Subject: SMML18/03/99VOL488 Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 23:52:10 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi gang, I need a favour from a SMMlie to pass on some issues to approx 5 webtv subscribers. My isp is still spam blocked there for some reason. If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated. I hope that it won't be for long, but with webtv's spam policy, who knows. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Rigging material 2: Iwo Jima Class LPHs 3: Re: Rigging 4: Re: Gun Fire Sounds 5: FW: French design 6: Re: Minesweepers 7: Skywave USN Equipement Set #1 5" turrets 8: Re: VISA 9: Re: Uncurved Bow Rails 10: Re: Rigging 11: Victory at Sea soundtrack 12: Re: rigging questions 13: Re: rigging questions 14: The HMS Buttercup Flower Class Sequel... 15: Re: rigging questions 16: Re: Paint Colors 17: Victory at Sea 18: Bluejacket Merrimack (Virgina) & Monitor 19: Minesweepers et all -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: NEW Books and 1/700 Warspite -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: BillBramha@aol.com Subject: Rigging material >> Has anyone out there used anything to rig their ships with other than sprue? In particular I was wondering about nylon and fishing line (since I have them handy), but I've also seen rigging sold at model stores, what is it?. << Recently, I came across a very thin wire (.003) made from boron fibers. Unlike tippet and nichrom wire, the boron wire comes in straight lengths (about 24"), so all you have to do is cut it to length. It's extremely rigid and should be handled with care. I got mine from: Raymond B. Harlan 15 Happy Hollow Road Wayland, MA 01778 You can also use fly-tying tippet line, which is available in very thin widths. Careful not to apply too much heat to tighten it, though. A blown-out match is enough. Bill Bramhall -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Donald Bridge Subject: Iwo Jima Class LPHs Hi Guys Mark Doremus wrote that the Tarawa LHAs and Iwo Jima Class LPHs were well represented in plastic or resin. Does anyone out there know if any of the Iwo Jima class kits are still in production and are any of them around 1/700? Thanks Don Bridge -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: AZJOE1445@aol.com Subject: Re: Rigging Pacific Front Hobbies sells nylon monofilament line that comes in diameters of .002, .004, .005 and .007 inch. Since I have been using it I havn't experienced any temperature related problems such as sagging or over tension in cooler temps. It also reacts well to CA glues. Tie off one end and glue in place, stretch the line to where you want it to go and tie off the other end leaving extra slack. From that point pull on the bitter end of the line to adjust the tension, glue and trim. You won't need heat to adjust tension and your masts won't warp when it gets cool where the model is displayed. Hope this is of some help. Joe Kreutz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: ALTON007@aol.com Subject: Re: Gun Fire Sounds I still hear the 5 in guns going off in my sleep from a visit to the gunline in the gulf in 68............ GM3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Mike.Dunn@dresdner-bank.com Subject: FW: French design Just had this forwarded to me; thought the list would be interested. BTW, how many mm would this come to, in 1/350? Mike >> French Carrier Comes Up Short, By A Nose Maybe they got confused and used U.S. measurements instead of metric during construction. Either way, early sea trials have revealed that France's first-ever nuclear-powered aircraft carrier -- the brand-new Charles de Gaulle -- has a flight deck about ten feet, err, three meters, too short. Deck trials with Dassault Rafale fighters went well, but problems appeared when the French began trials with their much heavier and larger Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes. It seems that if Hawkeye catches the last arresting wire, it comes to a stop too close to the end of the deck. It can't turn and taxi to the parking area but must be pulled back and around by a tractor. C'est la vie? << -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: WVeigele@aol.com Subject: Re: Minesweepers Hello John, An article appeared in a recent issue of Sea Classics magazine about the Admirable class minesweepers and their counterparts the PCEs. Also 18 PC Patrol Craft were converted to mineswreepers during W W II. You can see details in the book about PC Patrol Craft reviewed by Rob Mackie on the Warship website or at: http://members.aol.com/wveigele/pcraft/pcraft.htm Bill Veigele -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "Alan Lindstrom" Subject: Skywave USN Equipement Set #1 5" turrets The (out of production) Skywave USN Equipment Set #1 sprue comes with two sizes of single 5"/38 gun turrets. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two turrents (that is, which ships were they used on)? Would either be appropriate for a Fletcher? Thanks, Alan Lindstrom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: VISA >>...with kits like these available, I never will pay off my VISA. << Now what you do, see, is get a VISA that gives you airline mileage credit when you use it. That way, buying all those kits will pay your way to the Nationals every year! John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: Uncurved Bow Rails Art: Probably the easiest fix would be to snip all but the top rail adjacent to each (or maybe every second or every third) stanchion, allowing you to bend to fit as you apply the rail. This would leave you with a miniscule gap at each cut that you could probably fill with CA before painting. John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Cpecksark@aol.com Subject: Re: Rigging Fine threads are O.K for rigging but stretched sprue is so much cheaper and easier to use I find. Use superglue to fix - polystyrene cement usually melts the very thin strands and allow to set. To tighten up any lines hold a hot knife blade or screwdriver in close proximity to the slack line and after several seconds the line should go taut. Practice this a few times before approaching the model and remove the heat source as soon as possible. Hope this helps, Regards, Colin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Mike Taylor" Subject: Victory at Sea soundtrack Just ordered mine on CD from CDpoint total cost $8.58. Couldn't pass that up!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Tony Mollica" Subject: Re: rigging questions I use a product called 'invisible thread', available at haberdashery stores. It is very fine, strong, cheaper than fishing line and is available in several colours. I use a clour called 'smoke', which is darker and more authentic looking than clear, I think. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Dave Swindell Subject: Re: rigging questions >> Has anyone out there used anything to rig their ships with other than sprue? In particular I was wondering about nylon and fishing line (since I have them handy), but I've also seen rigging sold at model stores, what is it?. What are the differences between them and sprue, that is, I am getting sick of stretching the stuff and not always getting consistant results, especially with thickness and mostly because my current projects sprue will not tighten! It is so frustrating that I've removed it all and I want to start over. Also, can nylon or fishing line be tightend with heat? << Hi Folks, I've just had a very traumatic experience with rigging a WW1 Voisin biplane - I know its not a ship but the lessons to be learnt are equally valid whatever youre rigging. The Voisin looks like a pram with wings and LOTS of rigging, something like 200 lengths in a wing bay 1"x1"x8". To do this with stretched sprue would have been a nightmare - instead invisible monofilament thread (available from all good sewing shops!) was "sewn" through predrilled holes. The thread was gently tensioned, and when all was in place it was secured with superglue. The excess on the outside could then be trimmed off and the paint touched up (any takers for rigging a shagbat in 1/700?!). The rigging was finished in a fraction of the time and looked as good if not better than stretched sprue - I was dead chuffed with the results, it was only the second biplane I've built. Now we get to the nitty gritty - this stuff is definately heat sensitive. The model was boxed in the loft for a couple of months, British winter = Brass Monkeys (old naval expression- v. cold) when the box was opened a couple of days ago all that lovely rigging was hanging as slack as I don't know what. As the model warmed up to room temp the rigging tightened up a bit, but not fully. The model was placed on a night storage heater for a few minutes and the rigging came up nice and tight, but slackened off a little on cooling, so it went back on the radiator for another shot, and this is when disaster struck:- I got distracted and the wing struts softened, alowing the tightening thread to pull the wings together. After posting on RMS a couple of useful tips came up - the stretching and shrining can be alleviated to some extent by cutting lengths and hanging them with weights on the end for two or three days, this prestretches the line and also removes the curl from the reel. Tensioning is best done with a hairdrier on cool, much more controllable than the radiator (and you don't walk away and leave your model melting!) With the above reservations invisible thread an be used for rigging, but I feel there is a better method, which I saw demonstrated at the UK Nationals, again on a biplane, but it could just as well be used for ships. The method was the same, but the material was different. The guy was using lycra thread, which looked identical to the invisible thread, but was elastic. With one end secured with superglue the other end could be taken to its location point, stretched a bit, then secured. The rig should remain tight, as it has built in tension, but the tension is only small, so it can be rigged between flimsy aerial masts without distorting them. Another advantage is if you accidentally catch the line, it doesn't break, it stretches and twangs back into place! Now comes the catch, I haven't tested this yet for myself - the lycra thread was allegedly available from "all good sewing shops", but despite asking in every sewing shop I've seen in the North West, I've yet to find any. If anyone on list knows where to find it, please post!!! Dave Swindell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Ingebrethsen, Kyrre" Subject: The HMS Buttercup Flower Class Sequel... Hi guys. For new subscribers I thought I'd give an intro to my posting. A while ago I asked a question about Norwegian Flowers, got several answers, including a very persuasive one from Caroline at WEM, which subsequently resulted in the purchase of their 1:700 HMS Buttercup. I reviewed it on SMML as a very nice kit, but hesitated to start building it. (Not just because it's 150 parts all to be assembled within 9 cm.) Why this hesitation? Well, I thought the paint-scheme would be wrong, as the kit was dated to its Belgian days in '42. Buttercup went to the Norwegians in late '44, this after a serving through the invasion and a refit. Yeah, I thought it would have been repainted at some stage. And I found proof today. In the book "Norwegian Naval Ships 1939-1945" there's a picture of Buttercup as she looked on her return to Oslo in May '45. She's grey and she's grey. It appears to be a "ship painted within the ship", by that I mean it's light grey all over, except an area from the waterline up to the lower deck, stretching along the hull from below the front 4" gunmount to the Pom-poms at the back, if you know what I mean, this area being a darker grey. (Q) My question would then be: What were these colours? Was this a standard "measure" like the Americans had? Were there any other greys on the ships painted as such? (For those interrested, I have a small correction to WEM's story on the Buttercup, as it appears that the ship not until August 10 '46 was renamed Nordkyn. So according to this book she was called Buttercup throughout the war! ) Finally another question from a newcomer to ship-building. (Q) It says that armament consisted of 2 x "6pdr. QF. Hotchkiss". What is are those, and were would they be placed? And if I need them for my kit, does WEM have them? Thanx for sharing, Kyrre Harstad, Norway, Still winter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: BD549@aol.com Subject: Re: rigging questions Try using crosstich floss it comes in all varietys of colors and works well as rigging -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: DrT388@aol.com Subject: Re: Paint Colors I am in need of a little help with regards to paint colors. Does anybody know what the colors are to reference numbers 126, 124 and 131 for Mr Color paints. The instructions reference these numbers but do not indicate what color they are and I do not know of any store around here that carries Mr Color paints. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Marc Flake Subject: Victory at Sea I have the two CDs (not a set, sold separtely) of the Rodgers and Hamestien Victory at Sea soundtrack. They have new, digitally remixed tracks in Dolby Surround Sound. They're on the RCA Victor label. The first disk is 09026-60963-2. It has no gunfire, but it does have great music. The second disk does have gunfire and all the other sound effects (claxons, etc.). It's number is 09026-60964-2. Marc in Mansfield (Texas) Where the mesquite is budding, thus insuring no more freezes for this part of the country this season. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: JVT7532@aol.com Subject: Bluejacket Merrimack (Virgina) & Monitor Greeting to all, I have seen these bluejacket kits listed on the internet and I was hoping someone could tell me something about them. I would like to build the set and was wondering how well detailed they are, how good the materials are, etc. I'm also looking for a picture that show's the USS Cairo's gunports, were the muzzels exposed thru holes in the covers or were they withdrawn into the hull and the covers closed fully? One picture I have seen seems to show the guns placed through holes, but it's really hard to tell. Thanks for all the help you guy provide, this letter sure is a great place to turn to for advice. All the best Jon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: "hugh1lottie2" Subject: Minesweepers et all Hello all, I also enjoy minesweepers, tankers, APAšs etc and thought you might like to know that masters of these are in progress with Loose Cannon Productions. A PCE/Admirable in 1/700 scale with four variations is in progress along with an AOG Mettawee class tanker. A 1944 Eastwind Icebreaker, Haskell class APA [USS Montrose], Tacoma class frigate and a AK cargo ship [Boulder Victory class] are in the works. You can't have all chiefs with no Indians. What is the general feeling about auxiliaries in the 1/700 community? Hugh L. Caroline, you would love it in Denver now, play golf on Fridays and then ski on Saturdays. The Gods have been great this year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Caroline Carter" Subject: NEW Books and 1/700 Warspite We have just received the new PROFILE MORSKIE/BS Press USS Indianapolis at 6.99 pounds and IJN Maya also at 6.99 pounds.. Update on WEM K 717 1/700 HMS Warspite 1942... a lot of you out there are waiting patiently.. thanks! The instructions have been done using a different batch of techniques and software.. a long story full of teething problems but we have finally cracked it! She carried a two tone grey splinter camouflage at the time that we have chosen to portray her, and we are providing as usual a beautiful colour plan and profile (these are so well executed that some people have asked us to do these as prints!) All castings are here and packed.. all the etched brass sheets are sorted, plastic and brass rod cut to size, labels printed... the CAD drawings are ready to be incorporated into the instructions, Dave is working all weekend, and then we'll be ready to ship, hopefully by the middle of next week. Remember we have the BS Press profile on the Warspite at 6.99 but you won't need it, not with 15 pages of instructions! We are shortly launching into another production run as demand has been so great, so if any of you have been holding back.. place your orders now!. The price, to remind you, is 54.00 pounds post free. (UK/EEC add VAT). Best Regards Caroline C. White Ensign Models PS One Pound equals 1.61 US Dollars as of this morning -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume