Subject: SMML27/04/99VOL528 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 00:18:13 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Ticonderoga 2: 1/72 carrier decks 3: Re: Haze Gray and Radar 4: Re: Pre-war Caribbean Colors 5: Bark Endeavour West Coast Tour 6: Re: SMML Accross America 7: Duane Fowler, BZ 8: First resin kit 9: Flattening a stern 10: Re: SMML across America 11: Models you would like to see 12: Information 13: SMML crossing America! 14: Re: Haze grey & Radar development WW2 15: First Resin Kit: Lone Star Model's USS Winslow @ 1/192 16: IJN Sub decks and RN colours 17: USS Bataan (CVL-29) Deck Colours 18: Fletcher Anti-skid pad decals 19: Vote For A Resin 1/600 Scale Model 20: 1/700 Destroyer anti-skid walkways -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: WTB: Older Forrestal or Saratoga kit. 2: Skywave W-48 IJN I-400 class Subs 3: FS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "chenyangzhang" Subject: Re: Ticonderoga Hi Jerry For your 1945 version, Hasegawa do a 1/700 model of the Ticonderoga. However, be warned there's quite a bit of modification needed to make an accurate replica. Mine is in the process of becoming the Shangri-La. Michael Smith's Essex Class Carriers of WW2 (Squadron/Signal) is a good starting point for her configuration then. Chris Langtree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Les Dorr Jr." Subject: 1/72 carrier decks For wood flight decks I use a type of Evergreen scribed plastic sheet. Don't remember the exact size; will be happy to look. For tie-downs, I created a Word file that has a couple gazillion of them, looking like so: [][][][][][][][][][][][], etc. To me, looks realistic in 1:72. I print the tie-downs on clear decal and apply them every 7-11 "planks" on the plastic. Les "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: Haze Gray and Radar Haze Gray: Depends on which Haze Gray you're interested in. Floquil's wasn't good for any of them. If you're talking the late 1941 purple-blue Haze Gray (5-H), I'm unaware of any direct match. If you're talking the present Haze Gray which began life as the 1945 Outside Gray #27, we've provided Bill Gruner at Pacific Front Hobbies with the proper FS reference (don't have it right at hand). These colors are included in our USN Paint Chip Sets 1 and 2 respectively. Naval Radar: See Friedman, Norman. _Naval Radar_. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1981. John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Frederick Wagner Subject: Re: Pre-war Caribbean Colors >> The colors in use depend on how "pre-war" you have in mind. Camouflage measures were being developed and implemented even before the U.S. entry into the war. However, the light-colored pre-war scheme you're probably referring to consisted of #5 Standard Navy Gray on vertical surfaces, and #20 Standard Deck Gray on all metal horizontal surfaces; wooden decks would have been holystoned on all but carriers, which had flight decks stained mahogany. Our USN Paint Chip Set #1 has #5 Standard Navy Gray and #20 Standard Deck Gray, while our USN Paint Chip Set #2 has the Mahogany Flight Deck Stain. << John Snyder was kind enough to reply to me on the last SMML. John, I very much appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question regarding USN paint in Carribbean area before WWII. My question was too general. I am painting an old Comet USS Wichita and I am trying to use a May 1st, 1940 photo which is in the National Archives. The photo is truly magnificent. (The URL for the photo is: gopher://gopher.nara.gov:70/II/inform/dc/audvis/still/navy/ships119.jpg ) The photo, according to Danfs(URL:http://www.uss-salem.org/danfs/cruisers/ca45.txt) was taken while she was carrying out exercises out of Hampton Roads, before her SHOW THE FLAG mission to South America. From the photo, she looks awfully pretty. I note the following: 1. The superstructure appears to be a lighter shade than the hull. Is this possible? 2. The fo'c'sle foredeck appears to be painted forward of the A turret guns and the rest of the deck appears to be holystoned. Would that paint be deck grey #20? It appears much lighter than the superstructure decks. 3. The stacks appear to be a different color from the rest of the superstructure. Is it possible they prettied her up a bit with colored stacks? Is that likely to have been a colored stripe around the stacks just below the black stack caps? If you look at the seachlight bridge or tower between the stacks-- that there is a color difference there is obvious. You can barely see the 'tween stack superstructure. 4. There are broad painted stripes on the roof of A and B turrets and a painted circle on the roof of Y turret. What would these colors be? 5. On a totally different topic. After reading the Danfs bio of Wichita, I asked myself if I could think of any other ship off hand that could claim so long and so distinguished a career. It made me think of that Forrest Gump movie. This ship was in just about everything, from North Africa to Okinawa. Am I just ignorant about other ships, or does this ship have an unusually brilliant record? Thanks very much. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Lars Orloff" Subject: Bark Endeavour West Coast Tour A reconstruction of James Cook's "Endeavour" is touring the west coast of the United States this spring/summer. This is a full-sclae sailing ship and was built as much as possible to the specifications of the original. If you are interested in meeting the ship somewhere on the tour, go to the following website: http://www.barkendeavour.com.au/ There are opportunities to join the crew for cruises between ports. The cost is high, but definitely well worth the experience. Lars R. H. Orloff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: MDDoremus@aol.com Subject: Re: SMML Accross America Do you actually make enough from selling photos to afford this long a road trip???? Lucky you!!!! On your way to Savannah, check out Kingsport Submarine Base, near the FL-GA border on I-95. Mark -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: MDDoremus@aol.com Subject: Duane Fowler, BZ Duane, I got the Fletcher decals in the mail on Saturday. They are Great! Bravo Zulu. BTW, I must have slept through the first part of the lecture, the part about Tamiya's Fletcher. Is there any reason to think they won't work on a late war Fletcher from Skywave? Thanks Again Mark Doremus Waiting for Ma Bell to install my new network connection. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: CHRIS DRAGE Subject: First resin kit Hi Mike Q and Louis C, Mike wrote: >> In reply to Louis Costanzo who inquired about "What to get for my first resin model", IMOHO, he can do no better than to purchase one of WEM's Fl***er corvettes, either HMS Buttercup or HMS Bluebell. << I am sorry I do have to disagree with this advice having just built five corvettes based on the WEM kits (HMSs Alisma, Bluebell, Buttercup, Loosestrife and HMCS Snowberry and three others previously. Make no mistake the WEM corvette kits are superb, building into a highly detailed model. BUT it is NOT for the beginner in resin/etch brass. You could argue that: you don't have to add all those details anyway. So buy such a detailed kit? A better bet is a ship like WEM's Ton Class minesweeper. Again beautifully detailed, but a much easier proposition to 'get right' and create a minature master piece. I am sure there ar emany other mixed media kits which fall into this category. How abou it fellas - let's post a list of the 'rewarding-but-not-too-difficult' resin/etch brass kits for those SMMLies making the transition? Regards, Chris He tao rakau e taea te karo, tena he tao kupa kaore e taea te karo.... (Te reo Maori) Sounds good to me. Now since I have yet to build the only resin kit I have(OzMods 1/700 HMAS Vampire), take the following comment with a grain of salt ;-). This kit "looks" to be fairly easy & would qualify for an entry level resin kit. "IF" you have a few plastic kits under your belt. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "MJW" Subject: Flattening a stern Hi folks I have one of the infamous 1/72nd scale Flowers from Matchbox, which represents a British design, but I would like to build a Canadian one. The Canadian stern is flatter than the British, so I was wondering how I can flatten the stern. Someone suggested to me to tilt the keel at the exact angle used in the Canadian ships, with the stern on a flat surface. Then gently heat stern with a hair dryer or similar, and the stern will start to flatten out. Will this work? Given how rare these things are - I don't want to mess this up, hence my question to you folks! Regards Malcolm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Marc Flake Subject: Re: SMML across America Kurt! You didn't mention it so I thought I'd post this adviser -- do not miss the NAS Pensacola Museum. Besides having some actual size Naval A/C, there's a god half dozen or so aircraft carriers. As I remember they have just about every style from the Langley (a beautiful model) to the Midway class, including some CVEs and CVLs. It's probably one of the best collections of aircraft carrier models assembled. If you're in Jacksonville, it would be worth turning back to photograph these models. Marc in Mansfield (TX) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: John Sheridan Subject: Models you would like to see I have a good question for all of the SMML'rs out there: What pre or post-WWII ship model not currently in production would you like to see created in Resin? And in what scale? (I would suggest in plastic but the major manufacturers are not exactly leaping at creating new kits these days, so let's stick to resin) For Pre-War, I would love to see a Lexington Class Aircraft Carrier in her 1938 configuration, complete with 8" Guns in 1/350th scale. The F2F? Biplanes would also be a nice touch. For post WWII, I would love to see a USS Albany in her 1960s configuration in 1/350th as well. John Sheridan What I do to Spammers: http://microscale.com/images/N2.jpg I am not a Member of the Lumber Cartel (tinlc) and I am not Unit #631 Fight Spam! Join CAUCE! http://www.cauce.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Gustavo Villanueva Subject: Information Fellow Ship Modelers; Writing for more information as to what and who you all are. I am a 53 year old modeler who loves to build plastic armor (1/35), aircraft (1/72, 1/48) and ships. The ships are my passion!!! I usually work with the 1/700 scale. Currently, trying to convert ESSEX into the FRANKLIN and the 1943 ESSEX. Trying to decide what Long Hull ESSEX to build - no true reference to build off. Looking for reference color (B&W too) photos of the Midway Battle IJN carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers. Available via this E-mail address from 1400 - 2230, Monday - Friday. Sincerely would appreciate any and all assistance!!! Yours in Christ, Gus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: SeaPhoto@aol.com Subject: SMML crossing America! Hi Everyone, Another report from the road... Stopped by the USS Alabama today. The ship is a bit rougher than when I saw her 5 years ago - needs some deck work and paint, though they seem to be expending a lot of energy in cleaning out her bunkers - probably an EPA requirement. Still, she is in generally fine shape, and well worth a visit. There is a reasonable motel located adjacent called the "Battleship Inn" - my kind of place! The USS Drum is closed, due to damage from a hurricane. She had a severe list to the starboard, and there where ragged chunks missing from her upper casing. Not known when she will be open again. There is a nice 1/96 scale model of BB-60 on board, not a builder's model, but well done. From there, it was on to Pensacola, and the museum of Naval Aviation. Now, I have to admit I have a surface warfare bias - just love those big gun ships. Still, the museum is extraordinary. Dozens of meticulously restored aircraft are on display there, with only a please don't touch sign seperating you from the vast majority of them. The complex is very well laid out, if a tad crowded, with both ground floor and balcony viewing. The obligatory IMAX theater plays relevant films - I saw a pretty nice one called the Magic of Flight. For the modeler, some very impressive 1:48 scale models, including builder's models of the Coral Se (in straight deck configuration) Shangria-La (with the angled deck) and the Enterprise (CVN) These big models are very clean, but a bit sparsely detailed for the scale. There are also a number of nice 1/96 scale models, including the Langley, Essex, a CVL, a CVE - just about every type is represented. The quality of these range from good to very good. Kurt Greiner In Talallahassee, Florida, where it is cloudy, warm and a lot less humid than Mobile! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Robert Morgan" Subject: Re: Haze grey & Radar development WW2 >> 1.) Can anyone suggest a match for (WW2) haze gray other than the discontinued Floquil one? << You can still get Floquil's Marine Colors haze gray, as well as most of the rest of the Floquil Marine Colors line, from Model Expo (http://www.modelexpo.com). Their website states that they bought out Floquil's remaining stock. I ordered ten bottles of haze gray last night at .69 cents apiece American. You can't go wrong for that price. Now, I'll soon have enough haze gray to paint almost anything. Forever. Perhaps it was overkill, but after reading all of the discussions about the difficulty of finding a proper haze gray match, I went for it. The price per bottle varies from a low of .39 cents to a little over a dollar, depending upon the color you are interested in. Hope this helps! Robert Morgan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: RCClem@aol.com Subject: First Resin Kit: Lone Star Model's USS Winslow @ 1/192 In reply to Louis Costanzo's request for suggestions for his first resin kit. I'd like to suggest Lone Star Models' USS Winslow at the large scale of 1/192. I paid $36 for my kit. Since it is a small Spanish-American War era torpedo boat, it is still only about 10" long. It has a two piece hull and I'm sure it will make into a nice model, no matter what your skill level is. It comes with some metal parts but no photoetch. But there are PE kits and accessories that you could buy for this scale. Check it out. Roger Clemens Hinsdale, Illinois -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Cooper, Mike" Subject: IJN Sub decks and RN colours Dear all I've got a scribbled note to the effect that someone on SMML said that IJN subs had their wood decks treated with a blackish bitumen compound. Anyone confirm this? Has anyone had any thoughts about my query on colours for Fighter Direction Tenders - the scheme I mentiond was also used on LSTs. Put another way, is there any sure way in a B&W shot of diferentiating B55 from G45? Mike Cooper Reading UK, where Shane says its always cold, but where today it's only drab and chilly! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "FCR" Subject: USS Bataan (CVL-29) Deck Colours Hello Everyone I am Filipe from Portugal and I am starting to build a Light Aircraft Carrier of the Independence class. It is the USS Bataan (CVL-29), converted from the model of the USS Independence from Revell. Unfortunately the few pictures that I have from the ships are in black and white and I can't see what color did they use on the flight deck (scheme camouflage Measure 22), in 1944. And it is not all, the identification numbers (CVL-29) are white in the Independence but for the Bataan, a top picture tell me that it must a darkest color. Thanks Filipe Ramires -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: Ed Grune Subject: Fletcher Anti-skid pad decals Hello all I had a pleasant surprise waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. The postman had delivered two sets of Duane Fowler's anti-skid decals. Duane, my compliments. The strips are in two versions - pads and strips. The patterns are laid out for the Fletcher, but could be adapted for other destroyer sized ships. There is an ensign and a jack, hull numbers for the early Fletchers, plus other numbers to make your own. There are also draft marks. All of this in 700th scale. There is also a 1 page (front & back) sheet describing the placement of the strips. Once again Duane, well done. Ed Mansfield, TX BTW: I am not connected with Duane in any way other than as a very impressed customer of his products. PS: Duane - the check's going into the mail. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: Felix Bustelo Subject: Vote For A Resin 1/600 Scale Model Hello SMMLers, I have been "speaking" with Peter Hall about the possibility of Atlantic Models issuing 1/600 scale resin ship kits. I volunteered to act as a market researcher for Peter by collecting the e-mail votes, keeping a tally and then compiling the information for his use, just like I did for the Airfix campaign. Well, Peter is game for this endeavor if enough votes are made for a particular subject AND those votes are backed up by definite orders. Since I am acting as the intermediary, I think the best way to approach this is to send me your votes for a subject - deadline will be June 30, 1999. Once the voting is completed and ballots are tabulated, Peter and I will share the info with SMML and then interested parties can send particulars to Peter to place pre-orders. So, to make this happen you must indicate to Peter that you want to buy what you have voted for. PLEASE, just send me your votes and nothing else. I will allow two votes per person since I have two votes myself. I will also post something in the next IMM update. Send your votes to my webmaster address : mailto:imm_web_master@yahoo.com So, all of you 1/600 scale "fans", here is your chance to get something new on the market. To start it off - My offical votes are: SS Normandie and HMS Dido. Let the voting begin. Cheers, Felix Bustelo IMM Webmaster http://members.tripod.com/~Febus65/imm.htm imm_web_master@yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: 1/700 Destroyer anti-skid walkways I just got my 1/700 Fletcher decals in the mail from Duane Fowler today. Let me say this, if you're building a Fletcher for the Nationals you gotta have these decals. The sheet includes two complete sets of anti-skid walkways. It was designed to fit the Tamiya /700 scale Fletcher kit #902. One set is solid pathways and the other is divided into hundreds of individual pads 6"x 24" in 1/700 scale! The solid set is for early Fletchers and the other is for later versions of the same class. The sheet also contains an American Flag and Jack, draft numbers, hull numbers and extra sections of anti-skid pathways in divided and solid design. I thought at first glance that one set of decals was a lighter gray shade. I got out a 8x Lupe scope and noticed the many tiny (I mean tiny) individual pads with clear gaps between them. If I ever had any doubts about the print quality of the Alps printer I don't have any now. Under 8x magnification the lines are crisp and clean. Duane tells me the sheet will be sold under the Tom's Modelworks label and can be purchased from them. This decal set will really jazz up any/700 scale Fletcher and I highly recommend it. I can hardly wait for the 1/350 version for my Fletcher. Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. http://www.okclive.com/flagship/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: LeadSled58@aol.com Subject: WTB: Older Forrestal or Saratoga kit. Ahoy friends, Does anyone out there have an older issue of the Revell Forrestal or Saratoga, the one which had the F7U among the air wing that they would be willing to sell? Please let me know. Tom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Bill Gruner Subject: Skywave W-48 IJN I-400 class Subs JUST IN: Skywave's new 1/700 scale Imperial Japanese Navy I-400 scale sub, plastic kit, 2 kits in the box. You can build both I-400 and I-401...typical great Skywave quality. We have lots in stock. Price is $25.00 + shipping. Skywave W-49, the IJN Type C (Hei) Escort, 2 in box for $14.00...should be in this week. Thanks, Bill Gruner Pacific Front. Hobbies. http://www.pacificfront.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: CokerRE@aol.com Subject: FS For sale 1/100 scale fiberglass hull with some fittings (boats, turrets) for SMS Derfflinger, Lutzow, Hindenburg Class Battlecruisers. Includes plans, films for photo etched parts, etc. Asking $350 plus shipping or best offer. reply CokerRE@aol.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume