Subject SMML10/01/99VOL421 Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 23:13:43 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Interesting URL 2: Re: Keith Butterley's rigging problems 3: Corvette book 4: Judges and rigging 5: Re: PT boat colors 6: Re: Two Askolds 7: Re: 1/700 Askold 8: Re: Scale rigging 9: USS Honolulu CL-48 1942 10: Fixing Hull Warpage and other Techniques 11: Re: Fletcher flags -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Mike Settle Subject: Interesting URL Greetings, fellow SMMLies, I was doing a bit of link surfing and found a highly interesting site that I think many of you will be interested in. It is: http://www.cyber-dyne.com/~jkohnen/nautical.html There is much information here, including many photos of US Navy subjects from the late 1800s, tugs, towboats, and more. His link section alone will take much time to explore. Mike Settle -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Foeth" Subject: Re: Keith Butterley's rigging problems I too spend some hours with the hairdrier to tighten the rigging on my Titanic (with 4 two foot long lines), but some show a lot of slack after 1.5 year. I re-heated them before a contest, but some lines refused to get taut again. Fortunately, none snapped in the heat of the drier. I used blown-out matches before the drier, but that is a little unwise. The monofilament is suprisingly sturdy and thin (I use 0.10mm fishing lines), although the CA sometimes has the tendency not to glue at all, but to roll in tiny beads of fluid along the lines (Fat fingers perhaps?) Evert-Jan Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Tom Dean Subject: Corvette book Kim: The book your are looking for is "Canada's Flower" by Thomas G. Lynch ISBN 0-920852-15-7 and the pages for the information you quoted are correct. Tom Dean Hamilton, Ontario Canada -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Vimieraa@aol.com Subject: Judges and rigging I've never really liked judges especially when I know more than they do, and when I was a judge I never even liked ME. So let me give everyone the definative word on how to rig correctly to scale, and any one who dissagrees with me must be a judge! (1) YOU USE SUTURE SILK (2) MADE IN VARIOUS GRADES DOWN TO ALMOST THE THICKNESS OF A HUMAN HAIR (3) IT COMES IN TWO COLORS -- BLACK AND WHITE (4) IT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM SURGICAL SUPPLY HOUSES (5) IT DOES NOT CONTRACT AND EXPAND WITH VARIATIONS IN HUMIDITITY (6) LENGTHS OF THE SILK ARE TAKEN OFF THE REEL AND hung (7) ATTACH A SMALL WEIGHT OF SOMETHING LIKE PLASTICINE TO BRING AND KEEP THE LENGTH OF SILK TAUT (8) WET THE LENGTH OF SILK WITH SALIVA AND LET DRY (9) REMOVE WEIGHT CAREFULLY AND YOU WILL BE LEFT WITH A STRAIGHT ,LIMP, AND KINKLESS LENGTH OF SILK (10) ATTACH WITH ZAP AND IF DONE WITH CARE YOU WILL HAVE A NATURAL SAG WHEN USED FOR THE LONG WIRE ANTENNAS The above method works because I have used it sucessfully for the past 40 years, and so I don't want any arguments, here endeth the lesson. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: PT boat colors With regard to that red stripe at the stern, the caption in Chun seems to imply that this applied to Ron 15 boats rather than to Med boat in general. John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: RCClem@aol.com Subject: Re: Two Askolds Yohan, I DO appreciate the warships of the period 1880 to 1910. As far duplicate models, well, maybe the comparison will help both improve. I find that new kits come out about as often as my time and budget can handle. Life is good. Roger Clemens Hinsdale, Illinois (where I'm having trouble finding places to shovel all of the snow into) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "Caroline Carter" Subject: Re: 1/700 Askold Hi Fernando, Hi SMMLlies.. Re the Askold, as Falk will no doubt tell you all, this was pure coincidence ... after we had completed masters and announced it, he then informed us that he had been working on patterns for a couple of years ..if we had known this, we probably WOULD have chosen another subject. The fact that she is a reasonably well documented subject of unusual and attractive appearance due to her 5 funnels, was probably a major factor in the choice of kit for both of us. Re further 1/700 Scale pre-dreadnoughts, we have other (initially British) subjects in current preparation for 1999. Caroline Carter WEM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Caroline Carter" Subject: Re: Scale rigging Hi again, As a frequent judge on ships at modelling events, I would go along with the following by Dave.... >> You are putting the cart before the horse. Reproduce exactly what you see in your reference materials and damn the judges. << I would add that with ships, these are often judged by tank/aircraft modellers, who quite often have no conception of what a good model warship is all about... select a few detailed photos, arrange them in a pleasing manner, captioned... maybe point out details that you have attempted to realistically portray.. such as rigging.. provide a magnifying glass for the optically challenged..but only if you built your model using one!!! All these efforts together could swing a judge's opinion and could get you gold... Good Luck! Caroline Carter White Ensign Models -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Cadman Subject: USS Honolulu CL-48 1942 I'm building the 1/700 USS Honolulu kit # JNL015 by Jim Shirley productions. The box label shows 1942 but this kit appears to be a later refit. Are there any kits out there that have the bridge detail as it appeared in late 42 before the July 43 battle of Kolombangara? I have ordered plans and am not afraid of scratch building but would prefer to take the easy way out. Does anyone have any pointers for building this kit. Also does anyone have any recommendations for the 5" open mount guns that should be used for this kit. I plan on using the ones that came with the Skywave USN WW2 weapons set #2, and does anyone have any Skywave USN WW2 weapons set #1 that they will part with or know who still has these kits in stock? Cadman's Home page at http://www.kc.net/~cadman/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Michael Eisenstadt Subject: Fixing Hull Warpage and other Techniques Folks: Thanks for the recent postings about correcting warped resin hulls. My experience shows that the "hot water bath" treatment works like a charm--much better than the microwave "TV Dinner" or "hair dryer" treatments, though be careful with kits with very thin splinter shields or bulkheads. The thin resin could get very soft and be easily ruined by accidental contact with your hand when handling the hull. That's just my own experience. As for paint removal, I find that Windex works like a charm to remove acrylic paints, and the best paint remover for enamels is Easy-Off Fume Free Max with Lemon Scent. It works better (in my experience) than both Pine Sol and the Polly-S paint remover (can't recall its product name at this time). Not only does it work fast, but I found it to be much less harmful to whatever putty might be underneath (I use Squadron White Stuff). That's not to say that it has no effect, just that it is much less harmful to putty than the other brands. By the way, don't be fooled by the "fume free" claim on the Easy-Off label. The stuff is still noxious. (Trust me, this is knowledge gained from experience!) Use a respirator and ensure adequate ventilation when using. Hope this helps some of you out there. Now a question. A 1/700 scale water line injection molded kit I am building has developed marked warpage in the hull (hogging) as a result, I believe, of manual pressure applied to the hull while holding it and filling the gap between the waterline baseplate and the hull. How do I remove it? Can I use the same techniques used to correct such warpage in a resin hull? Will a hot water bath soften the plastic too much and cause additional damage? Is microwaving polystyrene plastic safe and does this technique work with injection molded kits too? Does anyone have any advice? Help! And thanks! Yours truly, Mike Eisenstadt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Jowfx@webtv.net (John Fox) Subject: Re: Fletcher flags Is the gaff found on the aft stack of wartime Fletchers really considered a mast? That seems to be stretching it a bit. And if it is considered to be the mainmast, why are there many photos of moored ships (from Squadron's Fletcher Class Destroyers in Action to name one source) with the colors flying from this gaff when they should be flying from the flagstaff on the fantail? John Fox -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume