Subject: SMML VOL 920 Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 00:14:19 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Pearl Harbor photos, ebay 2: Hood Colors & Flat Finish 3: Re: Alaska 4: Re: Victorian Warships 5: Atlantic Gear 6: Re: Color schemes 7: Re: PBR 8: Victorian Warships 9: Re: Swedish Ship Models 10: Removing Superglued Photoetch 11: Re: Victorian Warships 12: resin hull bend - corrected 13: Arizona (not again!) 14: Who Sunk Prince Of Wales 15: Re: Square Bridge Fletcher 16: Re: Scanners 17: USS Algo AKA54 18: Arethusa/Leander/CAM Catapult drawings 19: liberty ship - bluejacket 20: Re: Kits of 1500 tonnes torpilleurs d'escadre -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: WARNING...VIKING MODELS 2: Kitlink Konig Update -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: GrafSpee34@aol.com Subject: Pearl Harbor photos, ebay Somebody is selling a bunch of Dec 7-8 Pearl Harbor photos I've not seen before http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=336900040 he's selling them each separately, click on "see other auctions" to check the others. Don't know the guy, just thought it might interest somebody here. He's put up nice scans of them too. Dave -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Felix Bustelo" Subject: Hood Colors & Flat Finish Hello SMMLers, Jeez, I miss a few SMMLs and look at all of the trouble I started! First off, Peter Hall was very flattering by calling me very knowledgeable. I know a thing or two about ships and ship modeling, but not enough to be considered "very knowledgeable". I am glad to read that both Peter and I were not going loony and that indeed the Hood wore the 507A during that period of her career. It is also very interesting to read about the film and developing technology of that time and the tricks it played on certain colors. I felt foolish in pointing out the color discrepancy to Peter as I know that when my Ajax is completed the errors I have made to date (and cannot correct) well stick out and many will point them out to me. I am glad that this lead to a healthy and constructive dialogue and we have all learned something from this. My thanks go out to all of you that responded to my flat finish query. I will have to experiment a bit with my guinea pig hull to see what works and what will not make the model look like something from a Krispy Kreme donut shop ;-> This is truly a great forum to share info and to kid around a bit from time to time. Regards, Felix Bustelo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Fernando, Yohan" Subject: Re: Alaska >> I'm unsure whether she had a patterned deck or simply Deck Blue. << There is a nice overhead shot of the Alaska in Garszke (sp?) and Dulin's American Battleships of WWII that shows the patterned deck. As for the pattern on the verticle services, I would get some photos and not trust the Samek diagram 100%. The hull pattern for the first two-thirds of the length is correct, but is not accurate around the stern area. Also some of the pattern details on the superstructure appear simplified or altogether incorrect on the Samek instructions. I used both the above book and Friedman's US Battleships book for photo references when I built the Samek Alaska last month. A very nice kit altogether. Yohan Fernando -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "J. London" Subject: Re: Victorian Warships R.A. Burt's "British Battleships 1889-1904 has excellent drawings most, but not all, including cross sections. Michael London -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Alberto Rada" Subject: Atlantic Gear Hi As I mentioned earlier I am building the Classic Warships Sims kit as the USS Wainwright DD 419 in mid 1942, I have a photo of the ship being refueled in mid Atlantic, the crew is wearing logically some winter gear that looks like some windbreakers, some type of winter vests and caps, can someone help me with the colors of these items, also where they used by indistinctly by officers and crew members , Thanks a lot SALUDOS Alberto Rada -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "J. London" Subject: Re: Color schemes I have been following, with great interest, the discussion on color schemes and the importance of scale effect. I think we tend to get too wrapped up in getting exactly the right shade of color for a particular ship particularly if depicted in wartime. We must remember that colors used were generally what was available and for non-camoflage areas the priority was protection against rust. When a ship has been at sea for a short time the pristine paintwork applied in drydock will have faded from the effects of salt water and sun, rust streaks will be showing, and, even if paint was readilly available, the right conditions for repainting simply did not exist. I knew a modeller who obtained a paint sample from a visiting warship for the model he was building of that ship and his dismay when he realised his completed masterpiece did not look like the real thing at all. We must also bear in mind that the prototype is seen in the open, on a very reflective surface and against a sky background. A model, particularly a static display model, is usually seen indoors under artificial light (probably fluorescent) and will have quite a different appearance. Certainly scaling down the color will help, the smaller the scale the more scaling down, or lightening, is required. In the end it is the modeller's eyes that must judge, get as close as you can, yes, but not to the point of obsession. Michael London -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: PT191@aol.com Subject: Re: PBR ABOUT THE PBR PHOTOS: You could get those from the Naval Institute. However, you MUST be careful as to ask for, I asked for a PBR Mk. II photo and received a PB Mk.II 65 foot aluminum patrol boat ... NOT a PBR! I sent it back with a xeroxed photo of a PBR - explaining it was what I wanted. I received the same photo back. T. Garth Connelly -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "chenyangzhang" Subject: Victorian Warships Hi John R A Burt's 'British Battleships 1889-1904' is an excellent source for British battleships. Another source would be the National Maritime Museum's collection which would contain all you need. Chris Langtree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Sanartjam@aol.com Subject: Re: Swedish Ship Models Hi Orjan, I'm sorry, I should have added that you can find out where to purchase 1/1250 models from Argonaut and Rhenania (as well as others, of course) from Paul Jacobs' "1250" section of the Warship site, http://warship.simplenet.com/ I know that L. Wiedling in Munich carries Argonaut and Rhenania models, and Herr Wiedling is a real pleasure to deal with. I didn't know the destroyer Visby made 45 knots! I appreciate the offer of plans for her, but, since I am not a scratchbuilder, I will have to be patient and wait for someone to make a model of her. Thanks! Regards, Art Nicholson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Ralph & Karen Batykefer" Subject: Removing Superglued Photoetch I purchased a partially built model that had photoetch added incorrectly. Is it possible to remove the photoetch chemically? What methods has anybody used short of ripping it off and trashing the photoetch? IHS, Ralph Hi Ralph, IIRC, freezing the model, will make the superglue very fragile. Apart from that the only other advice, is to work on the kit, the PE's bound to come adrift then ;-)). Happens to me all the time :-(. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "David Hathaway" Subject: Re: Victorian Warships John The best source is the National Maritime Museum plans service - allegedly though as I haven't used them, just that they have plans for just about EVERY RN ship ever built. They are pricey - look at www.nmm.ac.uk for details. The plans are usually 1/92 scale - BB at that scale = big! Otherwise have a look at the models/plans sites - there are a couple that have quite a few Victorian or up-to-WWI ships plans. I'll dig out the URL's but White Ensign Models and The Model Dockyard in Cornwall(?) have good selections. There are gaps - I would dearly like to get my hands on a Majestic class or Royal Sovereign class pre-dreadnought, but haven't and there are a lot of the early Victorian ships in particular not covered, eg Devastation, Glatton, Hotspur. Do let me know if you find anything interesting I may not know about, please. David -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Kurt Van Dahm Subject: resin hull bend - corrected After posting about my misfortune with the Edmund Fitzgerald hull that "exploded" in my microwave I had several replies with good suggestions as to cause and alternate methods of correcting such a problem. I stated I was going to contact the mfg and ask what had happened and why. Well, I didn't get a chance to contact the mfg before I was contacted by Ted Paris of Commander Series Models/Iron Shipwright (the mfg of the model kit) asking for my mailing address so he could ship me a new hull. I know Ted stands behind his products and has quickly shipped me a part or two in the past when I notified him of a shortage upon receiving a new kit and the parts always arrived within just a few days after talking with Ted. I didn't expect him to make the initial contact after reading the SMML post I made, but that shows how well Ted responds to his customers.Ted didn't offer an explanation of why it happened, but I just won't use that method again, and knowing better now (and this also taught me patience) I will simply contact the mfg with any similar problem in the future. I want to publicly thank Ted for his unsolicited reply and offer of the new hull which I received today in perfect condition. You can't get better service from a company than I got from Ted Paris of Commander Series Models/Iron Shipwright. Don't hesitate in ordering anything from him, you will be well served. Kurt Van Dahm Westmont, IL NRG member -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: "Satin, Michael N. (LNG-SHEP)" Subject: Arizona (not again!) Yes, again!;-> A while ago there was a discussion on this list about the color of Arizona at Pearl Harbor. The choices, as I recall, were navy blue or dark gray. Unfortunately, the discussion sort of trailed off with no conclusion. More recently, there was some talk about the deck color. The consensus there seemed to be that the wood deck was left wood colored. This leads me to two questions: 1. Do we have any better idea of the color of the vertical surfaces than we did before? 2. Given that the teak decks were unpainted, what color were the metal decks? Thanks for your input everyone, and I'm sorry if I'm opening any old wounds! Michael -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Mike Connelley Subject: Who Sunk Prince Of Wales Howdy: I don't who what type of plane delt the final blow, but Betty's were definately involved in the sinking of the Repulse and PoW. On the j-aircraft page (www.j-aircraft.com) there is an interview of a Betty pilot about his attack of the PoW. Cheers Mike C -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: Shane Weier Subject: Re: Square Bridge Fletcher Rusty says: >> Save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and get the Square bridge conversion kit from Tom's Modelworks. It already has all the stuff you're looking for. << Whilst I concur that buying a conversion kit might speed up the building process, I wonder whether it's necessarily a saving of time and aggravation. As I see it there are two model building poles - those who enjoy the product and don't care how they get there, so long as the result satisfies them, and those who enjoy the process and don't much care how long it takes to complete the product. Perhaps there are those amongst us who would prefer to test their skills and enjoy the problem solving rather than take the (perfectly valid) short cut - and actually *like* the effort being expended. Or am I the only one here fool enough to scratchbuild a model when there are two perfectly fine kits of the same subject available? Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: Marc Flake Subject: Re: Scanners Craig Bennet wrote: >> OK I have a question how good is a Mustek 1200 ED scanner? I have one and no matter how I try to use this thing I can't email pictures out. What is a good scanner out on the market and how much do they cost? << Was that the $49 scanner listed in Fry's once a year anniversary sale-abration flyer? Someone on the WW1 mailing list went through three of those before he gave up and bought something else. He got a ScanAce for $69. I, too, picked up a ScanAce on Saturday at Frys. Once I unlocked the scanner bar, if gave me an excellent scan of a photograph. I saved it as a JPEG file, which I can now e-mail to whoever I want. I bought a Photoshop-like box of software to go with it, but I don't think I'll need it. Only thing is, the intallation may or may not have had something to do with messing up my Netscape program. It's back up and running now, though. You may want to visit www.scantips.com. Some very useful advice there, I wish I had read through it before I bought my stuff. Marc (who is drooling over the Sealsmodels Mikasa that arrived today -- you know, these "battleships" weren't much bigger than a Gearing-class Destroyer.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Kdg345@aol.com Subject: USS Algo AKA54 Does anyone know where I can get a viedo on the USS Algo AKA54 about when it was sunk as part of the New Jersey artificial reef program. I think it was aired about July 99 when I was on vacation. It was on TBS, I think, and titled "The Steamin Deamon". This AKA and others (e.g. mine AKA93) were sunk off of the East Coast for an artificial program. Ken Groom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Simon Wolff" Subject: Arethusa/Leander/CAM Catapult drawings Hi you all.... Hi Shane .. Thanks for the information, shall pass on the help. >> PS: Some more of Simon's excellent work (both models & photos) will be appearing shortly on the APMA site << My how I have to blush at your compliments of my work....... most kind! Simon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: "Ian Wrenford" Subject: liberty ship - bluejacket hi folks, new to SMML, via Shane. His kickback is in the mail. An aussie modeller, I was recently in San Francisco and managed to crawl all over the Jeremiah Brown - one of the original Liberty Ships. Also had a chance to look inside the BlueJacket kit of same (about 1:192 I believe). At the time, the price was a little prohibitive but more importantly it wouldn't fit in my bag. Now I'm back in Oz - the exchange rate is shot to pieces, shipping from o/s appears impractical and I WANT ONE!!!! Does anyone know of any local (ie Australian) stockists/hobby shops who stock or source Blue Jacket kits? Be grateful for any help..... Thanks Ian PS I have a stack of shots of Jeremiah Brown, and also of USS Cassin Young (fletcher class) from Boston. Can supply on CD at a nominal cost if anyone wants.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: Sanartjam@aol.com Subject: Re: Kits of 1500 tonnes torpilleurs d'escadre Hi SMML, For what it's worth, the Fine Scale Modeler New Kit Releases list for 2000 noted that the Polish manufacturer Mirage was planning 1/400 kits of not only the Polish destroyers Wicher and Burza, which were built in France and were based on the 1500-tonnes design, but of the Ouragan, which was one of the 1500 tonnes torpilleurs d'escadre built for the French Navy. I have no idea if these kits will really materialize - like the 1999 listings for the cruisers Dragon and Conrad - but I suppose it's still possible. On the other hand, I'm sure L'Arsenal would do a very, very nice job if it made a kit of a 1500-tonnes torpilleurs d'escadre. I'd love to see more 1/400 kits of World War II-era French warships. Art Nicholson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Bill Gruner Subject: WARNING...VIKING MODELS In regards to numerous inquiries from our customers regarding Viking Models, we have stopped doing business with this company because of major problems, not the least of which has been almost non-existent quality control and complete lack of customer service. Their phone number has been disconnected again, and we cannot even get ahold of them. You are advised to use great caution in purchasing this company's products. Bill Gruner Pacific Front Hobbies http://www.pacificfront.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Mike Hall" Subject: Kitlink Konig Update Hi all, The long wait for the ICM Konigs is over, for some. Recieved my shippment from ICM and was shocked to only see 15 kits in the box, after quick call to ICM I was told the remaining 40 would be in my hands within 2 weeks. So the first 15 who pre-ordered the Konig get theirs first, and the rest right there after. I want to thank all the people who ordered these fine kits from us, we are a new company(less than 6 months old) and we really needed the new customers. Mike Hall Kitlink.com BTW, I will know how long to expect it to take to recieve the next ICM ship release, and hope to be able to better keep all you SMMLers better informed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for having SMML at your home, why not stop by our home at: http://www.smml.org.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume