Subject: SMML VOL 1175 Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 23:37:03 -0800 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: New books from Poland 2: Re: Ro-RO 3: Re: April Fool's Joke 4: Grosser Kurfurst 5: Hasegawa Re-tooled Nachi 6: BB Iowa 7: Profile Morskie Series Thumbs Down 8: Ship Happenings 9: New IJN 1/700 Warships 10: Remarks about French Ships designations 11: Laser Airbrush 12: Re: Movies 13: Konig review 14: Squadron CA book 15: Tools Advice... 16: Tools thread... 17: Proposed Upgrade/Conversion Kits 18: Moskva 19: Re: Glencoe N.S. Savannah 20: Re: U.S.S. Cabot 21: Help: Does Anyone has this FALKLANDS book? 22: Re: Prideful Boast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: Monogram Leahy/Halsey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Damian Pliszka Subject: New books from Poland Hi group, Fresh news about new books: From Profile Morskie Series: - No 34 HMS Renown - No 35 Duca D'Aosta From Warship Encycloapedia (AJ-Press): - No 21 USS Lexington/USS Saratoga part. 2 Regards Damian Pliszka -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: sanders_talmadge_fc1 Subject: Re: Ro-RO >> "It's important to say why we're replacing the sailors on our ships," Civilian mariners are much more suitable than uniformed sailors for the MSC' s non-combat mission, Most uniformed military personnel have families back in their homeports, He noted. "They just can't be expected to stay at sea forever." Mariners, on the other hand, spend long periods at sea. "We pay them to stay at sea," Holder said. Mariners sign contracts agreeing to be at sea up to a year at a time, and they can earn as much as $120,000 during that period. << I have spent "Long Periods" at sea, I have six kids. If I had the chance to earn 120,000 dollars just to go to sea I would go in a heartbeat. But I guess I will keep protecting those guys I am at sea with for my 30,000 dollars a year. :) R Sandy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: SantMin@aol.com Subject: Re: April Fool's Joke >> Any of you sports fans remember Sidd Finch? << That one was a classic, in fact I saved it. The first give-a-way for me was the photo of his shrink, I recognised him as an old friend, Philip O. Sterns (who was also a friend of Lane Stewart who did the article). Cheers, Bob Santos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Mark C Krumrey" Subject: Grosser Kurfurst Greetings List: Thanks to all who responded to my color queries regarding Grosser Kurfurst, off line, and the links etc., that were provided. The information provided is useful, and indeed be helpful when building the model. Thanks again. Mark Krumrey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "chenyangzhang" Subject: Hasegawa Re-tooled Nachi Hi all On an impulse I picked up the re-tooled Hasegawa Nachi and thought I'd post my impressions. I already have the old tooling of Haguro and so did a comparison. The new kit represents a massive improvement over the old. Firstly the hull is split into two halves with a separate upper deck in a single moulding. This captures the curves of the model far better than the previous one piece affair. There is also considerably more detail moulded on the deck and hull sides including a degaussing cable which means that if you want to model Nachi before her second refit you need to remove this. I would also remove the moulded on steps (this is a retrograde step and the old model was considerably better in this respect - it didn't have any) and replace them with etched brass. You also get the openings for the torpedo decks open with torpedo tubes which is an improvement though I'd recommend adding the actual torpedo deck from plasticard as well. What I found interesting is that you can model the ship as she was after her second refit or in her final configuration. The kit contains the parts for both and the instructions show clearly where the differences are. Of course in the final configuration you need to add all the single 25 mm but the fact that Hasegawa have offered you this option is an excellent development. Everything else is much improved, accurate turrets and 2 sprues of Leviathan parts are included as well - though I was not impressed by the funnel gratings which are still pretty crude. Some of the detail is a bit heavy but overall this is a highly impressive package. The painting instructions are excellent and you are told which of the three types of Japanese arsenal grey to use. There are even painting instructions for the ships boats. The transfer sheet is also pretty comprehensive right down to transfers for the ships boats. Of course the kit will benefit from the addition of etched brass, the Toms set for Japanese heavy cruisers would be the best to use but its great to see companies actually investing time and money in improving their old offerings. This is an inexpensive to buy update which takes injection moulded ship kits a bit further and by offering more than one version of the ship during its life has introduced an overdue feature into ship modelling. I've also seen the re-tooled Myoko and White Ensign have the Haguro and Ashigara so if Japanese heavy cruisers are you're thing this is worth having. Chris Langtree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Shirley Sachsen Subject: BB Iowa >> Also of note, the decommissioned battleship USS Iowa is being towed from storage at Newport, RI, to San Francisco, CA, where the ship will be eventually opened up as a floating museum/tourist attraction. << I am curious to know who is claiming that the ship will be a museum in San Francisco... the latest information I have received on the subject is that the Iowa is coming to this coast to be placed in reserve with the rest of the mothball fleet in Suisun--a space has been made for it in the collection of ships there (and rumor has it that seagulls and pigeons are poised for its delivery). Iowa was supposed to have left on the 7th and its arrival is a couple of weeks away. the museum idea is a dream that has yet to become reality--regardless of what the Iowa Museum people say... we at Hornet tried to get Iowa as an accompaniment at our pier here in Alameda, but the city, in its infinite wisdom, wanted nothing to do with it (they'd lose that $800 a day berthing per ship they are currently collecting from MARAD)--so it's off to Suisun... s -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: GrafSpee34@aol.com Subject: Profile Morskie Series Thumbs Down Not surprised that Morske's Ajax book has blatant errors. I found the same problems in other Morske books. The careful observer will notice that sometimes even their own overhead and side view plans contradict themselves. They will also notice that photos in their books are usually lifted from other publications, and are poorly reproduced. I suspect a lack of academic skill and integrity is endemic to the entire series, meaning the accuracy of the plans in the books depends entirely on the accuracy of the undisclosed plans their draftsman copied. Perhaps some are good, though I have not seen any. The crisp drawings and moderate price, which probably accounts for the series undeserved popularity, do make a nice first impression so BUYER BEWARE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: cfrieden@calpoly.edu Subject: Ship Happenings Hello, Does anyone have more information about plans for the Iowa? From what I hear they are taking her past San Francisco and into the reserve fleet. The scuttlebutt going around the Jeremiah O’Brien crew is that her future as a museum (at least in San Francisco) is uncertain. Supposedly the only group supporting the museum plans is the local Navy League. Regards, Chris Friedenbach -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "DJMartin56" Subject: New IJN 1/700 Warships Folks: Has anyone built the new IJN 1/700 kits, Hasegawa Myoko class, and Skywave Atago/Takao? How about the Aoshima Suzutsuki with photo etch - is it the new mold plus P/E or another version? Any reviews or pics posted, recommendations etc? (Go on, encourage me to spend more loot, fill up the loft, cupboard space.....!) Thanks, Douglas (Pondering a mere 1000 unbuilt kits...) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "larsenal" Subject: Remarks about French Ships designations Hello! There were recently some postings about the possibility that the prefix MN could be in use in the French Navy. No! No prefixes were ever given before ship's names. If you see under some pictures the prefix FNFL is only to indicate that the ship served with the Free French Forces during WWII. This prefix is not attached to the ship but gives the indication that the ship served from June 1940, until 1943 with Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres (FNFL) at a moment when the regular French Navy was under control with the Vichy Goverment. So the FNFL were the only active part of the Navy to fight with the Allies against the Axis. But I repeate the prefix was not in relation with the ship's name. Also more information about the way ships are named. In French (and in general in Latin languages) a ship is usually male. But as usual there are lots of exceptions. We say, UN (male) cuirassé (battleship) But we say also UNE (female) frégate (frigate) We say UN sous-marin (submarine), but also UNE corvette (same in English). This tradition comes back to the age of sailing ships. Complex , isn'it? Some more information about the way we name the ships in the French Navy Carriers and Large units are usually named after very important historic people over here ( generaly military or in relation with the Navy ) -Foch and Clemenceau were among the most eminent French leaders in WWI, Charles De Gaulle I guess most of you know the reason. But Arromanches is the name of a small city where the British artificial harbour was established in June 1944 (English origin of the ship). Names of Dixmude, Bois Belleau and La Fayette were retained because of their US origins. -Jeanne d'Arc is a cruiser (male) with a female name, so becomes female in French language and is affectionally nicknamed " La Jeanne ". -Colbert was a very important ministry under the reign of Louis XIV. -The current series of large Frigates are named after great Admirals ( Tourville, Duquesne, Suffren, De Grasse, etc...) -The Aviso A-69 series is named afer heros of the French Resistance of WWII -The SSBN are named in a similar way as are some British subs. ( Inflexible, Téméraire, Foudroyant, etc... ) -Smaller units have animal names -Some BB's of preWWII were named after French Counties ( Provinces ), ie: Bretagne, Lorraine, etc... or large cities ( Strasbourg, Dunkerque, Paris, etc...) So the name system in use with the French Navy is quite complex, with no established rules. Most of the names in current use were existent some 200 years ago !, even more! Hope this help, Best regards, Jacques Druel L'Arsenal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "John Rule" Subject: Laser Airbrush >> FSM does an Aprils Fools article every year. A few years ago it was about a plastic eating bug that infected sealed plastic collector kits and ate everything up in the sealed kit boxes that the collectors are so careful to keep sealed. << A British model railway magazine used to do the same, and succeeded in fooling me a couple of times. One article was about a model of the London Underground the author had built under the floorboards in his house. Another was about a group of enthusiasts building a model of the longest straight piece of railroad in the world, which crosses the Koolgardi Plain (help me here Shane) (It's in Western Australia, near Kalgoorlie: Shane) in Australia. The difficulty was finding a flat enough area to build it on. They elected for a beach when the tide was out which gave them only 6 hours to build run and disassemble the layout. When I first started to read these articles I remember thinking what stupid prats the participants were until the penny dropped. Then I laughed myself stupid. April Fool pranks have been around for a long time................................watch out the time is approaching! Sincerely, John Rule -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Dizzydismal@cs.com Subject: Re: Movies I have always enjoyed The Enemy Below. No distractions at all. Just two ships. Dennis Disbrow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: "DUCKMAN" Subject: Konig review HERE'S THE LINK TO REVIEW ON KONIG. http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/reviews.html DAVID -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Randy Short Subject: Squadron CA book I got a first look finally at Don Greer's US heavy cruisers in action. A nice effort with good artwork and good choice of photos. I do take exception to his inclusion of FS numbers as color matches. None of them are very good choices. There just isn't much in the FS system that does match up with those purple blues used by the USN. People keep asking for FS matches and they don't work. A lot of modelers will use this book as a reference, and go off in the wrong direction with their colors. With the White Ensign colors coming out the enamel folks will be well served. But this leaves the acrylic folks in a hole. The market will not support an extensive paint line yet. What we need is for people who have done good matches to the colors in acrylic to post their results so folks can use them. A recommendation I have is for you all to buy a digital scale for accurate mixing. Micro Mark sells one good to .1 oz for a little over $30. Not a bad price for such a useful tool allowing the modeler to replicate his/her mixes time after time. One other issue here re Don's book: Astoria and Vincennes used Navy Blue, not Sea Blue. Very little Sea Blue got into the war. It was the exception not the rule. Look at page 47. Note the contrast on the hulls of both ships. They both have Navy Blue over the Ocean Gray. Almost all of the MM12 schemes used 5-N. Sea Blue gives a small contrast to the Ocean Gray. Anywhere you get distinct contrast, it's 5-N not 5-S. Some of the 5-N mixes came out a little light, but they are still darker than 5-S. On page 29 upper right hand corner, you have Louisville in 33/6d, not Portland. Randy Short -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Btbldr" Subject: Tools Advice... Hi folks Can anyone advise me as to the worthlessness (or not) of Micro Mark Sander item number 81266 - you can check it out at www.micromark.com? Is it more gimmick or not - is it a cool tool? The other two on their website/catalogue are 82338 and 81065 - so comments on all three are welcome, but mostly I was wondering about the 81266.... regards Malcolm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Btbldr" Subject: Tools thread... While on the topic of tools - please can we start off a discussion on incredibly useful tools that you have found out there in stores or websites etc. For example, is the Xuron shear cutter really that great, or what about the bare metal scriber? Is the "Chopper" and the "True" sander a good investment? regards Malcolm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: maeisen@erols.com Subject: Proposed Upgrade/Conversion Kits Folks: I'd like to propose to some of the manufacturers who belong to SMML a number of projects that I believe might sell well. In particular, I'd like to suggest resin and PE conversion/upgrade kits for some very popular, quality 1/700 scale plastic kits. For instance, how about kits: 1) to convert the Tamiya CV-6 USS Enterprise to her late-war appearance. This might entail resin bulges for the hull, additional AAA tubs/sponsons, and conversion parts for the bridge/island. 2) to accurize the Hasegawa USS Essex/Yorktown kit IAW the ideas presented in the article that Larry Gertner wrote for IPMS Quarterly years ago. This might include a new resin island, a correct laser-etched flight deck (as in the Tom's Casablanca kit), correct resin catwalks/AAA gun tubs, etc. 3) to modify the Tamiya HMS Rodney/Nelson kits to allow these ships to be built in their 1942-43 fits, which would allow the models to be finished in really appealing camo schemes. The main modifications would be to the bridge, and AAA fit. 4) to backdate the Tamiya USS Indianapolis kit to her 1943-44 (?) appearance when she wore that appealing dazzle camo scheme. There are probably many other possibilities out there. The beauty of this, is that modelers would be able to build beautiful and accurate models of popular subjects, using relatively inexpensive injection molded kits as a basis, and relatively inexpensive resin conversion/upgrade kits. At any rate, the final product would cost much less than a resin kit of the same subject, and anyhow, there are (AFAIK) no resin kits for any of these subjects being planned at present. What do potential customers and manufacturers out there think of these proposals? Yours truly, Michael Eisenstadt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Baumbach, Werner" Subject: Moskva Hello, I just got an Airfix Moskva via Ebay. To say it is a little neglected would be understating it quite a bit. Oh well, you can't always win on Ebay. The worst thing is, that there are no instructions any more. Could anybody out there scan them and email them to me. That would be great. Thanks in advance Werner -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: "denis james" Subject: Re: Glencoe N.S. Savannah If you can find it Sea Classics march 83 has a colour spread on the Savannah. I don't know how far it will help, the pictures arn't that sharp but every bit helps I guess. rgds drj -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: Cataldo Torelli Subject: Re: U.S.S. Cabot John wrote: >> If you are interested have photographs I took of her during the late 1970s while I was in Spain and she was part of the Spanish Navy. << John, I'm interested in those pics. If you could send them to me ........... Thanks in advance, Cataldo Torelli. Madrid, Spain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: johnny chen Subject: Help: Does Anyone has this FALKLANDS book? I am looking for someone on this list who has this Falklands war book. The book -- FALKLAND Task Force Portfolio" is in large format with 112 pages containing 200 photos. I'm looking for some definitive answer to the flag painted on top of the bridge of HMS Glasgow (D88). Thanks in advance. JT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: AJOWENS@aol.com Subject: Re: Prideful Boast Jodie writes >> This is *so* cool!!! I'm not only happy that you've managed to get a young person interested in our hobby, but a girl, no less. It's almost enough to make me ask where I can get a daughter just like her! Please do put some pictures of her model up so we can see them and compliment her work! << Rusty writes >> Here's some advice from a dad that's been there. Enjoy this time while you can. It doesn't last long. You will work at the office all your life, but the time your kids really want to spend time with their parents is short. Enjoy it while you can. << If Mary takes an interest in nearly anything I try to encourage her at it regardless of whether it's a traditional 'girl thing' or 'boy thing' - she enjoys all kinds of creative work, drawing, painting, crafts so it's not a far stretch to have her try modeling as well. She'd helped me with a few of my builds before and enjoyed it but this was hers with minimal input from me on the other end of the table. I have sent in 2 scans to Mike & Shane showing her finished model and herself with it. I'm also saving all the kind notes from everyone to show her as well! She'll be so proud all over again! Her Fletcher already has a front-row place inside the cabinet to keep it safe from dust and Freckles Jaguar's (the cat) curiousity. As Rusty noted, this time doesn't last forever and every time I see that spark of discovery/accomplishment in her is a treasure of infinite value even moreso if I have helped put it there! A.J. Owens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Rod Dauteuil Subject: Monogram Leahy/Halsey Does anybody have a Monogram Leahy or Halsey they would be interested in selling? Please contact me off-list. Thanks, Rod -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the SMML site for the List Rules, Backissues, Member's models & reference pictures at: http://www.smml.org.uk Check out the APMA site for an index of ship articles in the Reference section at: http://www.tac.com.au/~sljenkins/apma.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume