After the Holidays, we’ve had a long wait for our latest shipment from England’s Vanguard Models, but it finally arrived yesterday, and we couldn’t be happier. Or, should we say Harpy-er? With this shipment we received the latest kit to come out of Chris Watton’s Vanguard Models company, and it’s amazing. This is the Royal Navy vessel HM Brig Harpy, 1796.
This isn’t the first kit of a English Royal Navy brig to come out of Vanguard Models. It’s actually the fourth, following the Flirt, the Speedy, and the Adder. Harpy is certainly the largest. At 33-1/4″ long overall, she’s a good 5″ longer than the next largest VM brig kit, HMS Speedy. Harpy is also more heavily armed, with a total of 18 guns, two of which are long guns, with the remainder being carronades.
But, aside from its larger size and armament, what really sets this kit apart from the rest is the detailed interior that is included in this kit. Chris Watton has taken ship modeling a step further with his more recent, larger ships, such as HMS Sphinx and HMS Indefatigable, with their fully open and detailed gun decks. In this case, being a smaller ship, they’re less below decks, but it still gives the modeler a fascinating display model.
For those who want a little less interior display, the parts of the laser-etched deck that fill the openings are included, as some might want to have a full deck on one side, and the open deck on the other. Or maybe it’s enough to just know that the interior is there! In any case, the kit is designed with options for the builder.
Even with the added interior details, this kit is still classed by Vanguard Models as a Level 3 (out of 5) kit, just like HMS Flirt and HMS Speedy, so it’s best to have some ship modeling experience before you take on this kit.
But, for those don’t like digital or Youtube only video instructions, you’ll appreciate the printed 103-page, step-by-step instruction guide, with lots of photos and steps that are clearly described with well-written English language text.
The instructions are free to download if you want to check them out. Here’s a link:
What’s more, the kit also includes 16(!) FULL-SIZED plan sheets on A1 paper (that’s about 23″ x 33″).
Naturally, with all this, and the heavily engineered, laser-cut internal structuring, the kit is not cheap. Current pricing is $550, but of course, it qualifies for free domestic shipping.
Learn more about the ship and the kit on our webshop at Ages of Sail. Ω
Ages of Sail 