Subject: SMML23/08/99VOL646 Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 00:05:22 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Revell Kearsarge 2: YAMATO Wreck Survey and Recovery Dives Happening NOW! 3: Yamato Project '99: Background 4: Yamato Project '99: Day 1 (Approaching Yamato) 5: Yamato Project '99: Day 2 (Yamato's Chrysanthemum crest) 6: Yamato Project '99: Day 3 (Bow and Stern survey) 7: Yamato Project '99: Day 4 (Gun Turrets Located) 8: Yamato Project '99: Day 5 (Pictures of recovered items) 9: Re: Channel Dash Escorts 10: Ligthen Up! 11: First Ship Models 12: Airfix Mauretania kit. 13: Sinking of Hood 14: Battleships NOT named after states 15: Re: Drilling (piercing) Litho plate 16: Cruiser aliases 17: SMML International Survey 18: Battleship Bismarck 19: Philadelphia Project 20: Badger Modelflex Quality? 21: Re: Small Combatants 22: Pit Road www page 23: IJN Shokaku 24: Charles de Gaulle colors 25: SMML Convention 26: Enterprises? 27: Re: Landing Craft at Fall River 28: Re: SMML Convention 29: King George V 30: SMML convention aboard USS SALEM 31: Humbrol Color Numbers 32: Re: Enterprises 33: Plastic Prep and Resin - Compatible? 33: Re: Extra PE? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: New Books from Classic Warships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Steve Sobieralski" Subject: Re: Revell Kearsarge Fred Bultman wrote: >> Kearsarge. Named after the steam sloop USS Kearsarge of Civil War fame. Wish I could find the Revell kit. << I found and purchased one last month on ebay. In fact there were two on the list at one point in time, also the kit of the Alabama. I'm not sure how often they show up but there are some out there. They are also expensive as, unlike the Alabama which has been rereleased in the late 80's, I don't beleive the Kearsarge has been rereleased since it appeared in the early 60's. Anyway I paid about 20 times the original $10.00(can you believe it) price printed on the box. I was interested to note how much commonality of parts there is between the Kearsarge and Alabama kits. The hulls are absolutely identical below the waterline, the main deck pieces have different surface detail but are identical in shape, guns, masts, yards, ship's boats and many minor pieces all appear to be identical. Which makes me wonder if the molds of the Kearsarge (which came first) were altered to produce the Alabama, which might explain why the Kearsarge has not been rereleased and the Alabama has. Steve Sobieralski -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Mau Cat Subject: YAMATO Wreck Survey and Recovery Dives Happening NOW! TV-Asahi in Japan is currently reporting on their "Yamato Project '99" that involves using a pair of French submersibles and diving crew to survey and recover items from IJN Yamato. This is the same French crew who dove to the Titanic. The recovered items will apparently form part of a new maritime museum in Kure. They are diving for 10 days starting last week on August 17, 1999. The last dive will be this Thursday, August 26. The previous day's reports (with pictures) is put up on the Asahi TV web site. There will likely be a big television special on Asahi TV sometime in October with all the details. The home page of the project was already mentioned in SMML21/08/99VOL644: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/index.html Unfortunately, all the pages are in "newspaper"-style Japanese... However, I'm sufficiently interested in knowing what's on the pages that I've spent my weekend translating into English the daily reports issued up to Saturday, August 21. Note: I'm not a professional translator so I'm sure some of the translations aren't spot on (to say the least) and I've left out some of the words I just couldn't identify. But while they certainly aren't entirely right, they're not entirely wrong and you should be able to get an idea of what they're reporting on. The home page link above has a large, not particularly interesting frame at the top that cuts down on the screen real-estate available to the daily reports. You should point your browsers at the individual report pages published so far: Background: [ http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_00.html ] Day 1, August 17 [ http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_01.html ] Day 2, August 18 [ http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_02.html ] Day 3, August 19 [ http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_03.html ] Day 4, August 20 [ http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_04.html ] Day 5, August 21 [ http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_05.html ] I'll post the (approximate) English translations to these in seperate e-mails. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Mau Cat Subject: Yamato Project '99: Background Original page (with pictures) is at: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_00.html Approximate English Translation of page: ---------------------------------------- TV Asahi has begun "Yamato Project '99" whose purpose is to photograph and survey the wreck of IJN Yamato and to recover and return pieces of it to Japan (the pieces will be displayed in a new Maritime museum at Kure). This is a big project for this summer of this last year of the century. This picture was taken at about 3p.m. August 11, 1999. This is the salvage ship "Ocean Voyager" which will be the base of operations for the divers involved in the investigation of the wreck. Here we see her after she entered Taniyama port in Kagoshima Prefecture. The Battleship Yamato made a sortie to Okinawa in a suicide attack operation and was sunk on April 7, 1945. It now sleeps quietly about 360 meters below the East China Sea. The purpose of "Yamato Project '99" is to make a detailed videotape record of the current condition of the sunken battleship and to recover items from the wreck for return to Japan. The diving team that will undertake this mission is the famous "AQUA+" team that successfully photographed and recovered items from the beautiful and legendary passenger boat Titanic last year. Attracting attention just behind the helipad on the Ocean Voyager are the two submersibles named JULES & JIM that are equiped with new and powerful underwater investigation equipment. Here you can see the camera and robotic arm that will be used for underwater photography and recovery of items. The pressurized submersibles can dive up to 1000 meters. They will dive for about six hours a day during the survey and collect various information each of those days. The crew of the Ocean Voyager and the diving team are kept very busy in the final days before the mission that will last for 10 days starting August 16, 1999. Pictures taken of the Battleship Yamato as it sleeps under the sea will be sent from the ship around the world each day of the mission. The leader of the diving team, Mr. P.H. NAJOREI, will arrive in Japan from France tomorrow and will oversee the final preparations of the diving team. What will the Battleship Yamato look like after 54 years of sleep 360 meters below the surface of the ocean? Yamato Project '99, the search for Battleship Yamato, will be carried out starting on August 17, 1999 in the East China Sea. Here we see a dive test of the submersible JULES that was done on Thursday August 13 at 1 p.m. Thursday, August 13. JULES will be responsible for taking pictures of the Yamato and for recovering items from the wreck for return to Japan. The test shown was done inside Taniyama harbor in Kagoshima Prefecture. This French submersible can dive in waters up to 1000 meters deep and was used in the photographing and salvaging of the British ship Titanic off of Newfoundland last year. Special incandescent lights attached to the hull can illuminate the area around the robotic arms for a distance of up to 40 meters. A public open house was help August 13 and many guests visited the Taniyama port to see the JULES and its sister ship JIM. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Mau Cat Subject: Yamato Project '99: Day 1 (Approaching Yamato) Original page (with pictures) is at: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_01.html Approximate English Translation of page: ---------------------------------------- Tuesday August 17, Day 1, Approaching the Yamato in a tropical storm It's 5:30 a.m. and we are traveling through the pale, dim morning light. The vast expanse of ocean that stretches out ahead of us does not seem to welcome us. There is strong wind and rain and the waves exceed 3 meters in height. We arrive at the location of the wreck at about 7:30 a.m., some 17 hours after we left Taniyama port in Kagoshima Prefecture. About 15 minues later, at 7:45 a.m., the sonar detector begins to pick up shadows on the ocean floor. Tension mounts. Is this the hull of the Yamato? Five minutes later, at 7:50 a.m., Mr. P.H. NAJOREI, head of the diving team, announces that he is 99.9% certain that we have found the Battleship Yamato. Perparations are begun immediately for the first dive. However, the presence of the tropical storm leads to an emergency meeting of the team to consider not only the storm, but the fact that the heavy seas have reduced the transparency of the water and will make the investigation difficult. Careful determination on how to proceed is necessary. After an hour, no decision is reached on whether or not to dive. We are holding our breath, waiting for a change in the weather. The weather does not improve much as the day progresses. We watch the weather reports come in one after the other. The team begins to resign itself to the fact they may not be able to dive today. However, six hours later, there is a sudden change in the wearther. It improves and the GO sign is given for the first dive to begin. Surely this is cause for a drink in celebration. Captions of the first set of two pictures: (left) 7:50 a.m., August 17th, Battleship Yamato is found on sonar. (right) The sonar trace of the hull of Battleship Yamato The diving team reaches the Yamato at 3p.m. The search team found the remains of the Yamato at a depth of 350 meters. They carried out underwater photography of the ship and succeeded in recovering a few items including the remains of a crewman's shoes and other small items. Captions of the second set of two pictures: (left) Recovered ammunition cartridges (right) Recovered bottles, crew shoes and pots These are only the first steps. The diving team has begun the detailed photographic survey that will continue over over the next 10 days. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Mau Cat Subject: Yamato Project '99: Day 2 (Yamato's Chrysanthemum crest) Original page (with pictures) is at: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_02.html Approximate English Translation of page: ---------------------------------------- Wednesday August 18, Day 2, Took a picture of Yamato's Chrysanthemum crest The diving team obtained a big result on this day. The JULES began its dive at about 10:45 with the second submersible "JIM" joining the JULES at about 11:40. They dived in formation towards the sleeping battleship 350 meters under the ocean. Soon afterwards the submersibles began to send reports on the Yamato to the control room on the mother ship. The tropical storm the day before kept the water a bit cloudy. A big structure suddenly appeared as the team advanced along the bottom of the sea. It is very dark. It could be a main gun turret or a high-angle gun. But it is the bow of Yamato. Captions of the first set of two pictures: (left) Yamato main guns (right) Yamato screw The precise shape of the spheroidal bow (refered to as the "bulbous bow") has been the subject of various controversies in the past and now with we have pictures that will resolve these questions. In addition to this, we also have photographed other parts of the ship that we found, such as the screws and the anchors, that indicate the massive size of the Yamato. But our minds are most especially moved by the crest on the bow. Caption of the second set of two pictures: (left) Chrysanthemum crest on the Yamato bow The crest is about 1.5 meters in diameter and located above the bulbous bow, near the deck. Some of the gold covering of the crest still remained, an indication that some of the huge battleship may still be in good shape. The size of the crest was determined by comparing its size to that of the submersible. The divers could have concentrated on collecting more items from the wreck such as the shoes and sake bottles already found, but the emphasis of this dive was to investigate the condition of the Yamato on the ocean floor. One big goal was to locate the main gun turrets and to examine the portions of the hull that are still intact. This will be expanded upon in the dive scheduled for tomorrow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Mau Cat Subject: Yamato Project '99: Day 3 (Bow and Stern survey) Original page (with pictures) is at: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_03.html Approximate English Translation of page: ---------------------------------------- Thursday August 19, Day 3, The storm returns The third underwater search day. We have already succeeded in taking pictures of the chrysanthemum crest, bulbous bow, and the screws. We had assumed they would be targets we would be examining two days from now. In today's dive investigation, the length of the two large remaining pieces of the hull at the bow and stern were examined. The intact bow section is approximately 90-100 meters in length and the stern section is about 150 meters. However, the weather changed suddenly in the five hours since the beginning of the dive. If the submersibles are not collected at once, the storm will prevent us from recovering them at all. The control room sends the submersibles the order to surface at once. However, when the boats surface, the storm is already raging and there are big waves that will make the recovery work difficult. The staff is told of the situation and the site chief, Mr. Marios, of the AQUA+ dive team becomes tense. The submersibles JULES and JIM had been scheduled for a six hour dive but their life-support systems had been set-up so that the crew could survive underwater for up to 5 days. When the weather changes suddenly because of a typhoon, etc. it is safer to wait at the bottom of the sea for the weather to calm down then to try and bring it back aboard the mother ship. However, staying underwater is not without risk. The final decision was to bring up the submersibles. The divers were recovered 1 hour and 30 minutes after the emergency surface order was given. Today's work was limited to determining the lengths of the bow and stern sections. Captions of the first set of two pictures: (left) Chrysanthemum crest of battleship Yamato bow part (right) Spliter of floor tile Examination of the video-tape from today's dive confirmed that we had located one of the main guns. This was actually located on the first day's dive but not identified until now. We will therefore make an effort to examine the turret in detail during tomorrows dive on August 20. The results will be presented in tomorrow's news flash. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Mau Cat Subject: Yamato Project '99: Day 4 (Gun Turrets Located) Original page (with pictures) is at: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_04.html Approximate English Translation of page: ---------------------------------------- Friday August 20, Day 4, First pictures of Yamato's main gun turret These pictures of a main gun turret and guns of the Yamato were taken at a depth of 350 meters below the East China Sea where the Battleship sleeps. Captions of the first set of two pictures: (1) Main guns of the battleship Yamato (2) Turret of battleship yamato main guns The underwater search team of TV Asahi's "Yamato Project '99" has been investigating the sunken wreck of the Battleship Yamato under the East China Sea and found main gun turret #3 of Battleship Yamato and then main gun turret #1 in quick succession on the afternoon of the 20th. One of the turrets had already been photographed on the 17th of this month. Main turret #3 was found upside-down on the ocean floor at 2:55 p.m. among the scattered remains of Yamato. It was identified as Turret #3 because it was found among the scattered big remains near the intact stern of the ship. At 16:10, another turret was found. It was identified at Main Gun Turret #1 because it was found about 70 meters away from the bow. Yamato's 46-centimeter guns, the largest of any battleship in the world, are perhaps the most symbolic of finds in the wreckage. The search team also found the remains of a secondary-gun turret of the Yamato. The turret was in an untouched state was confirmed by measuring the inside diameter, 15.5 cm, of the guns. Caption of the third picture: (3) Secondary gun turret of battleship Yamato In the search from tomorrow, we will concentrate on the collection of items from the wreck. We are hoping we can recover up to 300 small items a day. Tomorrow's report will spotlight some of the recovered items. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: Mau Cat Subject: Yamato Project '99: Day 5 (Pictures of recovered items) Original page (with pictures) is at: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yamato/html/soku_05.html Approximate English Translation of page: ---------------------------------------- Saturday August 21, Day 5, Main Gun Cap is successfully recovered Today's dive started at 9 a.m. We had a good afternoon recovering items based on the surveys carried out in previous dives. The dive team is getting to know the area around the wreck very well by now and we are getting a detailed understanding of the distribution of the wreck on the ocean floor. Ten or more articles that had been previously located and mapped were collected and brought up. The cap of a main gun was recovered. It was located yesterday when the dive crew found the main gun turrets -- the symbol of the Battleship Yamato. The fact at least some of the main guns still had their caps in place fills us with feelings of regret because it tells us that the crew likely did not fire the main guns very much during the Okinawa suicide attack. Captions of the first set of two pictures: (left) Cap of 46-cm main gun (right) Spent shell cartridge of 12.7 cm high-angle AA gun Articles used by the crew were recovered: a beer pot and teacup. The crew that still sleeps at the bottom of the East China Sea 54 years after the sinking. Captions of the second set of two pictures: (left) Safety shoes (right) Part of the telescope The main items brought up today: - Cap of 46-centimeter main armament - Shell cartridge from a 12.7 cm AA gun. - Part of a hose - Splintered floor tile - Telescope - Teacup with a picture of Mt. Fuji on it - Beer pot - Safety shoes A substantial piece of Battleship Yamato, weighing up to one-ton, is scheduled to be recovered tomorrow. Candidate pieces include a mast, high-angle AA gun shield, and a machine-gun placement. Exactly what piece will be recovered will be decided at a conference tonight. Pictures of what we recover will be displayed on tomorrows page. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: jmaine@golden.net Subject: Re: Channel Dash Escorts Hi Bob, To the best of my knowledge, the units involved in escorting "the big three" (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen) were as follows: "Narvik" class destroyers (Z 25, Z 29) "Maass" class destroyers (Richard Beitzen, Paul Jacobi, Friedrich Ihn, Hermann Schoemann) "Wolf" class torpedo boats (Iltis, Jaguar) / "Moewe" class torpedo boats (Falke, Kondor, Seeadler) "T 1" class torpedo boats (T 2, T 4, T 5, T 11, T 12, T 13, T 15, T 16, T 17) Hope this helps, John Maine Kitchener, Ontario Where a beautiful, early fall seems to be upon us here in "Oktoberfest country" - yahoo! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: Ligthen Up! This is directed to all SMMLers and to Aaron- You should not let one or two bad experiences ruin modeling for you, keep trying. You are guaranteed to mis-out on some great subjects if you stop buying because you have read about one or two bad experiences. If you act in a positive manner towards your problems, you will have much better results. Dont let your anger do your thinking. The happy customers vastly out number the upset ones, or the company is out of business ! Thanks, Steve Wiper - Classic Warships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Douglas Martin" Subject: First Ship Models A good question..... My first plastic model kit was the Revell Me-109E, I'd asked my dad for a box of Lego and he came back with the kit instead, in 1965. It may have been Xmas of that year that I got the Airfix Bismarck from my next door neighbour (65 or 66 I think with the Revell 1/720 Arizona coming before or after, I cant remember now). I know for sure that the rest of the Airfix range came from 1967 onwards, each new release eagerly awaited and grabbed off the shelves. Revell 1/720s followed, with Frog kits as well, and a 'Nichimo'? IJN Taiho in 1971/72, motorised thingy. Taiho was a 'bad' move as when the first Tamiya/Aoshima 1/700 ships turned up in Feb 73, I set out on a mission to collect them all ....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Still buying, haven't completed one since these accursed computers took up permanent residence in 1990 ish...wail...... Douglas (Looks round the 'lounge', er hovel, and still sees the results of those far off halcyon days.........) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Douglas Martin" Subject: Airfix Mauretania kit. Russell: You may have this info already (I'm still catching up on Julys SMMLs......), Airfix Mauretania kits seen in Wonderland Models, 97-101 Lothian Road, Edinburgh. 0131-229-6428. Douglas (Scotland) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: KDur597268@aol.com Subject: Sinking of Hood Hi all - This isn't really a modeling question, rather one of naval history, and I'm wondering if there's anymore to read on theories behind who san the HOOD. In pursuing what slender references I have about PRINZ EUGEN, I was ferreting out references to her in various books I have. One of them - Preston's "Cruisers" - states unequivocally that "it is known that a fire caused by one of Prinz Eugen's 8-inch shells caused the explosion" (not an exact quote) and I said to myself "Wait a minute, what?" Of course my knowledge is not deep, and I had always assumed she was sunk by Bismarck. Pursuing it further, this time in Vol.1 of "Sea Battles in Close Up WW2" I read that there are at least three theories: 1) the "PE theory" above (made difficult, I read, by the fact that that hit was 65ft from the magazine); 2) the Bismarck 15-inch on the 4-inch magazine, igniting main mag; and 3) Goodall's theory about the torpedo heads that were actually stowed near the center of the explosion and could have been ignited by the fire caused PE 8-inch hit. I don't have any other detailed discussions in my possession, and my memory of reading Mullenheim-Rechberg is that they were as surprised as the British, and could not be sure what hid had done it. Is there any further thinking on this incident, or is it as unresolved as Martin Stephen leaves it? I know there's no way of "proving" anything, I'm just curious if there's any further reading to be done. Thanks as always. And thanks for all the detailed, informed responses about the "Battleship states!" It was interesting to read about the early battleship Kearsarge, as the Revell model of the original Kearsarge was my first ship model when I was 15 or so! She has remained in my mind as kind of a paragon of a "handsome ship," and will also always be associated with my memory of my youthful fascination with the tug-of-war between the Rattler and the Alecto, which I first read about in Landstrom's beautiful book, "The Ship." Wonder if someone has modeled THAT scene!? Best regards Ken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Jeff Herne" Subject: Battleships NOT named after states Ok gang, I know it's not really within the rules...BUT, there were more battleships not named after states aside from Kearsarge... The battleships Zrinyi, Radetzky, and Ostfriesland were all war prizes that were pressed into service by the USN. Now, this doesn't mean they were used perationally, in fact, I think only Ostfriesland was actually sailed under her own power. But they were US battleships nonetheless...the following info was taken from DANFS... Zrinyi was turned over to representatives of the United States Navy at Spalato, Dalmatia, on the afternoon of 22 November 1919. Simultaneously the pre-dreadnought was commissioned as USS Zrinyi; and Lt. E. E. Hazlett, USN, assumed command. The initial American complement consisted of four officers and 174 enlisted men-the latter entirely composed of United States Naval Reserve Force personnel. Zrinyi remained at anchor at Spalato for nearly a year while the negotiations that would determine her ultimate fate dragged on. Only once in fact, did she apparently turn her engines over; and that occurred during a severe gale that struck Spalato on 9 February 1920. On the morning of 7 November 1920, Zrinyi was decommissioned, Chattanooga (C-16) took her in tow and, assisted by Brooks (DD-232) and Hovey (DD208), pulled the battleship to Papaja, Italy. Under the terms of the treaties of Versailles and St. Germain, Zrinyi was ultimately turned over to the Italian government at Venice. The pre-dreadnought was later broken up for scrap. Ostfriesland, a German battleship built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany in 1908; launched in September 1909; commissioned in the Imperial German Navy in May 1911; surrendered to the Allies following World War I; was taken over by the U. S. Navy and commissioned 7 April 1920 at Rosyth, Scotland, Capt. J. F. Hellweg in command. Though in need of repairs, the ship managed to sail to New York where she decommissioned 20 September 1920. Ostfriesland, with several other ex-German warships, became targets for a demonstration of air power. Bombed by Army planes from Langley Field in Va., she was sunk 21 July 1921 about 60 miles off the Viriginia Capes. I have no info Radetsky...any takers? This has started the mind thinking, if these ships were recognized as US warships, albeit war prizes, then technically speaking, shouldn't have Nagato fallen into that category as well? Or maybe it was because these vessels were commissioned as US warships the Nagato wasn't? Any thoughts? Jeff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: SeaPhoto@aol.com Subject: Re: Drilling (piercing) Litho plate For just a few holes, I would sandwich the material to be drilled between two pieces of wood. This should minimize distortion around the holes. If you have a lot of holes to make, I would take the time and make a punch and die. To make that you need a brass or steel plate, about 1/8" thick, a piece of Plexiglas the same size, some shim stock, two screws and nuts, and two drills of the proper diameter. Place the Plexiglas over the brass or steel plate, and drill two holes on either side to establish the registration. Taking the screws and nuts, bolt the two parts together. Now, drill a hole of the proper diameter in the center. Now you can loosen the screws, and slip shim stock between the Plexiglas and the metal plate to make a gap slightly bigger than the litho plate. That is your die. For a punch, take the second drill, and cut off the spiral portion with an abrasive wheel, leaving a crisp edge as close to 90 degrees as possible. This is your punch. To use, places the litho plate in the die, lining up the hole in the die with the desired section of the litho plate. Place the punch in the Plexiglas hole, and then gently tap it through with a small jewelers hammer. This is a long winded way to describe what essentially is a pretty simple tool. I have built a few of these for special projects, as well as an "universal" that has a half dozen of the most common fractional sizes. Kurt (Who realizes that one picture IS worth a thousand words!) SeaPhoto Maritime Photography Now with online ordering! http://www.modelersboatyard.com/seaphoto -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: Marc Flake Subject: Cruiser aliases Here are the state-named (armored) cruisers and their aliases: New York -- Saratoga, then Rochester Pennsylvania -- Pittsburg West Virginia -- Huntington California -- San Diego Colorado -- Pueblo Maryland -- Frederick (there you go, Ed) South Dakota -- Huron Tennessee -- Memphis Washington -- Seattle North Carolina -- Charlotte Montana -- Missoula Source: Friedman's U.S. Cruisers Marc Flake -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Marc Flake Subject: SMML International Survey While I'm posting: Marc Flake Mansfield, Texas Texas, where we managed to get at least 5 SMMLers attending one local (Fort Worth Scale Modelers Society) hobby show last week. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: Puckhead93@aol.com Subject: Battleship Bismarck I have a model of the Bismarck by Heller and I was wondering if anybody has the instructions. I did send an email to Heller asking for a new set but I'm kind of impatient to finish. I've done most of it myself but things like the range finders, how to finish the cranes, some of the aa guns and the anchor wells that go on the fore deck and the stern. I've looked at pictures from Bob Ballards book on the Bismarck and compared things on an earlier model I did and it seems that the fire control stations located on the Tirptiz are not in the same place as on the Bismarck. They are the same just under the bridge but as far as the stern by turrets C and D they dont seem to be the same. If anyone can help i would appreciate it thanks Josh Mayne -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: "Matt Melchert" Subject: Philadelphia Project So what's the story on The Philadelphia Project, where a ship was allegedly teleported from one shipyard to another? Matt Melchert The Waikato Polytechnic Hamilton, New Zealand -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: Kurt Van Dahm Subject: Badger Modelflex Quality? Malcolm asked about the Badger Modelflex Paints. Let me shed some light as I was directly involved in the development of the Marine Colors. First, and most importantly, Modelflex is not related to the former Acuflex except for a similar name. The old Acuflex paints were produced by a completely different company for Badger and Badger had no control over the contents of the jar at that time. The old Acuflex paints tended to dry out in the bottle and dried in the airbrush when you tried to use them. I know first hand all the problems associated with the Acuflex paints as I tried using them and gave up in utter disgust. I talked with the Badger people then and tried all their suggestions to no avail. Well, Badger tried working ith the supplier of the Acuflex paints and finally gave up and withdrew the Acuflex line from the market. A few years later they worked independently and developed the Modelflex line of paints. The only similarity being the water base and the "flex" in the name. The former company that developed the Acuflex line is not involved in any way and the present Modelflex formula is not based or related to the former Acuflex formula at all. Badger has complete control of the new paints from formula to botteling and shipping. Model railroaders have been using the present Modelflex paints for a few years and they like them just fine. I became aware of the new Modelflex line when the Sales Director of Badger gave a demonstration to my radio control boat club and we all had the opportunity to try them ourselves. I was very impressed with the new product and when she gave us each several bottles to try at home I used my old Binks air brush and got very good results at home with my own equipment. I was impressed and I was hooked. At that time all the colors were RR colors, but many of the RR colors are useable with boats. After all red is red, gray is gray and I don't care what the color is called, if it matches my color chip for Anti-fouling Oxide Red I will use it! So there I was using the RR colors for my boats. They produce a very thin coating (.0005 to .001 thick) using extremely finely ground pigments and being water-based are easy to clean up. Along came the demise of the Floquil Marine colors and there was a lot of talk on the Seaways Ships In Scale list as well as some here regarding the need for a marine paint line. I called the Sales Director at Badger and suggested that they develop a marine paint line based on the Modelflex RR colors that matched and to mix up new ones to have a complete line. She thought it was a good idea and several weeks later Badger asked me if I would work with them to develop the line. As I was already a user of the paints and thought they were well suited for marine modeling I agreed and the present Marine Colors are the result of my working with Badger's chemists to match and mix the 56 colors in the present line. Any water-based paint will have more of a tendency to dry at the tip of the airbrush than solvent based paints will. However, the Modelflex paints are very predictable and a periodic swab of the airbrush tip with a moist Q-Tip is all that is needed to keep painting without problems. The Modelflex modern military (WWII) colors match the S&S color chips quite well (IMO) and the classic wooden ship colors match the discontinued Floquil Marine paints very closely. Some have been improved (again IMO) from the Floquil colors that I had heard many complain about over the years. As all these "old" colors are very subjective the true color match for many of these colors is open to a lot of interpretation. The "Tug" colors match paints used in tugs that I have personally viewed up close often times onboard. I hope this answers the questions about the Modelflex paints. Kurt Van Dahm Westmont, IL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: "John Snyder" Subject: Re: Small Combatants Jeez, there I was the other day, sorting through all my Navy slides looking for shots of BAINBRIDGE for the JAG Collective folks, when I found 3 or 4 taken in Da Nang harbor in '69, showing a Nasty-class PTF passing. As I recall, we were specifically told NOT to take photos of them, but...well...I was Ship's Photographer and I figured it was official.... I could probably be convinced to scan the photos.... John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys P.S. That evening we steamed out to spend the night operating with one of the Nasty's in anti-PT training as we were about to go up on North SAR station, up near Haiphong. I still remember standing topside as, after every 2 or 3 mock attacks the Nasty would come alongside to exchange information. They'd come idling in out of the dark and those turbocharged diesels sounded like nothing so much as a locomotive coming alongside. I have no idea who sank whom during the exercises. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: Yasumitsu"AGGRESSOR" OKUBO Subject: Pit Road www page Yasumitsu "AGGRESSOR" OKUBO writing from Japan Hello folks(^o^)/ This is my first message posting to SMML Recently, Pit-Road (manufacture of SKYWAVE 1/700 kits) uproaded their web site. Mainly articles are written in japanese. You can go to english top page. http://member.nifty.ne.jp/pitroad/pit1e.html I got theri new kit IJN Seaplane Tender "Akitsushima" In japan, retail price was \2,800 (almost 1 US$=\110) Mold was fine and if someone want report, I will post later. Thanks and Happy modeling(^-^) ************ Yasumitsu "AGGRESSOR" OKUBO IPMS-USA #35064 ************ Member of Modelers cricle "Kumamoto TOMCATS" Though we don't have IPMS national in Japan, still we are MODELER! I'm proud I'm a member of IPMS-USA Washingotn D.C. chapter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23) From: "arthur" Subject: IJN Shokaku Can anyone point me in the direction of colours for the IJN Shokaku please. Museum/book/www references appreciated. Arthur From a wintery wet South Auckland -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24) From: "larsenal" Subject: Charles de Gaulle colors About the colors of the carrier Charles de Gaulle, very interesting subject indeed as well as French colors in general. Nothing exists over here comparable to the various sites and Companies you have speaking about USN and RN camouflage schemes. For my personal use I prefer the Tamiya range of acrylics as they are easier to spray with an airbrush. The two basic colors I use are: Light Grey XF-19 for the hull and Field Blue XF-50 for the decks. You can have an idea of their rendition with a visit to Felix Bustelo's site International Maritime Modeling where two photos of the Aviso I've built in these shades are displayed. At the present time Polly's colors are not available in France so it's hard for me to give you an equivalent. Best regards, Jacques Druel L'Arsenal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25) From: Greg Lee Subject: SMML Convention Hi Gang, I think an SMML convention is an outstanding idea! Count me in! Greg Lee (SMML Founder and Listmaster on Hiatus) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26) From: Mike.Dunn@dresdner-bank.com Subject: Enterprises? Erwin wrote : >> Uh... How about the space-shuttle... And then of course the NCC-1701, NCC-1701A, NCC-1701B, NCC-1701C, NCC1701D and NCC1701E... But they don't serve in the US Navy, but are part of Starfleet... << But you forget - between the Shuttle and NCC-1701 was the cruise/cargo ship Enterprise, built about 100 years before the NCC-1701, with limited warp capabilities.......... Mike Ahh, someone's watched the Motionless picture then eh ;-)) Shane - who's prefers B5 now -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27) From: ALROSS2@aol.com Subject: Re: Landing Craft at Fall River >> Does anyone know what type of Landing Craft is on display at Fall River, MA next to the Joseph P. Kennedy. << Unless things have changed over the years, it is an LCM. I'm not sure whether it is a -3 or a -6, however. Al Ross -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28) From: "John Snyder" Subject: Re: SMML Convention All other things (like work schedules) being equal, I'd be interested! John Snyder Snyder & Short Enterprises The Paint Guys -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29) From: "Alan Roots" Subject: King George V I am building both Tamiya kits of KGV and PoW. Each ship shares a common hull but KGV entered service before her degausing cable was fitted, the PoW was launched later so was able to have her cable fitted internally, KGV as far as I can tell carried the cable externally throughout the war, but I'm not certain of the details so I stand to be corrected. However back to the original question Gold Medal market an excellent Photo Etched set which has the degaussing cable included, it also seems to be intended for both ships, so if you are only building one you will have some left over for the spares box but is you are building both as I am them one of each are needed ( more bits for the spares box though) . You will find Gold Medal Models at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/onetrack/GoldMM.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30) From: "Dave Watts" Subject: SMML convention aboard USS SALEM I think John Frohock has an excellent idea on a convention aboard the USS Salem. It is in the heart of a very well known and active naval area. The museum has been refurbished and is now in almost new condition. It is hard to believe the age of the vessel. Go for it John Dave Watts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31) From: Felix Bustelo Subject: Humbrol Color Numbers Hi Phil, My website, International Maritime Modeling, has a reference table matching Humbrol color numbers appearing in Heller and Airfix kits with names. It is under Resources - just click on that button to get the menu under that section. Cheers, Felix Bustelo Webmaster http://members.tripod.com/~Febus65/imm.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: Re: Enterprises You may think it funny to include the Star Trek Enterprises with the other naval vessels but that's exactly what a group of us did at the region 6 convention a few years back. The collection as I recall it was huge and impressive. We kicked everybody's butt in the group entry category. The group entry was called "Ships named Enterprise." I tend to think we got the sympathy vote though. After all, how many times do see so many bad fitting Star Trek model in one place? Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. http://warship.simplenet.com/Flagship.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33) From: Felix Bustelo Subject: Plastic Prep and Resin - Compatible? Hi Folks, I have heard of a product called Plastic Prep, which can be used on styrene to clean the plastic of oils and other solvents used in the injection-molding process in preparation for painting. I was wondering if this is ok to use on resin? Can resin be cleaned like styrene with dishwashing soap and warm water? Are there any other methods used? Thanks, Felix Bustelo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: Re: Extra PE? >> I need opinion from you all who have built the Mo if I should buy an extra railing set. If so, any recommendation - GMM, Classic Warships, Flagship Models or Tom's Modelworks? << I think I speak for everyone here (but correct me if I'm wrong Tom, Loren) when I say the GMM, TMW and Flagship Models sets all provide enough extra rails and ladders to allow for mistakes. HOWEVER, the bow rails are a one time shot. I allow a little extra but not much. So be sure to get it right when it comes to the bow rails. You can purchase extra bow rails through TMW and GMM. I built the Missouri some years back using the older GMM sheet and I had more than enough rails and ladders to do the job. Rusty White Flagship Model Inc. http://www.okclive.com/flagship/ "Yeah, I want Cheesy Poofs" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: New Books from Classic Warships Classic Warships ---New Books--- #4 USS Texas BB-35----------------$11.95 available now #5 USS San Francisco CA-38--------$ 9.95 October #6 Omaha Class Cruisers-----------$ 9.95 October #7 USS Salem CA-139---------------$ 9.95 Feb. 2000 #8 New Orleans Class Cruisers-----$ 9.95 Feb. 2000 This is not a dream list. These are projects that are currently being worked on. Please see you local hobby dealer, or your favorite mail order company, for all sales on these, or past titles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume