Chris Watton and Vanguard Models news and updates Volume 2

[hollowneck]

38 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

I believe it was mentioned Ages of Sailis your US distributor but I don’t see your products on their website, did I misread that?

 

I am considering ordering Harpy, but not sure how I’ll get it. 

Glenn: 

https://www.agesofsail.com/shop-cat/vanguard-models-ship-model-kits/

 

Their indicated prices may be before the tariff debaucle and appear to be adjusted for the £ to USD premium. Hopefully, AOS have inventory pre-craziness so you don't have to navigate the U.S. Customs/tariff shipping nightmare.

[glbarlow]

Thanks Ron!

[chris watton]

Regarding my research for Agamemnon, and the Ardent Class in general, I shall preempt any possible concerns regarding the stern and number of stern lights/windows.

 

For me, it is settled that this is a true reflection of the Ardent Class, designed by Slade:

 

 

Now, it is very easy to get confused with another HMS Ardent, a Crown Class 64 launched in 1782 , so two decades after Slade's Ardent, of which  the plans do show the stern and with 8 windows on the lower tier. But it is NOT the Ardent of the early 1760’s, of which class the Agamemnon belonged.

 

The only plans of all of the Ardent Class (I know this because I bought a copy of every single available plan just to make sure) that show the stern detail is that of the Indefatigable, as shown above, and it is this that I shall be working to. I do not care so much about what paintings show, they can be wrong and most times done many years later.

 

So in lieu of anything more concrete than the actual plans of the original, which I am working to, the above stands.  According to my research, Agamemnon, all of the Ardent Class, had 7 lower lights at the stern, and not 8, and the kit will be modelled/developed as such.

[chris watton]

Here is the finished STL for Aubrey

[chris watton]

And here is the full scene, Aubrey, Maturin, table with candles and music note stand - standard in all Surprise kits.

[ccoyle]

Is it too late to mention that Aubrey's bow grip is incorrect? 😬 I didn't notice until just now.

 

https://www.sagemusic.co/blog/how-to-hold-a-violin-bow/

[Beckmann]

Hi Chris. Very nice. Will they be available as separate Figures as well? I play the Cello myself and would love to have them both sitting in my 1:32 scale  captains cabin.

Matthias 

[ccoyle]

18 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Is it too late to mention that Aubrey's bow grip is incorrect? 😬 I didn't notice until just now.

 

I'm not sure why so many people have hit the laughing emoji for my post, as the suggestion is not intended to be humorous. I'm well acquainted with production schedules and realize that it may be too late, too expensive, too troublesome, or simply not within the capabilities of the process to incorporate this fix, in which case it wouldn't be a deal breaker, obviously. But if every effort is being made to make the pieces as accurate as possible, and the capacity to make the fix is there, then why not? It's just something to consider.

[chris watton]

15 hours ago, Beckmann said:

Hi Chris. Very nice. Will they be available as separate Figures as well? I play the Cello myself and would love to have them both sitting in my 1:32 scale  captains cabin.

Matthias 

I will have other scales available at some point, but not for a while, as we are very snowed under right now.

[Ronald-V]

33 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

 

I'm not sure why so many people have hit the laughing emoji for my post, as the suggestion is not intended to be humorous. I'm well acquainted with production schedules and realize that it may be too late, too expensive, too troublesome, or simply not within the capabilities of the process to incorporate this fix, in which case it wouldn't be a deal breaker, obviously. But if every effort is being made to make the pieces as accurate as possible, and the capacity to make the fix is there, then why not? It's just something to consider.

To be honest, I thought you were joking that after Chris shows his figure designs, there have been 1001 suggestions in the past about a finger looking too long or something like that.

 

But I didn't know you were serious.  👍

Edited Wednesday at 12:22 PM by Ronald-V

[igorcap]

This is different. If this sculpture were for a cello self-study course, it would cause justifiable anger. But this sculpture is intended for a ship model; at 1/64 scale, it'll be hard to see the fingers without glasses.
And it's not hard to remake. 

[glbarlow]

The obsession over these figures itself is humorous to me. They are incidental to the ship being modeled and mostly obscured once the model is complete. To me they are only of interest in demonstrating scale. But it’s hobby, whatever makes people happy. I’ll give mine to my granddaughter to paint however she wishes. 

[Gregory]

1 hour ago, glbarlow said:

They are incidental to the ship being modeled and mostly obscured once the model is complete.

I personally find them distracting.    But I respect anyone's choice to build their model as they see fit. 

[Cathead]

2 hours ago, glbarlow said:

The obsession over these figures itself is humorous to me. They are incidental to the ship being modeled and mostly obscured once the model is complete.

I'd say that these aren't just any figures, but figures of arguably two of the most beloved naval literature characters of all time. They're edging over into collector's items, not just obscure details of a given model. If they were just generic crew figures you wouldn't see this level of interest. But lots of people enjoy collectibles (baseball cards, action figures, *ahem* models) that recreate something beloved, and these certainly fit that niche. Personally I'm not in a position to take on a Surprise model, but I'd absolutely buy these on their own, paint them lovingly, and develop a little cabin diorama to display them in. I wouldn't do that for just any figurine.

[GrandpaPhil]

I would also enjoy painting that set on its own.  Those miniatures look incredible!

[uss frolick]

Nope. It doesn't look anything like them. Try again.

 

 

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, uss frolick said:

Nope. It doesn't look anything like them. Try again.

 

Dude, those are obviously their stunt doubles.

[chris watton]

OK, we now have Sherbourne's back in stock (keep running out...)

 

Also, I have made up 5 Flirt Master Shipwright kits (boxwood), which are also in stock.

[Pitan]

18 hours ago, chris watton said:

OK, we now have Sherbourne's back in stock (keep running out...)

It's a nice kit, nicely priced - a good introduction to model ship building