) for the mainsail on my Sherbourne.

I will start a new thread soon anyway, as this one's getting quite long. How many and what size/outer/inner diameter and wood thickness, I an guessing 2mm?

[DelF]

I couldn't resist the temptation after receiving the Speedy kit for Christmas. Despite promising myself that I wouldn't start the new model until I'd finished at least one of my other two current projects, I soon gave up pretending I could keep my hands off it and plunged into the build. I've started a log here Derek's Speedy Log. Early days yet and I don't want to repeat what I've already said in the log, but I'm already struck by just how much I'm enjoying constructing a kit that seems to require little or no bashing. For years I've been moving away from pure kits towards scratch building and for a long time I thought one of my next projects would be a complete scratch build (with Chuck's Winchelsea Group as a significant step along that route). However I think a lot of my dissatisfaction with kits is that so many are poorly designed and constructed, historically inaccurate and with poor quality materials and woeful instructions, that you have to make up for their deficiencies with a great deal of scratch building and research. The end result is very satisfying, but while you're actually turning boxwood rulers into hundreds of blocks (for example) it can get tedious, to say the least. 

 

Although it's early days I've found Chris's kit to be the opposite of the ones I've described above. So far it's been a joy to build, everything fitting together perfectly with clear instructions and photographs. I've actually found working on Speedy for the last couple of days very relaxing, to the extent that has motivated me to crack on with my other projects as I wait for glue to dry on the new model.  

 

It remains to be seen if I still feel so positive when I start on the planking!

 

Derek

[chris watton]

@Dubz, I will see what I can do over the weekend (Monday-Thursday I work full time, so no time to set up a new job on machine until then). Plus, I just realised, I am awaiting delivery of more 3mm pear sheet, as I have used it all.

 

DelF - Thank you! I have learned a lot over the past year, and have now built up a good group of people and suppliers. Plus I will try and constantly improve what is already released. Alert being a good example, and I have now started to laser engrave part numbers on the main structural laser sheets.

 

If anyone is interested, my wife tells me we have enough parts for one more Master Shipwright kit, so if anyone would like this, please contact me, as it will not be going on the website to buy.

[chris watton]

Slow going this week, a full time job really is a hindrance!

 

This week, I finalised the open and closed heart blocks and have now laser cut a few sets of each and are now available to buy:

 

https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product-category/fittings

 

They range in size from 6-11mm, 6 sizes for each open and closed heart block and all cut in 1mm pear wood, 4 blocks per set.

 

After I did those, I carried on honing the designs for the little beginners kit, and have now started to build and take pics of the prototype model. Am hoping to get this finished pretty quickly but, again, my day job is still a huge barrier to progress..

 

ETA - Forget to add, the new Speedy and Alert are now fully updated and all options to buy with the kits available. All new kit laser cutting is now done in-house.

Edited January 12, 2020 by chris watton

[stuglo]

For your hard work and product you deserve the thanks of all the ship modelling community - 

[Old Collingwood]

Any chance you might do an updated  Vic  kit.

 

OC.

[chris watton]

4 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Any chance you might do an updated  Vic  kit.

 

OC.

I have been very much involved in the development of two large Victory kits, I have to be honest and say that I do not want to be involved in another. I have done that one to death. I would very much like to develop a 64th scale model of Royal George of 1756 at some point though. But no more 1805 Victory models.