Subject: SMML26/10/98VOL344 Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 20:34:01 +0100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: He 60 biplane question 2: Re: He 60 biplane question: Update 3: Re: More on the Graf Spee 4: Enterprise CMV 65 detail and scale 5: Re: Graf Spee commentary 6: PHOTO GALLERY OF SMML MEMBER's PROJECTS 7: Re: GRAF SPEE DECKS-DAVE KRAKOW 8: Nagatos, water methods 9: Sydney's demise 10: uss enterprise in detail & scale 11: Re: HMS Newcastle 12: Airfix releases for next year 13: P.C. COKER 14: Nagato and the lathe 15: Teak decks 16: Re: CW New Orleans Class 17: Re: Tokyo Hobby Shops -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Foeth" Subject: Re: He 60 biplane question Dave, I have a black and white pic of the He60, and shows the exact same sceme as the Ar196 (but is probably after pre-war). I know a black and white pic is difficult to interpret correclty, but it seems very dark to me. Also, color pics from that era are, as someone mentioned earlier, not always true to the real color, and if it is a b&w pic which has been colored later, it might be wrong (like the mysterious Hipper with yellow turret during Roesselsprung). Where did you find that picture? Evert-Jan Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Foeth" Subject: Re: He 60 biplane question: Update Off course, after you send your reply, you find pics to tell you otherwise: I have some early pics from Nuernberg/Leipzig/Graf Spee (all pre-war) *all* very lightly colored. Sorry. I repent, I repent. Evert-Jan Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Mike Settle Subject: Re: More on the Graf Spee >> Lastly, the barrels of the main batteries are all capped in every picture in the book. Were these usually capped when the ship was underway except when preparing to fire? << >> Beats me, I got photos of the ship moored and underway with and without the caps (trunnions in naval terminology?). I suppose it depended on weather conditions, etc. << I would assume that this practise was the same for all navies. I was stationed on a US navy destroyer in the early '70s. These caps kept water out of the barrels in heavy seas and also kept out any foreign debris such as rain water, birds, etc. IIRC, they could be blown out or off of the barrel by compressed air when time was critical. Even salt water-laden air is corrosive to unpainted steel. These caps helped protect and extend the life of the rifled barrel. Good luck on your Graf Spee, Bill. The Iron Shipwrights 1/350 Graf Spee (and Alaska) is high on my priority list as soon as I get caught up from my recent 7 months of unemployment. Mike Settle -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Ian Patrick Johnson Subject: Enterprise CMV 65 detail and scale I would like to jump on the bandwagon and say that I would like a copy of the Enterprise CMV 65 detail and scale book as well. I'm modeling the ship in its current arrangement. If anyone comes up with something let me know. In other buisness, does anyone know if brass or resin castings are available for the vulcan cannon, sea sparrow launcher, or life raft racks for the 1/350 Enterprise. I've looked, and I'm falling short. Ian Johnson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: dhjonespsm@juno.com (Daniel H. Jones) Subject: Re: Graf Spee commentary >> Lastly, the barrels of the main batteries are all capped in every picture in the book. Were these usually capped when the ship was underway except when preparing to fire? << >> Beats me, I got photos of the ship moored and underway with and without the caps (trunnions in naval terminology?). << Actually Tampions would be correct. Trunnions are the projecting cylindrical mounting points for cannon barrels that form the balance point for elevation. >> All this "Spee Chat" reminds me to ask, what's the color sheme for the early He60 biplane carried as a spotter on early KM ships. I have one color photo from the era, and it looks like the plane is a light green. Can this be correct? Not a very tasteful color, I must say. :) << The color you are referring to is called RLM Grau - the pre-war color for most German military aircraft. Aircraft were painted in this color overall at the factories, and it was retained as part of camouflage patterns in many cases and as undersurface coloring in the early years of the war. with naval aircraft it was retained as the overall color until the camouflage patterns were introduced as on the Arado 196. When uppersurfaces were painted in the two tones of green the undersurface color was replaced with Hellblau - a very pale blue. RLM Grau is a light grey with a green tint. It is a color offered as a standard Luftwaffe color by several hobby paint manufacturers. BTW (for those who might be curious) I make my living as a CNC machine operator (title - precision grinder A). I work in a small prototype department within a larger production facility. We develop new products and processes for customers and when large orders result, develop production methods for other departments to mass produce the items. Alternately interesting and boring (like most jobs) but it pays the bills and allows me to pursue my real interests, as an amateur historian, writer, magazine publisher, and occasional model builder. Dan Jones Plastic Ship Modeler magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "eljko Hanich" Subject: PHOTO GALLERY OF SMML MEMBER's PROJECTS Hi everybody, IMHO I do believe it would be just fine to establish a kind of Photo Gallery where we could found (and show) photos of SMML member's projects (finished one ,and in progress too). For some people out there (including me, I am from Croatia) that is the only way to witness some really "must to be seen" projects. Let me say that you guys have no idea how lucky you are to have, clubs, conventions (not to mention museums). It must be easier to find some plastic ship modeler on Mars, then in Croatia. Lucky you. So, how about gallery :-) Zeljko -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: b29@ix.netcom.com Subject: Re: GRAF SPEE DECKS-DAVE KRAKOW Dave, I have to disagree with your comments about the lack of research on German ships as compared to U.S. I've been collecting books on naval subjects for 40 years, and have an 1100+ book library. There is a great deal of material on German ships. Just try for instance the 7 volume Erich Groner series which covers every ship, and I mean every, that ever served in the German Navy. Thousands of drawings plus details on all of the ships. There are plenty of other materials too. While it is true that there is plenty of stuff on U.S. carriers, BB's, Cruisers, and DD's. just try to find good stuff on smaller vessels and auxiliaries. It's pathetic what limited material there is. I've been trying to get adequate drawings of some of the pre-WW II stuff to make models and that is nearly impossible. When recently I posted a request on SMML for material on PYRO (AE-1) AND NITRO (AE-2), I got one reply (thanks to John Snyder) directing me to one photo in NARA! Well, I've got access to other photos, such as those in DANFS, Janes FS, other books and some WW II U.S. ID manuals, but try building a model when you've no deck plans or overheads. Given the fact that no U.S. archives, or government facilities were ever touched by the fire of war, it is indeed pathetic how little is readily available (you might be able to get it by going to D.C. and going through archives, but how many of us can do that). Consider by contrast the Japanese material that's been published. They destroyed most of their records at the end of the war. Yet there are fabulous series such as the numerous MARU books with photos of many Japanese ships, the Shizuo Fukui books with their magnificent photos, the recent paperback books containing complete detailed drawings of all the physical aspects of Japanese carriers, cruisers and destroyers (heaven for a model builder-PacificFront carries them) and you wonder where the U.S. stuff is. And look at what the Italians have done. They have published a numerous and exhaustive series on all their major warships of WW II with lots of photos, color drawings showing camouflage schemes etc. These books have camo schemes for all their BB's, cruisers and DD's and they had the good sense to show BOTH sides of the ships. The U.S. camouflage stuff isn't all that great. There are plenty of photos, but often they are only of one side of a particular ship, and you need both sides. In some instances, as with DD's and DE's, you can extrapolate by having the port side of one and the strbd of another of the same class ship where they are identified as having the same Ms. and pattern. But a lot of times, you cannot get both sides of a ship at the same time in it's career. It took me months to get adequate photos etc. to do a CURRITUCK class AV (see the photo in the Readers' Gallery in the WARSHIP site 1250 section). As for the notion that Germans aren't that interested, don't tell that to 1250 scale collectors. They'd be surprised to hear it. They may not be big on larger scales, but the center of 1250 scale collecting is Germany. They have clubs all over Germany. They have shows and conventions. Most of the models in this scale are manufactured there. Thousands of different models have been made in this scale. More different ships have been made in this scale than in any other scale, maybe more than in all other scales combined. Now it may be that world wide more plastic models are sold in hobby shops etc, but there is no greater group of organized dedicated collectors in the world. It is common for collections to range from 300 ships up to thousands (my collection numbers about 2000 andone legendary collection numbers over 20,000). Most collectors are adult professionals. Why? Because the models are expensive and delicate. And what navy is most popular with German collectors? What else but the German navy?! If you've ever seen the 1250 scale models made in Germany, then I'm sure that you'll agree that a tremendous amount of research goes into them. These models incorporate virtually all the detail found in larger scales, except perhaps for railings. To make masters for those models, one must have excellent plans. Paul Jacobs Editor 1250 Page http://warship.simplenet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: JGordon262@aol.com Subject: Nagatos, water methods re: James and his efforts to secure the High Mold Nagato: GO FOR IT!! Myself, having gone the other fork in the road, ie, the "hard way" with the Aoshima kit, definetely recommend the High Mold kit. Mr. Mackie from Warship showed me his High Mold Nagato, and it just blew me away it is so good. Exquisite molding and details. Fondling it resulted in a steady stream of drool from the corner of my open mouth, and one repeating thought in my numbed brain: "must... have... this...". Its worth whatever you have to pay for it. re: Water methods: Mr. White swears by the acrylic gel method, but personally, I've tried it but found it too thin for water with "character", unless you lay on many coats over time. Personally, I like quick results, that is, modeled water that is completed within about 24 hours. Once again, I will champion the cause of Celluclay, the ground paper product that applies like oatmeal. You can lay this on thick, and really sculpt it, much like clay. All sorts of waves become easily rendered. And when dry and painted, the texture resembles scale chop as seen from above. One bag of this stuff will last years for 1/700 scale ships. re: AOL downloads If you haven't changed your preferences, AOL will dump your downloads deep down in its bilge. Its easy to create a folder on the desktop as your DL destination folder. (at least for Macs) Just go to Preferences under Members in the desktop menu, and select download options. JG -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Burl Burlingame / Pacific Monograph Subject: Sydney's demise I researched the fate of Sydney a bit while writing my book Advance Force - Pearl Harbor, and came to no conclusions except a lot of mystery. The one that bothers me is the total lack of survivors from Sydney. But I recall that there was an expedition planned to find and dive on Sydney several years ago to solve the mystery. What happened? Robert Ballard, where are you? Burl Burlingame Pacific Monograph, 1124 Kahili Street, Kailua HI 96734 A historical interpretation company. Visit our web site at http://www.PacificHistory.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Denis G. Campbell" Subject: uss enterprise in detail & scale Javier, you posted >> Mark Seitz" Mark, I'm also seeking that book. Squadron sells the old Detail & Scale from then to then. In the October's Flyer they have on sale USS America and USS JF Kennedy books. If you are interested, I can send you a mail if they offer the Enterprise. << I have been looking for that book for months - have several old book sources looking for it but no luck yet. I know that Squadron bought out the "detail & scale" series from Kalmbach (I have the Kalmbach edition on the JFK) but have not published any for some time. Maybe they are now starting to republish a few titles (other than aircraft and armor). I would also appreciate an e=mail "heads up" if you see the enterprise book offered. Regards Denis Campbell Massachusetts, USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Rick Heinbaugh Subject: Re: HMS Newcastle >> I have a couple of questions for the collective knowledge of the SMML membership. Warship pic of the week for 18 Oct. has a number of photos of H.M.S. Newcastle. Can anyone name which US shipyard they were taken in, and what Iowa class battleship is in the back ground of photo #4. << British Cruisers of World War Two by Raven & Roberts says that Newcastle left New York on 11-21-42, the day marked on those photos. Friedman's U.S. Battleships Illustrated Design History says that Iowa was launced in NY on 27 Aug 42 and Missouri was laid down on 6 Jan 41 but not launched until Jan 44. So that battleship floating in the water in NY in 11-42 must be Iowa. Rick -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Graham Walker" Subject: Airfix releases for next year Just got back from the UK Nationals, nice 12 hour day and another one tommorrow there, and the Airfix rep told me that the HOOD is on for release when who knows but its coming out, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Baker Subject: P.C. COKER Fro Mr. Krakow's friend. P.C. Coker is alive and well and still living in Charleston (or was last week when I got a letter from him). His address is P.O. Box 176, Charleston, S.C. 29402. His E-mail address is; CokerRE@aol.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Michael Connelley Subject: Nagato and the lathe Hello: First of all, I'd lik eto thank everyone who responded to my question on the Nagato and Hyuga. I've decided to get the 1/500 Nagato and to worry about the AA guns later. I'll figure something out when the time comes. In building my Revell 1/429 Arizona I found the casemate guns really terrible, plus I wanted to depict them open and without the coverings. I did an experiment this evening that was a smashing success. I chucked some 1/8" brass rod about 2" long into my Dremel motor tool and set her spinning. I then held my file against the brass and PRESTO! instant lathe. Well, it's not as good as a real lathe but I got a pretty good looking 5"/51 casemate gun out of it. The more pressure you put on the file and the more you file back and forth the faster you remove material. On faster speeds you might not remove as much material as you might think since the motor tool tends to slow down under load. In any case, it's is easy to control how fast you remover material and where. This is especially good for gun barrels since I don't know how you'd machine the gun barrel's taper on a real lathe but with this file-lathe it's trivial. Plus, this goes for anything and everything round. I plan to make new capstans this way too, as well as ventilators, winches and the propeller shafts (after all the real prop shafts were brass right?). I could also make new crane booms and tripod legs this way too. However this method is particularly good for non-constant cross section things where stretched sprue won't cut it. Cheers Mike Connelley -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: Jowfx@webtv.net (John Fox) Subject: Teak decks I'm toying with the idea of backdating Matchbox's USS Indianapolis to her original configuration. Can anybody offer suggestions on replicating teak decks in 1/700? John -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: khglam@ucdavis.edu Subject: Re: CW New Orleans Class "Duane W. Christensen" wrote: >> I recently bought the Classic Warships Heavy Cruisers New Orleans and Quincy. The workmanship is very fine. The upper and lower hull halves line-up almost perfectly, a bit of sanding to remove the mold base and they fit very well.<< I brought the San Francisco at the IPMS Nationals. The upper and lower hull appears to line up well, except for the armor plate. It is mis-aligned by almost 1/4". I wonder if it's just my kit. For the 5" gun tub/platforms, one needs to remove part of the bottom. What's the best way to do this? I expect that I'll be breaking a few of the splinter shields. Chung -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ 17) From: khglam@ucdavis.edu Subject: Re: Tokyo Hobby Shops I can recommend three stores in the Tokyo area. The one with the best ship selection is Leonardo's in Akihabara. They have the best selection of old Revell and other non-Japanese kits I've seen anywhere. They also give 20% on the recent Japanese releases, and 10-15% on resin Pitroad kits. To get there, get to the JR Akihabara station (Yamanote line would work), and exit the Showa Dori exit. Cross the major street, and then continue straight into any one of the alleys until you reach the next major street. Turn right at that major street, and walk until you see a fast food restaurant on your right hand side (selling beef rice bowl). This restaurant is at the corner, you want to turn right at the corner, and go into the first door on the right into the building. The first door on the left is Leonardo's. Leonardo opens from noon to ~9pm. The second one is Sakura Hobby Kan in Shinjuku. This place has only current releases, but does offer a 20% discount. Get to the Shinjuku San-Chome subway station (Marunouchi line), and go out via Exit B5. Go up the stairway, and you'll be at a taxi stand. The stairway is parallel to a street, and perpendicular to another street. Cross the street that is parallel to the stairway, and walk along the street that is perpendicular to the stairway. After two (?) blocks, the street turns right. Stay on this street, and you'll see a nintendo shop on the left at the first corner. The model section is on the second floor. The third store is ALIC in Yokohama. Again, this place has only current releases and does offer 20% discount. Take the JR Tokaido line to the Yokohama station. Go out the West exit. As soon as you exit the station, turn left. You'll re-enter the station mall. (The Takashima store should be on your right) Go straight for a while, and then take the first right. Go straight, exit the mall, cross the street at the light, and continue straight. After a block, you'll cross a river. (It may be difficult to tell given the amount of people walking around). Look up at the buildings on the right for the ALIC sign. It is the 2nd or 3rd store on the right after the river. The street floor is a electronics store selling radios, TV, etc. The hobby section is in the basement. Within the Yokohama station, on the fourth floor is another model shop, Yokohama Mokei. Its selection of ships is rather weak. However, they were nice enough to point me to ALIC. Good luck. Chung -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume