Subject: SMML VOL 1200 Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 00:50:47 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: CV CHARLES LINBURG 2: Re: Hi-Mold Sussex 3: Re: Lexington Fire 4: JSC 1:400 SSUS < 1:600 5: Re: April Fools Day 6: Re: Origin of the term WOG 7: info 8: Battleships on TV 9: SSN "Greeneville" mystery 10: Re: Tampa FL USA 11: Corpus Christie Caller-Times report on fire on the Lexington 12: Chinese 1/350 USS Arleigh Burke 13: Chinese 1/350 USS Arleigh Burke 14: 1:400 Scale Japanese Cruiser Kits 15: Re: Anchor Chain 16: Questions re 1942 17: ONI 41 - 42 18: I thought I asked ... (but my e-mail was screwed up) 19: WEM 1/700 HMS Ajax PE fret? 20: Re: RN Type 21 and Type 22 21: Re: RN Type 21 and Type 22 22: French LHAs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: Battlecruiser Book and Kit for Sale 2: Great R/C Boats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "David O'Neal" Subject: Re: CV CHARLES LINBURG No way is the Navy going to name a carrier after a Army flier. Dave -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Sanartjam@aol.com Subject: Re: Hi-Mold Sussex Hi, Could someone who actually has the Hi-Mold 1/700 HMS Sussex tell me if the kit is of the 1942 post-refit Sussex or of a 1930's pre-war Sussex? Does it have single 4-in guns or twins, pole masts or tripods, radar or not? Put another way, is it a repackaged Hi-Mold Dorsetshire (which was in an early '30's fit) or not? I have seen a scan of the Hi-Mold Sussex' boxtop on Kitlink.com but it is hard for me to tell much. I would like to build an early-war HMS Devonshire in the interesting two-color scheme shown in WR's 1939-41 British camouflage book, but I would need a pre-war Sussex rather than a 1942 Sussex to pull it off. Thanks, Art Nicholson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Chris Neel" Subject: Re: Lexington Fire Below is a news report on the Lexington fire (http://www.kristv.com/default2.htm) LEXINGTON FIRE "A FIRE BURNS ABOARD THE U.S.S. LEXINGTON FOR NEARLY TWO HOURS. ALLISON SMITH WAS THE FIRST TO GO LIVE FROM THE SCENE OF THE FIRE. FIRE CREWS CALLED THE FIRE "A BEAR, DIFFICULT TO FIND, GET WATER ON, AND PUT OUT." AT ABOUT 5:10 MONDAY EVENING, AN EMERGENCY FIRE ALARM WENT OFF INSIDE THE LEXINGTON, AS WORKERS SAW SMOKE FILLING UP PART OF THE LOWER FLIGHT DECK. SMOKE WAS PLUMING OUT OF THE 5TH LEVEL OF THE LEXINGTON, IN WHAT'S CALLED THE FLAG PLOT AREA. MORE THAN 30-FIRE FIGHTERS IN 9 TRUCKS WERE SENT INSIDE THE BURNING SHIP, TO WHAT THEY CALLED "BLINDING, SMOKE FILLED CORRIDORS." THEY SAY THE METAL WAS SO HOT, THEIR BOOTS BEGAN TO MELT TO THE FLOORS, AND THEN, THE 5TH LEVEL FLOOR COLLAPSED. JUST WHEN THE FIRE WAS FINALLY FOUND, GETTING WATER ON IT PROVED JUST AS HARD. LONG HOSES WERE RUN FROM LAND FIRE HYDRANTS AND THEN FIRE TRUCKS WERE TAKEN UP THE LONG RAMPS TO THE FLIGHT DECK. TOURISTS STOOD BY WATCHING ONE OF TEXAS' BEST KNOWN ATTRACTIONS BURN. THE TWO-ALARM FIRE BURNED FOR NEARLY TWO HOURS BEFORE IT WAS BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL. IT IS KNOWN THAT SOME CREWS HAD BEEN PAINTING IN THE AREA WHERE THE FIRE BEGAN, BUT IT'S NOT KNOWN IF THOSE FLAMMABLE MATERIALS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE FIRE STARTING. THERE WERE NO INJURIES REPORTED AS A RESULT OF THIS FIRE. THE LEXINGTON WILL BE CLOSED FOR TOURISTS TOMORROW, SO INVESTIGATORS CAN START LOOKING INTO THE CAUSE OF THE BLAZE." And to think that I had just visited the Lexington just this past Sunday. They have been doing a lot of restoration work on her - many new areas have been set up and opened to visitors. Also a lot of repainting was being done.... There was also a nice little library set where a vetern was running the ships website. I hope that the damage was not too great... Chris Neel Victoria, Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Robert Bendorf" Subject: JSC 1:400 SSUS < 1:600 anybody working on the JSC 1:400 card ships! I'd be interested on any feedback you can give...Ive been working on the 1:400 reduced 66% to 1:600 to develop my technique at card models...before tackeling the full JSC 1:400 scale color thing...it's really fun and a challenge to work with these things/and to work with a lot of "scratch-scrounging" that you have to do to end up with a showable model...currently on my 3RD build at 1:600/each have progressed thru more complete stages as I improve...and try different techniques/next I'm going to impregnate the bulkheads and keel and non-visible decking per the directions of the guy at Saul's paper-card page to streghten it...read the section if you haven't it's great for card ship building. Bob Bendorf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: SteveWiper@aol.com Subject: Re: April Fools Day >> Isn't it funny that last year the April Fools joke was that the ICM Konig had triple gun turrets, and this year it is the ICM Hood was released? Is this a thing with ICM? << Rod, It is a thing with the fools on April Fools Day! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "W. H. Howell" Subject: Re: Origin of the term WOG I'm not sure how accurate this is, but while I was in high school, I had a teacher who had served overseas during WWII with the British. He claimed that the term wog came from the stenciling of WOGS on the back of the shirts supplied to native workers, which stood for Worker On Government Service. Bill Howell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "ronell baker" Subject: info I'm new to the internet game so i need some help to find all the info i can on the U.S.S. Blue Ridge it's a ship my grandfather was on in ww2. It was a flagship of some sort , but he never would talk about it. So my cousin & me are trying to find the info on this ship so we can start a build from scratch model of it. I would be greatfull for all in-put on this e-mail address is as follows : tex87fis@vci.net or ronellbaker@hotmail.com Thank you ronell " tex" baker -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "aa8." Subject: Battleships on TV I have just watched the new TV program here on Channel Four on the history of the Battleship. I thought it was very good, worth watching part two next week anyway. I have a question for you all. In the program they visited the preserved Mikasa in Japan. I'll admit my ignorance. I didn't know she was even preserved but, is there a kit made of her. Any scale considered, any medium considered. I would prefer 1/350th but that I suspect would be too much to ask. regards Andy Jones Hi Andy, Yes, there are kits of the Mikasa by the following: Hi-Mold 1/700 resin Sael Models 1/700 Check out Internet Modeller for reviews of at least one of the above by Bob Pearson. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "D.Przezdziecki" Subject: SSN "Greeneville" mystery Hi all, I would be very interested in opinions/speculations of the submariners of this list as to what could possibly have caused the SSN 772 to surface right under "Ehime Maru", sinking this vessel,in an ocean as big as Pacific???? Regards D.P. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Steve Sobieralski Subject: Re: Tampa FL USA Hobby shops in Tampa: Happy Hobo, 4040 W. Waters Ave. Mainly a train store, but also a good general hobby shop. Pretty standard selection of plastic ship kits, but a lot of useful scratchbuilding supplies such as Evergreen, Plastruct, and model railroad bits. Charlie's Discount Hobbies, 7530 W. Waters Ave. About two miles west of Happy Hobo. Mostly R/C aircraft, but again a very good general shop. Not a lot of ship kits, but some of the more unusual ones. Not in Tampa, but across the bay in Clearwater: House of Hobbies, 1320 S. Ft. Harrison Ave. I couldn't begin to describe it. Hobby Heaven or Hobby Hell depending on your point of view, but definitely worth a visit. HTH Steve Sobieralski -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Edward F Grune" Subject: Corpus Christie Caller-Times report on fire on the Lexington Follows is the text of the article in the Corpus Christie, TX "Caller-Times" newspaper reporting on the fire on the Lexington Ed >> Tuesday, April 3, 2001 Hot fire on Lex It takes firefighters two hours to get blaze controlled By Mary Moreno Caller-Times A fire aboard the Lexington Museum on the Bay hot enough to warp parts of the ship's steel floors burned for about two hours Monday before firefighters controlled it. "I can only tell you this is my worst nightmare," Sandi McNorton, marketing director for the museum, said as the smoke surrounding the ship became thicker. The extent of the damage wasn't known late Monday, but officials said the aircraft carrier-turned-attraction would be closed today [Tuesday]. "We have no idea how extensive it is," McNorton said. "It's just going to take a long time to assess the damage. We need to make sure everything is secure and safe." The last of the day's tourists had left when an employee spray painting the navigation room on the fifth floor of the superstructure created a spark with a spray gun that caught the room on fire, Assistant Fire Chief Eloy Ceballos said. "It just flashed on him," he said. The fire singed the man's arms, but he was not seriously injured. Other staff members still were on board setting up for an after-hours corporate dinner for Shell Oil Co. when the first alarm went off at about 5:10 p.m. They scaped without injury. Ceballos said firefighters had trouble reaching the fire, which spread to the floor above. Ceballos said firefighters initially tried to use the ship's water supply system, but the water pump wasn't supplying enough water. "It wasn't strong enough," he said. Firefighters then had to run hoses from the shore to the ship, which delayed getting water to the fire by about 30 minutes, Ceballos said. "It was a tough fire for our firefighters," he said. TIGHT SPACES The ship's tight spaces, narrow staircases and the dense smoke also hindered firefighters. "We found the fire once, but we lost it again," said firefighter Benny Sendejar as his crew left the ship to be replaced by another wave of firefighters. "There's still a lot of fire up there." The fire produced a lot of smoke, at one point nearly obscuring the view of the aircraft carrier from the shore. On the ship, the smoke made it hard to see anything. "On the hangar deck, it's like walking into a wall, the smoke is so thick," McNorton said. Firefighters were forced to break the windows in the navigation room and the fire burned the bottom of firefighters' boots, Fire Capt. Keith Roper said. "The floor actually melted in some places," said firefighter Mike Pohlers, referring to the warping. "It was hotter than the average fire because of all the metal." FIRE UNDER CONTROL In all, 35 firefighters, nine fire trucks, an ambulance, a rehabilitation bus and a hazardous materials unit responded. The fire was brought under control at 7:10 p.m., Ceballos said. But firefighters remained at the scene until 9:20 p.m. cooling down hot spots so the fire wouldn't re-ignite the historic ship. The Lexington, commissioned in 1943, was the nation's oldest working aircraft carrier when it was decommissioned in 1991 and was permanently placed in Corpus Christi Bay in 1992. Nicknamed the Blue Ghost by Japanese because it repeatedly defied reports that it had gone down during World War II, the carrier downed more than 1,000 enemy planes, sank 300,000 tons of Japanese shipping and damaged another 600,000 tons. Although the damage has yet to be assessed, the fire was confined to the superstructure and should have no effect on its recently unveiled 189-seat theater, which boasts a 30-foot high screen, officials said. The theater, located in the ship's main elevator, cost the museum $1.5 million and is expected to provide the museum another revenue source and give local residents another reason to visit the ship, officials have said. BUSINESSES FEAR LOSSES The museum's peak season isn't until the summer, but if the Lexington is closed for more than just today, some business owners along Corpus Christi Beach said it could affect them. Erica Quintero, a clerk at Country Store, said the convenience store's business would be hurt significantly if the Lexington is closed more than a few days. She said about half of the store's clientele are drawn to the area by the museum, and customers come into the store to buy water, soft drinks and other items. "I have people coming in all the time, asking if we have coupons (for the Lexington)," she said. Ed Soto, a manager at Blackbeard's, said he didn't think the restaurant would be hurt much even if the Lexington is shut down for a while. Plenty of customers come because of the Texas State Aquarium, the beach and because they like the restaurant's food, he said. "We'll still have our steady flow of people coming down," Soto said. But Cathie Mason, general manager at the Pier 99 restaurant, said the restaurant's business will be hurt if the Lexington isn't open by this weekend. Weekends are a busy time for the restaurant, which has a commanding view of the ship. "About one o'clock on Saturdays and Sundays, we fire up a blues band, and customers coming off the Lex make a U-turn to come in," Mason said. "They get all hot and hungry up there, and they'll come in." Staff writers Dan Parker and Guy H. Lawrence contributed to this report. Staff writer Mary Moreno can be reached at 886-3774 or by e-mail at morenom@caller.com << -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: DaveRiley1@aol.com Subject: Chinese 1/350 USS Arleigh Burke Just got this week's Navy Times and there is an article in there that just blows me away. Showing a good size photo of the kit's box art, there is some writing in English: i.e., ship name and hull number, and scale. The rest of the writing - and there is quite a bit of it - is in Chinese. The Navy Times article is titled: MESSAGE in a model - China takes propaganda up a notch with anti-Taiwan sentiments on ship box. Per the article, here are some of the Chinese to English translations of what is written on the box: "The ship Taiwan won't be able to buy." "Taiwan's empty dream." "Taiwanese independence means war." For those who didn't know, negotiations are underway between the US and the government of Taiwan for the purchase or lease of some DDG-51 class destroyers. Ordinarily, I do not mix politics with my modeling. But this really ticked me off. The Times article ended by saying: "It's not known if the 1/350-scale Arleigh Burke model is available in the United States. However, it is for sale in at least one location outside mainland China: Taipei, the capital of Taiwan." It is hard to read, but the box identifies the kit as an "S.MARS Model." There is no indication of any manufacturer known to this modeler. I have never in the past purchased any model made in China, and this article confirms what I think is the correct decision. And for sure, now I never will. I intend to post this message on SteelNavy.com in addition to SMML. Dave Riley Portsmouth, RI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Mike Bartel (mkwb@excite.com) Subject: 1:400 Scale Japanese Cruiser Kits >> Joe Reyna's post of a few days ago hit it right on the head, but he forgot the Heller Tirpitz (I can't remember if he mentioned all three of Heller's Deutschland's though), as well as a whole slew of IJN WWII CA's (all four Mogami's, at least one Tone, and Tamiya's long lost Myoko and Hagura (and I'm betting that Tamiya made the other two ships of their class [Nati] - in that scale as well). BTW, I have a photocopy of the instructions for a 1/400 Tamiya IJN WWII CA kit! I do want to know who has those molds today. If they were to be released, I would buy at least one Mogami, one Tone and four Nati's! I sincerely doubt that Tamiya will ever release another 1/400 scale major WWII warship simply because their prestige now rests on a very limited 1/350 line - but they might let some other company lease their old 1/400 molds. They would certainly complement my current fleet of circa 40 major WWII ships in this scale - not to mention all my my DDs, subs and other smaller combatants. << Peter, I had a Tamiya 1:400 MAYA up until recently, when I sold it. These kits were OK, even for the time they were released and the market for which they were intended (the bathtub crowd). The kits didn't have moulded-on railings, which was a plus. The kits marketed by Paramount and Nippon Hobby of the Mogami class did, however, and were more crude than the Tamiya kits. Another nice thing about the Tamiya kit was that it included the alternate parts to represent the MAYA after one of her 8" turrets was removed and replaced with an AA platform. The full complement of 8" turrets was still there, too, so you could build it either way. Great foresight for a 1960's kit! I spoke with a Tamiya representative over from Japan a couple of years ago and asked him about the 1:400 cruisers. He said that they do not destroy old tooling, so I think there always is a chance that someone else might re-release them, if Tamiya doesn't. However, I don't think this is likely, as the kits are too crude by modern standards to be accepted in today's market. But, this is just my opinion. After all, Revell has been reissuing their older kits for the past ten years and some of those are in even worse shape than the 1:400 cruisers. Maybe Tamiya could reissue the cruisers as part of a 'nostalgia' series. And, they did reissue those 1:300 scale Japanese destroyers recently, didn't they? So, you never know. Perhaps there might be some money in a reissue- I got $300 for that MAYA kit- and I sold it back to the guy I bought it from in the first place! (He REALLY wanted it back!) Mike Bartel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: GKingzett@aol.com Subject: Re: Anchor Chain I got so carried away corresponding with Darren Scannell trying to get him to sell me one of his Konig's, I missed the point about BB-61 Alabama's number. I just assumed the fellow thought that all battleship chain was the same. Now that I have found out what size it isn't, maybe Steve Wiper or someone like that can tell me what size it is. Actually, my problem is not the chain, I am fairly sure from scaling a whole bunch of photos that the chain pitch is 8 or 9", the links are about 12" over all and about 6" wide. What I really need to know is what is the inside diameter of the hawse pipes? Can anybody help. Gary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Bruce Buchner" Subject: Questions re 1942 Hitler's U-boat War Vol 1, The Hunters 1939-42 by Clay Blair only says the 587 was shadowing Winston Special 17 (Thirty troop transports with 60,000 troops) when the destroyer Keppel DFed the U-587 with her new HuffDuff and four other escorts -- Leamington, Grove, Aldenham and Volunteer -- pounced on U-587 and sank her with depth charges. No other details are given. In the footnotes it says some of the troops were on their way to participate in the Madagascar operation. Bruce Buchner -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: GUSDOCVILL@aol.com Subject: ONI 41 - 42 SMMLies, Have a friend who requested that I put this on the web to ascertain if it has any historical/monetary value. Enrique A. Troconis (snowboarder@n2flying.com) has in his possession a yellow, cardboard box, approximately 8x4. Box top has: ONI 41 - 42 Japanese Naval Vessels Inside is a USN ID ship book, with EXCELLENT pictures of IJN ships! In mint condition!! Cover title is: RECCO ONI 41 - 42 Supplement No. 1 Aerial Views of Japanese Naval Vessels Enrique is from Venezuela and I believe the Venezuela Navy had this during WW2. Just that NO one ever put it together, and it just sat for 60 years!! Anyone interested, contact Enrique at the email address listed above. Thank you all! Gus Semper Fi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "Ned Barnett" Subject: I thought I asked ... (but my e-mail was screwed up) Lindberg Hood - any good? 1/400 has a nice ring, but Lindberg is noted for their dogs (some, admittedly are AKC registered dogs) ... Are there after-market parts that would make it better (i.e., worth the effort to build it)? Also now out - Lindberg Tirpitz in 1/350 - I presume this is the same as the old Bismarck I built as a tad in high school, sometime in the middle of the last millennia ... memory fades, but this one seemed to steal all the Milk Bones - the poodle hated that ship Advice? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: maeisen@erols.com Subject: WEM 1/700 HMS Ajax PE fret? Dear John Snyder, Caroline Carter, and Peter Hall: Now that the 1/700 Skytrex HMS Ajax kit is out, to supplement the 1/700 B-Resina HMS Ajax kit (and while I'm at it, the 1/700 Classic HMS Achilles kit), would you guys be willing to release your 1/600 HMS Ajax PE fret in 1/700 for these kits? How many orders would you need to financially justify doing this? If there was sufficient demand from SMMLiedom, would you do it? And how many SMMLies out there would be interested in this? Please advise! Thanks! Mike E. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: wem Subject: Re: RN Type 21 and Type 22 Hi Johnny, No deck tan: green was used early on, and then grey later. John Snyder TTY, White Ensign Models http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/white.ensign.models -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: "M & R Brown" Subject: Re: RN Type 21 and Type 22 Johnny Chen wrote re tan decks on RN ships. Is he sure it is paint & not rust? I have photos taken onboard Cornwall and her decks appear a tan colour but are actually normal grey spoilt by rusty water. If he likes I can send him a shot to show what i mean. Michael Brown -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: Craig R Bennett Subject: French LHAs Hi Guys In the May 2001 issue of Popular Mechanics is a story that France is going to build 2 LHA type ships. They will be named Mistral and Tonnerre. They will carry 16 helicopters. They are NH -90 Transport and Tiger helicopters. They measure about 600 ft long and display 20,000 tons. For the amphibious vehicles they will have 60 amptracs. It said that France is concerned that Nato doesn't concern itself with regional conflict so want to have them in this matter. They're supposed to enter service in 2004 -5. Craig -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Sanartjam@aol.com Subject: Battlecruiser Book and Kit for Sale Hi SMML, I have for sale: 1) Classic Warships 1/700 battlecruiser HMS Lion. Resin & white metal parts. $69.00 plus shipping. 2) "British Battle Cruisers" by Peter C. Smith. Softcover, good condition, published in 1972 by Almark. Many photographs and line drawings covering the Invincible to the Hood, also several color pages, mostly of ships' crests. $20.00 plus shipping. Thanks, Art Nicholson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Shaya Novak" Subject: Great R/C Boats Naval Base has 2 new R/C boat kits. 1) Dumas 33" - USS Bluefish vacuum form kit. http://www.modelshipbuilding.com/rcbluefish.htm 2) Simba 23" - Tug & Fire Boat ready to go out of the box. http://www.modelshipbuilding.com/rctug.htm Shaya Novak Naval Base Hobbies The Store for The Model Ship Builder www.modelshipbuilding.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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