Subject: SMML28/12/97VOL042 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX 1: USS BB-55 North Carolina Kits 2: Airfix Scharnhorst 3: PE details for USS America (CV-66) 4: Glencoe subchaser 5: Airfix Scharnhorst 6: North Carolina 7: Re: Plastic Ship Modeler ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Pacific Front Hobbies Subject: Re: USS BB-55 North Carolina Kits/Models There are 4 North Carolina models that I know of. The smallest is the Neptun 1/1250 scale metal miniature (assembled & painted)from Germany, which features exceptional detail. Next is the Aoshima 1/700 plastic kit from Japan, an OK kit but it needs some help to detail & making it accurate. Then there is the old Revell kit in about 1/550(?) scale....don't know much about it although we've sold a few; I would guess it's pretty dated. The biggest and best one will be the Classic Warships 1/350 scale resin kit, which will be available in a couple of weeks, hopefully. http://www.pacificfront.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Leif Snellman Subject: Re: Airfix Scharnhorst >> I have just acquired an Airfix 1/600 Scharnhorst, in order to model my diorama of the Battle of the North Cape. However it features the ship before her bow conversion. Does any one have any ideas on how to model the new bow, and advice on any other changes that might be necessary. << I once converted the Airfix Scharnhorst to Gneisenau as she was in 1938 with the Atlantic bow but with the old, normal hawsepipes. For Scharnhorst you must also be prepared to build new, Bismarck style hawsepipes. The Atlantic bow itself is not technically difficult to build, but you need some patience. Glue together the hull (parts 1-18) and then build up the bow with model putty, let dry, use sandpaper and finally paint the bow (it will help you see the irregularities). Then apply more putty and do the same procedure over and over. Then for the hawsepipes. I once made new ones for Airfix Bismarck and it was hard work. Here are some suggestions: Cut out the shape from the deck and the sides before gluing the hull together and glue a bit of thin plastic card or paper to the inside of the hull under the hole as a base for the putty. After gluing the hull, fill the holes with putty and let dry. Use a hobby knife with a thin blade to shape new hawsepipes in the putty and sandpaper. You must also build a new funnel cap from thin plastic card, and you must skip part 130 and scratchbuild a new tripodmast and place it behind the hangar with the main leg in front of part 102 and with the side legs each side of parts 28-29. Also double the height of the main range finder (part 139, skip part 140). If you really are determind to go on, I can scan and send you a good plan of Scharnhorst. But I really recommend that you go out and buy the Revell kit (1/570) instead! Leif Snellman ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Dave Carter Subject: PE details for USS America (CV-66) >> Just became the owner of a 1:720 USS America (CV-66). Does anyone have suggestions as to photoetched detail sets? Looks like GMM might have something, at least for railings, but don't know if the "Modern USN/JMSDF Warship" set includes the necessary radars and other assorted goodies suitable for a modern CV. << Hi Les, The most suitable set at the end of the day is the Gold Medal Models 1/720 Enterprise/Nimitz set. The shape of the flight deck is not dissimilar and you will find many other common parts. Caroline White Ensign Models,Gardeners Cottage,Cowarne Court,Lower Eggleton, Ledbury,Herefordshire,HR8 2UF,U.K. Tel: 01432 820403 Fax: 01432 820830 http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xdt22/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Dave Carter Subject: Glencoe subchaser Hi David, Try "US Small Combatants-An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman. A hefty and expensive hardback book from USNI, but worthwhile if you can get hold of it from the library. Whilst an excellent publication, the $60.00 or so price is probably not justified if you only want it for references for this one model. There is a plan and profile drawing and a couple of photographs of the 110 foot sub-chaser, plus a few pages of text, covering its development. Construction was of wood... it looks to be carvel built, rather than clinker from the photograph. >> 2) What are the correct colors. The instructions list colors like "gray", "red", "black", &etc -- pretty useless! Most info I can find is for << Can't help you out on this one specifically. However, looking at Plastic Ship Modeler magazine 96/4 (and I hope every one of you out there subscribe to Daniel Jones' excellent magazine!), in Alan Raven's -Development of Naval Camouflage 1914-1945 Part 2, United States Navy in WW1-, it merely states "Medium Grey" for WWI stuff. However, from the same source, Raven states "the range of colours used in the American Navy in 1917-1918 was extensive, ranging from black to white and just about everything in-between.....the author believes that well over 200 were used on ships". Not much help to you for this project though! Cheers Caroline White Ensign Models,Gardeners Cottage,Cowarne Court,Lower Eggleton, Ledbury,Herefordshire,HR8 2UF,U.K. Tel: 01432 820403 Fax: 01432 820830 http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xdt22/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Dave Carter Subject: Airfix Scharnhorst Hi Graham, >> I have just acquired an Airfix 1/600 Scharnhorst, in order to model my diorama of the Battle of the North Cape. However it features the ship before her bow conversion. Does any one have any ideas on how to model the new bow, and advice on any other changes that might be necessary. << The excellent Polish publication "Scharnhorst and Gneisenau"(Polish text) has numerous drawings and a superb 1/400 Scale Plan, Profile and Front View of Scharnhorst as sunk, that provides enough info for super-detailing the Airfix kit. However, there are no lines. We have it at £7.99. Also, the Vom Original Zum Modell publication "Battleship Scharnhorst" at £10.95 (German text), which gives the entire Vom Original plans set, including lines, in around 1/1200 Scale, together with a lot of detail photographs of both the ship and scale models of her. The clipper bow was, of course, added in Winter 38-39 and she was launched in January 38-39. We can also provide David Macgregor plans, at £8.99, for a full set of lines (1/200 Scale) of her with the new bow. We will order these on request, as they are dyeline and would fade if we kept them in stock for months or years. 2-3 weeks is the usual waiting time. I hope that this is of help. Caroline Carter White Ensign Models,Gardeners Cottage,Cowarne Court,Lower Eggleton, Ledbury,Herefordshire,HR8 2UF,U.K. Tel: 01432 820403 Fax: 01432 820830 http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xdt22/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Dave Carter Subject: North Carolina Here I come again..we've been away for 4 days so just doing a little catching up. Re kits of the North Carolina, yes there was the Revell kit in 1/500 Scale (available secondhand occasionally as it's not in production). There is the Aoshima 1/700 Scale N.C. It is priced at £14.46 from ourselves.. not sure what the going US rate is.. pretty basic, as is the Revell kit, warrants a lot of research and super-detailing/cutabout to get right. Classic Warships, as someone has mentioned, have a 1/350 kit available shortly. We have kits on order..ready February, price around $300.00 US (we sell at around) £263.00 in the U.K. or £223.00 for export. Looking at the standards of recent 1/350 Scale releases, such as the Kirishima and the Indianapolis, I think that this should be a lovely piece of work. It obviously depends on that balance between quality and price, as well as one's own budget and the size of the mantelpiece as to which one to go for... Caroline White Ensign Models,Gardeners Cottage,Cowarne Court,Lower Eggleton, Ledbury,Herefordshire,HR8 2UF,U.K. Tel: 01432 820403 Fax: 01432 820830 http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xdt22/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Dave Carter Subject: Re: Plastic Ship Modeler Hi Gary, >> Does anyone have contact with Plastic Ship Modeler, a quarterly publication by Daniel H. Jones? My latest copy is 1997/2. How much is the current subscription rate for Asia. I wish to subscript the 1997/3 & 1997/4 back issue and whole year of 1998. What is the mailing address of PSM and the method of payments? << Here are the subscription details for Plastic Ship Modeler for four issues: USA: Daniel H. Jones, PO Box 2183, Arvada, Colorado, 80001-2183, USA. USA: $18.00 Canada: $20.00(US) Overseas: $25.00 (airmail) Back issues are available from Dan. Does not take credit cards.. all paymment in US dollars, drawn on a US bank. Germany: Christian Schmidt, 81377 Munich, Sauerbruchstr. 10, Germany. (cost unknown. Does not take credit cards) Japan: Pit-Road Co. Ltd, 5-10-3 Kajigaya Takatsuku, Kawasaki City, Japan (cost unknowm. Does not take credit cards) Australia: Modelworks, PO Box 60, Kalorama, Australia 3766 (cost unknown. Does not take credit cards) and of course, from us at White Ensign Models (mags are Fed-Exed next day to us from the U.S. printers), and we handle subscriptions from as far afield as South Africa and New Zealand, mainly due to the fact that we take credit card payment (be warned a bankers draft in US dollars is pretty expensive and will increase the cost of a $25.00 U.S. Subscription by around 70% for overseas subscribers going direct to Dan) PSM Subs from us are as follows: U.K. £18.00 Europe £20.00 Rest of the World £22.00 shipped airmail. BTW, PSM 97/3 is in stock here for current subs, as are many of the back issues (the Alan Raven features on camouflage started in 96/3). 97/4 will not be out until January/February 1998. 97/3 features: Mail Call, as usual, with the usual in-depth discussions on camouflage, fit, photo sources etc, followed by NEWS...6 pages on plastics, resins and etched brass/decals etc..The Fighting 58th Part 2 by Ray Bean.. a great modelling feature. Then we have "The Development of Naval Camouflage 1914-1945 Part V-United States Navy in World War Two" by Alan Raven. "USN Color Mix Formulas" by Randy Short, the usual "One in One Hundred" column for 1/1200 Scale Modelers, "Building the 1/350 Scale USS Charles Ausburne" by Loren Perry.. 2 kits, different eras, both built from the Tamiya 1/350 kit. Great article. Then we have the usual "NAVINFOTEL" section by Ray Bean, telling us about what's going on in the real world of warships. We then have "Building the Alan M. Sumner Kit From Skywave", and "The US War Emergency Tanker Fleet" by Dan Jones. There is a nice photo feature on CA-39 USS Quincy, and "Merchant Ship Details from the WW2 Era" with nice drawings for anyone building e.g. a Liberty ship. Then "Wantsand Disposals", and, finally, Book Reviews. (BTW, as Dan Jones is not on-line, he asked that I drop some stuff down to this group...which, you can see, I have done in some depth.) Regards, Caroline White Ensign Models,Gardeners Cottage,Cowarne Court,Lower Eggleton, Ledbury,Herefordshire,HR8 2UF,U.K. Tel: 01432 820403 Fax: 01432 820830 http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xdt22/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume