Subject: SMML30/04/99VOL531 Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 00:05:08 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Welcome Aboard! 2: Re: 1/700th aircraft and planking 3: Smith Class Destroyers 4: Kurt's Quest for the Holy Grail 5: Re: Hobby shops in LA 6: Re: Pre- and Post WWII wants 7: Re: Models I would like to see 8: Ships to model 9: Revell & Airfix Vosper MTBs 10: Models I'd like to see in resin 11: USS Halsey 12: IPMS Regionals-Niagara Falls/New ships 13: Re: Vospers 14: Re: Bread and butter hulls and Sub Chasers 15: Re: Bread and Butter construction 16: kit I'd like to see 17: Bread & Butter hull construction 18: Re: "Bread and Butter" construction 19: King's Bay 20: Iowa turret explosion, book reviews 21: Re: USS TICONDEROGA CV/CVA-14 22: Re: PT Boat Models 23: 1905 Russian colors 24: Advice re portholes 25: New kits, visiting places, Mr. Fawcett, and bread and butter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: CHRIS DRAGE Subject: Welcome Aboard! Welcome Aboard Brian Fawcett - model maker extraordinaire! In Peter Hall and Brian Fawcett we have two super model builders who will prove a real asset to we lesser SMMLies! It just proves that SMML just gets better and better! Thanks for the tip on getting that planking. I bet it's a skill few of us will master! As for comments about your pattern making, just one - don't spend too much time waffling to SMMLies - get back to that work bench and produce those luverleeee ships that we have all come to admire. As for content - try to get C & D to commission you to do more WWII merchant types and auxilaries. Keep up the good work! Regards, Chris He tao rakau e taea te karo, tena he tao kupa kaore e taea te karo.... (Te reo Maori) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: J.L.Pickstock@lboro.ac.uk (Les Pickstock) Subject: Re: 1/700th aircraft and planking Hi Brian Welcome to the SMML. Having someone with your expertise contribute will give everyone plenty to think about. For my part having just bought the Airfix AJAX I'd like to see some decent 1/600th aircraft. Swordfish, Seafox, Fulmar, Barracuda and the like, away with the Faireys. Les Pickstock. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "michael smith" Subject: Smith Class Destroyers Dear Ship modelers: I am interested to know if it is possible to find copies of original naval architects drawings for the Smith class destroyers of World War 1. If so, who would I contact? There is a lot out there on the Wilkes class flush deck four pipers but I haven't seen much on the earlier destroyers. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Mike Smith -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: Kurt's Quest for the Holy Grail Mark K suggested: >> If you are in the Little Creek area of Virginia, not to far from Norfolk, in the old Intelligence center school house, there were two models, one of a midway class carrier with the angle deck, and some other vessel. It has been 14 years since I was at the school house, but if you make it there, you take a left once you get in the main gate. Also, NAB Little Creek is home to a variety of ships of the +ACI-Gator Navy+ACI-, and there is also the LCAC base. All of which I believe, are open to the public. << Alas, they shut down the amphib museum several years ago and the models have been scattered to the winds. As I go to NAB almost every month, I'm not aware of any other areas of interest that would be open to the public. The amphib school does an orientation class the features an invasion diorama about half the size of a basketball court, complete with beachead, ships, and pyrotechnic effects, but it's strictly a part of the class curriculum. The LCAC facility at ACU-4 is probably not accessible unless you knew somebody who could get you in. There are also some decent ship models on display near downtown Norfolk in the Hampton Roads Naval Museum inside the Nauticus pavilion. Mike L Alexandria VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Kenneth H. Goldman" Subject: Re: Hobby shops in LA It's Brookhurst Hobbies, not Brookside, and they actually are in Garden Grove, California. They are located at 12188 Brookhurst Street, telephone (714)636-3580. They also have a web presence at http://www.brookhursthobbies.com . I agree with John Snyder that they are worth a visit. Ken Goldman THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER http://www.wman.com/~khgold/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "FERNANDO, YOHAN" Subject: Re: Pre- and Post WWII wants I think a 1/700 Midway (as commissioned) would be great. It really is a wartime design and was commissioned during the war, but didn't really get to the battlezone until after the war, so I guess that counts as 'post-war'. Nothing more 'post-war' than that as I think the more modern the ships became, the uglier they turned out (my humble opinion). I would also like to see 1/700 WWI non-capital ships. One of the reasons I have yet to build any WWI subjects is because there are hardly any (if not any) cruisers, destroyers, tenders etc. avaible for that era. A couple of WWI dreadnoughts sitting lonely on my shelf for want of escorts is just too sad a sight to think about that I have yet to buy any. Am I not the only one who would want as extensive a selection of WWI ships as is availble for WWII? What's makes my 1/700 WWII collection exciting is the mix of ship types and sizes all next to each other. Having 10 or so battleships by themselves would be frankly quite boring. Yohan Fernando -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Chris Neel Subject: Re: Models I would like to see I would have to second the vote for a Midway Class Carrier.... although in 1/700 - straight deck, full 5"/54 armament (18) with either 40mm quads or 3" twin mounts , open bow and with the enlarged bridge (not the orignal as built small bridge). Throw in a full deck of F4U's, AD Skyraders, and maybe some F7F's and F8F's to spice things up (though probably never really carried - I don't even think that any of the Midways actually saw any action in the Korean War..... I thought they were mostly regulated to the East Coast and the Mediteranean - though why, I don't know....) later, cn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: Frances Jones Subject: Ships to model I'd like to see in resin in 1/350 the ATF class of tugs, the Navajo Class, with stack, and perhaps a kit for the side burners without stacks. A great class of naval vessels, with splendid wartime histories, including Pawnee and Munsee off Formosa towing Houston and Canberra after the cruisers had been torpoeded, and the tow into Malta of Warspite, after she had been hit by a glider bomb. They had unusually graceful hulls for tugs, they were, for the time, powerful, fast, capable tugs and salvage vessels. In Korea they were used for "flea flicker" patrols. Who could forget Ute's lucky shot with her 3 inch, which was aimed at a truck, but set off a North Korean amunition dump, earning her the name of "Good Shoot Ute." Let's get a model going, a good one, in resin with good photoetch. Lamar Jones -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Robert Lockie" Subject: Revell & Airfix Vosper MTBs The two kits are entirely different - Airfix's offering represents a late war 73ft boat with four tubes and a twin 2cm forward, while the Revell kit (as far as I remember, never having owned one) is an earlier design with the cutouts at the deck edge forward and, I think, only two tubes. The Lambert & Ross book on Allied Coastal Forces (Vol. 2) has all you are likely to want on the different Vosper designs and there are also large scale plans available from Mr Lambert. Robert Lockie Cambridge UK -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Robert Weilacher Subject: Models I'd like to see in resin My vote is somewhat strange I would think, but I would like to see either full kits or "correction" kits for the following (in 1/700 scale): 1. Lexington/Saratoga 1942/1944 2. North Carolina Class BB's 1944 3. South Dakota Class BB's 1944 Rob -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Robert Weilacher Subject: USS Halsey I have a friend who served on the USS Halsey from 1985-1989 who would like to build a model of it. Questions: 1. Is the Halsey a Leahey Class CGN ? 2. Is there a kit, if so what scale, year represented (beginner modeller) 3. The paint scheme as I think is applicable: Hull - Have Gray 5-H Decks - dark gray Black waterline Blood-Red bottom Black on masts above the smoke-stacks is that correct ? 4. Any comments/suggestions welcome of course. Thanks, Rob -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Darren Scannell Subject: IPMS Regionals-Niagara Falls/New ships Hi SMMLies, I know I'm cutting it close, but if anyone is going to the US IPMS Noreastcon at Niagara Falls on Sat May 1, look me up. I'll be there with my Minicraft Titanic with all of GMM's gorgeous P/E and I'd like to meet. As for new ships in resin, 1/350 Nimitz would be too big and pricey, let's take over Tamiya and make them do it in plastic! I'd like to see in 1/350, Modern Kirov (now Admiral some such) Any of the US CGN's HMAS Anzac (Which one??: Shane) Any of the CDN ships (no bias here : ) Sorry, no pre war wants. Guess I'm just not cultured enough. Cheers Darren Scannell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: ALROSS2@aol.com Subject: Re: Vospers The Revell Vosper and the Airfix Vosper are of different boats. The Revell version is not what it purports to be - an RN boat. Rather, it is a reasonable model of the modified license built design manufactured in the US for the Soviet Navy. It is very different in both hull design and armament from the original 70' design that was also license-built in the US, but for the RN. The Airfix kit depicts a 73' Type III boat (MTB 380-395) and is also a reasonably accurate model. Take a look at Allied Coastal Forces of WWII, volume 2 for comprehensive coverage of the various Vosper types. Al Ross -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Bradford Chaucer Subject: Re: Bread and butter hulls and Sub Chasers >> Could someone could give a clear and concise explanation of what is meant by "bread and butter" model construction? When I have scratch-built ship models I have mostly used the hull-carved-from-a-block-of -wood method!! Is bread and butter and easier method? << Basically B&B construction is a technique wherein the hull is built up from thinner flat sections. Each section is first cut to rough profile and if appropriate may be hollowed. The sections are then glued together in a stack to form the hull which is now a very rough approximation of the finished hull. There are several advantages to the technique. First it is often easier to band saw or jigsaw thin sections to the proper profile, then it is to cut out a solid hull from a large block. More importantly IMHO, it is a method that will tend to minimize problems with wood movement and defects in the piece of wood that forms the full hull. You are basically building a piece of plywood and by reversing grain directions in the slabs (plies) you can minimize any tendency to warp or split that a large single piece of wood might have. It also tends to be cheaper as planks of wood in the 1/4 to 3/4 in thickness range tend to be more available and cheaper than an equivalent large block, particularly in the hardwoods like mahogany or walnut which have advantages in finishing. Also the ability to hollow the slabs will lighten the hull which may become a factor in larger models. >> Since there's been this question about what would make a good first resin kit, I thought I'd mention a new kit Iron Shipwrights has just begun to release. The kit is of a US PC-461 class Subchaser, and comes with all of the usual stuff found in a resin kit. Because of the size of the subject and number of resin parts (15), it was designed specifically to be sold as a "beginners" kit. The kit includes custom photoetch for the kit, and retails for US $25.00. You can get these kits directly through Commander Series Models at 888-476-6744, or through most of the usual outlets (Pacific Front, APC Hobbies, Rocky Mountain Shipyard). << Hi John: Can you bestow a couple of pictures on us?? Regards, Bradford Chaucer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Ron Hillsden, Victoria BC Canada" Subject: Re: Bread and Butter construction Imagine a sandwich made of several pieces of bread with nothing but butter for a filling. Now change the bread for wood and the butter for glue, and you have it. 'Bread and butter' refers to a hull made of laminated planks carved out in the shape of a hull. Why bother? If you cut each board along the horizontal elevation plan on the plan before you glue them together, you save a lot of time carving. In addition, if you want the hull to be hollow for radio control, you would cut the inside of each board as well before you glue them together. Ron Hillsden Victoria BC Canada -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Kenneth H. Goldman" Subject: kit I'd like to see How about USS Patoka, a dirigible tender, along with her ward the airship Shenandoah? Ken Goldman THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER http://www.wman.com/~khgold/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Loren Perry Subject: Bread & Butter hull construction re. Steve Richards question on "bread & butter" construction: This is a method of laminating hulls together from sections, or "lifts", of wooden planks, usually about 3/4" to 1" thick. Each lift is pre-cut to the outline of the hull as viewed from above while corresponding to the same height above the keel that the lift represents. This reduces the amount of final shaping and carving that will be necessary to finish the hull. As for the name: the wooden planks are the "bread"; the glue used to secure them is the "butter". When assembled, the laminated lifts will roughly approximate the overall shape of the hull while having 3/4" or 1" "steps" along all the edges. Final shaping is then carried out with a block plane, gouges, rasps, and sandpaper. Sometimes the lifts are also hollowed out in the middle, giving a wall thickness of an inch or more. This lightens the hull and makes room for R/C and motors. But for display models, hollowing the lifts also reduces the amount of "working" the hull will experience during climactic changes such as in temperature and humidity. Without hollowing, the hull joints can split and paint will crack. This method is typical for building large-scale traditional builders's models. For example, the famous Gibbs & Cox models of USN warships in 1/48 scale all use this system. Knot-free sugar pine is the preferred wood, but others are acceptable so long as it's well seasoned and fairly warp-free. The lifts should be clamped tightly together under pressure while the glue dries. A good grade of waterproof carpenter's glue should be used if the model is designed to operate in water. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: Kenneth H. Goldman Subject: Re: "Bread and Butter" construction "Bread and butter" construction, simply put, is a build up method of construction in which the "bread" is a series of either vertical or horizontal flat profile slices in wood or plastic, and the "butter is the glue that goes between the slices. The result looks very much like rough-out router carving and, done carefully, only requires a bit of filing and sanding to achieve the finished form. You can take tracings from contour line hull drawings and transfer them to wood or plastic to get the slices. It's also a bit like MRI imaging of a patient and then digitally pasting the "slices" together to achieve a computer model of the body. Ken Goldman THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER http://www.wman.com/~khgold/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: MDDoremus@aol.com Subject: King's Bay Sorry about the name, I used to live in the "other" Georgia, Atlanta. I understand that the guards at naval submarine bases usually have their sense of humor surgically removed before they get the job. I was under the impression though, from my fishing buddies, that there was some sort of 'turning' basin that had public access and subs might be seen entering and exiting through this area. Could just be a fish tale. Mark -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: SJantscher@aol.com Subject: Iowa turret explosion, book reviews Hi All, Ten years ago this month, turret two of the USS Iowa suffered an explosion during a routine gunfire exercise, killing 47 crewmen. I remember it vividly, as my ship, the USS Saratoga was just getting done with what would be her last major refit at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (in Virginia). What would happen over the next two years would bring great discredit to the Navy, and permanently soil the names of two sailors who were in turret two when she exploded. GMG2 Clayton Hartwig would, in death, be blamed by the Navy for igniting five bags of powder with a never discovered devise or method, while GMG3 Kendall Truitt, in the portion of the magazine servicing turret two, will survive being labeled an ex-homosexual lover who spurned Hartwig's advances. Or so the Navy would have had the American public believe. Two recently published books cover this tragedy to differing depths and direction. A Glimpse of Hell, by Charles C. Thompson is I believe the more comprehensive examination of the events surrounding this incident, and Navy blemish. While technical when it needed to be, it offers more of a story line fleshing in the details often skipped over in the second book, Explosion Aboard the Iowa by Dr. Richard L. Schwoebel. Explosion Aboard the Iowa is written by the lead investigator at Sandia National Laboratories, and is more in the form of a scientific detective story, as his group of scientists were asked by congress to reexamine the findings of the first Navy investigation which claimed that no accident was possible (leading to the conclusion that the accident must have been caused by a human agent). Much of the contents of this book are direct reprints of news articles and congressional testimony. A reader can tell this was written by a scientist, mustering his facts in a sometimes dry and analytical way. Thompson in his book presents the unfolding story much slower, making it a richer read, and unfortunately at times, a more revealing look at what life was like on one ship in the U.S. Navy in the 1980s. Thompson's background is as a former Naval office who was a forward naval gunfire support director during the Vietnam War, and later as a producer at the CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes. One indication of the differences between the two books is just where in the book the explosion occurs. In Schwoebel's book, the explosion occurs on pages seven and eight. Thompson is over 100 pages into the book (page 101) before the explosion. Thompson's book is about the events surrounding the explosion. The people before and after, and the explosion too. Schwoebel doesn't ignore the controversy surrounding the investigation, but I believe his main interest is in celebrating the fine work of his team in discovering a very plausible alternative cause for the explosion. He deals with the events surrounding the investigation mostly through the aforementioned testimony and newspaper articles. These books are different, and offer differing viewpoints on the same incident. The Thompson book is a scathing account of Navy mismanagement, and as such has garnered much vocal and heartfelt condemnation and support, while one could say that the Schwoebel book pretty much tows the party line (revised and updated though it may be). It should also be noted that his book is published by Naval Institute Press. With that said you can expect a professional presentation, but not something that will show all the warts. There are too many ex-navy officers on the USNI board of directors to allow the naked, and sometimes very ugly truth that surrounded this event, to come out in a book published by them. Bottom line- buy the Thompson book, A Glimpse of Hell. I was a naval officer and I loved my job and the Navy. But like parents when asked what they'd feel upon being told their child had done some terrible thing, they might say, "I love my child, but I hate what he did." I love the Navy, but I hate what they did. Steve Jantscher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: ECammeron@aol.com Subject: Re: USS TICONDEROGA CV/CVA-14 Michael Smith writes - >> I've kitbashed (and photographed during construction) the Hasegawa kit as a May '44 Ticonderoga, but there were a number of changes during a 1945 refit (I don't offhand recall if it'd be before the time period you're talking about, but I bet it would.) So beware of any "as built" plans of CV-14 because they changed a few things shortly after completion (lengthened the shortened flight deck, removed the characteristic cutout for the third Mark 37 director, etc.) << I doubt the flight deck was ever lengthened. The long hull ESSEX's had the fore and aft ends of the flight deck shortened to give a better field of fire for the twin quad 40's.Lengthening the flight deck would negate the enhancement of firepower. During the battle damage repairs after January of 45, she did have the flight deck cut for the proposed third Mk 37 Director filled in and she got the three quad 40's below the island and the two on the port side of the flight deck aft. Also a repaint in Ms 21. I recall seeing Tico at Bremerton in the late 40's and the quad sponsons below the island were very much in evidence. Hasagawa's Hancock/Ticonderoga flight deck is too long. It needs a little trimming at both ends using the lengths given in Friedman's US. Carriers - A Design History. This mod really brings out the 'long hull' in the kit. Eugene Cammeron -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: Marc Flake Subject: Re: PT Boat Models I've got an idea for PT Boat models in 1/72 that would keep the cost down, vacuform. The hull and deck could be two separate vacuform pieces. Other deck structures, like the gun tubs and torpedo tubes, could be resin, while the guns, inclding a Thunderbolt mount for the stern and a 37mm canon on the bow, could be in white metal. Of course, we're talking about a 78-foot Higgins, a good plan-view of which is on page 87 of "PT Boats at War." Marc in Mansfield (TX) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23) From: "Pletscher-Lenz-Schneider" Subject: 1905 Russian colors There seems to some confusion about the painting of the Russian Port Arthur fleet during the Russo-Japanese war. So just let me add to it. Andrzej M Jaskula, who wrote an article on ASKOLD in Warship, states that, according to the ship's log, ASKOLD, like most of the ships at Port Arthur, was painted "grey and olive-green" in early October 1903. The word "and" may be due to an error in translation, as there are no photo references proving a two-color scheme at this time. Some (Russian) captions of photos in Moerskaya Kollektsiya No. 1/1996 state that the war-paint was gray-olive. This could be the gray and olive-green quoted by Jaskula. A painting, of which I got only a laser copy, shows a color which is rather a greenish gray than a brownish tone. Now make the best of it ... or add some more information. Falk Pletscher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24) From: "Caroline Carter" Subject: Advice re portholes Hi Guys, Apologies re. our recent absence.. we did Dortmund Model Show in Germany last weekend... the most exhausting "break" I have ever had! Thanks Shane, for the WEM mention in your Krivak article. For an out-the-box, you did a good job. Re the 1/700 Warspite.. thanks guys...I'm glad you liked it! However, a couple of complaints have come in about the portholes, and I'd like to make a general post here. The complaints centres about the difficulty of drilling these out... now, firstly, with the latest generation of WEM 1/700 kits, you don't have to drill them out.. sacrilege!! Think about it.. a porthole is not an open tunnel in the side of a ship. It is a glass-covered aperture. So... sling that drill (drilling portholes IS hassle, after all, isn't it!), and paint your ship as per the full colour instructions/plan.. Finished?? Right, get yourself that micro-nibbed black Rotring pen (you know, hollow steel nib, favoured by architects, designers, modellers etc) and carefully use it to black in the perfect ever-so-slight depressions that Brian has made for you, and you will have the best representation of a porthole in 1/700 that you will have ever seen.. guaranteed! I will shortly update very single set of instructions re this point. BTW, Dortmund is HUGE.. all day walking and we hadn't seen everything. 8 large halls.. I was told that, over the 5 days, they have 480,000 visitors, and, when heaving through the crowds, I can well believe it.. and I thought the UK Nats were big.. However, I was amazed to see little in the way of plastic/resin ship modelling, but instead, there were whole stands dedicated to card ship modelling. Nice to meet the folks from ModellCenter (ARH), and also Christian Schmidt amongst others.. having Jim Baumann in tow was useful as, being Swiss, he is a German speaker. However, Dortmund, overall, was not particularly good from a static modeller's perspective.. we walked, it seemed, for miles, without seeing anything of interest, and there was no competition area... loads of R/C ships, aeroplanes and cars... brilliant for the kids and the R/C lads though. HP Models had a stand at the show. BTW (and do I put my head on the line here??) I concur with Falk Pletscher's comments re HP's kits, as we do stock them .. and, yes, we heard he has his patterns made in Poland for peanuts, and has the casting done in Poland, all for a miniscule cost, which IS frustrating for the likes of a quality pattern maker like Falk and for his caster, WSW, who are faced with "Euro" costings, like ourselves, and the time factor required to achieve a good quality production.. people buy the cheaper, but inferior competing product which wipes out sales on the quality product when it materialises later... a problem we, and others, have faced, in both 1/700 and 1/350 scales. BTW, that Stena Sealink Hi-Speed Cat... whoooeee... what an awesome beastie!!! have any of you seen these?? Ugly as sin, but seeing this massive craft, surely the height of a 10 storey building, around 500 feet(?) long, with 2 car decks stuffed full of juggernauts, coaches, cars etc.. turn on a sixpence on its twin hulls, in Hoek van Holland, was unbelievable. Inside, there are 5 restarants, 2 bars, a casino, large duty free shopping area and more. The "viewing gallery", up forward, of this thing, is straight out of Star Trek, as you race over the sea at up to 50 knots..you really get an unreal sense of flying low over water.. the closest any of us will ever come to riding in a an Ekranoplan! Bugger the Channel Tunnel.. in future, it's surface transport over the channel for us! Ah well, back to reality and I will be working on the webpages this weekend, and still ploughing thru unanswered E-Mail... Cheers from The Cottage where the apple blossoms are out and today it's going to be sunny and 65 Caroline Carter http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/white.ensign.models White Ensign Models -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25) From: jpoutre@lehman.com (Joseph Poutre) Subject: New kits, visiting places, Mr. Fawcett, and bread and butter Another note on several subjects. I'll add my fuel to the fire on new kits in resin: 1/700 LSD (Austin class), LPD, LST (Newport class) 1/700 auxiliaries - AOE, AOR, AO, AE, AFS, AD First choice: AOE and AOR for task group dioramas. An AD would go nicely with an SSN or 3. (I'll be scratch building USS Trenton (LPD 14) or USS Camden (AOE 2) this year, so we can expect a kit announcement later this year. :-) Thanks to Jeff Hearne for the idea and advice.) Correction and update sets in 1/72 for the Revell PT 109. *Long* shot: 1/700 Ivan Rogov Soviet/Russian LSD. Perhaps a resin company could buy the moulds from Jim Shirley. For those touring the country (and the world), I'd like to remind them of my lists of naval and maritime museums at: http://www.bb62museum.org/usnavmus.html http://www.bb62museum.org/worldmus.html Free of charge and always available online. Updates appreciated. For Brian Fawcett: Improved versions of Russian/Soviet helos and Forgers would be nice for the Aoshima Kiev/Minsk, Italeri Kuznetsov/Varyag, and the Soviet DDGs and FFGs. To Steve Richards: Bread and butter construction requires dividing the ship horizontally to create a series of outlines, like a set of overhead views of each deck. Pre-cut a series of planks to those outlines, and glue them together like a layer cake. The ship is then a lot closer to the final shape, and it cuts down on the carving time and wasted material. It works best for ships with relatively simple hull shapes and metal hulls, because you'll have to paint to cover the seams, and wooden ships would have to be planked anyway. Another method I've heard of, but have not tried, is to carve the fore and aft ends of the ship, then plank in-between. This reduces weight and prevents having to bend planks on the complex curves. Joe Poutre Joseph Poutre, aka The Mad Mathematician N2KOW Co-Webmaster, Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society http://www.bb62museum.org/ Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume