Subject: SMML26/06/99VOL588 Date: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 23:41:45 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: PHD Project & TF58 list of ships 2: Re: Legible Orders 3: Re: Helvetia ? 4: Re: Flotilla 'X'. 5: Re: Removing Old Paint 6: Good service from kit manufacturers 7: Blue Riband 8: USCG Cutters 9: Re: Iron Duke Turrets. 10: King George V 'hole' 11: Re: A Kilo of Submarines 12: GMM thanks all who helped! 13: Destroyers and other ships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: Atlantic Models 1/600 Subject Vote - Deadline is Approaching 2: Book search: "Old Friends, New Enemies" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Jeff Herne Subject: PHD Project & TF58 list of ships Anyone have a list of vessels that made up TF58 in January 1944? The Pearl Harbor project is coming along well, we've added Tom's Modelworks as the official brass supplier, and Flagship Models has thrown in their support in addition to Corsair Armada. The Sub Committee has taken over the sub base construction with 5 members, and there's a few surprises in store for those 1/700 fans who are not involved with the project. At this point we're boasting 20 modelers and 3 researchers. If you're interested in the Pearl Harbor Project, drop me an e-mail and I'll get you on our mailing list. When we get something substantial to report, I'll post it here. The group e-mails usually consist of who's building what, and can get redundant. Cheers, Jeff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Bill Gruner Subject: Re: Legible Orders Amen to Rusty White's complaints about illegible orders. We often receive orders so poorly wriiten we cannot decipher addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Then we have no way to contact the customer. Please remember to always take the time to PRINT clearly and always leave a contact phone number or e-mail address. Many thanks, Bill Gruner Pacific Front Hobbies http://www.pacificfront.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Erwin Van Deynze Subject: Re: Helvetia ? >> That's it. The postage stamp on the envelope says "Helvetia" on it, and my one year-old world atlas does not list such a name. A quick perusal of the internet reveals Helvetia is a region in Europe that roughly corresponds to Western Switzerland. But when I tried faxing the number on the letter (031/9616253) to Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Greece, I received a recorded message saying the number isn't valid. And my postmaster doesn't recognize the name Helvetia, either. Can any of you more cosmopolitan and well-traveled types out there kindly lend a hand? A fellow ship modeler in Helvetia needs your help! << I guess you've misread, I think it must be Helvetica, and by this I don't mean the well-known typeface, but the country it's named after, namely Switzerland, and seeing on the adress, it is the german-speaking part of the country. I've done a little searching myself and found the following : - The netnumber (031) refers to the Lausanne-area, wich is in the french-speaking region??? - A little search in Route 66 didn't reveal anything on Kehrsatz... must be a little town... and I don't have the Swiss map, I had to look it up on the Europe map... The landcode for Switzerland 41, so the full number must be +41 31 9616253, I've tried it out also, but I also got the not-connected message, maybe the person did give you a wrong number... Sorry I couldn't help you further, maybe there are some SMMLies in the region, who can be of more help? Erwin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Douglas Martin" Subject: Re: Flotilla 'X'. >> In 1941 several destroyers serving in the med carried two narrow black funnel bands. I have been unable to ascertain what flotilla this donates. Can anybody help? Ships known to have these bands included NUBIAN, KINGSTON,KIMBERLY, KANDAHAR, JAGUAR and JANUS. << Vim: The Destroyers mentioned below all appear to be from the 14th DF in the Med, around March-May 1941, until their individual demise, where appropriate till 1944. Regards, Douglas (Scotland) (Where we do in fact drive on the left, or up the middle on single track - with 'passing places'.......) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: AllenFW2@aol.com Subject: Re: Removing Old Paint Something I've used quite successfully has been Polly S/Floquil's "Easy Lift-Off." It does a great job stripping paint. Suggest you use it in conjunction with a soft toothbrush (and plenty of soap and water for rinsing). Frank Allen Battle Cruiser Hood- The HMS Hood On-line Resource http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/2966/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "Denis Campbell" Subject: Good service from kit manufacturers There have been a few posts in the past about receiving missing/damaged parts from manufacturers of resin kits. I would like to add one for a styrene kit manufacturer - Tamiya. About 2 weeks ago I went to Tamiya's web page and sent them an e-mail by clicking on the email link (what could be easier!) telling them that I had started the 1:350 Missouri kit and noticed that part No. G32 (the seahawk aircraft) was missing from one of the 2 "G" sprues in the kit and I would like to get a replacement. About a week ago, I had an e-mail reply that my missing part was on the way. Today, a box about 1.5 cubic feet arrved at my house by UPS with a complete "G" sprue in a plastic bag nestled in the middle of a box full of styrofoam 'peanuts' - there is no way even the Samsonite gorilla could have damaged that sprue. Needless to say, I am surprised and pleased beyond words that such a big manufacturer is able to give such good, immediate, personal service to it's customers. Let's hear a big Bravo Whiskey for Tamiya! Denis Campbell Avon MA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "John Rule" Subject: Blue Riband >> What is the origin of the Blue Riband? What is a Riband anyway? Ribbon I can understand but Riband? << I always thought that Blue Riband was a Chocolate Biscuitor as you North Americans would say a chocolate covered cookie. John Rule -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: USCG Cutters Of interest to USCG fans will be Warship International #1 of 1999. It includes a 26-page feature article, with photographs and line drawings, on the US Coast Guard 255-foot cutter class that was sometimes called the "Fiasco" class because of their unusual design characteristics. Nonetheless, these 13 ships served for an average of 30 years, from 1943 until 1973, and underwent many modifications during their careers. Mike L Alexandria, VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Douglas Martin" Subject: Re: Iron Duke Turrets. There are 3 raised sections on all British battleships, apparent from Neptune onwards up to at least the Royal Sovereigns, which should be 'sighting hoods' or ports. I have a picture of Audacious (KGV class), showing the turret face on and these ports are highly visible. The turret roof slopes up from the sides to centre, no external additions are seen. (Source, Deadnoughts by Richard Hough) Regards, Douglas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Douglas Martin" Subject: King George V 'hole' Pictures of the KGVs and the 'hole' are damned difficult to find then interpret, but in the book KGVs by VE Tarrant, pages 274 & 276, view from port and behind, dated 03/46 and 25/09/54 shows a 'black circle' which I can only presume is a 'hole'...... Many photos hint at a 'hole' later on, but one is never quite sure if its the circular end of the forward DCTs extension.......Duke Of York appears to be 'solid', see page 260. Anyone else out there with the book can agree/disagree now that I've found some pics! Douglas (Scotland) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Ives100@aol.com Subject: Re: A Kilo of Submarines A local hobby kit distributor has just announced impending receipt of a Dragon kit for a Kilo-class diesel submarine for the price of $9.95. I'd thought I'd seen a note in one of Bill Gruner's catalogue updates to the effect that the Dragon kit had been cancelled. Has anyone any knowledge as to whether the Kilo kit actually exists and as to which of the several variants of the submarine the kit represents (the Project 636 variant is longer than the Project 877, while export versions of both have a longer casing aft than do units retained for Russian Navy service)? My understanding was also that this project has been cancelled by Dragon. The only Kilo model I know of is the Blue Water Navy version in 1:350 scale. Don't know which version it was intended to be; at least one version was recently photographed in drydock with a pumpjet in place of the propeller. Tom Dougherty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Loren Perry Subject: GMM thanks all who helped! This SMML list is amazing. What great people you are! In response to my Helvetia question, I received many more helpful answers which confirms that Helvetia is indeed a Latin name for Switzerland. For your time and kindness, I want to thank Jaime, Uwe, Dan, Fritz, Giusto, Tom, John, Robert, Thorsten, Erwin, Jacques, David, Bernhard, and Gene, and if I've left anyone out, please forgive me because it wasn't intentional. So many people knew the answer that I now doubt the value of my public school education. Or maybe I should just try to get out more often. On a related subject, I agree with with Rusty White in that mail order customers should always print their entire name and address as clearly and legibly as possible. Over the years, I've developed fairly high skills in code-breaking, handwriting analysis, and translating hieroglyphics, but once in a while I simply run out of ideas and have to give up and wait for the customer to contact me again. So if you ordered something and didn't get it, please contact the mail order company again with a clearly written return address on the letter itself, and not just on the envelope, which can be damaged in transit. And as for Tasmania being part of Australia, I knew that (being a huge fan of Discovery Channel's "Crocodile Hunter" TV show), but there seems to be more intrigue and mystery in stating that we have customers "as far away as Tasmania" instead of "over there in Australia's little island Tasmania". I guess I've seen too many Indiana Jones movies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Matthew Prager Subject: Destroyers and other ships I'm looking for models of 1/700 scale Wiles/Clemson Class "flush-deck" and Benson/Gleaves Class destroyers. Also Lindberg's 1/96 scale minesweeper and trawler kits. Appreciate any help I can get, Thanks. Matt Prager -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Felix Bustelo Subject: Atlantic Models 1/600 Subject Vote - Deadline is Approaching Time is running out to place your vote for the subject of a 1/600 scale resin model from Atlantic Models. So if you haven't voted yet, please do so. A recap of the details are below: Here is your chance to see a new, high quality resin kit on the market in your favorite scale. Atlantic Models, owned by Peter Hall, is willing to make a new 1/600 scale kit IF enough interest is shown for a particular subject. Peter Hall designs photoetch sets and resin kit masters for White Ensign Models, so you know he is good at what he does. So please send in your 2 votes for a kit that you would love to see in 1/600 scale, military or merchant, and send them to me at mailto:imm_web_master@yahoo.com. Voting will end on June 30, 1999 and the results will be posted on International Maritime Modeling as well as here in early July. Atlantic Models will then provide details, like price, and will proceed with the kit if and only if modelers will back the voting with 10 (Yes that reads TEN)pre-orders for the kit made through White Ensign Models, http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xdt22/index.htm the exclusive outlet for Atlantic Models. If this is a success, then I am sure that Atlantic Models will consider doing other 1/600 scale kits. Go to this URL for a current subject vote count. http://members.tripod.com/~Febus65/vote.htm Thanks, Felix Bustelo Webmaster http://members.tripod.com/~Febus65/imm.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "John Noory" Subject: Book search: "Old Friends, New Enemies" Hello, I'm looking to purchase a two-volume set of books by Arthur Marder entitled "Old Friends, New Enemies: The Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy." Volume 1 is subtitled "Strategic Illusions 1936-1941" and Volume 2 is "The Pacific War 1942-1945." The second volume seems particularly difficult to find on the Internet, but help with finding/buying either volume would be appreciated. Thank you, John Noory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume