Chris Watton and Vanguard Models news and updates Volume 2

[glbarlow]

Yay Surprise, and not the HMS Rose impersonating her in the movie...

[markjay]

Looks great, can't wait for the release. Will you be taking prerelease orders?

[Jorge Hedges]

On 1/31/2023 at 3:36 PM, chris watton said:

OK, designs for the Baltimore privateer Grecian have been completed, and here are some pics of the 'quick and dirty' build I do, to check final designs. I do mean quick, as this time last week, it wasn't even planked! With that in mind, please note that I have literally threw the bits together on this without too much clean up. All this is for is to check all laser cut designs, to make sure all fit as they should - and if they don't, they are removed, a new part cut and re applied.

 

I have included a lot more ordnance than she ever carried, but if I just included a couple of 4 pounders and a couple of x 6 pounders, I am sure that wouldn't go down so well. So what I have done and will include is a choice. There will be 12 x 18 pounder carronades, 8 x 6 pounder long guns and 4 x 4 pounders. I have gone with a mainly carronade armament, plus a pair of 6 and 4 pounder cannon - but the modeller can change this if they so wish.

 

I will also include a 3d printed 20 foot cutter hull and the laser cut floors, thwarts and oars to go with it.

 

I have included a couple of pics showing its size in relation to Sphinx and Speedy - the latter looks very tubby when sat next to the very sleek schooner!

Beautiful, sleek lines, Chris!  That is one good looking kit!

 

[chris watton]

Look at this pic, looks like the original Surprise/L'Unite didn't have chain pumps also! Should I change this to chain pumps for the version I am doing?

 

Also, I have done a set of 4 chain pump housings as a separate option. Each housing is around 22mm long and 9mm thick (1x5mm pear centre and 2x1.5mm outers). 

[AJohnson]

For fear of contributing to what last time got quiet passionate, in the Indefatigable build log, perhaps the option for both?  This kit is a little harder to define because of the “fictional” overlay associated with Patrick O’Brian and the movie which had a scene showing chain pumps being used. I realise this will add cost, but if only one option can be incorporated then I would vote for chain pumps, as I’m only ever going to build the fictional Surprise and I am biased due to loving the film adaptation. Just my two pence worth. 
 

And this is even before we discuss the armament and main mast…. 🤣

Edited February 3, 2023 by AJohnson

[chris watton]

3 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

For fear of contributing to what last time got quiet passionate, in the Indefatigable build log, perhaps the option for both?  This kit is a little harder to define because of the “fictional” overlay associated with Patrick O’Brian and the movie which had a scene showing chain pumps being used. I realise this will add cost, but if only one option can be incorporated then I would vote for chain pumps, as I’m only ever going to build the fictional Surprise and I am biased due to loving the film adaptation. Just my two pence worth. 
 

And this is even before we discuss the armament and main mast…. 🤣

I am thinking chain pumps for Aubrey's Surprise, I feel I have a little more leeway with this one...

[Jim Rogers]

Chris I LOVE your gun crew figures. Would it be possible to come up with a set of sailors doing sailor actions. They really add to the model.

[Morgan]

Certainly the film Master and Commander shows chain pumps in use, you’ll confuse non nautical nerds if you don’t offer them 🤓

 

Gary

[chris watton]

10 minutes ago, Jim Rogers said:

Chris I LOVE your gun crew figures. Would it be possible to come up with a set of sailors doing sailor actions. They really add to the model.

Very Nice, Winnie?

 

OK, for more sailor figures, if people want to send me pictures of what they want, including the contemporary dress and stance, I will see what I can do.

[chris watton]

9 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Certainly the film Master and Commander shows chain pumps in use, you’ll confuse non nautical nerds if you don’t offer them 🤓

 

Gary

As I am having 9-pounders on the main gun deck instead of carronades (which never look as cool), I have deviated from the real version, so chain pumps it is.

[glbarlow]

Chain pumps, why would you include chain pumps🤣😂🤣😂

[Nipper]

52 minutes ago, chris watton said:

Very Nice, Winnie?

 

OK, for more sailor figures, if people want to send me pictures of what they want, including the contemporary dress and stance, I will see what I can do.

Chris, I love this picture with the bosun wagging his whistle at some miscreant, probably.  I'll be delighted if you produce some more sailor figures as yours are unbeatable and add so much atmosphere.  Not just action movements though, some need to be lounging about to give the bosun something to moan about.

 

Nipper

 

 

        

[Oldsalt1950]

Here are a couple of ideas: 

[Oldsalt1950]

One more : Manning the Helm

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Oldsalt1950

[Nipper]

Oldsalt - Great ideas!  Having crew furling/unfurling sails would be so realistic - ditto a proper helmsman.  I haven't seen a helmsman figure anywhere, for 18th century ships.  A ship bowling along with stuns'ls alow and aloft looks pretty silly with no-one at the wheel!

 

Nipper

[Oldsalt1950]

If you think carefully about what jobs were entailed to man a fighting ship in the age of sail, there are a lot of different figures that could be made to fill in the ship's company and bring it to life. Chris has already provided us with, Captains, a cook, a gun crew, two able bodied seamen. A midshipman taking a fix with a sextant, a few men aloft, a capstan crew, a boatswain mending a sail , a carpenter, maybe a boat crew the list can go on and on. It took a lot of men to man these ships. I served aboard a U.S. DLG an FF and an FFT. The FFT had a smaller crew as we were tasked with training reservists and had various contingents report aboard every month for two weeks. They found out very quickly that they were being put to work and it wasn't a pleasure cruise they would be going on. We also received midshipmen for 12 weeks and they got to experience what it was like to work in each department of the ship, Engineering, Weapons, Deck and Operations. 

 

Jim

 

[Jim Rogers]

A group holly stoning the deck.

[chris watton]

OK, all of Indefatigable artwork complete, and plans, manual and box label have been sent to the printers. This means that finally, the Indy development folder can now be put in my 'Completed Developments' folder, never thought I'd see the day! There will be no other versions of Indy, this is it. I have always wanted to develop this kit, ever since I did Agamemnon back in 1999, but I am so pleased I waited until I could develop this without the usual restraints that were always imposed on me. It is a mad kit, though, and very heavy with the large box being very full!

 

To clarify, the Indy kit contains everything to complete the model with masts and rig. There are a few laser cut sheets dedicated to this; even, for the first time, the Parrel Ribs are laser cut, not photo etched, in 0.6mm pear wood. Even the fids and masthead battens are laser cut. I am disappointed I could not offer more laser engraved decks, but I simply could not keep buying more stock of very expensive custom size wood/veneer, only to find I cannot use most of it and throwing it in the skip.

 

In other news, I have a set of Blue Ensign flag sets on their way (to complete the set), along with a historically accurate US flag as an option for Grecian.

 

I have finished all I can for Grecian right now, and am waiting for the sample PE sheets before sending the kit to Jim (Jim will essentially have the complete kit, plans, laser cut parts, fittings, and with the USB stick with my construction pics in lieu of the manual). In the meantime, I am looking at giving Speedy a little love, and thinking about changing the keel parts to the same design as the latest kits. Will see how that pans out...

[druxey]

Congratulations on your latest release, Chris. She looks lovely! That was a lot of development work. Well done.

[Oldsalt1950]

It is obvious that a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and love went into the creation of the Indefatigable kit. You and Jim should be proud of your efforts. For anyone who has not downloaded and read the manual, I urge you to do so. There is a ton of information in it that you did not see here in the forum. Time for you two to take a few days off and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

Jim

[James H]

1 minute ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

Time for you two to take a few days...

 

 

I fully intend to! 

 

There's never been a project on my bench, from recollection, as long as this. I was always a swift builder before VM stuff, but not one that ever rushed. Now I need to be in the zone between rushing and simply being swift. It takes a silly amount of forward planning, as a builder, in maximising my bench time in building as much of the small stuff as I can while doing the initial frame work...so deadlines can be met. I learned a lot of that from my magazine work, but this takes it to a whole new level.

[chris watton]

Adding more internal detail, as opposed to standard block-type model kits, add a hell of a lot of time and materials and going further, what Chuck is doing now, the fully framed model kit takes that even further in time and material count. I try to make my kits a kind of 'halfway house' between the two. But this does increase the material count a lot when compared to standard kits. However, I think it is worth it, as I love detail and having most parts scale thicknesses. But it does come at a cost in time, money and metal health! lol

[chris watton]

36 minutes ago, SpyGlass said:

 Juuuust a query - what changes on Speedy's keel  !!!

Just the same as I do with all the more recent kits, a pear centre keel in 2mm pear with a 1mm outer face on either side, to which the planking butts up to.

[mtaylor]

Congratulations on the new kit, Chris.   I'm just curious, would it be possible to offer the reject wood for sale?  As is...  Even a knot in the middle of the sheet can be worked around by those do scratch builds or just need to some replacement wood.

[chris watton]

6 minutes ago, SpyGlass said:

Oh that makes sense - so a sort of rabbet creation.

(You dont just  HAPPEN to have a practice pair of facings to hand - it would be really handy since i am just starting the second planking ! ( at last) and the stem plank ends are my unfavourite bit of work !)

 

Which just leaves a rather general question - is laser cuttiing always only on one side - I presume this to be the case since it is hard to see how both side could be aligned - but it would be nice to be able to have a part symmetrically  cut - for instance to create a rabbet each side of the stem - just a thought.

No, it would be no good for your Speedy, as new bulkheads would have 2mm slots, not 3mm,, as the main keel is in 2mm. Plus I am only thinking of doing this, nothing concrete yet. Laser cutting is done on one side only, two sides would be too time consuming from a production point of view

 

 

15 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Congratulations on the new kit, Chris.   I'm just curious, would it be possible to offer the reject wood for sale?  As is...  Even a knot in the middle of the sheet can be worked around by those do scratch builds or just need to some replacement wood.

I may do that at some point, I usually just throw it out, being no good to me...

Edited February 14, 2023 by chris watton

[chris watton]

The Indy pre orders will all be shipped next week. I am expecting the printed material to be with me today or tomorrow. The pre orders are all already packed and just need the plans and instructions added.

[chris watton]

OK, I have just received my shipment of Indy plans, manual and box label (I took a pic of the manual and a few plans, but not all of them, as we need to lay them all out in order later). The manual is very nice quality, very big (A3) and very heavy!

 

This means Indy is officially on sale now, and as I mentioned in my previous post, all pre orders will be booked to ship next week.

 

I have also attached a couple of pics of new flags that came this week - a Blue Ensign, so I now have the complete set of Red, White and Blue sets. Also, I had some US flags made, in keeping with the correct period for Grecian (I hope)!

[Roger Pellett]

Fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, looks right.

[chris watton]

Indy kits are being completed with plans and manual. The boxes are 175mm deep (7 inches), and near full to the top, with just a tad over 15kg total weight, so care needs to be taken when handling this behemoth...

[glbarlow]

On 2/24/2023 at 9:18 AM, chris watton said:

some US flags made, in keeping with the correct period for Grecian (I hope)!

Our flag wouldn’t have the red sea down the sides, so hopefully the actual installation will provide for removing those. With each new state came a new star, so if the time period is before the 16th state in 1796 the number of stares is correct. The flag had 15 stripes only between 1794 and 1818 then went back to 13, making it unique in our history. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by glbarlow