Subject: SMML17/05/99VOL548 Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 00:01:00 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Photographing models 2: Re: Turned barrels & Pink cruiser 3: Re: Model photography 4: T.C. Models 5: Polish Painting Instructions 6: Photographing models 7: Re: Flower Class corvettes 8: Re: Admirable Class & Haguro 9: Re: Photographing Models: 10: Warspite decks 11: Re: SMML across America 12: Re: Photographing models 13: Re: Triple 20mm on the Big E 14: Re: Photographing models 15: Re: Photographing Models 16: Re: Photographing models 17: Matchbox Flower class corvette 18: REVEL LIONFISH screws 19: Mk 51 anti-aircraft directors 20: Re: Yamato catapults 21: Photographing models 22: Polish Painting Instructions 23: Original Research vs. Regurgitation 24: Re: Photographing models 25: Lindberg LST kit 26: Late war IJN carrier schemes 27: Re: photographing models 28: Re: Indianapolis crates 29: Admiral Scheer Colors 30: Re: Yamato 31: Re: Flower Class Corvettes 32: South Goodwin Lightvessel parts 33: Lionfish Update 34: Photographing Models 35: New Orleans etc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: SMML web page update 2: Light House Ships 3: Flower Class Corvette Material 4: Warship Update 5: Hobby Link Japan email warning 6: USS S-44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: John Sheridan Subject: Re: Photographing models >> I've been wanting to begin a photographic record of my models for a while. I have a fancy Nikon camera, an N70, but I am unable to get my 1:48 airplanes completely in focus with my 55mm lens. If I focus on one area of the model, the rest of the frame is out of focus. I understand the physics of what is happening, but I don't know how to get around the problem. << Your problem is lack of depth-of-field. The way to correct it is to increase your F-Stop on your lens to the far end (F16, F32, etc) of the scale in order to get everything into focus. Of course by doing this, your shutter speed will head in the exact opposite direction (aka longer exposure times). Depth-of-field tends increase beyond wherever you focus, so be sure not to focus dead-center on you model when shooting. You can "test" your depth-of-field focusing by pressing the "preview" knob on the side of your camera (most 35mm cameras have one of these knobs). The "preview" knob will close the F-stop Iris down to the value you set in order to allow you to focus properly at the F-stop you have selected. When I photograph models, I use 2-1000 watt 5500K photofloods with 400 speed film. This will give me an exposure of about F32 at 1/30th sec. Be sure to use a Neutral Gray card to get your exposure. What's a Neutral Gray card? It's a value of Gray that your light meter is calibrated to read in order to determine proper exposure time for the film. All light meters are calibrated to read 28% Neutral Gray. If you do not have a Neutral Gray card, ask your local photoshop for one. They all should carry them. As for the photofloods: The kind I use, 1000 watt 5500K bulbs, are balanced for Daylight color values (daylight; aka "outside", is roughly 5000K at high noon on a sunny clear day). If you use 5000K bulbs, your exposures will come-out color balanced correctly for regular film. If you use regular film with home-style light bulbs, your color balance will be shifted to the red side because home-style light bulbs are color balanced to approx 3200K. You can also get 5000K photofloods from your local photo shop. That's our photography lesson for today. . 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: dhjonespsm@juno.com Subject: Re: Turned barrels & Pink cruiser Ken Durling writes: >> Also, a general question, pertaining to Bismarck in this instance, but I'd like to know if there are any companies that produce turned gun barrels - for at least main batteries - for ships as there are for armor? << A company in Japan called Clipper Models makes a very extensive(and expanding) line of 1/700 brass and steel barrels ranging from about 5" up to the 18" guns for YAMATO. These come in small packets and are available from Pacific Front Hobbies. They also make an excellent little (1/700) kit of the early short forecastle Fl***r class corvette. Charles Wegman writes: >> Battle History of the IJN - I was finally struck by a strange passage from professor Dull. Those of you with this excellent textbook please open to page 345. The first paragraph is titled "Last Surface Battle" and describes how the Heavy Cruiser Haguro met its fate at the hands of 5 H.M.S. destroyers. The second to last sentence reads: "Using an often-practiced (but seldom-used) "star" destroyer attack formation, they attacked the Haguro, fought a close-range battle, and sent the pink-painted cruiser down at 0150, 45 miles southwest of Penang." << Pink IJN cruiser??? To say the least this appears to be very unlikely. I would attribute this to an editorial error. It happens.... Daniel Jones Plastic Ship Modeler magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Mike Taylor" Subject: Re: Model photography Hi Lars!, Your problem is your depth of field. You need a shutterspeed/aperature combination that will deepen it. example = if you shoot at 1/250 sec at f 3.5 at a subject 2' or so away youre depth of field may only be 4 or 5" deep at most, meaning a 4or 5" section of your model will be in focus. What you need is an f stop of around 11. Use 400 asa film, a flash, flash sync shutter speed = 1/60 sec. and an f stop of 8 take a photo, 11 take a photo, 16 take a photo-then repeat this process on another model. It's called bracketing your exposures. Keep detailed notes ie: photo #1 me-109 2' flash f-60 at f8 and so on. Then when you get your film back you can compare your notes to the photos and see what combination is best for you. Cheers... Mike Taylor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Jay Schantzen Subject: T.C. Models Question: Has anyone purchased the T.C. Models 1/48th scale model of a RN "CMB"? It looks like a small motor boat with a torpedo tube on the stern. Any comments on the kit, or where I could purchase it or get prices? Thanks, Jay Schantzen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Rob Mackie" Subject: Polish Painting Instructions Ed, >> All of the text is in Polish, which leads to my request for some translation services. I asume that these are the painting instructions. BIALY - nadbudowki, szalupy ZOLTY - kominy bez gomej czesci CZARNY - burty, gorne czesci kominow NATURALNE DREWNO - poklad << These instructions are obviously wrong. The szalupy was definitely Zolty, not Bialy as stated. And consider toning down your Zolty with a few drops of Czarny. I've found Zolty out of the bottle to be far too dark for 1/700th models, though Drewno works out OK if you do a Bialy wash. I hope this helps. Rob Mackie -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "Jens H. Brandal" Subject: Photographing models Lars, I don't know the specs on your camera, but your problem sounds like lack of depth of view. In order to maximise your depth of view, you need the smallest aperture (the fXX-number) you can achieve. My Canon EOS500 can achieve f32 as the smallest aperture, and that should be sufficient to get it all in focus for a 1:48th scale aircraft. For any given aperture, you will have a corresponding shutter speed under the ambient lighting conditions and film speed of course, so with 200 ASA film you will probably need a tripod to hold the camera steady. A faster film will give you more grainyness, but I understand that the latest film development has reduced this grainyness quite substantially. Another thing to keep in mind is the focal length of the lens. A long focal length lens will give you less depth of view than a wide angle lens, but a wide angle lens will require you to move in closer and as you do so distort the image - objects nearest to the camera will be magnified, the further ones will shrink. The shorter the focal length of the wide angle lens, the more it will distort. Good luck with your photography, Jens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "J. London" Subject: Re: Flower Class corvettes Best reference I have seen is "Canada's Flowers" by Thomas G. Lynch pub by Nimbus Publishing in 1981. Their address (in 1982) PO Box 9301, Station A, Halifax, NS, Canada B3K 5N5. There is, I believe, a preserved Flower, HMCS Sackville, in Halifax or nearby. I do not know if they have a website. The book has a fairly detailed plan of HMCS Edmunston, a short-fo'c's'le corvette, as well as on board views of interest to a modeller as well as detailed color info. Mike London -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "chenyangzhang" Subject: Re: Admirable Class & Haguro John Admirable class minesweepers also ended up in the Soviet, Philipine and Vietnamese navies. Some were converted to mercantile use as well. Paul Silverstone's book US Warships of World War II has a complete listing of all those built along with photos of Bouyant, Dour, Improve and Salute. Chuck None of the references I've consulted make any mention of the Haguro being pink. Winton's 'Sink the Haguro' contains accounts from the Royal Navy staff who were involved but none of these metnion pink. They don't say anything about the colour but reading between the lines, the implications are that Haguro was in standard grey. Linton and Lacroix mention the pink colour scheme but state that it appears in Dull and NOT in any Japanese source. I think that it's probably a red herring and that Haguro was painted grey throughout the war and up until her demise. Chris Langtree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Edward Malewitz Subject: Re: Photographing Models: I've been a plastic modeler a few years longer than a photographer-too many years! The problem you are facing is called depth of field. There are numerous ways around this problem, mostly involving cameras which allow you to shift the plane of the lens. This allows you to move the plane of focus to correspond with the plane of the object to be photographed. Nikon does make a 35 mm shift lens. But this is probably overkill. A simpler, although not as precise, work around is to simply increase the depth of field by closing the iris diaphram to f: 22 or so. In order to do this, you will probably need a lot of light. If you are using typical color film, the best light source is bright sunlight. Use a white reflector to bounce light onto the subject to minimize shadows. This is altogether too brief- you could spend years on the topic of lighting. But it will probably improve the focus problem. Ed Malewitz, in sunny Houston, where it's hot and humid. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Alan Lindstrom" Subject: Warspite decks I have heard before that the RN painted may have painted the teak decks of its battleships dark gray at one time or another during WW2. I know there is no definitive answer, but does anyone have any comments on this practice in general and the liklihood that the Warspite had painted decks in 1942 when its was operating in the Mediterranean? Thanks, Alan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: louellet@uism.bu.edu Subject: Re: SMML across America Kurt wrote: >> I had a nice visit with John Sheridan and John Frohock on the USS Salem today - I would like to thank them both for their hospitality and time. Had a great time touring what really has to be the ultimate gun-armed cruiser. << I'm guessing you were aboard on Saturday. I was there on Friday for the 50th Anniversary ceremonies. Sorry to have missed you. >> Many of the spaces have already been restored, and the folks who run the museum benefited greatly from the good job the Navy did preserving many of them. << The Navy's dehumidification system kept most of the interior paint from peeling, and metal from corroding. But, most of the buff paint on the second deck was repainted about 2 years ago to give it a fresher cleaner look. Any brightwork you saw wasn't bright when she arrived. While she was in good physical condition, tens of thousands of volunteer hours have been put in over the last 4.5 years to make the spaces look more like an active ship. >> Of course, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done, most notably a new exterior paint job, but the ship is well worth a visit as is. << On Friday, Bob Duetsch, the museum's Executive Director said that the $2 million allocated in the sate budget last fall was finally being made available. The hull from the water line up, and most of the superstructure will be stripped and repainted in September and October. An ADA-Approved (American Disabilities Act) entry gangway will be installed; new larger bathroom facilities will installed behind the mess decks. The electrical system will be upgraded with an emergency cutover to the backup generator, and fire alarm systems will be fully installed throughout the entire ship. Kurt, if there is a SMML across America in 2000, be sure to stop by again to see the now beautiful (on the outside too) USS Salem! Larry Ouellette louellet@uism.bu.edu Volunteer, USS Salem (CA 139) U. S. Naval & Shipbuilding Museum, Quincy, Massachusetts http://www.uss-salem.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: Photographing models You're having trouble dealing with depth of field. I'm not familiar with the N70, but if it's like most other 35mm SLRs, your view through the viewfinder remains the same regardless of what f-stop you're using; the camera automatically stops down when you fire the shutter. In order to increase depth of field, you need to stop the lens down as much as possible, f.16 to f.22 or more. If there is a "preview" function on the N70 to show you how the subject will appear when the lens is stopped down, use that--you'll be surprised by the difference from the wide-open lens view you normally have. Shoot a test roll or two, and keep notes about your various shutter speeds and f-stops. Now, having said that, you may still find that you aren't able to achieve sufficient depth of field to keep all areas of your model in simultaneous focus. Most "normal (50mm-55mm) lenses are quite "fast"--able to open to low f-stops to admit lots of light in low-light situations. The price paid for that nice big front element that allows that is that the lens has depth of field problems in close-focus situations. That's why camera manufacturers make macro lenses, which are made specifically for close-up photography. Or, better yet, find someone with a view camera with movable front and read elements, tilts and swings that allow one to move parts of the camera around to bring everything into focus, correct perspective distortion, etc. Anyway, my best advice is to shoot some practice rolls and learn your camera's various capabilities--kind of like learning how to airbrush. Good luck, John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: Triple 20mm on the Big E I've read virtually everything published about ENTERPRISE, and have never heard of this mount? What's your source? John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Scott Spencer" Subject: Re: Photographing models Lars, Are you shooting at the smallest aperture (i.e. f16 or f22)? This will give you the depth of field you are missing. You need to go to apeture priority with your camera. A good film is Fuji's Reala. The film is rated at 100iso and the colors are truly spectacular! It's as close to slide quality as you will find in print film. If you ever want to go to micro photos of details, and don't have a micro lens, use either extension tubes or a lens reversing ring. These two options are a _lot_ cheaper than a devoted micro lens such as the Nikon 60mm or 105mm. The extension tubes will not effect your meter readings as they are regular glass. The reversing ring will let you shoot with your lens reversed on the camera, giving you micro capability as well. You can buy a set (3 tubes) of Kenko brand extension tubes, devoted to Nikon AF cameras, for about $149.00 US dollars. I use these and I am completely happy with the results. Hope this helps, Scott -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: Kurt Van Dahm Subject: Re: Photographing Models Lars: There is no magic lens that you can simply put on your camera and all of a sudden your focus problems are gone. I am not familiar with the N70 by Nikon, but I will assume you can control it manually if you want to. First, you need light. You need a lot of light. Using a 400 speed film you need adequate light so you can close your lens down to its next to smallest f-stop. A 400-speed film has fine enough grain to hold up to enlargements up to 11 x 14 w/o problems. Most lenses have their maximum depth of field, (near to far focus) at one stop above the smallest f-stop opening. Next, you need a sturdy tripod to keep the camera in place because you will probably be using long exposure times of 1/30 to 1/15 or even longer. Adjust your lighting to evenly light the model with shadows falling away from the model in a natural manner. Remember, there is only one sun, so make your lighting appear as though from a single source. Do this by making one light your main light and the other your fill light. Make sure the main light measures a minimum of one full stop more on the model than the fill light and the main light's shadows will dominate over those cast by the fill light. Adjust your lighting using a gray scale card so that your light meter will read the standard gray card and not highlights off the model or the background. Measure the main light and fill lights separately. Once your lighting is set, start to focus the camera. All lenses have their focus point that you see in your viewfinder about 1/3 of the way into their depth of focus. You must manually stop the lens down to it's smallest or next to smallest lens aperture and look through the viewfinder to see this effect. Portrait photographers usually focus on the eyes, so that the tip of the nose will be in focus as well as the ears. Focusing on the tip of the nose "wastes" 1/3 of the depth of field. This means that if you focus on a ruler that is set at an angle to your camera(like an aircraft fuselage) to give a � front/side shot, there will be 1/3 of the depth of field in focus in front of the focus point and 2/3 in focus behind it. Going back to the ruler, with the 1" mark closer to the lens than the 12" mark, focus on the 3" mark, and (if) the total depth of field is 9", then everything from the 1"mark to the 9" mark will be in focus. To relate this to an aircraft model assume you are going for the � side shot with the nose closer to the camera than the tail (camera being at about the 10 O'clock position from the cockpit). Your point of focus should be just about where the leading edge of the wing joins the fuselage. Now, stop the lens down to the minimum, or next to minimum, aperture and check to see that the nose and tail are in focus as well as both wingtips. If you need to adjust the focus do so with the lens opened up and then stop down to recheck the focus. These techniques should get you well focused shots if you are careful and you should be able to duplicate your results time after time. I use a Canon 35-105mm zoom lens on a Canon F1 body for most model photography for ease of composition as I can keep the tripod in one spot and zoom in or out for different views. However, your 55mm lens is capable of producing precisely focused shots you just can't control the overall size of the image as well. I hope this gets you better focus in your next try at photographing your models. Take care, Kurt Van Dahm Westmont, IL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Michael C. Smith" Subject: Re: Photographing models Lars, You don't need a new lens - the one you have will do what you want, provided you can set the aperture manually. What you're referring to is depth of field. The "correct" exposure requires a combination of shutter speed and aperture - if one gets bigger (and thus lets in more light), the other needs to be smaller to compensate. For example, a fast shutter speed requires a wide aperture setting (also referred to as f-stops) which is what you normally want when photographing people or things. When doing close up work, you want exactly the opposite. Assuming that your camera can set the aperture manually, I'd set the aperture to as large a number (meaning small opening) as you can (such as 16 or 22 or whatever the biggest number is), and compensate by letting the exposure be as long as it needs to (you'll need a tripod or stack of books or other such support to hold the camera). One warning - while the photo will have great depth of field, you can't see that depth of field through the viewfinder when you take the picture - you have to rely on the markings on the lens that will show you how wide a depth of field you're getting once the camera is focused and you've set your aperture. That's why there are two sets of numbers on the ring - what's in focus will be what the focus ring shows as fitting between the two numbers when you focus on a particular point. Generally, you'll need to focus at the middle of the model to take full advantage of the depth of field, which goes both ways from the focus point. Movie models (at least when I was growing up) required exposures of several minutes per frame to get adequate depth of field, and used cameras that were specially designed to get great depth of focus. You may have to change the model's position or distance from the camera to get everything you want in focus, but this is how you manipulate the camera and the model to get the shot you want. Now I'm guessing here since I've never used a wide angle lens (and other SMMLers will no doubt help out) but a wider angle lens (28 or 35 mm) might give you better depth of field (I'm not sure about this) and might also give a more accurate perspective for something as large as a warship. When you're up close, your perspective is real skewed because of the size of the ship - maybe a wider angle lens can approximate this by making the ship look "bigger". Again, I'm not real sure about this. As I suspect you're having trouble focusing close up, I'd suggest getting a set of "close up" filters which are very inexpensive (10-20 dollars, I think), and essential for photographing models. I also use them a lot to copy photos - most of the photos in my book on Essex class carriers were copied this way on a copy stand at the Naval Historical Center. They are what you want - you don't need a zoom lens. Michael Smith Marshall, Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "murray humphries" Subject: Matchbox Flower class corvette Would anyone know where I can obtain one of these kits in the UK Keep up the good work Mike -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: LUCASNER@aol.com Subject: REVEL LIONFISH screws So, after all the posts... If I DID want to replace the screws provided with the kit, since we know now that the four bladed are in fact correct, does anyone know the proper size to buy and who provides them? Also, were there any external hull differences between the GATO's and the BALAO's except maybe the limber holes? Dave Lueck -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: LUCASNER@aol.com Subject: Mk 51 anti-aircraft directors Maybe not a 100% modeling question but... I've been to the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge (a MUST see) and have stood and held the Mk51 directors for the 40mm mounts. This may sound oversimplified but what were their functions? Were they linked to the mount itself ie, could they control the training and elevation of the mount? If not, how did they "direct"? Sorry, I'm a simple-minded air force glow worm who's gotten in over his head in naval modeling so be kind with the responses!!!!!! Dave Lueck -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: Dboykap@aol.com Subject: Re: Yamato catapults Loren: I've also gone back to my resource material and, unfortunately, can offer nothing conclusive. Most of it is in Japanese; the Gakken book # 11 on the Yamotos in particular appears to have a number of highlighted sections dealing with the catapults and aircraft carried. I can only suggest attempting to contact Lacroix and Wells (maybe through the Naval Institute) or prevailing upon someone familiar with Japanese (Paolo Pizzi perhaps?). In following the Lacroix and Wells assertion out of curiosity (and in no way conclusive of anything), I compared line drawings in the Maru Ship #5 for the Aganos for the catapults. That draftsman definitely differentiated between the Type 2 #1 Model 10 on the Agano and the Type #2 Model 5 on the Yahagi. Dan Kaplan, NYC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: Denis & Marilyn Campbell Subject: Photographing models In reply to"Lars Orloff" - pick up a copy of "Great Scale Modeling 1998" published by Kalmbach Publishing as an annual special of articles which appeared in Fine Scale Modeler and others which were not previously published. You probably have to get it from Kalmbach directly as I doubt it is still on the shelves anywhere. There is a very good article about Pete Bave telling how he photographs his aircraft models. The article is good for covering his technique for building backdrops and using natural backdrops - and getting everything in focus. The problem with focus is that you need the smallest possible f-stop (that means, the largest f-number) to give you the best depth-of-field. Of course, with these small lens openings, you need good lighting - or long exposure times. Pete Bave says he uses a 28mm wide angle lens that stops down to f22 (and, as he says, if you can find one that stops down to f32 that's even better) and, to get the model AND background in focus, he does not focus on the model but a few inches BEHIND the model. When he uses a 50 or 55mm lens he focuses on the MIDDLE of the model. I build miniatures of all sorts and have taken great pictures of the interior of a roombox, fully