Amati 1:64 HMS Victory - LATEST NEWS

[Ronald-V]

Really exciting to see a build log on the forum here!

[James H]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

only this time i think it might be to expensive, 

 

No doubt, but I know Amati want to bring in the cost so it's as little as possible extra £/€ than the Caldercraft in 1:72.

The good news is you have time to save whilst I get the building done!

 

27 minutes ago, BobG said:

Wow...what are the overall dimensions of this model?

 

This one is around 1.6m long, height approx 106cm. I'd have to ask @chris watton about beam and width of main yards (and to check my other numbers!)

[chris watton]

The overall dimensions I have on my master drawings are:

 

Length - 1582mm (includes bowsprit and gaff/boom)

Height - 1061mm

Width -  590mm (Main yard and stunsail booms)

 

Hull only length - 1066mm

 

I have attached a side cutaway profile of the kit, as the main question people ask is why would they want to buy this over other model kits of the same...

[harlequin]

hang the expense...…..this is a must buy.

[Nunnehi (Don)]

3 hours ago, harlequin said:

hang the expense...…..this is a must buy.

 

3 hours ago, harlequin said:

hang the expense...…..this is a must buy.

Agreed

[Suzdal]

With all that detailed interior, there should be a kit variation to show it by not planking one of the sides. It would be a shame to let it go to waste, known only to the builder.

 

Chris/James

 

Have you any idea at which points the kit might be broken up into several kits ? 

 

For me the problem is not the expense, but the room at 160 cm.

 

Richard 

[BobG]

4 hours ago, chris watton said:

Length - 1582mm (includes bowsprit and gaff/boom)

Height - 1061mm

Width -  590mm (Main yard and stunsail booms)

 

Hull only length - 1066mm

Holy smokes! 😲 

 

I'd need to add a room to our house in order to display it! 🤑

[chris watton]

14 minutes ago, Suzdal said:

With all that detailed interior, there should be a kit variation to show it by not planking one of the sides. It would be a shame to let it go to waste, known only to the builder.

 

Chris/James

 

Have you any idea at which points the kit might be broken up into several kits ? 

 

For me the problem is not the expense, but the room at 160 cm.

 

Richard 

There is no law preventing you from not planking certain areas, as the hull structure is more than strong enough to not be clad in planking.

 

As for how the kit may be broken up, I have no idea, as I no longer work for Amati. Personally, I would not break the kit up - it would be futile breaking it up into hull and masts/rig, as the former is 95% of the material expense.

[Morgan]

8 hours ago, James H said:

No doubt, but I know Amati want to bring in the cost so it's as little as possible extra £/€ than the Caldercraft in 1:72.

Will this mean compromises somewhere down the line?

 

Got a space picked out to display mine, front and centre in a bay window at the front of the house.  Although the Admiral keeps talking about house downsizing, I’ll have to work on dragging my feet on that for a while yet!

 

Gary

[James H]

4 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Will this mean compromises somewhere down the line?

 

Not that I'm aware of. For example, the cannon were made in various sizes and specifically for this ship. You couldn't really make them generic. Same with the gun carts, as they are designed to plug into the decks at an even distance from the bulwarks. 

 

It's not an easy model to make compromises on, so I can't envisage anything really changing from the initial design.

[JeffT]

1 hour ago, BobG said:

Holy smokes! 😲 

 

I'd need to add a room to our house in order to display it! 🤑

its huge 

[Landlubber Mike]

So the difference from Caldercraft is the larger size and the interior details, which only will be seen if the hull side is open?  With the Caldercraft one in the stash, just wondering what the main differences are.

 

[James H]

1 hour ago, Landlubber Mike said:

So the difference from Caldercraft is the larger size and the interior details, which only will be seen if the hull side is open?  With the Caldercraft one in the stash, just wondering what the main differences are.

 

 

A resumé? Ok, bear in mind that I once had the Caldercraft kit in my possession for over a year, and now am very familiar with the Amati.

 

• Better quality materials and around three times more of it by my reckoning.
• No dummy barrels
• More realistic decoration, especially the stern scroll work, stern windows that have an option to be open, so you can look through them and see the gun decks.
• Better boats and a much more robust hull assembly
• Integrated gun ports so there's no chance of ever getting any gun port out of position.
• Generally, a more up-to-date design philosophy.

You can model the Amati as you see fit, leaving open side planking to see the interiors etc.

 

By my reckoning, this will be the largest commercially available model kit of a period ship the is available, and no one will be disappointed.  

 

 

[James H]

Ignore these morons on the piracy site too...

 

They are watching this topic and obfuscating. 

 

 

Er yes, ok.....

 

 

[James H]

The ramblings of a demented, delusional and piracy-advocating moron...

 

See for yourself, and make your own mind up...

 

 

 

 

Er, yes Dave Stevens...ok! 

 

 

 

[chris watton]

I know that I did no less than 31 full size plan sheets plus 114 page A3 size assembly manual for this Victory.

[James H]

7 minutes ago, chris watton said:

I know that I did no less than 31 full size plan sheets plus 114 page A3 size assembly manual for this Victory.

 

And I have them all here. Amati are also aware of the accusations posted on the piracy site, and are watching. 

[Landlubber Mike]

44 minutes ago, James H said:

 

A resumé? Ok, bear in mind that I once had the Caldercraft kit in my possession for over a year, and now am very familiar with the Amati.

 

• Better quality materials and around three times more of it by my reckoning.
• No dummy barrels
• More realistic decoration, especially the stern scroll work, stern windows that have an option to be open, so you can look through them and see the gun decks.
• Better boats and a much more robust hull assembly
• Integrated gun ports so there's no chance of ever getting any gun port out of position.
• Generally, a more up-to-date design philosophy.

You can model the Amati as you see fit, leaving open side planking to see the interiors etc.

 

By my reckoning, this will be the largest commercially available model kit of a period ship the is available, and no one will be disappointed.  

 

 

Thank you, that's really helpful.  I'm sure others also had similar questions.  Now we know.  Greatly appreciate it!

[Landlubber Mike]

A few thoughts after reading through the thread:

 

1.  The framing looks really impressive on the Amati.  It looks well designed to not only provide structural support, but also aid in the design of the hull when it comes to correctly placing gunports, etc.  Using MDF is also a great advantage for the kit.  I greatly preferred the MDF used in the Amati Pegasus hull over the plywood and other wood used in other kits.  MDF is incredibly strong, flat, with no flex.  It's harder to work and you have to be careful with the dust and fumes from machining it, but all that is outweighed by the structural benefits in my opinion.  With a model of this size and weight (no dummy barrels, etc.), a solid skeleton is going to be critical.

 

2.  My guess is that the increase in size over the 1/64 Caldercraft won't necessarily be the primary driver of cost differences.  It will probably be on the fittings.  If the Amati doesn't use dummy barrels, my guess is that the price differential will be fairly significant.

 

3.  I know that they have been talking about the Amati Victory for years now.  I think it's good that they are taking their time to get things right with this kit.  Remember the Model Shipways Essex?  That seemed to have been rolled out too quickly and from what I was reading on here, appeared to be a disaster with fit and other issues.

 

 

When it finally comes out, this is going to a pretty spectacular kit if it follows the top quality design, components, plans, seen in their other kits like the Pegasus - just with a much grander subject.

[Ponto]

There are few interesting kits pending for imminent release but this Amati product looks like it should be the flagship of kits. I hope it ends up meeting with every ones expectations once it hits the market. It will be a monster of a box and keep many patrons busy for some length of time. I hope to be one of those patrons.

[Gord-Canada]

I’ll certainly pick one up when they become available 

[Malcolm Greig]

Great topic, marvelous potential Victory. In my opinion it would be a real shame if this first class design has the quality of its materials compromised by Amati driving the price as low as possible to compete with Caldercraft's Victory.  

 

The marketing/business side of kit manufacturing is very interesting. I know little about it.  However,  my assumption, based on my own limited experiences and reading many of the forums here, is that most of the time quality will trump price. 

 

Malcolm

 

         

[Gord-Canada]

We used to associate Italy with high quality goods so they should take this opportunity to rekindle that view

[Gord-Canada]

And the UK was associated with engineering and sciences and the model design shows that is still strong

[hollowneck]

Italy: High-quality. UK: Excellent engineering. U.S.: Marketing (MSW/NRG).

The perfect combo...

😁

Ron

 

[James H]

35 minutes ago, hollowneck said:

Italy: High-quality. UK: Excellent engineering. U.S.: Marketing (MSW/NRG).

The perfect combo...

😁

Ron

 

I'm told the stuff is being packed/kitted to ship out, so I should be able to give you a glimpse of that triumvirate soon  

[James H]

On 6/28/2020 at 12:02 AM, Landlubber Mike said:

A few thoughts after reading through the thread:

 

1.  The framing looks really impressive on the Amati.  It looks well designed to not only provide structural support, but also aid in the design of the hull when it comes to correctly placing gunports, etc.  Using MDF is also a great advantage for the kit.  I greatly preferred the MDF used in the Amati Pegasus hull over the plywood and other wood used in other kits.  MDF is incredibly strong, flat, with no flex.  It's harder to work and you have to be careful with the dust and fumes from machining it, but all that is outweighed by the structural benefits in my opinion.  With a model of this size and weight (no dummy barrels, etc.), a solid skeleton is going to be critical.

 

2.  My guess is that the increase in size over the 1/64 Caldercraft won't necessarily be the primary driver of cost differences.  It will probably be on the fittings.  If the Amati doesn't use dummy barrels, my guess is that the price differential will be fairly significant.

 

3.  I know that they have been talking about the Amati Victory for years now.  I think it's good that they are taking their time to get things right with this kit.  Remember the Model Shipways Essex?  That seemed to have been rolled out too quickly and from what I was reading on here, appeared to be a disaster with fit and other issues.

 

 

When it finally comes out, this is going to a pretty spectacular kit if it follows the top quality design, components, plans, seen in their other kits like the Pegasus - just with a much grander subject.

 

I also forgot. Unlike the Caldercraft kit, as excellent as it is, you will be able to furnish and fit out the cabins at the stern., as the decks run right through to this area. No furnishings come with the kit, but imagine putting some cabinets, tables, chairs and LED lanterns in there!

 

Maybe there's a way I can do this without compromising anything for Amati. If I can, then I will, but it won't be seen in the manual....only on MSW!

 

Caldercraft:

 

Amati:

 

[Suzdal]

James,

 

How about leaving one of the sides some what open and having some deck furniture on the orlap deck (no I was not thinking of Nelson's death scene) and on some of the gun decks. Withe a kit like this it would be a pity to not show off some of the internal features.

 

Richard

[James H]

1 minute ago, Suzdal said:

James,

 

How about leaving one of the sides some what open and having some deck furniture on the orlap deck (no I was not thinking of Nelson's death scene) and on some of the gun decks. Withe a kit like this it would be a pity to not show off some of the internal features.

 

Richard

No reason you can’t do that. I won’t be able to with mine as it’s for the manual, but I’ll be following the builds that eventually begin on MSW. 

[BobG]

7 hours ago, James H said:

I also forgot. Unlike the Caldercraft kit, as excellent as it is, you will be able to furnish and fit out the cabins at the stern., as the decks run right through to this area. No furnishings come with the kit, but imagine putting some cabinets, tables, chairs and LED lanterns in there!

Please do that in your build log, James. It would be outstanding to follow you as you added these wonderful details and lighting to the model.