Subject: SMML VOL 1217 Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 05:04:01 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: 1/400 Scale Kit of French Carrier Bearn 2: Re: Sea Shadow on Display 3: P.C. Coker Plans Sale 4: Heller 1/400 Prinz Eugen 5: Bearn Aircraft Carrier Kit 6: Re: RN Monitors ABERCROMBIE and Roberts 7: Re: Measure 1 on ARIZONA 8: Info needed on HMS Abercromie 9: Construction and painting sequence? 10: Re: Deck markings 42's 11: Heller Prinz Eugen 12: Re: RN Monitors Abercrombie and Roberts 13: Winton: Death of the Scharnhorst 14: Re: Alan Raven -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Infomation 1: SMMLCon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: 1:700 FANTASQUE KITS READY FOR RELEASE 2: sale -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Felix Bustelo Subject: 1/400 Scale Kit of French Carrier Bearn 1/400 scale and French naval fans on the SMML, have I got great news for you! Jacques Druel has informed me that he is collaborating with the team of the French magazine Navires et Histoire, in preparing a 1/400 scale Bearn carrier in plastic. The project is now well under way, the kit will be released by Christmas 2001. The kit will be plastic injected, with some resin parts, PE parts and decals. The ship will be depicted as she was just before the outbreak of WWII. Planes included will be 3 Levasseur PL7 biplanes, 3 Levasseur PL 101 biplanes, 4 Dewoitine D-373 high wing monoplanes. At the moment project is about 60 % complete, all the big parts are ready for injection. The kit will be mainly plastic injected and have around 250 different parts. Scale is of course 1/400, the hull, main decks, etc... will be in plastic. Photoetch parts will comprise the braces for the deck, and minor parts that are commonly found in PE. The hull will have an indentation inside to ease the possibility of a waterline model. The first 300 kits will be numbered and will probably comprise a bonus in the form of a new air group with Loire Nieuport 411, and Vought 156 F in a separate bag. Price will be around $ 75.00 US shipping cost not included. This is great news indeed and if you wish to get more information on this kit, drop Jacques Druel a line at larsenal@mail.cpod.fr If this kit is successful in terms of sale, I am sure that others will follow. Regards, Felix Bustelo International Maritime Modeling URL: http://members.tripod.com/~Febus65/imm.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Richa5011@aol.com Subject: Re: Sea Shadow on Display >> This Sunday (April 22nd) the US Navy's Sea Shadow will be on public display in San Pedro between piers 44 thru 48. Gates open at noon. There is also a second ship on display, unfortunately though, I didn't catch the name. << This mornings news reports indicated that the newspaper report of noon opening time was incorrect...the times are 0900 to 1700. The other ship is USS Coranado...which I beleive is a landing ship(?). Nat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Victor M. Baca" Subject: P.C. Coker Plans Sale Ref. the posting regarding plans for sale by PC Coker (SMML VOL 1216). I also purchased plans from Coker recently. They were an old set for the oil tanker Esso Parentis as printed by Musee De La Marine in France and were original in every respect, including the dust cover they came in. The set also included 2 8 1/2"X11" pages printed on card stock as prints of the ship's 3/4 bow portrait and overall views of her main weather deck piping fore and aft. All in all, I was extremely happy with my purchase and I hope other SMML members continue to deal with Coker. It would be best to call or e-mail a request asking for an honest appraisal of the plan's configuration and content before purchasing anything either by phone, catalog or over the internet. Victor Baca Model Ship Journal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: John Clements Subject: Heller 1/400 Prinz Eugen In volume 1215 Bill Code asked about the Heller Prinz Eugen, which I am building at the moment whilst awaiting the next WEM 1/700 release. I have always had a great affection for the Heller kits, as although they do lack modern levels of detail, and have the odd howler, they are usually of ships not available in the larger scale elsewhere (or haven't been until comparatively recently), and can be made to look quite good. I think that they do capture the lines of the subjects very well, even if the detail can be a bit off at times. As far as this one is concerned, I think it is one of the better ones. The release of GMM's PE fret for German ships in 1/400 has made detailing much easier; I had previously bashed around the 1/350 Bismarck set. Things would be even better if WEM or another supplier could produce the light AA pieces (the single 20's are on the GMM fret), which fit all German ships, of course, and a better Arado 196; GMM have the struts, but the whole plane needs replacing really. For references I am using the Floating Drydock plan, supplemented by the Koop and Schmolke Vom Original zum Modell (for which you need a magnifying glass to read the plans), and a very good 1/600 1945 fit plan which appeared in the Scale Models Magazine in July 1977 in the final part of a three-part review of all the then available kits of the ship, including the Heller one. There are numerous photographs available. You can get a fantastic amount of detail on a model of this size and if, like me, your normal scale is 1/700, it's a nice change to do those extra little details that you can't do in the smaller scale. As you can guess, I'm recommending that you give it a try! John Clements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Victor M. Baca" Subject: Bearn Aircraft Carrier Kit Model Ship Journal just received the "Go-Ahead" from Jacques Dreul of L'Arsenal to give SMMLIES great news about a new injection molded plastic kit that should be ready in time for this Christmas. The group that publishes the fine French naval history magazine, Navires Et Histoire and kit manufacturer L'Arsenal are preparing a new kit of the French aircraft carrier Bearn as she appeared in early WWII. Scale is 1/400 to compliment L'Arsenal kits as well as offerings by Heller. L'Arsenal owner Jacques Dreul stated, "The kit will be available to dealers, and marketed under the Navires et Histoire / L'Arsenal name. The Bearn will be mainly plastic injected and have around 250 different parts. Scale is of course 1/400, the hull, main decks, etc. will be in plastic. Photoetch parts will comprise the braces for the deck, and minor parts that are commonly found will be cast in PE. She will be depicted as she was just at the outbreak of WWII, with Dewoitine D-373, Levasseur PL-7 and Levasseur PL-101 as principal air group. The hull will have an indentation inside to ease the possibility of a waterline model. The first 300 kits will be numbered and will probably comprise a bonus in the form of a new air group with Loire Nieuport 411, and Vought 156 F in a separate bag. Price will be around $75.00 plus shipping." This is great news for modelers looking for something different or to complete a collection depicting French naval ships. I have been impressed by L'Arsenal's quality in the past and have no reason to believe that this kit won't be anything other than top notch. Coupled with Navires Et Histoire's impressive credentials, I'm sure we won't be dissapointed. Victor Baca Editor & Publisher MODEL SHIP JOURNAL "We have no connection to either Navires Et Histoire or L'Arsenal, just modelers who are impressed with their products." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "Tim Brooks" Subject: Re: RN Monitors ABERCROMBIE and Roberts I presume, John, that you have or have access to Buxton's "Big Gun Monitors", pb 1978/1980, ISBN 0-87021-104-8. If not, get ye one. There are great photos of all the monitors, including these two, and descriptions of the camo colors used in WWII (unfortunately, all in black and white). An excellent reference source for info on these unfortunately obscure ships. Tim Brooks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "John Snyder" Subject: Re: Measure 1 on ARIZONA Hi Mark, ARIZONA and the rest of the Pacific Fleet Battle Line were indeed in Measure 1 on 7 December 1941. That means that you'll be dealing with that very dark 5-D. Just remember that this is a hobby, and lighten it for scale effect to suit your own tastes. You could do a bit of weathering to simulate the "chalking" that the flat USN paints were prone to; just don't overdo it, as the Battle Line was the pride of the fleet and pretty well maintained at all times in the prewar period. And, unless you're committed to acrylics, the White Ensign Colourcoats paints will include both the 5-D and 5-L that you need for Measure 1. John Snyder White Ensign Models Snyder & Short Enterprises -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "John W. Wressell" Subject: Info needed on HMS Abercromie John Currie should get a copy of Ian Buxton's "Big Gun Monitors" for info on HMS Abercromie and Roberts. He'll find everything he needs, I'm not sure it's still in print. Perhaps he can find a used copy. Wonderful book. John Wressell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Fred Schwarz" Subject: Construction and painting sequence? I'm about to embark on my first 1/700 scale ship in 20 years. I'm going to do the USS Fletcher and add Tom's Modelworks US DD etch set. The ship is to be done in Measure 12 rev. My question is what should my construction and painting sequence be? Should I build the whole thing then paint it? or build it in sub sets and paint those then put on? Big question: How do I paint the decks and not mess up the sides of the ship and superstructures? masking doesn't seem possible on this little model I have an airbrush and am experienced with it. Thanks Fred -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Craig R Bennett Subject: Re: Deck markings 42's Hi Guys After studying the photos of the type 42's in the Falklands. It seems the RN painted out the side hull numbers leaving the stern number and on the helio pad had the ships letters. The ship or ships names which are red letters weren't painted over. They put a black stripe down on both sides of the smoke stack with a flag either the RN Ensign or UK Flag on top the bridge. Interestly none of the other escort classes in the task force such the Devonshire DDG, Bristol DDG, Leander FFG, Amazon FFG, Broadsword FFG and Rothesay FF's had no black stripe down their smoke stacks. Also a note on the Battleship New Jersey ,it will open as a museum on Sept 3,2001. Craig -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Peter K. H. Mispelkamp Subject: Heller Prinz Eugen Overall this an excellent kit, perhaps the best KM ship Heller ever produced. In general, the fit is good, except for the forward AAA director towers - mine just refused to sit down until I had reduced the radius of the base and thinned out the walls on the tower (lowest edge). The only other major bug-a-boo is that the aft anchor was connected to a howser cable in the real ship - not a chain as depicted in the kit. With the addition of PE and a more accurate AAA outfit, it can be made into an excellent model. Heller gives you a relatively good AAA fit for this kit, but the positioning of some of the 20mm quads is questionable. I suggest that you really research the ship and decide what period you want her to depict. While I really loved the fact that Heller at last gave you 20mm quads, their decision to have you glue a barrel assembly to locating pins on the turrets and former searchlight positions certainly limits your flexibility here. Spares from a Heller Z-31 kit will come in handy here. (And to think people laugh at me when I tell them I bought 11 of Heller's Z-31 kits - 10 to build and one for spare parts!) Period notes: Bismarck episode: omit all 20mm quads, remove the tops of the forward AAA director towers and replace them with open fittings (e.g. similar to the ones Heller used on its T-23 kit, and the smaller one found on their Z-31 kit. - but not as high!). Channel Dash: Do not mount any 20mm quads on the funnel ring - during the Dash she still carried searchlights in these positions. You could use spare searchlights from the Admiral Hipper if you replaced these with 20mm quads. Immediately after the dash (Circa mid 1942-43) you can replace these Searchlights with 20mm quads. By 1944, her AAA outfit had been completely re-vamped. You will need to lose the 37mm twins, add 17 40mm quads and reposition the 20mm quads and singles. I am not sure about the radar - use good references here. In 1945, the Prinz was equipped with the Berlin 9cm radar set - and I am not sure if this set is included in the GMM 1/400 KM fret. Camo - forget the Heller scheme. The Prinz did not carry the Baltic stripes after she left Norway with the Bismarck. There is an interesting, but undocumented plan in the new Koop volume on the Hipper class cruisers. You will have to draw your own conclusions by comparing it to the photos taken of the Prinz around she lost her stern in early 1942. Hope this helps! Sincerely Peter K. H. Mispelkamp -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Peter Chant" Subject: Re: RN Monitors Abercrombie and Roberts >> A request, does anyone out there have info, drawings, web sites, camo details on the Monitors Abercrombie(1944) and Roberts(1943) << There are good reproductions of the original general arrangement drawings of HMS Roberts (plan & profile) in John Roberts new "British Warships of the Second World War" (Chatham