furnished and decorated and everything is in focus right back to the back of a box 10 inches deep, I use a 33-105mm telephoto lens (simply because I can compose the picture to fill the frame without moving closer or moving back) which stops down to f22. I focus on the middle of the box so I get a depth-of-field of at least 10 inches -5 inches in front of and 5 inches behind the point of focus. Photography was one of my many hobbies but I haven't really dabbled in it for about 20 years. There used to be talk of "pinhole cameras" for photographing model railroad scenes (another one of my ex-hobbies) but I never actually saw one. I believe you could build a mask for your lens with, literally, a pinhole in the center and leave your f-stop open fully, and achieve stunning results - but I always thought that sounded like overkill. One problem might be your super-duper camera. It is probably fully automatic, setting its own lens opening and shutter speed according to it's measure of the light. This will NOT work - you must have control over your shutter speed and lens opening because you need the smallest (largest number) lens opening you can get. Hope this helps. Pick up the magazine Denis Campbell Avon Mass. USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: Darek Lipinski Subject: Polish Painting Instructions >> BIALY - nadbudowki, szalupy ZOLTY - kominy bez gomej czesci CZARNY - burty, gorne czesci kominow NATURALNE DREWNO - poklad << Ed, Here it is a translation; WHITE - superstructures, boats YELLOW - smokestacks ( actually it says 'smokestacks without the top end ' but I think they mean without the cowl ) BLACK - hull, top end of the smokestacks ( cowl ? ) NATURAL WOOD - decks I have a couple of Modelkrak models and I've been wondering how am I suppose to separate all those decks from the casting blocks and preserve the deck integrity. Is there any easy way to do it :-). Darek -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23) From: "Jeff Herne" Subject: Original Research vs. Regurgitation Hi gang, I've read this research thread, and several others, relating to folks rifling through their books to find a fact or photo to answer a question. It usually ends up in some sort of argument because one person's book contradicts another's. Perfect examples are Bismarck turret tops and Ranger carrying P-40s... so, with that in mind... Dave Krakow and I spent a few hours in NJ today going over original Kriegsmarine photos and technical drawings. I spent the better part of 2 hours looking at private photos of Prinz Eugen, Bismarck, Graf Spee, Scheer, and Hipper. He spent an equal amount of time rifling through my USN photo archives. There is no question in my mind, if he says it was dark gray, chances are he's looking at ORIGINAL photos to support his statement. I guess what it boils down to is this: When someone tells you to do the research, do it. Flipping through pages in someone else's book and relating the info is helpful only to those people who don't have said book. Then there's no way to be sure the book is accurate, unless you have the photos... The photos I saw today would cause most ship modelers to wet themselves...original photos of Prinz Eugen in Norway, in color. A thoughtful sailor who took pics of every ship Graf Spee sank... Never before seen private photos of Bismarck taken from Eugen...up close. Photos of radar, fire control directors, camo patterns, colors, including the 'red-yellow-gray-carmine' turret top controversy. This is original research, and in a way, it's private until it's turned it into a book. The book is the reward we receive for the work we do. It will outlast any email group, any web-page, and every last one of us. The work (books) we do will be here one, two, maybe three hundred years after we're gone. That's our reward for the time and money we spend doing this. What we ask for in return, is your money in exchange for the book, most of which goes to the publisher. Being an author of research material, especially naval subjects, is not going to win you fame and fortune, or a Pulitzer Prize. If you're lucky, you make some money and end up with a book with your name on it... I have photos for every Fletcher question asked on SMML, and I occasionally share, but this stuff is out there for everyone. So when Vimerra says it's out there and to go get it, don't get your dander up about how you're a researcher or school teacher or whatever. Spend countless hours digging for this information, then prove us wrong. Otherwise, you're rehashing someone else's work. The truth is out there...so go get it and shut up until you find it. I'm getting ready to duck the incoming artillery, Jeff Herne -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24) From: Allan Plumb Subject: Re: Photographing models Two things to try, one free but if that's not enough it will cost you a new lens (unless yours already has the capability - some 50-55mm lens do already). 1) You may have done this already, but set the f-stop on your lens to the largest number. That's slowest and will need more light/faster film, but will increase the "depth-of-field" (the distance between the near focus, and the far focus). Note that your lens probably has a "preview" button: when you look thru the viewfinder, you get an unmodified view. If you hit the "preview" button, the camera will stop down and show you whether the resulting picture is in focus. 2) Macro lens. When I get close enough to my models to get useful detail, I usually find that I'm so close that a normal lens can't focus (say, within 2-3 feet depending on the lens). A "macro" lens is designed for much closer focusing, say 1/3 the normal minimum. (I'm winging these numbers - could go look at a lens, but that's too much like work. :-) ) I've found my most useful lens for model photos is a 28-200 zoom with macro. It let's me zoom to a point where I get the desired detail, and the macro lets me focus that closely. Then increase the f-stop as much as needed, get bright lights and/or a flash, and see what you happen. (Light is critical - with insufficient light you can get something OK, but it will be dark and grainy. Lots of light gets you a crisp picture.) Most of my photography is of birds with a 500mm lens, but I've done enough with my models to have a few opinions. :-) Oh, and I find it hard to believe that camera shops haven't been able to help. This is elementary stuff IMHO (I've been taking pictures for 15 years) and anyone in a camera shop should know "pictures of something very close --> macro lens". Maybe you should find another store... Hope this helps. Allan Plumb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25) From: "Chris Christenson" Subject: Lindberg LST kit Hello brethren modelers: This is my first posting but let me say that I am impressed with the knowledge and resources out there! Anyway I have a Lindberg LST kit that I would like to build in either WWII or Korea scheme. My dad served on one during the Korean conflict and I have a couple of pics of his ship but my resources are really weak thereafter. Has anyone built this kit or tried to correct it? Any detail sets specific or generic available?? Thanks for any help Chris Christenson--landlocked in Ord Nebraska where its rained enough to bring the fleet in:( -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26) From: Procladius@aol.com Subject: Late war IJN carrier schemes "Fellow ship modelers, I have noticed some posts about IJN carrier camouflage. For some time I have been interested in doing a 1/700 IJN carrier in a late war green scheme. I thought that others might be interested in the information that I have turned up on the subject. As is so often the case with IJN topics, the available information is vague, incomplete and sometimes conflicting. An article in Warship International, no. 1, 1982 by Linton Wells, III, entitled "Painting Systems of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1904-1945" says that a committee in 1943 resulted in the development of standard exterior colors No. 1 and No. 2 and the painting of a ship-like silhouette on the side as an ASW measure. This was applied to auxilliaries and merchant ships, and beginning in 1944, to carriers. To quote Wells, "Number 1 paint was bright green (brighter than plant leaves, according to one description). Number 2 paint was a shade of olive green". This sounds to me like Number 1 paint was the lighter of the two. Wells goes on to say that "Late in the war, many carriers in home waters were distinctly green, probably through a combination of Number 1 and Number 2 external paints". In discussing experimental flight deck camouflage applied to Unryu, Unyo, Taiyo and Chitose, he says that "ASW measures were also applied to the ships sides using Number 2 paint". To me, this last statement implies that the green could have been applied with standard IJN gray as the background color. "Carrier Air War in Original WWII Color" by Lawson and Tillman includes a very interesting photograph captioned as being of Amagi at Kure postwar. Though in color, caution must be used in interpreting the colors. It appears to have been taken in bright sunlight and appears somewhat overexposed or faded with age in places. The darker color is badly weathered and streaked on the hull, but clearly green. It appears intact on the bridge face and looks to be a medium olive shade, slightly lighter than AAF olive drab. Could this be the number 2 paint described by Wells? The lighter background hull color appears very pale, with no discernable tint, possibly washed out by bright sunlight. An article in Warship International, no. 1, 1977 on the Shokaku class gives Zuikaku's camouflage at Cape Engano as "dark blue on light olive green". A formula for the 'light olive green" was provided as "One part - Zinc White, Chrome Yellow, Carbon Black, Prussian Blue, PLUS One part - White". The "dark blue" could be the darker of the Snyder & Short color chips, which to my eye is a dark blue - green. I have not tried mixing the formula given above, so I don't know how it compares to the lighter S&S green chip. There are some good black & white photos of Unryu and Junyo showing the shilouette pattern in the Kaijinsha "Ships of the World" series volume on IJN carriers. There are also drawings of hull and flight deck camouflage patterns in the Grand Prix volume on IJN carriers, but the text and captions are in Japanese. Is it possible that there were at least two "green" schemes?? Perhaps one consisting of olive green on a very light background color (Unryu class) and the other of dark blue-green on a lighter olive green (Zuikaku)? Another question that has occurred to me is whether the green scheme was carried onto horizontal surfaces, such as the open deck space at bow and stern, gallery & island decks, and the metal areas of the flight deck of those carriers that did not have the elaborate flight deck camouflage seen on Zuiho and Zuikaku. Since the green schemes were ASW measures, repainting horizontal surfaces would seem irrelevant, and a waste of time and resources. Perhaps they were simply left gray. I wonder if there are any more postwar color photos of surviving IJN carriers like that of the Amagi discussed above? If so, they could help to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding these green schemes. If anyone else has any information or hypotheses on the subject, I would be very interested in hearing from them. Charles Watson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27) From: Jowfx@webtv.net (John Fox) Subject: Re: photographing models When photographing something as small as a model, you should stop your lens down to the smallest aperture. This will give you the max depth of field. Try shooting your models outside in the sun and use a tripod if your shutter speed is 1/30 or slower. (rule of thumb, don't handhold at a slower shutter speed than the reciprocal of the lens' focal length). I'm not familiar with your Nikon. Can you manually set the exposure? Some of the autos don't let you do that. If thats the case, and your serious, you might want to pick up a manual exposure camera like the Pentax K1000. Any way, remember that the wider the lens, the more depth of field. You might want to try a 35mm lens. If that doesn't do it, you can move farther away from your subject. That will also increase depth of field and then you can have the lab crop the photo when they print it. And finally, when you shoot, try to shoot at an angle where the majority of your subject is the same distance from the lens. You will probably have to shoot a few rolls to find the right combination. John Fox PH2 USN '81-'86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28) From: Jowfx@webtv.net (John Fox) Subject: Re: Indianapolis crates I thought that the crates on the fantail of the Matchbox Indy were supposed to be the A-bomb components that she brought to Tinian. If I remember correctly, the crates were actually stored in the hanger with a 24 hour Marine guard. Also that kit has single 20 mm's when it should have twins.(not that it really matters-they are awful!) John Fox -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29) From: "Pletscher-Lenz-Schneider" Subject: Admiral Scheer Colors Just let me add something to Dave Krakow's posting, who nearly said all that could be said on this subject: There are some photos of ADMIRAL SCHEER which were taken in the Atlantic during her raiding cruise. They show her painted medium-light gray all over, although the upperworks could have been a slightly lighter shade. A dark band was painted over the full length of the ship from the waterline up to the chine below the lower line of portholes. The turret tops were the same color as the upperworks. In the book of Brennecke/Krancke, Schwerer Kreuzer Admiral Scheer, there are some indications that the upper part of the superstructure was painted out light blue for some time which should lower their silhouette. But there is no evidence to prove this. When SCHEER returned from her cruise, the turret roofs were painted red as aircraft recognition signs. She also carried a camouflage pattern of medium and dark gray bands and stripes painted over the bridge and the foremast. Falk Pletscher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30) From: Dave Swindell Subject: Re: Yamato >> Skulski's book on Yamato is incomplete (see the intro to his latest work, The Battleship Fuso) << What's incomplete with the Yamato book? I've got three models on the go at the minute Musashi and Yamato in 1/700 and Yamato in 1/200, all based on Skulski's book. I'm not particularly interested in the Fuso and don't want to fork out for the book just to find out what he thinks he's got wrong in the Yamato book, so a brief resume would be much appreciated. Dave Swindell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31) From: Les Brown Subject: Re: Flower Class Corvettes You do not state which variant of the Flower Class you intend to build, but hopefully the following will help. There are a series of very detailed drawings available by John Lambert. These cover Honeysuckle, Hydrangea, Jasmine, Anchusa, Camellia, Rhododendron and Begonia. There are some smaller scale drawings, photos and text/drawings, also by John, in Military Modelling, September to December 1973. Antony Preston and Alan Raven also covered the Flower Class in Ensign 3, this including many photos and colour schemes. The most detailed book is probably 'The Flower Class Corvette Agassiz' by John McKayand John Harland in the Conway Anatomy of the Ship series. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32) From: "James M. Pasquill, II" Subject: South Goodwin Lightvessel parts Peter Hall, In response to your request for a list of needed etched parts for the Lightship kit I suggest the following; deck railings, lamphousing window frame to wrap around the clear styrene tube, doors, crows nest railings to replace the clear styrene thing, portholes, ladders, stairs, lifeboat pulley and cable arrangement. Anyone got any other suggestions? Jim -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33) From: LYRAD108@aol.com Subject: Lionfish Update Hi, The Local shop didn't have the Lionfish on Saturday. Apparently him taking it off the shelf drew some attention. I feel bad for the kid who got it, not know about the conning tower..... Anyway, he said he would get a new one in by today. I have chosen to do my Lionfish as the Balao-class USS Skate, Lionfish just isn't that famous. I have also heard of the photoetch set for the kit, what's included in it? P.S. who makes 1:192 decals that would be good on this model? thanks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34) From: NEFFD@dteenergy.com Subject: Photographing Models Lars Orloff asked: >> I've been wanting to photograph my models... but am unable to get my 1:48 airplanes [totally] in focus... << Lars, use a higher f-stop setting of f22 or at least f16. That will extend your focus depth-of-field beyond the size of the model. You will need LOTS of light to get good photo with those f-stops. I take my photos outdoors on cloudy days - gives good, even light with no shadows.(Don't use a flash; they give horrible shadows to models while washing out the details.) Don Neff Novi, MI, USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34) From: "FERNANDO, YOHAN" Subject: New Orleans etc. Louis, The Waveline New Orleans was my first resin kit so I was pretty much a 'beginner' at that time. What I found out is that if you are comfortable with injection kits, then resin really isn't more difficult- just a bit different. The New Orleans kit was a relatively 'easy' resin kit because the pieces were all well molded and fit well. There was no major surgery required anywhere. The instructions are a little daunting when you first look at them, but if you study them for 10 minutes or so, you will realize that it's not really that bad. Work with major subassemblies first and work your way down to the small pieces. I do the same even on injection kits where they give step-by-step instructions. The Japanese text on the instructions pose as much of a problem as they do on a Waterline kit- none. The one part that will be different from any injection kit, are the 20 odd pieces that must be cut from styrene plastic sheet(the plastic and the templates are included). This is a common feature with many resin kits, so its a good skill to acquire if you havn't already. (You'll notice that soon you'll be discarding more parts from those injection kits and scratchbuilding them yourself!) Overall, the quality of the kit is on par with the Corsair Armada Northampton, but is an easier build. The Northampton's foremast is a bit tricky if you havn't done anything like it before. I can't speak for the CW San Francisco as I never have never built it. I bought my New Orleans from HobbyLink Japan for $65 two years ago. I think they still carry it. If not, Pacific Front Hobbies would be the place to find it. In regards to someone's questions about the Montana: There is a 'craftsmens' kit of the Montana in 1/700 but I can't remember who makes it off the top of my head. It was reviewed a couple of issues back in Plastic Ship Modeller. It supplies you with the hull, superstructure and large guns, but AA, masts, radar, catapults, gun tubs etc. must be supplied by you (hence the term 'craftsmens' kit) Yohan Fernando -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Shane Subject: SMML web page update & model photography Hi gang, Very shortly after tonights SMML goes out, I'll be uploading another 56 back issues of SMML to the website. For those of you who haven't got issues 95-150, I can heartily recommend them(just ignore most of my old posts :-)) ). The url for the site is: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/4712/ Also apparently there is a good article on Hyperscale on model photograhy as well. Check it out at: http://www.hyperscale.com Regards, Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Shaya Novak" Subject: Light House Ships Naval Base carries in his store the "South Goodwin" the British Eng. Channellight house ship 24.95 in 1/144 scale one light midship. Plus 6.00 shipping. Call 212-759-1846 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: WRPRESSINC@aol.com Subject: Flower Class Corvette Material The very best reference on Flower Class Corvettes is not yet available, but WILL be later this year: authored by the WORLD FAMOUS JOHN LAMBERT, it will contain MANY fully detailed general arrangement sets of plans for all the major configerations, PLUS close-up and on -board photos,PLUS drawings of weapons and fittings, PLUS camouflage patterns,PLUS funnel emblems and markings. If you are a model-maker and do not get this book and it goes out of print, then you will want to shoot youself!! W R PRESS inc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Rob Mackie" Subject: Warship Update I've updated the Warship (http://warship.simplenet.com) with the following items: Review of Blue Water Navy 1:350 IJN Heavy Cruiser Furutaka Review of Classic Warships 1:350 Heavy cruiser USS Salem Preview of TJP Models 1:350 LCT4 ("Landing Craft Tank") Preview of 1:350 Nautilus Models USS Nautilus SS-168, 1930s cruiser sub Preview of Iron Shipwright 1:350 PC-461 Class Patrol Craft ("Subchaser") Nautilus Models "As Built" Gato and Balao Conning Towers by Tom Dougherty Preview of Iron Shipwright 1:350 USS Nashville CL 43 (Brooklyn class light cruiser) Review of Blue Water Navy 1:350 USS Winston S. Churchill by Rusty White Buildup review of the White Ensign Models 1/700th HMS Chester by Steve Jantscher Preview of Iron Shipwright 1:350 USS Hull DD-350 Farragut class destroyer Preview of Iron Shipwright 1:350 Type 34 German destroyer San Francisco Maritime Museum's 1/48th USS California BB-44 (all 12 feet of her extended photo coverage) Review of Snyder and Short paint chip sets by Kenneth H. Goldman Tom's Modelworks brass for Revell 1:720 Graf Zepelin Tom's Modelworks brass for Skywave 1:700 IJN Tenders Buildup Reviews: Verlinden 1:35th Scale German "Neger" Human Torpedo by Kenneth H. Goldman The WWI German U-Boat U-35: Build-up Review of the Blue Water Navy 1:350 JSC 1:250 (paper) Kits by Kenneth H. Goldman Buildup review of Iron Shipwright 1:350 USS Detroit by Dave Judy Feature Articles: Tips for building the Tamiya 1:350 USS Enterprise CVN 65 by Doug Corp Realistic Wood Decks in 1:350 Scale by Rusty White Realistic Water by Rusty White Pacific Front: The Complete May' 99 Update (all 10 pages!)now on line Pacific Front: The Complete 1200/1250 Scale update now on line New Photo Tours: USS Bon Homme Richard LHD-6 (Wasp class assault carrier) USS Hornet CV/CVS-12 (Essex class) USS Constellation CV-64 (Kitty Hawk class supercarrier) USS Olympia by Bob Steinbrunn Updated Photo tour of Hiddensee Tarantul I missile Corvette - 26 new pics Added Bill Abbott's USS Arleigh Burke photos to Burke photo tour - 14 new pics Additions to the Photo Archive: USS Hornet CV-8 (Yorktown Class Aircraft Carrier) USS Yorktown CV-5 (extended coverage) USS Nautilus archival photos USS St. Louis C-20 (includes photo of Smithsonian 1:48th scale model) Added White Ensign Hood upgrade parts to the 1:350 Hood comparison article Additions to the Model Gallery: 1/192 USS Kidd (DD-661) by Bob Steinbrunn 1/350 Hunt Class HMS Middelton by Jeff Herne 1/350 Hunt Class HMS Zetland by Glenn Arnold 1/700 IJN Submarine I-58 by Jim Gordon 1/96 scratchbuilt USS Wisconsin by Steve Gordon Revell USS George Washington (SSBN cutaway) by ? (extended photo coverage) 1/600 CSS Tennessee Jim Gordon 1/700 IJN Training Carrier Taiyo by Jim Gordon 1/200 IJN I-29 by Alan McGivern 1/200 IJN DD Terizuki by Alan McGivern 1/200 IJN Yukikaze by Alan McGivern 1/192 USS Mustin by Alan McGivern 1/200 USS Patterson by Alan McGivern 1/350 USS Hammerhead (SSN 663) by Mike Bishop 1/350 USS Shark (SSN 591) by Mike Bishop 1/700 IJN Midway Carriers by Bert McDowell Updated 1250 Scale New Developments This is the largest update I've yet done. And there is lots more to come. Rob Mackie Warship http://warship.simplenet.com Serious Reality Avoidance -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "RLOCKIE" Subject: Hobby Link Japan email warning I received dozens of junk mails over the weekend from HLJ, apparently caused by one person sending an order cancellation to the address used for the mailing list. HLJ's system seems to have a bizarre setup such that any incoming emails to that address are automatically forwarded to everyone on the list (about 15,000 people). Naturally, many of them are pretty unhappy about it so they send a reply to the same HLJ address, which then generates a further rush of messages to everyone and a further set of junk mails to everyone on the list...... I am no expert on the subject but from reading some of them, rather than just deleting the lot immediately, it seems that the solution is to ignore them and DO NOT REPLY. I expect that HLJ will be aware of the problem by now and sort it out soon but in the meantime, do not send anything to the hlj@listbox.com address. Instead, use the scott@hlj.com address, which evidently uses a different server. It wouldn't be so bad but I actually have to pay to receive this stuff..... Robert Lockie Cambridge UK -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "Kenneth H. Goldman" Subject: USS S-44 Hi all, This is a heads up if any of you are interested in converting the Bule Water Navy S-26 into S-44, the sub that holds the S-boat patrol record and the one that sank the IJN heavy cruiser Kako. My article, originally scheduled for the June issue of NavisMagazine, has been moved up to the May issue. In researching the conversion, I learned it was eerily appropriate to use the BWN kit since S-44 was one of the rescue vessels when S-26 was rammed and sunk near the Panama Canal. Ken Goldman THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER http://www.wman.com/~khgold/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume