Subject: SMML VOL 1235 Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 05:47:49 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: TEX OHIO Keith Bender 2: OHIO Harold Stocton 3: What is on my workbench and 1/600 destroyers 4: Re: First kit? 5: My First Plastic Kit 6: Re: Fletcher mast 7: Langley??? 8: Re: Advice for Tamiya 1:350 USS New Jersey 9: Caution!! 10: Airfix figures and DR. Frankenstein.... 11: 1/350 Forrest Sherman 12: Re: colour liferafts on US Navy ships WW2 13: Re: WW-2 carrier landing lights 14: First plastic model 15: First (and current) kits 16: Modelers' wives and HMS 'Battle' class DD's 17: Re: Rules of Acquisition 18: First Plastic Ship Kit 19: Shinano's Colors 20: Re: Rod Dauteuil's crewmen 21: Skywave Echo II class SSGN 22: Thanks 23: Re: colour liferafts on US Navy ships WW2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Edward Wyatt" Subject: TEX OHIO Keith Bender Hi Kieth Yes I will be intersetd in photo copies Can you e mail me? with your E Mail address? elwyatt@onvol.net Best wishes Ed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Edward Wyatt" Subject: OHIO Harold Stocton Hi Harold Can you E Mail me at elwyatt@onvol.net with your email address so that I can help you! Best wishes Edward -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Michiel Woort" Subject: What is on my workbench and 1/600 destroyers On my workbench are: two Artitec models 1/350, Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (M-fregat) and Hr.Ms. Tonijn (sub), the HMS Aurora (based on the Airfix HMS Ajax). And one Airfix 1:72 Seahawk (dutch navy). Waiting for the resin and PE parts is Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (1962) 1/400 (based on the Heller Arromanches) if everything will go allright the kit will be ready half july. From : Michael Connor >> Coming back to reality! I wonder if there are any others' out there who model in 1/600 and are finding it hard to get destroyers in this scale? Perhaps we can interest a manufacturer if we can get enough people to say "please". << Yes indeed I hope one day Airfix will produce these little one's, but not only these also the other boats which are not on the market for a long time. And what about new 1/600 models!!! I think we can always pray for better times. Greetings Michiel Woort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: AJOWENS@aol.com Subject: Re: First kit? My first kit actually was a ship, believe it or not! A Pyro Roman War Galley received as a birthday present when I was 8. Didn't turn out too badly all things considered but then I soon moved into cars, tanks and especially aircraft. When I was in the 12-14 age range I was doing displays for a small local hobby shop - mainly planes and armour dioramas. Then I discovered girls, full scale cars (and working a real job). After some 20 years, one bad marriage experience and one lovely daughter (7 at the time) I was lucky enough to find myself flying into Philadelphia on 11 November 1999 and seeing the New Jersey parading in the river just off the airport. I made sure I got a window seat and got a nice photo as we took off for the trip back to Boston. When I next had Mary I showed her the photo and she was full of questions. I remembered a new local hobby shop and thought, we'll build a model of it just for laughs. We got a box scale Revell Missouri and the Italeri Hood and put them together that weekend. I had forgotten how much fun I'd had building kits and then found the Warship website and was amazed at how much detail some people could pack in there. Now I'm hooked again and Mary is building her own! A.J. Owens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: DMarkley@wwhenry.com Subject: My First Plastic Kit Paul Jordan's note reminded me of my first plastic model: A Lindbergh USS Biloxi! I was 8 years old and had managed to save the whole dollar needed. I was fascinated and stared at it for days before realizing I had no idea what to do. My grandfather offered to help me and two hours later I had my first assembled ship model and was hooked for life! At times, there was the occasional tank or airplane kit or even (gasp!) car kit but it always came back to ships. Unfortunately, my time is so limited between my job (chemist) and a wife and two teenage boys. I've got about 30 kits tucked away, just waiting to be built. In order to stay sane, I also collect 1250th scale models (aren't predreadnoughts neat?). Those don't take up much time or space. Once the kids are grown, I am going to go at it full bore! That is, if the wife doesn't have other plans! Dean -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Bradford Chaucer Subject: Re: Fletcher mast >> There isn't anything difficult about this. I don't understand why model companies insist on doing masts and yards in the wrong fashion that most of them do. << Because it's a much simpler mold to make, and I suspect that they consider it to be too small a mistake to matter :-) A proper overlapped construction would require a stepped mold or that the mast be in 2 parts. Regards, Bradford Chaucer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: ironship@vic.com (Jon Warneke) Subject: Langley??? Hi All, Ed Grune asked for some input on this subject, so I guess it's my turn to respond. >> Brad Chaucer reported in SMML 1231 that he spoke with Ted Paris of ISW and that among the planned releases is a 1:350 scale USS Langley (CV-1). Nobody has followed up on this, so I guess I'll take the opportunity to asksome questions of Ted and Jon Warneke. << Perhaps we may be persuaded to answer some... >> What is the planned configuration of the Langley? Is is the classic late-20s "Covered Wagon", or will it be the seaplane tender configuration - as lost early in WWII? << Either or... >> What aircraft will be included? << It depends... >> I have visions of a deckload of brightly colored biplanes carefully arranged on the deck - and a similar number packed in a jumble in the open below deck area. (Caroline/John - feel free to jump in with some biplanes too!) A look at the May 01 update to the ISW website doesn't show the Langley listed. What is there are some new flashy "Coming Soon" graphics. << Keep an eye on the site for any possible intimation that this kit may or may not be in the speculative future. It may or may not appear in one of the slots marked with a "coming soon" logo at some possible time in the near or distant future. >> Something else which is on the ISW site is a new listing of USS North Carolina in her 1944 configuration. My wife is a North Carolina native. A few years back while we were vacationing on the NC outerbanks - we went to Wilmington and toured the ship. She told me of her participation school penny drives that generated the initial funds to help save the ship as a war memorial for the state. Hmm, perhaps I can sell her on the idea of having a model of the ship? She did buy me a curio cabinet for the living room, in which to display my models. It would look nice! << This kit was built using the plans found in the Randall Shoker book on the NC, as well as the Ships Data book sold by the BB Commission in Wilmington. The plans were corrected to match photos of the NC in 1944, mostly in the midships area, as well as the Alan Chesney plans found in the Ships Data book. The kit reflects NC in October 1944 after her refit at Puget Sound NSY. You will be able to see preliminary casting of the kit at the IPMS Nationals in Chicago this summer. In some of the research I've done in the past, the conversion of Langley from her CV to AV status wasn't too complex. The flight deck was constructed in either four or five sections connected with expansion joints. Photos of her in 1937 and early 1942 look to show that only the first two sections of the flight deck were removed, along with the associated flight deck supports. It may be possible to do both early or late versions from the same kit with little modification. The "hangar" deck wasn't really suck, but rather a stowage and assembly area. Most aircraft stowed here would be in some stage of assembly/disassembly rather than ready for flight. This is because most of the collier hatches remained in place after the conversion and the holds were modified for aviation use. Only the coaling-specific equipment such as booms and derricks were totally removed. But, then again, I haven't really done a lot of research on this... Jon Warneke Commander Series Models, Inc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Timothy Dike" Subject: Re: Advice for Tamiya 1:350 USS New Jersey >> I am seeking any advice for putting this model together. I have not touched a model in over 20 years and I have an urge. And since I once served aboard the N.J. I wend and picked this one up. Any ideas on paint or add on's << Bryan, First of all welcome back to the modeling community. The New Jersey is a pretty nice kit right out of the box. To detail it you really only need a good Photo Etch set. There are several to chose from, Flagship, and Gold Medal Models makes a set specifically for this kit, and Tom's Modelworks has a modern Radar set, as well as a Fast Battleship set that has most of the rails. The kit is pretty nice, fit and detail wise, but has the superstructure located a little too far forward. We did an in-the-box review of this kit on ModelWarships.com (http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/reviews.html) this month so you can get an idea of what you are in for. Also fellow list member Kelly Quirk did one as a part of his "Fist of the Fleet" dio along side the Big E. That diorama earned him a trip to Japan in a couple of weeks for winning the Tamiya Con 2001 Master Modeler award. There are a number of pictures in the ModelWarships.com Gallery of his BB, that might inspire you on yours. Timothy Dike Webmaster and Editor ModelWarships.com http://www.modelwarships.com/index1.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: drwells@hogpb.mt.att.com (David R Wells) Subject: Caution!! >>> converting a Trible to a <<< >> Use EXTREME caution here. According to Gene Roddenberry (hope I spelled it right) you can very easily be overwhelmed with Tribles! I have no idea at all how to neuter the darn things. (8<)) << Actually, Mr. Roddenberry had little to do with this. IIRC, it was Mr. David Gerrold who thoroughly documented the problems caused by tribble reproduction. Now, if you want to discuss the effect of tribbles on a D-7 battlecruiser.... David R. Wells who is waiting for Snyder & Short paint chips for the D-7.... "There seems to be something wrong | David R. Wells with our bloody ships today" | AT&T Middletown, NJ Adm. D. Beatty, May 31, 1916 | http://home.att.net/~WellsBrothers/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Les Dorr Jr." Subject: Airfix figures and DR. Frankenstein.... >> The plastic on these airfix soldier sets is really yucky gunky soft - How do you.. a) cut arms and legs to re shape without getting "hairs" of plastic everywhere? b) glue the stuff? Normal solvent glue doesn't cut it for some reason??? << Cutting and repositioning limbs and heads isn't a big deal. Just use an X-acto knife. Removing the molded seams is more problematic. Make sure you use a *new* blade and cut -- don't shave -- the seam down its length. I use good ol' Mk. I Elmer's white glue to attach heads and limbs. If you reposition a limb and create a gap -- say between upper arm and shoulder -- secure the limb to the body with fine wire first, then fill with gap-filling CA glue. You can use the same techniques to attach hard plastic pieces (e.g., helmeted heads) to the vinyl Airfix figures. Note: No super glue that I've found works on these vinyl figures. Anyone have a different experience? Les (AKA "Dr. Franken-shteen") "Um Tut Sut? Sure, why not?." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: 1/350 Forrest Sherman I heard from a reliable source the other day that JAG was working on a 1/350 cold war era Forest Sherman DD. Can anyone definitely confirm this? Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. You can now pay using your Visa / MasterCard Flagship Models - Photo Etched Details for Warships "Yeah I want Cheesy Poofs!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Edward F Grune" Subject: Re: colour liferafts on US Navy ships WW2 Franx asked: >> what was the colour of these rafts? was it camouflage or high visibility? << Liferafts and ring bouys were painted to match the surrounding camouflage scheme. They were not a high visibility color like yellow or white with red straps. A raft might be a different color from the surrounding area if it was moved from one place to another during a refit - and didn't get repainted. It would be painted in the same camouflage colors as the rest of the ship - just blue on gray or gray on black (etc.) Go to the ship camouflage website for complete information on the US Navy painting instructions during WWII. Follow this link: http://www.shipcamouflage.com/ Ed Mansfield, TX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: Re: WW-2 carrier landing lights A while back someone on this list was asking if WW2 era carriers were equipped for night time landings. In particular, if they had landing lights to light up the decks. Last night I was watching The Battle History of the US Navy (or something like that) on the History Channel. I hate to be vague on stuff like this, but it never occurred to me to pay close attention until it was too late. So I apologize for the vagueness (is that a word?) here. I was reading and watching it out of the corner of my eye. One of the carriers commanders launched an attack late in the afternoon and he knew his pilots would not return until after sunset. This would almost surely doom them to ditching in the sea and losing a large number of them. Refusing to doom his pilots to almost certain death, the narrator said that the commander switched on the carriers deck lights to assist the pilots to find their way home. Obviously, during wartime this was a big no no to light the carrier up like a Christmas tree for everyone to see. Anyway, there was only about one or two seconds of stock footage of a carriers landing lights taken from an aircraft while coming in for a landing. What I saw in this one or two-second shot was a line of lights down the centerline of the deck and lights around the perimeter. This is the first evidence I have ever seen of the carriers having night time landing capability in WW2. I always thought it would make logical sense for them to have this, but I had never seen it. Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. You can now pay using your Visa / MasterCard Flagship Models - Photo Etched Details for Warships "Yeah I want Cheesy Poofs!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "Bob Mills" Subject: First plastic model Paul's story of his 1st plastic model brought back memories of my own (back when I was 7 years old, I'm 47 now). My younger brother came home from the hospital, after having his tonsils removed, all excited about the boy in the next bed having an airplane that was all in little pieces and he had to put it together (gasp!!!!!). My father heard about it, and having put models together himself, went out and purchased one each for my brother and myself. Mine, if I remember correctly (foggy) was a P47 thunderbolt. The pilot was just a head (no cockpit) attached to the fuselage, no landing gear (had a stand) Glue all over the thing ( couldn't see through the canopy for all the glue fog). We, of course, fought many battles with those planes. Moved on to ships when I was 10 (Revell aircraft carriers & battleships) my brother and I fought great sea battles in the sand box (I lost my brother when I was 12). Been hooked on ships ever since. Thanks for the memory