Subject: SMML VOL 801 Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 00:38:26 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Hull Numbers & Stern Names 2: Best ship 3: Re: FSM and articles 4: Re: ENTERPRISE and Carrier Fires 5: Knox Class FFG 6: Iowa class turrets 7: Skipjack 8: Re: HELP (animating your model) 9: Re: Various 10: Iron Shipwrights and Enterprise 11: Carrier Fires and John McCain 12: Re: In Harms Way 13: wood hulls 14: HMS Discovery 15: Re: FORRESTAL FIRE 16: Conning tower viewing slits 17: ULTRA PRO-SHAPE 18: Syringes & other medical items for shipbuilding 19: Oops - who was (nearly) missing a carrier, then? 20: Pre-War Washington 21: USS New Jersey underwater hull color 22: Re: Forrest Sherman 23: Knox Class FF 24: Illustrious V Essex 25: Re: 1:700 submarines 26: Re: Skipjack 27: Re: Sub props 28: Re: Hotchkiss mounts on BRETAGNE 29: Famous author killed 30: New book from Kalmbach (Fine Scale) 31: Re: Day of Deceit 32: Re: Formosa Strikes 33: Turret tours -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: Classic Warships 1/350 USS Ward kit 2: The SMML convention 3: USMC in the American Revolution Book 4: Latest SMML site uploads 5: 1/350 USS Ward DD-139 on Classic Warships Web Page 6: Classic Warships Books at Pacific Front Hobbies -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Duane Fowler Subject: Re: Hull Numbers & Stern Names Hello John, According to all the photographs that I have seen, the BBs at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 had their names on either side of the stern and no numbers on the hull. The names were 18" tall. In 1/700 scale this translates to .026 inches or between 15 dots per character vertical at 600dpi which is the maximum readable resolution of most comercially available printers. This is more than enough to make a readable characters although they would not necesarrily be to the correct dimensions of the original names. Please note that even the Alps MD-5000 with an advertised resolution of 2400 dpi will only do a readable character resolution of 600 dpi maximum. Please trust me on this one as I have extensive experience. I am not sure how well a laser printer would do but it is probably worth trying. At the most, you'd be out $3 for the effort. Wishing you luck, Duane Fowler -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Franz Aigner GmbH" Subject: Best ship I recall (unfortunately only vaguely - somewhere in the "Battles in Close up" series?) that the Royal Navy did some research into the causes for success and failure in seabattles. The reasons were, in order of importance: 1) Tactical situation at beginning of battle 2) Standard of crewtraining 3) Quality of equipment (i.e. your "best ship"!) In short, comparing guns, armorbelts and speed only, leaves out other factors that are much more important to the final outcome than the academic question of which ship was "best".The winners of WW2 are obvious, are they not? So I would say their respective navies were the best, too. Greetings to all SMMLies! Richard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Percy, John" Subject: Re: FSM and articles >> Seems to me FSM appears to be serious in covering ship models as with this coming two-part article plus the ships they have been featuring in the "readers models" section they seem to be trying to give us ship modelers a reason to buy the magazine beyond their good coverage of paints, techniques, etc. << >> I have been commissioned by FSM to do three ship related articles. The first one has been sent to FSM. No publishing date as of yet. It looks like there will be a lot of ship related articles in the future. << Hey Rusty, If those FSM guys ever want to commision any of the following ship modeling articles, let them know I'm their man! I have the best credentials in these areas: "How NOT to build ship models: The Bad and the Ugly" "Painting ship models: an exploration in abstraction" "Apply Photoetch to shipmodels so bad, even your Mother will laugh at you" "The Joy of snapping resin parts in half" "How to remove detail from ship models, or "'Oops! There goes another piece or barrel/PE/radar/whatever'" "Sticky Fingers: How to remove superglue from skin" "Painting: Was that hazy grey or deck grey? Ah, who cares." "You mean aircraft carrier X didn't carry Y Planes? Darn." "I thought I was building a 1942 HMS Hood!" "Davits? What're those?" "It looked better without that anyway: How to accept missing/breaking/losing model pieces." "How to remove dust from your finished model while destroying as much detail as possible." "Collecting models and not building them: A way of life." "Building models for your cats: The ultimate chin scritcher" John Percy Hey John, Have you got a camera set up over my modelling desk or has the Mistress been telling tales ;-)) Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "John Sheridan" Subject: Re: ENTERPRISE and Carrier Fires >> The walls and ceiling are painted: Inside White Formula 27 The floor is to be painted: Light Gray Deck Formula 20-L << >> Walls? Ceiling? Floor?? Oh John, John, John!! Those surfaces are bulkheads, overhead, and deck! << See what happens when you join the Air Force for 7 years ! I feel so dirty....... John R. 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 Last last place on earth I would look for the Lumber Cartel(tm) is http://come.to/the.lumber.cartel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: drwells@hogpb.mt.att.com (David R Wells) Subject: Knox Class FFG Hi Doc. You wrote: >> I was wondering, are there were any Knox Class Frigate kits still in production? Scale isn't important. Though, for cost and ease of display, I refer 1/700. I seem to recall a resin kit out there someplace but can't emember the specifics. (Having more & more "Senior Moments" as time goes >y.) << As Shane mentioned, the AFV Club kit is pretty good. I've built it, and I liked it. Here's the mini-review I put on Rajen's List: "Comes with decals for both US and ROC Knox-class frigates. Nice detail, no sink holes. While I have never seen a Skywave Knox-can, this kit sure looks like a Skywave mold. I adapted mine to full hull by widening a DML Perry lower hull and adding a SQS-53 sonar dome from an ARII Spruance. Bilge keels will have to be scratchbuilt for this conversion." I occasionally still see these in hobby stores. FYI: Rajen's list is going independent. The current draft is at http://www.quuxuum.org/rajens_list/rajen.html New reviews are always welcome. David R. Wells "There seems to be something wrong | David R. Wells with our bloody ships today" | AT&T Middletown, NJ Adm. D. Beatty, May 31, 1916 | Email: drwells@hogpa.mt.att.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "ERIC OLSON" Subject: Iowa class turrets The main turrets on the USS Alabama are open to the public. Lighting may be a problem for photography, but you can go inside one of them. I'm not a ship expert, but I recall that the turrets were self-contained as for electric power, etc., and extended in a round armor casing from top deck to keel. It's been a few years since I was in Mobile, Alabama, but it is a nice display with the USS Alabama, a WW II submarine and aircraft on display on the landside. Eric O.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "John Sheridan" Subject: Skipjack >> Does anyone make a full hull model of the Skipjack SSNs in 1:350 or 1:700 scale? << Blue Water Navy makes the Full Hull Skipjack class subs in 1/350th scale. John R. Sheridan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: John Philip Downing Subject: Re: HELP (animating your model) >> I have had this dream of building a ship and having the radar turn, guns rotate, lights on the deck and tower light and the props turn... What kind of motor set up or book on this info do you or anyone else recommend. It would be greatly appreciated as I have been thinking about this for about 15 yrs. << One approach would be to get the Nichimo 1/200 Yamato. It has motors to make the props spin, and to make the main turrets and rangefinder rotate. John... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: WestCelt@aol.com Subject: Re: Various Regarding CPO John Currie's comments: The U.S. Navy, as is every other major or minor navy currently in existence, is modeled after and/or derived from the Royal Navy. Is the cases of Australia, Canada, United States, and New Zealand this is particularly so since the United Kingdom is our mother country. For more than two hundred years the Royal Navy has set the standard for the navies of the world. This is not to detract for what our navies and shipbuilders have accomplished. It is only intended to remind concerned parties that we have been building on what our mother country taught us. John C. Driscoll -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Satin, Michael N. (LNG-SHEP)" Subject: Iron Shipwrights and Enterprise I have been trying to stay out of this one but even though I'm very happy to see the several responses to the flame against Jon Warneke and Iron Shipwrights, I have to add my two cents. I pre-ordered their HMS Nelson/Rodney and found some molding problems and missing/broken parts when I got it. I contacted them and very shortly heard back from Mr. and Mrs. Paris by e-mail and Jon by phone! They talked to me at length about the kit and sent replacements out immediately. Not only am I very impressed with the kit, but I was floored by the service. Another time I inquired in this forum about USS Alaska kits in 1/350. Jon e-mailed me off list to discuss the relative merits of his kit and the CW kit. It seemed to me that he was very fair in pointing out the differences. You can't buy this kind of help, and I just wanted to say publicly how great I think Iron Shipwrights and Jon are. Thanks folks! Now, as to the Big E, CV-6. Most important ship in WWII? Can anyone name any other one ship whose loss could have caused the allies to loose the war, or at least significantly delay it? At Midway and Guadalcanal Enterprise WAS the US Navy. I certainly don't mean to say that other units in the USN, RN or other fleets weren't very important, but the Enterprise was IT. Sometimes it's fashionable to dispute what is considered an established truth, but in this case I think we just have to admit it and get on with it. Anyway, that's my opinion (geez, by now I must be up to at LEAST 4 cents worth! ;->) Michael -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Edward F Grune" Subject: Carrier Fires and John McCain Hello SMMLies: Its interesting that these two subjects have appeared on the list recently - maybe its a conjunction of the stars. Just last week there was a program on the History Channel or A&E about the fire on board the Forrestal while she was on station off the Vietnam coast. It documented the valor and bravery of the men who fought to save her. the tie in is ... LT John McCain (now Senator/US Presidential candidate and son and grandson of the Admirals McCain) was a pilot sitting in his A-4 waiting to be launched. When the Zuni rocket fired it knocked the fuel tank off the plane sitting next to him. McCain's aircraft was engulfed by flames. LT McCain opened his canopy, climbed out, and walked to the end of the refueling probe before jumping through the flames to safety. The 2x1000 pound bombs McCain's Skyhawk was carrying eventually cooked-off, adding to the damage. Ed Mansfield, TX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Fernando, Yohan" Subject: Re: In Harms Way >> Which leads to the expected role of the MIDWAY class during the invasion of the home islands. One account I have read states that the 3 MIDWAYs and their 6 British cousins were to act as floating service stations close to the coast of Japan, with a large number of carriers furthe off the coast. The plan was sorta like this: The armored decks would allow them to refuel CAP aircraft and such, extending the ranges close to shore and increasing their own "airwing" sizes to several hundred, and serve as heavily armored bait for outbound Japanese raids. << Just as a point of interest, this idea of carriers acting like mobile air bases to plans other than their own, was an idea the IJN toyed with twice. During the 'Turkey Shoot' in 1944, Adm. Ozawa's original plan was to have his planes fly from his carriers, strike the US ships, and land/refuel on land bases in the Marianas, while plans from such bases did the same in reverse (take off from the island stips, attack the enemy and refuel on the carriers). This was a way to extend the range at which he could strike the US fleet. As everyone knows, this plan never materialized for many reasons. Another attempt at the mobile airbase concept was the design of the Shinano. The heavy deck armor was supposed to withstand repeated attacks, and alot of the space belowdecks normally to be used as hanger space was instead to be workshops and aircraft support facilities. The very limited airwing for the Shinano was supposed to just cover the CAP. While neither of the IJN's attempts at the mobile airbase concept worked, they both failed for reasons unrelated to the implementation of the concept itself (mostly US submarines in this case). I would imagine the it would have worked quite well for the overwhelming US fleet in 1945. Yohan Fernando -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: "Bill Code" Subject: wood hulls hello list, yes Im still plugging away at hellers HMS Victory...but on a recent hobby junket with fellow club members i came across a lovely little solid hull basswood kit of King Edward the 7ths racing yacht" Britannia" mini mamoli kit in 1/177 scale..thought it would be fun to cut my teeth on this little kit before tackling a plank on frame...Now i pride myself on my airbrush work,,,but this has turned into a real nightmare...ive used sanding sealer on the hull but ever time i go to mask something ive painted already it peels the varnish up and Im back to square one...driving me nuts...i was told that wood was fun to work with but a bitch to finnish ,,,now i know first hand that its true...Do I need to completely strip this hull and try a diffrent sealer...im using model master enamel paints over an aero gloss sanding sealer.. regards Bill Code -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Chas Leo Subject: HMS Discovery I recently uncovered some plans of HMS Sloop Discovery (Vancouver's, not Cook's) I photocopied about 30 years ago. Unfortunately, I was then blessed with a very good memory, and would know which library and book they came out of. Age has its way of taking its toll, and I now have the plans (hull lines and elevation) with absolutely no clue where they came from. The two local libraries I might have found the book in have been unsuccessful in helping with this. Is anyone aware of a book that would have a long, fold-out page with the lines of this vessel? I've always been interested in Vancouver's trip to the Northwest Coast of America between 1790-1795, and wanted to build a model of the vessel. The only other clues I can offer are photocopied pages (presumably from the same book) of an appendix, pp. 186-188, with the plans after p. 187, where item 13 describes the Discovery. You can contact me off-list if you have more information or questions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Polvi, Henry" Subject: Re: FORRESTAL FIRE I remember well a naval Damage control film, I think it was called "Trial by Fire" that showed the mistakes and lessons learned from the Forrestal incident. Some gallows humour as the film shows the actual B&W TV footage and the voice over illustrating the "Chief with the Purple K" running toward, and into, the line of blazing aircraft to try and put it out himself with a hand held extinguisher. The USN came VERY close to losing that ship, I recall there was too much fire fighting water applied above the waterline, and the fire and smoke spread throughout the ship, most of the oxygen breathing devices were u/s and there was a lot of confusion and disorder. Again actual footage from the incident was shown with ad-hoc teams of sailors in t-shirts going to fight fires. Lessons - try to contain, isolate the damage, move out of the area, pass information to DC, proper equipped teams to attack the fire/flood with established procedures. And don't try to be a hero with a handheld extinguisher (the Chief didn't come out). Henry Polvi Thornhill, ON -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Alan Lindstrom" Subject: Conning tower viewing slits Any suggestions on how to make the viewing slits on the conning tower of a battleship or cruiser? I have tried using a razor blade and #80 drill with less than satisfactory results, and I have tried using a fine tip permanent black market, but the ink ran when I put dullcoat on it. Alan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: ULTRA PRO-SHAPE The February 2000 Fine Scale Modeler includes an article on scratchbuilding an aircraft using Ultra Pro-Shape. This material appears ideal for carving ship hulls, indeed the author of the article suggests this could be a use for it. The material is available from ADM Model Supplies in Florida, but does anybody know of a source in the UK? Les Brown -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Mike Dunn" Subject: Syringes & other medical items for shipbuilding Hi, Over here in Blighty, we are able to get hold of items such as these from art shops, and medical supplies shops that sell to the general public as well. One good medi shop I know of is based near to Oxford Street, London; also, the London Art Centres are good places. Afraid this doesn't help those across The Pond, but I'm sure there are similar stores over there. Mike -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: "Mike Dunn" Subject: Oops - who was (nearly) missing a carrier, then? Hi John, Nice to see we're someone on the list serving on my favourite RN ship! >> we got within 10 miles of the USS ENTERPRISE and just as the sun came up we put two seadart missiles into her and then did the same to all her escorts.... we even used her data for the targetting to our fire control radars << ROFL !!! Reminds me of a wargames dogfight down here; a US bird (F-14, I think - not certain) was pitted against a Harrier. The USAF jet came screaming in to the wargames area, then slowed down, trying to figure out where the Harrier was - which then lifted vertically behind it from a small wood, turned, locked on, & "blew" it out of the sky! Way to go, RN !!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: "Summers,David" Subject: Pre-War Washington American historian Steven Ambrose wrote that the Pearl Harbor attack was not a conspiracy, but the result of an extremely ill-considered foreign policy by the Roosevelt administration during the '30s--highly provocative against a foreign power not considered to be the primary threat, without taking precautions against the natural result of that provocation. (Other presidents have also fought the "wrong war at the wrong time against the wrong enemy"!) An extreme case of tunnel vision held The Philippines as the only conceivable Japanese target. Racism caused a severe underestimation of Japanese assets and capabilities. OTOH, the Roosevelt administration did much which was right during the latter part of the decade: the development of the 4-engined bomber, the design and mass-production of outstanding ships, the development of an excellent fleet sustainment system, quick deployment of radar, and an early emphasis on training vast numbers of pilots, etc; so that the US was well placed for a winning a 2-front global war. The axis was severely hampered by deficiencies in each of these areas. Yes, the US was an economic giant, but the economy COULD have been committed to building P-39s and Brewster Buffalos. King & Nimitz's strategic handing of the meager assets remaining after Pearl Harbor was an astonishing display of virtuosity. Just enough assets were in the right place at the right time to stop the Japanese SE and E advances, then turn the tide of the war--of course, it helps to read the other guy's mail! (Tactical use of those assets in the local theaters was quite another story, however...) --But at least the ships weren't shuttled back and forth between Seattle and San Diego as a "fleet in being"; the New Mexico wasn't sent commerce-raiding into the Tsushima Straits! David Summers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: "Reynaga, Tim@EDD" Subject: USS New Jersey underwater hull color I just wanted to thank those who responded to my question off line. A number of people responded, among them a shipyard engineer who worked on the IOWA overhaul in the late 80s and a longtime worker at Electric Boat in Groton. The consensus seems to be that the correct paint color is red and only red. Apparently the pale green sometimes referred to is the result of biofouling visible when a ship is newly drydocked before the initial hydroblasting reexposes the underlying red hull color. Oh, well, I guess red looks good on models too... Tim Reynaga -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: Re: Forrest Sherman >> SHERMAN class DDs were unique in that they were 1200 psi steam plant destroyers (the last of their kind). << Actually, I believe they were the first DDs with the 1200 pound plant, but not the last. From the late 1950s until the introduction of gas turbines (i.e., SPRUANCE class), most USN destroyers were equipped with this propulsion plant. This included the CHARLES F ADAMS class DDG, COONTZ class DLG/DDG, LEAHY class DLG/CG, KNOX class DE/FF, etc. The exceptions would have been the nukes and some of the earlier FF designs. Mike L Alexandria VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: Knox Class FF Corsair Armada also produced a superb 1/700 resin Knox-class FF. It contained extra parts and a decal sheet with names and hull numbers to build any ship in the class. Mike L Alexandria VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24) From: "chenyangzhang" Subject: Illustrious V Essex Hi James Only slightly different. The armoured flight deck and hanger would have been useful for containment purposes and would have reduced the casualties. Illustrious was hit by considerably more bombs in the Mediterranean and proved able to absorb the effects of them with lower casualties. Deck outriggers were not actually that common on the class, by this time a fair number of aircraft were stored on the deck itself. For independent operations see my posts re TF57 and Spruance. Chris Langtree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25) From: Ives100@aol.com Subject: Re: 1:700 submarines >> Please pass along Ralph Ratcliffe's e-mail or regular post address. I wish to make a purchase. I always felt that if you were going to build a submarine model in whatever scale, it should be full hull. Thanks. Bill Oreto << Ralph Ratcliffe can be reached at: 1541 Durham Road, Langhorne, PA 19047. His email is: ralphratcliffe@email.msn.com I promise you won't be disappointed with these little gems Tom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26) From: Ives100@aol.com Subject: Re: Skipjack >> Does anyone make a full hull model of the Skipjack SSNs in 1:350 or 1:700 scale? << Blue Water Navy makes a nice Skipjack in 1:350. This is very accurate, much more so than the old Aurora/Monogram kit. Choice of the original 5 blade "speed propeller" or later 7 bladed crescent propeller (quieter prop). Not aware of any current 1:700 full hull offerings. Tom Dougherty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27) From: Ives100@aol.com Subject: Re: Sub props >> With the discussion about 1/700 scale subs lately I just wanted to mention that Flagship Models produces modern submarine props in 1/700 and 1/350 scale. The set includes props for US ballistic and attack subs, as well as Soviet style attack sub props. Go to my web site (below) to SEE the set. << I bought both the 1:350 and 1:700 set off of Rusty when he first issued them. Just the tonic for all those old DML/Dragon Los Angeles kits in both scales..... Use one of the large crescent shaped blades on the LA kits. Tom Dougherty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28) From: "J. London" Subject: Re: Hotchkiss mounts on BRETAGNE One for the "opps we slipped department". In my response of yesterday I gave the wrong dimensions for the location of these mounts. They were 26.5 ft fore and aft of the center barbette, and 20.75 ft on either side of the centerline. Michael London -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: Famous author killed I have just heard from a reliable source that one of our favorite authors was killed a few months back on a diving accident, actually a boating accident. Author M. J. Whitley, was killed when he was hit on the head by a boat when he surfaced from a dive. This is a very big loss to all of us. Mr. Whitley has been the author of many great titles from Conway/US Naval Institute Press/Arms & Armor, like the encyclopedia series, Destroyers of WWII, Cruisers of WWII, and some German subjects like German Cruisers of WWII, German Capital Ships of WWII, etc.. I was told that he was working on Aircraft Carriers of WWII. He and his works will be missed. Steve Wiper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: New book from Kalmbach (Fine Scale) Mike Ashey has finished his latest book for Kalmbach Publishing, and it is a ship book! I hear it is really packed with photos of some really great builds, with a large amount on resin kits. This should be available sometime in March. Sorry, I cant remember the title, but I am sure it will be very well marketed, in most hobby shops and thru Fine Scale Modeler. Steve Wiper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31) From: ECammeron@aol.com Subject: Re: Day of Deceit You could earn Battle Stars - you had to be in the battle. Your command (ship/air unit/whatever) got the PUC or NUC, you got the ribbon. Wasn't George Bush an Ensign in 44 when he was shot down off SAN JACINTO in VT-51? The guy might be talking about the war record of the 'Flagship of the Texas Navy', but if you name drop like he's doing, you obviously expect a pretty dumb audience of readers. Eugene -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32) From: ECammeron@aol.com Subject: Re: Formosa Strikes Chris: I know that - and if you read the reference I mentioned, "The Forgotten Fleet", you will find the reason why they were asked to strike Formosa ON THEIR WAY BACK TO LEYTE. You claimed the BPF was asked to strike Formosa because the armoured deck carriers could handle Kamikaze attacks better than TF-58. The reasons for the request I have are that TF-57 was withdrawing to rest and replenish and Formosa was on the way. Formosa was a responsibility of the 5th Air Force, not the Navy. Winton goes into much detail about this operation. Most of the time off Okinawa, TF-57 rotated with a CVE group in interdicting the Sakishima Gunto south of Okinawa. Granted, Formosa was a major source of Japanese air operations, but not nearly as large as the Japanese Home Islands. Try to explain why a force of four CVs rotated assignments with a group of four CVEs. Eugene -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: Classic Warships 1/350 USS Ward kit Just to set the record straight.......... The reissue of the former Gulfstream 1/350 USS Ward kit was not simply a re-box of the older kit. Resin parts were slightly modified. A vast majority of the small parts have been converted to white metal castings, with a few new ones added. The photo etch has been completely redrawn, on computer, and is 100% new. Decals have been added also. The instructions were completely redone in the isometric, exploded view, 12 pages, that you find in my kits. I have checked the measurements of the kit and it is correct. The castings on the first batch of 25 kits on the reissue were inspected and were flawless, I did not see any air bubbles. I am using JAG to cast these kits, and they have done some of the best casting that I have EVER seen. This kit was great when first issued, and now with the additions that I have added is a very nice kit indeed. As to my post about "Iron Ship Wrong," I do regret that. In my anger over Warneke's ridiculous statement, aimed at the only other manufacturer of a four stack destroyer, me, I lowered my self down to that level. I would propose that all of us not promote our ideas, kits, products, at the expense of others, and that Shane reject any such post sent. I, and many others are guilty of this, in one way or another, and only hurts the list. If we (manufacturers) are going to promote our products, it should be in a positive light, and not at the expense of others. Steve Wiper - Classic Warships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "John Sheridan" Subject: The SMML convention If any of you who are attending the SMML convention wish to conduct a seminar please contact me directly ( mailto://jrsheridan@earthlink.net ) so that I can setup the seminar schedule. John R. Sheridan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: GrafSpee34@aol.com Subject: USMC in the American Revolution Book Hi Still sorting through piles of out of print Naval related books. I have a really nice one up for grabs: The United States Marine Corps in the American Revolution. Pretty much every engagement that they were involved in is covered in this massive 1975 historical work, also pictures and maps, etc. Anyone interested in 18th century amphibious landings should get a copy. Excellent reference, but I can't keep em all! Have a look, also check out my Kriegsmarine U-Boat books. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=244830121 Cheers Dave -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Mike" Subject: Latest SMML site uploads Hi all, Just to let you know that we have the latest Archives up there, yup right up to Issue 800! Not only that, but I've added images into PicPost for modesl of the USS Wisconsin, the Panay, the USS Missouri, and KMS Bismark. We've some new pages planned for the next month or so, and if people would like to see some new kit reviews, or building reviews - why not write one & submit it to me? If we haven't covered your favourite kit, or even section, then get in touch! As always, I've put details of recent uploads into the History page. Mike SMML Webmaster -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: 1/350 USS Ward DD-139 on Classic Warships Web Page A couple of things I forgot to mention about the 1/350 kit of a four stack destroyer that I, Classic Warships, produces. My kit comes with a Japanese two man mini sub, a Type A, the same kind that the Ward sank just before the air raid on Pearl Harbor. The kit, in its entirety, can be viewed on my web page @ http://www.classicwarships.simplenet.com. Thanks, Steve Wiper - Classic Warships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: Classic Warships Books at Pacific Front Hobbies Pacific Front Hobbies has a good stock of our latest titles, #5 USS San Francisco, and #6 Omaha Class Cruisers - Photo Album. We have strived to produce the highest quality photo reproduction and very detailed drawings in these books. The single ship titles (i.e. the 'Frisco) contain approximately 40+ photos, and drawings covering different refit periods, some of which are not commercially available elsewhere. The "Photo Album", book #6 on the Omaha's, is the first of many to come in this new sub-series. They will be just that, photo albums, covering an entire class of ships. These books will contain approximately 64+ photos per book. Both of these sell for $9.95, which I believe is a bargain. To preview them, check them out on my web page @www.classicwarships.simplenet.com Thanks, Steve Wiper - Classic Warships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33) From: tom Subject: Turret tours Mike writes: >> They might let you into the turrets for the Alabama, Massachusetts, and North Carolina which has similar turrets. << On Alabama you can enter a main turret (as I recall #2) and also below decks they have opened up access to the shell handling and powder levels by cutting an entry though the armor. It is very impressive. Tom K -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for having SMML at your home, why not stop by our home at: http://www.smml.org.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume