Subject: SMML12/07/98VOL238 Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 19:46:10 +1000 (EST) shipmodels@wr.com.au --------------------------------- Thanks for having SMML at your home, why not stop by our home at: http://warship.simplenet.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Etched Brass Wish List? 2: Re: 1/700 Texas, Instructions, Scales, Kit Completeness 3: Re: Imperial Hobby Prod. kits 4: Re: Rusty'e B.S. W. posting re: DEALEY class DE 5: Re: SMML11/7/98Vol237 6: do it yourself photoetch 7: Cruise ships listings 8: Re: Instructions 9: Buerau of Small Warships 10: Re: Profile #36 for USS Oregon ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: James Corley Subject: Re: Etched Brass Wish List? >> Brad asked for Revell PT boat set. In a perfect world, perhaps sets also for some of the other old Revell and Monogram kits: USS Forrest Sherman/Decatur USS Halsey/Leahy USS Brooke/Ramsey USS Helena/Boston USS Springfield << Nautilus Models has release the first upgrade for a plastic kit, the US Fleet Boat of WW2. Our plans do include about a dozen variants of this kit, eventually. It also includes plans for the following ( a 5-year plan?): Revell WARD 4-stacker APD BUCKLEY APD - after kit is reissued again MIDWAY new island and guns, maybe even a line of 1/540 planes ESSEX Same as Midway FORRESTAL New superstructure for modern version, one each for each ship of the class. Maybe even a set for those with the old kit, or if feasable, a back-date set for the new kits FORREST SHERMAN/DECATUR A weapons update and backdate set, to include p/e PT-109 a set to make a more realistic 109 or a later boat. ITALERI/TESTORS CVs New superstructures for each of the carriers in this line. Monogram FORRESTAL A general update set for these kits, if reissued HALSEY A Weapons set with Helo and p/e radars LINDBURG Blue Devil Weapons update set, with a possible Sumner-class conversion (The hull is already a Sumner!) line. With a hull plug, we could offer a Gearing class series. This kit would be expensive due to the size of the pieces required as everything but the hull would be replaced. IMO, the Helena/Boston and Springfield kits would require everything to be redone, especially the hull. At that point, I'd suggest a 1/350 or 1/700 resin kit. These are the items we are looking at doing. If anybody else wants to jump in and make them before we can, please say so...that way we dont both end up wasting time, money and effort by not making something else the modeller needs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Sanartjam@aol.com Subject: Re: 1/700 Texas, Instructions, Scales, Kit Completeness Hi SMML, To reply to the recent query about a 1/700 Texas, I talked to the Viking Models people at the IPMS show in San Antonio, Texas, in February, and they said they were going to do a 1/700 Texas after doing their 1/350 Texas. Now that their 1/350 Texas is out, it should be interesting to see if they go ahead and do the 1/700 one. (If only their 1/350 Texas looked just like the one Derek Brown scratchbuilt for the Nationals!) I agree with Alberto Rada that there is a great variation in quality in the instructions you see in ship model kits these days. At least some of the manufacturers, like MB and Classic Warships, have greatly improved their instructions over time. Most could still use at least some improvement, and some other manufacturers, who shall remain nameless (for the moment), really need to get with it and improve their instructions. I think the key is for shipmodelers to keep the heat on the ones that really need to improve. I think the choice between 1/350 and 1/700 scales is largely a matter of personal taste (and finances), but I know people who think (and I think I agree) that photoetch is a lot easier to work with in 1/350 than in 1/700. Any opinions out there on that? I don't have Classic's 1/700 1944 Tennessee (wish I did), but I've seen the B-Resina Repulse and the Samek Alaska (both in 1/700). The Repulse has no photoetch, and the Alaska has all the photoetch you need (I think) except for railings. The Alaska does not need a Skywave weapons set. You might want to consider the new White Ensign resin Walrus to replace the one in the B-Resina Repulse. Art Nicholson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: dhjonespsm@juno.com (Daniel H. Jones) Subject: Re: Imperial Hobby Prod. kits >> You have me interested where can I get a list of "Imperial Hobby Productions" 1:700 scale kits & how easy are they to get? John, You can get the MONTANA kit from Bill Gruner at Pacific Front Hobbies. Pacific Front Hobbies 11804 NE 138th Street Kirkland, WA 98034 Fax 425-821-9034 Phone 452-821-2564 IHP has just released a kit of the St. ANDREW (`1921 unbuilt British battlecruiser), a re-issue of an old kit which hew first called the INVINCIBLE. The new version is MUCH, MUCH, better than the old kit -which is probably the reason for the name change. Bill has those in stock also. The St. ANDREW requires a Tamiya NELSON or RODNEY kit for the missing parts. Daniel Jones ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Subject: Re: Rusty'e B.S. W. posting re: DEALEY class DE From: dhjonespsm@juno.com (Daniel H. Jones) >>Contact Bill Gruner at Pacific Front Hobbies. There is a company called Buerau of Small Warships and I think he carries the line. All this guy does >is 1/700 scale destroyers. Maybe he does DEs now. Talk about specializing! << Bill Gruner does not carrry the Bureau of Small Warships line. These kits are only available directly from the manufacturer. Each kit is $26.00 plus shipping ($2.50 each for order of 3 kits or less). If you order 4 or more kits shipping.is free. Bureau of Small Warships P.O. Box 28571 San Diego, CA 92198-0571 They do not make any DE kits - only USN destroyers. Kits are available of the following classes: BENSON LIVERMORE SIMS GRIDLEY MAHAN DUNLAP FARRAGUT BENHAM BAGLEY SOMERS (1944) PORTER (1944) FLETCHER GEARING SUMNER All are wartime rig. BSW will be releasing some new kits later this year, including a T-2 tanker. All of these kits have been reviewed in past issues of PSM. Daniel Jones Plastic Ship Modeler magazine ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Burl Burlingame / Pacific Monograph Subject: Re: Burl's table at the US Nats >> I saw your note inquiring about the guy next to Tom's at the Nats last week. That was Burl Burlingame from Pacific Monogram in Hawaii. Burls email address is buzz@aloha.net and the address is also listed above. Trust this what you were looking for. v/r HBlecha << >>> I wish I had known it was Burl behind the counter. I would like to shake >his hand. For those of you who don't know, Burl (I believe) is the father of photo-etching. He was the first person to use the technique for model parts. <<< (Blush) I first heard of photo-etching through a series of articles by Harry Woodman in the 1970s. I thought perhaps they might have applications for conversion kits, which were mighty rare in those days. Throught the auspices of IPMS-USA, we released a few in the early '80s, the first of which, a P-51 sheet, caused quite a stir. This was followed by a Spandau machine gun kit in various scales. My drawings for the instructions for that are widely copied to this day! Then I was doing a 1/700 ship project for the USS Arizona Memorial and thought, y'know, these would look a hell of a lot better with scale-sized railings. So I designed some, and it became the signature product of the IPMS conversion line. Very popular. That's all there was to it. My railings had little feet on them that had to be bent over for attaching; not easy, but a superior look. Loren Perry then jumped in the act and connected the stancheon bottoms with "channels" which I thought looked kind of clunky, but also vastly easier to apply. The advent of vector-based computer drawing made it easier to design sheets, and there was a real explosion of these things in the last decade. Loren has been busy redesigning his early sheets, and he has vastly improved an already superior product. Rusty's Flagship sheets and the incredible variety of intricate products from Tom's Modelworks have made ship modelling a true scale craft. I've also done some etching, both full and half-etching, to add detail to masters for resin parts. Look at the masters I did for the hulls of the Toms Modelworks 1/350 submarines -- the planking and access panels and limber holes were all originally done in brass. It made for a much more accurate model. I wish outfits like Tamiya would engineer their kits to incorporate brass from the get-go, instead of as an add-on. For example, an indention running around the perimeter of the deck for the railing bottoms to lock into would not only make for a neater appearance, it would be stronger. So, the "father of photo-etching"? Nah. Give Harry Woodman the real credit. I just applied the process to ship modelling, and I conceived of etched parts as a "product." That's all. It was inevitable. On the other hand, I'm also the guy who convinced Tom Harrison to do the USS Arizona in 1/350 scale, which was the first truly insane large ship model, with more than 500 parts, half of which were brass. The explosion in such multi-media models followed the introduction of that seminal kit, which was in turn inspired by the small ship models created by John Ficklin. Whether I get credit or blame for that, we'll see! Burl Burlingame Pacific Monograph http://www.PacificHistory.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Ron or Julie Hillsden Subject: do it yourself photoetch Try this link: http://www.ijtk.demon.co.uk/2mm/magazine.htm Articles from the 2mm Magazine. Not only does it have how-to for photoetch, there is a construction acticle for a small drilling maching and lathe! Ron in Victoria BC Canada ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: LRobin9900@aol.com Subject: Cruise ships listings Hi Is there a listing on the internet that tells who operate the Cruise Ships of the world. I would like to know were the ships are now. Thanks Skip R. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Rob Mackie" Subject: Re: Instructions Alberto Rada wrote the following: >> The instructions that necessarily come with a model are so different from one manufacturer to another that it is unbelievable, on one extreme of the line you have models, like White Ensign ones( honor to who deserves it) that includes absolutely every thing you need, from the ships history, diagrams,color schemes and what not, even the ships crest. And there you start a long walk that ends with kits that comes with a printed page, that to be sincere, could have been saved the trouble. << Alberto is absolutely correct. White Ensign's instructions are the best in the business-thorough, well-written, and clear. They much improve the odds of finishing a kit and not giving up due to confusion or frustration. Instructions from other producers range from good to awful. Most of the ship model companies now turn out well-cast, generally accurate products with very good brass, but instructions are another issue. They need improvement. This issue is especially important to me as I am in the process of writing the instructions for the Steel Navy HMS Dreadnought. The casting and brass are complete but the kit won't be available until the instructions are finished. If they are half as good as White Ensign's I will be very happy indeed. The key to good instructions is that the author actually build the kit, and it is preferable that he not have seen the kit previously. That is, someone new to the model (not the master builder or caster) will have a myriad of questions that good instructions should answer. This requires time and effort and understandably many producers want to get their products to market without delay. Hence instructions, always the last task in putting out a new kit, are invariably short-changed. My suggestion is that producers turn over a kit to an "outsider" and tell him: "Build it quick, don't worry about IPMS quality issues, just toss it together and make notes as you proceed. Call me when you get confused or can't figure out where something goes." These notes along with an exploded view drawing should be adequate. So here's what I would like to see at a minimum in resin ship kit instructions: 1) Illustrated parts list, showing part, description, part number and quantity. All parts (etched brass, white metal and resin) should be included 2.) One large exploded-view drawing with all parts on drawing keyed to parts list 3.) Clear diagram - with dimensions - of masts so that the builder can fabricate his own from brass rod 4.) Notes addressing construction steps that are not obvious from the exploded view drawing 5.) Errata Sheet: I don't care who the producer is, there are always a few errors that only become obvious late in the production process. There is no shame in telling the modeler as much. Invariably the errors are minor and the modeler probably won't care, but for those that do, here are the things that you might want to fix, and here is how I suggest you do it. 6.) Painting notes. 7.) How to obtain replacement parts. Besides White Ensign's excellent instructions, I have been favourably impressed by Corsair Armada's as well. I would be interested in hearing more thoughts about this aspect of kit production. Rob Mackie Warship http://warship.simplenet.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Mark Knowlton Subject: Buerau of Small Warships >> I'm looking for a Dealey class DE model (preferably 1/350 or 1/700). Have been asked to build a model of USS LESTER DE1022 for Lester School in Downers Grove, IL, Ship & school named after a Downers Grove resident who rec'd Congressional Medal of Honor (post.) during WWII. Does anybody know of any model of this class of ship? << >>> Contact Bill Gruner at Pacific Front Hobbies. There is a company called Buerau of Small Warships and I think he carries the line. All this guy does is 1/700 scale destroyers. Maybe he does DEs now. Talk about > specializing! <<< I know Mark Pace of Buerau of Small Warships personally and you can e-mail him at bsw1995@aol.com. Rusty is right, if he doesn't have it, he can point you in the right direction. Mark Knowlton ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: RCClem@aol.com Subject: Re: Profile #36 for USS Oregon Dan Jones just advised me, and us, that there is no Issue #36 for the USS Oregon. That's too bad. I need some good pictures of how the upper bridge deck spans over the gun deck, wraps around the stacks and ties in with the ladders and other fittings. This is for my future intent to modify a Glencoe Oregon, which does poorly in this area of the ship. Dan sold to me Profile #25 (October 1972) for the SMS Emden (1906 - 1914). On the back inside cover it shows a proposed #36 for the USS Oregon. My wishful thinking hoped that it had been published. Thank you Dan for clearing this up. By the way, Plastic Ship Modeler #17 was just delivered and it an excellent issue. It was worth the wait! Roger Clemens Hinsdale, Illinois ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume