Chris Watton and Vanguard Models news and updates Volume 2

[thibaultron]

Based on some upsetting past posts, this is a question. not a criticism. Is a sheet provided with the printed map and book pages, or copies we can download?

Edited August 21 by thibaultron

[chris watton]

20 minutes ago, thibaultron said:

Based on some upsetting past posts, this is a question. not a criticism. Is a sheet provided with the printed map and book pages, or copies we can download?

On the webpage:

 

[chris watton]

I had the next boat file sent to me last night, for me to print and check - this time the 22 foot yawl (clinker planking again)

[chris watton]

OK, I have done trial prints of the new 22 and 24 foot cutters (these are not simply scaled from the same file, but drawn from separate plans, as can be seen in the shapes). Plus the 22 foot yawl.

 

I am now awaiting the other three boats I am having done for me. The main aim of these was to have options for the Sphinx and Indy boat sets, but will of course be sold separate also.

 

I think I will put the oars on the laser cut wood, as the end paddles are quite flimsy...

Edited August 24 by chris watton

[Ronald-V]

They look sharp! I will first try the wooden ones included with the Sphinx kit, but nice to know there is some nice back-up  

Edited August 24 by Ronald-V

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Personally, I will always purchase these if they are not included in the kits.      I have never had any luck with building the kit supplied, wooden boats.    I have retrofitted several older ships with these and they look fantastic. 

[chris watton]

21 minutes ago, Ronald-V said:

They look sharp! I will first try the wooden ones included with the Sphinx kit, but nice to know there is some nice back-up  

The 22 foot yawl especially, as this should really be clinker planked. Can't wait to see the 28 and 32 foot pinnace print files!

8 minutes ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Personally, I will always purchase these if they are not included in the kits.      I have never had any luck with building the kit supplied, wooden boats.    I have retrofitted several older ships with these and they look fantastic. 

Thay are also my personal choice. In the past, there was little choice but to use the plank on bulkhead boats as there was no real alternative. With the advent of 3-d printing, I figured why not offer an alternative. These boats are quite a large investment for me, but I think will be worth it, as they are both as accurate as they can be in shape and detail, and much easier and quicker to put together. As usual, there will be a lot of laser cut parts for each, including thwarts, knees, floors etc.

[AJohnson]

They look great Chris, what is the smallest boat you plan on doing?  
Just thinking for the likes of Adder & Trial etc?

[chris watton]

4 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

They look great Chris, what is the smallest boat you plan on doing?  
Just thinking for the likes of Adder & Trial etc?

I may be wrong, but I am sure that when researching the Adder, I read somewhere that these gun brigs actually never had a boat.

 

I have done a run of 16 foot cutters, (scaled down from the 18 footer), but have yet to laser cut the parts for them

[AJohnson]

That is an interesting bit of info about gun brigs not having a boat. I wonder if this is to do with them being designed to be rowed inshore anyway?  Like the smaller mortar vessels Convulsion & Destruction. You any plans in your files for a little Mortar vessel one day? 😁

[chris watton]

10 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

That is an interesting bit of info about gun brigs not having a boat. I wonder if this is to do with them being designed to be rowed inshore anyway?  Like the smaller mortar vessels Convulsion & Destruction. You any plans in your files for a little Mortar vessel one day? 😁

No plans at present, no small kits planned for the time being, as I will be busy with kit 18 for the next year...

[brunnels]

3 hours ago, chris watton said:

 

I am now awaiting the other three boats I am having done for me. The main aim of these was to have options for the Sphinx and Indy boat sets, but will of course be sold separate also.

Definitely thinking about a Sphinx set if it fits the budget, I'm awful at making those little buggers out of wood lol.  

[ERS Rich]

Ordered….looking forward to it.  

 

Thank you,

 

-Rich

[flyer]

A smaller boat is very high up on my wish list too. Logic dictates that any ship definitely needs at least one boat to communicate with the shore and for various other tasks.

 

In ‘The Naval Cutter Alert’ Peter Goodwin writes about boats:

 

“… For conveying stores, dispatches and officers and crew, the Alert carried a single boat. (…) In all probability, 6- or 8- oared cutters varying between 12ft and 18ft in length were employed. Alternatively, a long boat either 14ft or16ft in length may have been used. (…) In December 1763 one such (Admiralty) order decreed that during winter only one small 4- oared boat should be allocated and that it should be carried rather than towed to avoid being lost. An order of June 1779 mentions 16ft boats for cutters while another of July 1783 recommends the addition of a second boat.

(…)

When not in use the boat was stowed on the upper deck between the main jeer and topsail bitts and the two elm tree pumps abaft. (…) When required the boat was either swung out or hoisted inboard from tackle suspended from the boom. Should the vessel encounter action the boat was towed astern…

The ships boat also served to convey boarding parties onto vessels ordered to be searched; and for laying out the kedge anchor for warping the ship; or for towing the ship when becalmed. ”

 

A contemporary model of the naval cutter Hawke kept at NMM shows a small boat stowed on deck.

 

 

I guess that all this information is also valid for any other ship or smaller vessel. So, each vessel must have had at least one boat. It may not always be shown on contemporary models because smaller vessels may have towed it quite often but for heavy weather there must have a been a possibility to take it aboard.

 

I really would appreciate a model of a small 12ft or 14ft boat which would also fit all your small models. With a small stand to place it on deck included, you should be able to sell at least one model to every serious model builder who bought one of your smaller kits 😉.

 

Peter

[Mike_H]

On 8/28/2024 at 7:27 PM, flyer said:

you should be able to sell at least one model to every serious model builder who bought one of your smaller kits

Here, hear!  I wonder also about swinging them from davits.  Though I think I could scratch build the davits easily enough, would it make sense to offer davits of varying sizes as an (expensive) extra?

[Pitan]

On 8/28/2024 at 7:27 PM, flyer said:

I really would appreciate a model of a small 12ft or 14ft boat which would also fit all your small models. With a small stand to place it on deck included, you should be able to sell at least one model to every serious model builder who bought one of your smaller kits 😉.

 

I, too, would like a boat in one of these, smaller, sizes.
A wooden kit would be my preference, though I understand the drive toward a 3d printed hulls.
 

[chris watton]

The boats are by and large a by-product of the kits I do, whether existing or future kits. I have no plans for any more wooden ships boat kits and all future kits will have a 3-d printed hull version. I do this because if I were buying the kit, that is what I would prefer - but existing wooden boat kits are always an option for those who want them, and they will always be included in the Indy and Sphinx kits, with the 3-d printed sets being an option. With any future kit, this will be vice versa.

 

I will do/finish a 16 foot cutter when I am less busy (hulls are already printed), but in all honesty, I could offer and spend many thousands on almost every variant of boat, and I would still get asked to produce something other that what I already have - this is why I make a point of sticking to boats I know I will be using in both current and future kits. I did in fact offer smaller boat hulls for two years on my website, and in that time, I never sold a single unit, so were removed when I started to add the newer types of 3-d printed boats.

 

The boats do not come with cradles, this is something the modeller needs to do, as I have no clue how far each boat will have the cradles positioned or how high - are they on the deck and need to be high enough for the keel to miss hatches, or are they located on the hatch coamings, so no need to be so high - or just stowed on the spare spars on gallows - or davits!

[ERS Rich]

Received the figures and they live up to the promise.  Only took a week to get to Boston.  
 

Thanks Chris!

[chris watton]

Just a little update.

 

For the past week, I have been out of commission due to 'Man Flu', which has not been fun. My wife had it too, but of course, not nearly as bad as me, being a man....

 

Just before this, it was my main laser machine out of commission, the lens cracked for some reason, and of course this was noticed on a Friday afternoon, so ended up having to wait 5 days for a replacement. I attached a pic of the lens.

 

Now, I am continuing laser cutting Harpy stuff, and today, my wife sorted out all remaining machined pear blocks we have, so now the remaining blocks are now back in stock, but once these are gone, they are gone:

 

PEARWOOD BLOCKS AND DEADEYES – VANGUARD MODELS

 

Edited September 27 by chris watton

[AJohnson]

3 hours ago, chris watton said:

…my wife sorted out all remaining machined pear blocks we have, so now the remaining blocks are now back in stock, but once these are gone, they are gone:

 

PEARWOOD BLOCKS AND DEADEYES – VANGUARD MODELS

Glad you are both on the mend, didn’t realised you had consumables on a laser!

 

Got some Pear blocks ordered to pimp-up my Sparkler (Adder) and a few spares.

Will you be doing printed blocks like Syren once these have gone?

[chris watton]

21 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

Glad you are both on the mend, didn’t realised you had consumables on a laser!

 

Got some Pear blocks ordered to pimp-up my Sparkler (Adder) and a few spares.

Will you be doing printed blocks like Syren once these have gone?

Cheers!

 

I didn't realise my expensive mirror was a consumable too (£400 a pop)! Usually, the only consumables are the first and second stage filters for my extractors (which extract all harmful particles when the laser is running).

 

I will not be printing any blocks, mainly due to time. I do however have another source for machined walnut blocks, with sets for Indy, Flirt, Speedy (and Harpy) already available to buy, and soon Sphinx.

 

ETA - I am almost ready to press the button on part exchanging my first little 40W laser machine for another larger machine, 100W to go with my 80W, as I could do with it!

Edited September 27 by chris watton

[chris watton]

OK, I now have a price for the Harpy. I wanted it to be less than £400, but I cannot due to the sheer amount of materials in each kit (24 separate laser cut sheets and 3 PE sheets), plus the time taken to produce each kit. So the price is:

 

VM/17     HM Brig Harpy    (November release)             £425 
VM/17/XL     HM Brig Harpy (PE copper and machined blocks)      £490 
 

I am expecting a very large shipment of PE copper next week (45kg worth), so PE copper options will be back for Indy and Speedy too, with Speedy having a dedicated sheet for rudder and keel copper plate, as well as the standard sheets, and also Indy and Harpy will have a small sheet for the rudder patterns. This is the first time in over two years I have been able to order the copper PE.

[Glenn-UK]

Thanks for the info Chris. I am planning to buy Harpy VM/17/XL option when it is becomes available.

 

Glenn-UK

[dunnock]

Quote

VM/17/XL     HM Brig Harpy (PE copper and machined blocks)      £490 

November release - that's great just in time for Christmas. I'll be asking Santa to put one in my stocking 😊

David

[myxyzptlyk2003]

I plan on buying the XL version as soon as it is listed.

[aliluke]

I actually really enjoyed making your wooden ship boats. It was a challenge that I relished. Until one of them gets hoisted onto HMS Fly, they are now casually displayed little models and undisputedly made of wood - except for the brass bits...which are painted to look like wood. That said, if I had to make another one I'd go for a 3D print - they look fantastic!

[chris watton]

A little update.

 

I have been working on my 18th kit for the past 3 months. However, something came up, and I have decided to put that project on hold for a while.

 

So my 18th kit will be a 64th scale model of HMS Surprise - This is definite, and will start work on this immediately. 

 

The model will be of the fictional version, so long guns instead of carronades.
 

Edited October 9 by chris watton

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, chris watton said:

So my 18th kit will be a 64th scale model of HMS Surprise - This is definite, and will start work on this immediately.

 

I'm quite sure that this announcement will spark waves of rapture throughout the period ship modeling world!

[uss frolick]

Will you be offering a rum-sipping sloth for the great cabin? A cello? Killick holding tray of toasted cheese and Aubrey's number-one scaper? The twins Sarah and Emily? .... ooooh, the imagination soars ...

[Morgan]

1 hour ago, chris watton said:

A little update.

 

I have been working on my 18th kits for the past 3 months. However, something came up, and I have decided to put that project on hold for a while.

 

So my 18th kit will be a 64th scale model of HMS Surprise - This is definite, and will start work on this immediately. 

 

The model will be of the fictional version, so long guns instead of carronades.
 

Chris,

 

I’d start a separate thread for this, you’re going to get inundated as all Aubrey fabs start dusting off their books and sift them for clues as to what she looked like according to O’Brian 😁

 

Gary