Publishing). Peter Chant Plymouth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: "Pletscher-Lenz-Schneider" Subject: Winton: Death of the Scharnhorst Hi all There is a seemingly new book "Death of the Scharnhorst" by Winton which I found on the list of several booksellers. Has anybody seen this book and can provide some comments? Thanks Falk Pletscher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Ed Valerio" Subject: Re: Alan Raven This is a general note to Chris Langtree: I am not a shipmodeler per-se, but I do have an abiding interest in warship camouflage. I am also Alan Raven's brother-in-law, and as such have watched this man at his work for going on twenty-five years. I know some of the sources in the UK that are exclusively his, and I know how deeply he digs in general to access the info he presents in his books, and I can assure you there is no 'guesswork' involved. Alan is first and foremost a researcher, and as such he welcomes the unearthing of some new bit- even if it should prove him wrong in something he said earlier. Also, where he is unsure of something, he says so. If your forthcoming(?) work proves him wrong on any points whatsoever, Mr. Langtree, I will gaurantee that he will be the first to congradulate you on your new finds. So far, however, all we have of your research, sir, is talk- and rather much of that. I must say, I find it interesting that- after publicly accusing him of sloppy research re: Camo 1- you should ask him privately for info on Mountbatten Pink. Also, why say that you offered to collaborate with him on a work? Alan tells me you did no such thing. I simply state this here to set the record straight because he does not want to embarrass you by doing so himself, but I'm not the gentleman he is. As far as his being 'secretive', this is not the case at all. As a general point the fact is that he is simply too busy actually publishing to reply to all the corespondence he receives, and as a particular point, Mr Langtree, I would hazard the guess that in your case he simply deems the effort not worth making. Ed Valerio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Infomation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: SAMI ARIM Subject: SMMLCon Hello All, here is a quick update about the first day. It is very late now and this post might come out a day late. Anyhow we will give a detailed account of the whole conference later, but to give you a quick update about what happened today was this: It was simply very cold and stormy in San Francisco today, and we did our best to enjoy the fieldtrip. At the end of the day we had a very nice dinner, but we were too tired to go to see the Iowa entering the Golden Gate bridge. We are hoping to have a productive day tomorrow on the Hornet. Regards Sami Arim -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) FROM: IMPERIAL HOBBY PRODUCTIONS SUBJECT: 1:700 FANTASQUE KITS READY FOR RELEASE IHP's new 1:700 scale all-metal Fantasque kit will be released next week. The last of the parts (the hulls) are on their way now, and as soon as they arrive, the kits will begin shipping. Orders are being accepted now, if you want to be assured of having a kit shipped to you upon release. The introductory price is $24.00 until 1 June. After that the standard MSRP is $27.00. Don't forget shipping charges. Check out the IHP Website at: http://ihphobby.tripod.com for photos of the model and ordering information. For easy and fast ordering and shipping, I accept credit card orders via Paypal on the Internet. Mike Bartel IHP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "B.Fish" Subject: sale Hello Just by chance if anyone can't find at this price, Or has the need of, maybe? two 1/350 scale Titanic, one kit is ENTEX rather older of The two, titanic kits, the other is Minicraft, one Fletcher Class DD-445 and one HMS Hood At1\600-scale The Entex, Titanic kit is $65.00 the rest are going for $100.00 us dollars plus shipping, and Insurance, all will be shipped together,, I'll understand you not wanting to post this information on your website, but there comes a time in ones life, that I'll resort to anything just to get rid of kits I don't have the need for anymore, and I'll also post this Information on other model ship Bulletin boards, I found a scale I like working in, and never knew it until now, so call me what you will Its my call please contact me via my e-mail Respectfully, Bruce -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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