Subject: SMML20/08/99VOL643 Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 00:07:13 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Sept. FSM and materials for modeling 2: HMS Edinburgh 3: AE Nitro model?, sites in New England, Texas 4: AJPress books. 5: Tamiya Rodney 6: Blue Water & Marmite 7: Re: Battleships named for all 50 US States 8: Re: 50 BBs? 9: US Battleship States 10: Re: Maritime Modeler Magazine 11: Re: Blue Water Navy customer service-NOT 12: Re: Battleships named for all 50 US States 13: Re: Blue Water & Marmite 14: Just Being Silly 15: US states and ships 16: Re: BWN service YES! 17: Scheer camo 18: Re: New England Vacation 19: 50 Battleships 20: SMML International Survey 21: Re: 50 BB's and geographic trivia 22: Re: Blue Water Navy Good Experience 23: BB State names 24: Re: 50 BBs? 25: Re: ALBACORE (was New England Visit) 26: Re: 50 BB's? 27: Battleships and states 28: Blue Water Navy, Gulfstream, & Classic Warships 29: Wood/Plywood 30: Scheer colors 31: German Destroyers 32: Re: 50 BBs? 33: AJ Press U-boat series 34: Blue Water Navy Customer Service -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Denis & Marilyn Campbell Subject: Sept. FSM and materials for modeling I am surprised that there has been no posting about the September issue of Fine Scale Modeler - so I guess I will post it. There are three articles that may be of interest to ship modelers in this issue: The cover story is a diorama of a Crusader just after being caught in a barrier net on the deck of a carrier, then there is an article for those of you modeling the Enterprise (or any carrier) on vacuum forming masks for painting the canopies of several aircraft and, lastly, there is a good article on photographing models (a long running thread from some months back). I found the making of masks for canopies really interesting and, although it deals with 1:350 aircraft, I don't see why it wouldn't work in 1:700. On another topic, there has been a lot said recently about IPMS and the minimum plastic content and, in UK there is now a move to eliminate photoetch in at least one class. I suppose that, if you are building to enter a contest (which I don't do - I build for my own pleasure only) you will have to follow the rules but...... let me paraphrase a quote from Gerald A. Wingrove - probably one of if not the best model builders around - in his book "The complete Car Modeler" (he is also a renowned ship modeler). He says he uses ANY material which will provide one or more of three attributes: shape, texture and color (colour). The shape and texture must be right and paint or, in some cases, electroplating of metal parts, will supply the color. There is a model of an open 2-seater (I think it was either a Morgan or a blown Bently) and he covered the seats with glue-soaked tissue, suitably wrinkled and shaped, to represent well worn leather. When I used to fish, I always tried my fly rod first and, unlike the purists who would use nothing but a fly, if the flies wern't working, I would switch to a spinner or even worms or salmon eggs. Use what works best. I believe that we should do the same in building a model and not be purists about using only certain materials. Whatever works and achieves the desired result is the right material. Denis Campbell Avon MA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Edward Brown" Subject: HMS Edinburgh New to SMML and just returned to warship modelling after a break of many years. Warship models don't come alive for me unless they are camoflaged. This meant that my most recent project WEM's HMS Sheffield ended up, after a bit of work on the aft superstructure, as HMS Southampton. WEM's HMS Edinburgh remains unordered as, disappointingly, grey. Known to have carried a camoflage pattern but, so I was led to believe no reference. But there are: - Warship World Vol 6 Nos 3 - Edinburgh sinking-starboard view - very grainy not much help. Warship World Vol 5 Nos 7 - Article on loss of Edinburgh by David Moore -author's own photo of Edinburgh refueling prior to sailing on QP11-detailed camoflage fore funnel to stern port side. Does anybody have further details or has this already been covered - if so what number in SMML library? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Joseph Poutre Subject: AE Nitro model?, sites in New England, Texas Am I hallucinating again, or did I see somewhere that someone is making a model of an AE, specifically the Nitro/Suribachi class? As for the trip to New England, check out the sci.military.naval Naval and Maritime Museums list, maintained by yours truly: http://www.bb62museum.org/usnavmus.html As for Texas, there are many USAians that wouldn't mind it being a sovreign nation, so we could keep them out. :-) Plus their wines - yuukk! Joe Trustee and co-webmaster, Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society http://www.bb62museum.org/ Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Damian Pliszka Subject: AJPress books. Hi, I have found information that internationad distribution is provided by: AIRCONNECTION 6389 Chaumont Cres. Mississauga, ON L5N 2M7 CANADA tel. (+1) 905 826 7460 fax. (+1) 905 826 6764 (sorry, no e-mail found) or directly in Poland: AJaKS, e-mail: ajaks@kki.net.pl Good hunting. Damian Pliszka Poland -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: roberto.paredes@cl.unisys.com Subject: Tamiya Rodney Hi, I will buy the Tamiya Rodney (1/700) to reproduce the battle with the Bismark. What would I modify to do that? Regards, Roberto. Hi Roberto, A niggling thought says it may be better to buy the Tamiya HMS Nelson as that is a wartime fit & would be easier to convert to Rodney during the Bismarck chase. The Rodney kit is for a 1930s version, ie: pre-war fitout. People will undoubtably correct me, if I'm wrong, eh Chris ;-)) Shane - Where Spring is springing with a nice temp of 25C & beautiful sunny weather. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Sheridan John Contr 66 ABW/SCX Subject: Blue Water & Marmite >> I'm not mistaken, Blue Water Navy is out of business these days. Gulfstream acquired many of the kits and I think Classic Warships bought them out in turn.<< Mike, Blue Water Navy is very much alive and well these days. Gulfstream is the company that went under and the masters are currently in the posession of Classic Warships. In fact, Mike Bishop himself has just responded to a post on SMML today. John Sheridan Visit my USN Ship Camo site at: http://home.earthlink.net/~jrsheridan/ I am not a Member of the Lumber Cartel (tinlc) and I am not Unit #631 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Richa5011@aol.com Subject: Re: Battleships named for all 50 US States >> Indulge me in a trivia question - has every state had a BB named after it? << Of the 48 states in existance (Alaska and Hawaii did not become states until 1959), when the USN was building such ships - All 48 states had at least one battleship named for it. However, the state of Montana never had a ship completed that bore its name. As you will recall, Montana would have been the lead ship of the class to follow the Iowa's...but the ship was ordered with the name Montana. Though the "Big Sky State" of Montana was represented by a Armored Cruiser (Shane is correct that a number of the early cruisers were named for states as well). All other states had a ship completed that bore its name. As was already pointed out, Alaska and Hawaii were represented by the Large Cruisers completed at the end of the war. >> I couldn't exactly think of a USS New York << A sister ship of USS Texas >> or Louisiana. << A pre-Dreadnought that was one of the ships of the "Great White Fleet" that circumnavigated in 1907-08. Also one was ordered as a sister of Montana. Nat Richards Now, for 10 trivia points and half a jar of Vegimite, name the one US Battleship that was NOT named for a US State...and why was it so named? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Fernando, Yohan" Subject: Re: 50 BBs? Hawaii and Alaska were not states when US BBs were being laid down- they were territories. That's why the large cruisers (or battlecruisers as some would argue) of the Alaska class were planned as Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, etc. New York was of the same class as Texas and served through both world wars. As for missing states- Vermont, Rhode Island, and Louisiana come to mind. I think that every state might be covered in planned battleships, but not all are covered by actually commissioned ships. Yohan Fernando -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Lester Abbey" Subject: US Battleship States Ken Durling asks: >> Indulge me in a trivia question - has every state had a BB named after it? << Montana has never had a commissioned Battleship named after it. Neither has Alaska and Hawaii but they became states after Battleships became obsolete. Alaska, of course had a "Large Cruiser" which was almost a battleship named after her. Several Montanas were going to be built but it never happened. It has always puzzled me why Montana missed out when a number of states - Texas, Maine, New Jersey, Wisconson, Missouri, Iowa, Idaho, Missippi amongst others had two Battleships named after them. And what about the Kearsarge? I suspect that Montana missed out for politcal reasons, The Missouri jumped the naming queue because it was a key senator's home state when appropriations were being made (Harry Truman?). Montana is landlocked and not many people live there anyway. Regards Lester Abbey Wellington, New Zealand, Where there are ample supplies of Vegemite and Marmite and neither of them taste very nice. The Yanks are not missing anything. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Sheridan John Contr 66 ABW/SCX Subject: Re: Maritime Modeler Magazine >> A high quality magazine for all scale ship modelers is coming in January 2000. Maritime Modeler will be bi-monthly (6 times/year) and is actively seeking both contributors and subscribers. << FYI guys, These are the same publishing company that produces a Model Railroad Magazine called: Mainline Modeler. Mainline is the best Model Railroading Magazine on the market IMO. The level of detail and information is absolutely the best! I'm sure this publication will be of the same caliber and I for one will be subscribing to it. John Sheridan @ Microscale Decals http://www.microscale.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Kevin Wenker Subject: Re: Blue Water Navy customer service-NOT Hey Mike - if BS were brass, you'd be a band. I don't know about the fellow below from Turkey, but *I* did say I would return the broken/warped parts. *I* did have proof of purchase. And you said you were too busy pouring resin. Yeah, all us ship modellers are just itching to get free parts from you and copy them. What a jerk. Sorry to any fellow list members who might be offended, but this guy really tees me off - he is just out and out telling an untruth. I notice he didn't respond to *my* email. Or the other person who posted after me. As for the fella from Turkey who he says didn't buy anything from him - if he knows who buys from him and who doesn't, why would he need proof of purchase if it would be shipped to the same address? And why would anyone who bought something want a freebie to copy if they already had one from what they purchased? And if he needs proof of purchase because he doesn't keep records, then how would he know the fella below didn't buy something from him? Fortunately, most dealers are not like him - wanting to get money for nothing and then bank it. Kevin Wenker Hi gang, OK, time to get the hobnail boots out. As I have said before, I welcome spirited discussions, but this topic seems to be getting a little out of hand. So, before that happens, would all concerned, please cool down & think about what you are posting, otherwise I'll have to start sending posts back for re-writing. Remember SMML is a relatively Flame free forum. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Bradford Chaucer Subject: Re: Battleships named for all 50 US States >> Indulge me in a trivia question - has every state had a BB named after it? (Can you tell I'm having trouble sleeping??) Was running through them in my mind - I'm certainly no battleship expert but found myself wondering, since I couldn't exactly think of a USS New York, Hawaii, or Louisiana. I'm sure they probably exist, but wonder what the group says. I think I made every other state at least ring a bell << Alaska and Hawaii were not states when we were building Battleships, they were territories or possessions. There were at least 2 USS New Yorks, one a BBS of the 1890s and the other, BBS 34, the sister ship to the USS Texas Regards, Bradford Chaucer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Bradford Chaucer Subject: Re: Blue Water & Marmite >> If I'm not mistaken, Blue Water Navy is out of business these days. Gulfstream acquired many of the kits and I think Classic Warships bought them out in turn. << I suspect that tidbit would come as a great surprise to Mike Bishop, the owner of MB and BWN. Gulfstream was once part of the Commanders/Ironshipwright group but was split off in 1995 and sold to Steve Wiper at Classic. Regards, Bradford Chaucer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: Just Being Silly John wrote: >> Newport Rhode Island Naval Underwater College << I spent some time there but had to drop out - or should I say float to the top - because I couldn't hold my breath that long. :) Actually, while both the Naval War College (and its museum/bookstore/gift shop) and the Naval Underwater Systems Center (NUSC) are interesting, neither one has a whole lot open to the general public. But Newport is a lovely place to visit, especially this time of year. Since there's so much interest in Vegemite on the list just now, a source for gourmet (?) items from Down Under is the Australian Connection, who naturally have a web site: http://www.aussiecatalog.com Mike L Alexandria, VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "foeth" Subject: US states and ships I think only Hawai and Montana where left out. Hawai was supposed to be an Alaska, which they cancelled ina bright moment. Montana should be weel known, but was never build Incidentally, the Kearsarge was the only battleship not named after a state. Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: Re: BWN service YES! I have been following the gripes and groans concerning Blue Water Navy's service so I fell compelled to add my 2 cents worth. First, I know everyone has had problems dealing with mail order companies. I have had my share as well. Nine times out of ten the problem is communication or the lack of it. I have bought five BWN models. The last model I got in trade was the Yorktown kit. I asked Mike if he would sell me some extra aircraft so I could fill the hangar deck and he happily obliged. Once the model came I noticed it was missing the decals for the a/c. I mentioned this to Mike and I had the 2 decal sets in a couple of weeks. I just wanted to let you folks know. Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. http://www.okclive.com/flagship/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "foeth" Subject: Scheer camo I think I have a scheer camo sceme lying around for Norway, from Koop/Schmolkes book (Far better than their Bismarck volume, and two/three times as thick). If you can mail me, I'll mail a scan in two weeks. Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: SantMin@aol.com Subject: Re: New England Vacation All the spots I've seen list so far are great. Here's a few more. New Bedford has a great Whaling Museum which includes perhaps the largest ship model in the world (?) The LAGODA which is 1/2 size and bug enough to go aboard. A study of the rigging from the balcony is fantastic. Mystic, Ct. is great too. And by the way, if sailing ships do not interest you, a visit to the Mystic Book Shop/Model Gallery is FREE and you can browse books for all time period ships for hours (great gift shop too). Just a few miles from Mystic is the Submarine Force Library & Museum at Groton, CT. This ia another FREE museum which also includes a sound/self conducted tour of USS NAUTILUS, restored to how she looked during her under the north pole voyage. Looks great, even has books and magazines of the period laying around. Cheers, Bob Santos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: Ed Grune Subject: 50 Battleships First of all, Hawaii and Alaska were US Territories before they became states. The Alaska class battlecruiser (Alaska, Guam (another territory) were built, Hawaii was cancelled). The two you named: The Lousiana (BB-19) keel laid 1903 launched 1904 commissioned 1906 WWI convoy duty in North Atlantic Decommissioned 1920 scrapped 1923. The New York BB-34 (lead ship of the New York class - you might know of her famous sister -- the Texas (BB-35)) Keel laid 1911 launched 1912 commissioned 1914 US/Mexico operations at Vera Cruz 1914 Combined Grand Fleet with Great Britain 1917/1918 WWII Altantic convoy duty Invasions of North Africa, IwoJima, Okinawa Decommissioned 1946 Bikini Atoll Tests 1946 Disposition 1948 Sunk as target There were never ships named for all 48 states. Generally the names would go to states with influential senators & congressmen. The Navy would honor these men (and their home states) with a new battleship. Some examples of reused names were: Maine ACR-01, BB-10 and BB-69 Texas no number & BB-35 Indiana BB-1 & BB-58 One battleship was named for another famous ship (i.e. Kearsarge BB-05) Others were started and never completed due to treaty considerations BB47 - Washington BB49 - South Dakota BB50 - Indiana BB51 - Montana BB52 - North Carolina BB53 - Iowa BB54 - Massachusetts These names were used in the post-treaty battleships. source: American Battleships; A pictorial history by Max Newhart Ed Mansfield, TX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: Ed Grune Subject: SMML International Survey Ed Grune Mansfield, Republic of Texas 30 miles to the west of the IPMS Y2K Convention. Mike Quan is 20 miles east of it ... I'd say we have it straddled. Fire for effect. As long as they're not incinderies ;-)) Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: Lisa and Bill Wiseman Subject: Re: 50 BB's and geographic trivia Some of the states that weren't used for BB names, were used on the Ohio Class Boomers. I know of the Ohio and New York. I believe Hawaii and Louisiana were also used. Doc Wiseman New Windsor, New York -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: WFulp@aol.com Subject: Re: Blue Water Navy Good Experience I have read the posts about Blue Water navy the past few days and wanted to let everyone know about my experience. I have purchased the BWN Enterprise, South Dakota, Gambier Bay, Seawolf, and Arleigh Burke kits over the course of the past 3 years. I have had a few parts damaged and, after sending the damaged part to BWN, had no problem getting replacements. I even had a hanger wall replacement for the