HMS Diana by Caldercraft Inflation and the price of kits.

[DaveBaxt]

I have had my eye on this one for a good while and have eventually taken the plunge. Altough I am a long way off completing my current build HMS Bark Endeavour  when looking at the difference in prices of kits I have noticed that as much 10% can be saved by buying now rather than waiting until the new prices are released here in the uk. So when we are talking about a £600 kit .£ 68 is quite a big saving.

                              I see there are one or two blogs currently on the go which has helped me choose together with owning the AOTS book of the Diana so have plenty of things to help me along which I think I will need with this ship due to the size and new processes I will need to master. I appreciate there are already a few reviews on this ship but wonder if there are any more recent likes/dislikes of the kit in general inluding the condition etc. In time I will contribute to what my initial findings are if anyone is interested. 

Hope some of you like this post and would like to submit any thoughts then I would be grateful for any input.Best regards Dave

[AJohnson]

I've certainly noticed the price of kits like Diana going up a lot in the last couple of years, sign of the times generally costs are going up across the board, and hobby costs are no exception.

 

I also would love to build a 'Heavy' frigate, though at £600 I am beginning to think that might buy a few more power tools (saws etc.) and plans to scratch build what I aspire to.  My dream build would be a 1/64 version of the grand old lady from 1817 that is gently bobbing around in Hartlepool....  I'm not sure a Leda class frigate would come out in kit form these days, so scratch building seems the only way to go.

 

The only flaw in my cunning plan are my woodworking skills! 🤣 I have two more CC kits in my stash (Snake & Endeavour) and I will see how I feel about scratch building a frigate when I get the other side of those. The first one is going to get "kit-bashed" into a different Cruizer class sloop, so that might be a good stepping stone, or put me off entirely!  😳

 

Then again Chris keeps tempting me with his lovely trawler kits!  😁

[Craigie65]

You could buy Cornwall Model Boat’s online discount card beforehand.  It is £10 and gets you a 5% discount.  A net saving of £20 on Diana at current prices.  Useful if you also buy lots of supplies from them.

[DaveBaxt]

Thank you for your reply Andrew. I have too have been looking at the Snake but also the Vanguard models too. I probably would have gone for the Sphinx but rightly or wrongly have spent a small fortune on some bench power tools such as miller, drill stand, lathe and bench saw I think I am leaning more towards bashing the kit as much as my skill will allow. I also have lots of spare walnut but now starting to use boxwood instead, especially for the masts. I would also like to have a go at the Trincomalee but as you say would need to be build from scratch and do not feel I have the skill level as yet. 

                       I am now commited and no going back now. I think this next one could take me a couple of years as each time I build one it takes me twice as long as the previous one but looking forward to another challenge. I have recently booked a trip to Portsmouth for a few days with my wife and hope to spend a day at the Naval dock yard and take in the Victory whilst we are there and hopefully will take in lots of photos . Some of which will help me in some way . Best regards Dave

[DaveBaxt]

17 minutes ago, Craigie65 said:

You could buy Cornwall Model Boat’s online discount card beforehand.  It is £10 and gets you a 5% discount.  A net saving of £20 on Diana at current prices.  Useful if you also buy lots of supplies from them.

Great point and I feel I should have done this a long time ago . Cheers. By the way a great online shop.

[Craigie65]

Dave,

To respond to your original post!

 

I have Diana in my stash.  She is an older model and with that she has her flaws.  The plywood for the keel extends to the stem and knee of the head. I have seen a few conversions which replace this with boxwood or similar.  Same issue for the stern.  My version has the latest cannon and carronade - none of the bulbous cannon.  The instructions are typical of early Caldercraft and by today’s standards are poor. Mind you Chris at Vanguard has us spoiled by the standard of his instruction booklets. 

 

I had been thinking of starting her. However with the Indy on the horizon (fingers and toes crossed) I am back filling with a couple of Vanguard’s trawlers and will go straight to the Indy when launched.  Perhaps that is the most telling point of all for (against?) Diana.

[DaveBaxt]

1 hour ago, Craigie65 said:

Dave,

To respond to your original post!

 

I have Diana in my stash.  She is an older model and with that she has her flaws.  The plywood for the keel extends to the stem and knee of the head. I have seen a few conversions which replace this with boxwood or similar.  Same issue for the stern.  My version has the latest cannon and carronade - none of the bulbous cannon.  The instructions are typical of early Caldercraft and by today’s standards are poor. Mind you Chris at Vanguard has us spoiled by the standard of his instruction booklets. 

 

I had been thinking of starting her. However with the Indy on the horizon (fingers and toes crossed) I am back filling with a couple of Vanguard’s trawlers and will go straight to the Indy when launched.  Perhaps that is the most telling point of all for (against?) Diana.

Thank you again for your input Craig it is truely appreciated. Yes I have seen a couple of the blogs where modellers have had issues with the plywood stem and I think I will do the same and replace this with boxwood if I can. I have had a number of issues too with my Endeavour ,mainly the warped keel,but was able to overcome this. Also some of the cast fittings such as the rudder hinges are more or less useless  but will try the hinges os another manufacturer next time and see how it goes.Hopefully I will get the kit with the better cannon. Regards the instructions. I have found most kit instructions to be pretty vague ( Have not tried Vanguard as yet) but hopefully I will find a good blog to follow and keep me right. Any recomendations would be appriciated here.

I have also seen a couple of bloggers who have had issues with the height of the stern and therefore having trouble with the stern counter not fitting properly. Hopefully I will be able to overcome these issues but will just have to hope I get enough help .

                   Thanks again for your input best regards Dave.

 

[Craigie65]

Dave,

The Vanguard site has links to the various instruction manuals.  Have a look and you will see the difference.  As well as the manual there are the usual plans for masts, rigging, etc.

 

 

[mtaylor]

I believe that kit bashing is an important step on the path to scratch building.  So, my advice is build what you want and feel free to bash it as much as you want in the name of accuracy and learning.   I also believe it's not the destination but the journey that's important.  To learn, pick up skills, etc. is a big part of the journey.

[DaveBaxt]

1 hour ago, mtaylor said:

I believe that kit bashing is an important step on the path to scratch building.  So, my advice is build what you want and feel free to bash it as much as you want in the name of accuracy and learning.   I also believe it's not the destination but the journey that's important.  To learn, pick up skills, etc. is a big part of the journey.

Well said Mark. I am definately bashing more than I did on my first ship I built as I have learned more about what is accurate or not with the help of friends on this forum together with the many books I have bought. I am also moving further away from the instruction manuals and hopefully one day I will hardly need them at all . My greatest help for me has as been the book by Lees 'The Masting and rigging of English ships of war' and I am trying to follow it word for word. It will be interesting to see what the differences are between this and the AOTS Diana. I wonder if one day I would have the confidence and skill required to build a model ship from scratch. Fingers crossed.

[mtaylor]

One step at a time, Dave.   You'll get there.

[DaveBaxt]

6 hours ago, mtaylor said:

One step at a time, Dave.   You'll get there.

Thanks Mark. I still have a very long way to go