Paul. "Doc" Bob -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Steven P. Allen" Subject: First (and current) kits The first kit I built (as opposed to watch someone else buid) was an MPC 1/1200 "Waterline Series" Iowa: easy (I screwed up the decals, setting the pattern for the rest of my model-building career), quick, and quite nice. I followed it quickly with an Enterprise from the same series. Despite all the many, many kits since built and destroyed, I still have those two, much the worse for wear but treasured as a connection to my childhood. I even picked up a "new" Iowa off eBay last year (and plan to thus collect the whole series). I am still not finished with either my 1/96 Wainwright or my 1/250 ADP conversion, but work on them is at a near standstill because of time constraints and lack of workbench room (for the cruiser). I AM working on some 1/48 armor (actually an M3A1 Halftrack and an M1 155mmm gun) for my 0 railroad. I'm also planning on starting another 1/100 Seahawk for my Wainwright (yeah, I know the Belknaps didn't operate SH-60s, but I know of no Seasprite in this scale--any leads?). I have an eye on my Lindberg Minesweeper, which begins to appear in need of a refit. . . . . On the reading table is nothing ship-related at the moment (I'm teaching three classes this term, and all my reading is related to them), and the two major purchases currently contemplated are railroad--Colias' "Frisco Power," 2nd ed. and Hunnicutt's new book on US Halftracks. I trust the diverse audience here will indulge my erring ways ;-) Steve Allen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) FROM: Mike Bartel SUBJECT: Modelers' wives and HMS 'Battle' class DD's I lucked out in my current relationship. I am now 30 years of age, and my girlfriend is 54. We've been seeing each other for three years, and she is an illustrator/artist by trade. She understands the artistic side of what I do, and the time it takes to produce it, not to mention what it takes to run a small business. So, she has been nothing but supportive, even when I have to stay home some nights and complete orders. I've always had a thing for older women, and now I know why. I'd never get this kind of support from someone my own age. When I relocated last year, she suggested that I get those ship models out of the boxes and onto shelves because they were too nice to leave packed away, but I wanted to keep them packed up because I only planned to be at my current location a couple of years. I have built a lot of 1:700 scale ships- too many to unpack and then pack up again. I actually feel the need now to unload many of my unbuilt ship kits, as I know I will never get to build them, and I can use the money, space and time to reinvest in the business. As the saying goes, " He who dies with the most toys....is still dead." Anyway, on to another topic: Does anyone have information on the British postwar 'Battle' class destroyers? I am thinking of making it a future kit subject. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good reference source, or perhaps help out with supplying information? I'd appreciate any kind of help. Thanks! Mike Bartel IHP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Mike Settle Subject: Re: Rules of Acquisition >> Thanks John - survived another layoff round today - have been giggling ever since - life is very very good! << I was laid off at the beginning of February. The same company called me back to work this week and offered me a promotion. Not only can life be good, it can be strange. Mike Settle I am not agent #1908 of the non-existent Lumber Cartel (tinlc)tm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Victor M. Baca" Subject: First Plastic Ship Kit Now this is an interesting thread. My first plastic kit was built in 1959, a seminal year for bringing me into the hobby. My dad lent me his old jack knife to whittle on wood and I made a submarine. That got me to thinking about my older brother's little plastic kit he picked up in trade with a bunch of junk from a neighbor kid. We're a family of horse traders so I naturally gathered my goodies and negotiated for the model, a replica of a racing speedboat, precursor to the "Miss Budweiser" types. My brother didn't want the sack of marbles, rusty knives, cowboy guns or skate keys, but took two old quarters at the bottom of my trading box for the kit. My mother saw me dry fitting the boat and took me to the five and ten-cent store to get plastic cement. She explained how decals went on a model and told me not to get too much of the glue fumes up my nose. I probably would have used LePages on the kit and white glue to stick the decals, paper and all, to the model if it wasn't for my mother's model building savvy, gleaned from raising 5 boys. The speedster went together easily enough and floated, too. Mama took notice of my fascination for ships and knack for putting things together. She began buying me plastic ship models for birthdays, Christmas, etc. 42 years later, I've got so much styrene, if the kits were laid end-to-end, they'd reach clear to Enumclaw! Happy Modeling, Victor Baca MODEL SHIP JOURNAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: Bill Rowe Subject: Shinano's Colors What would have been the approximate colors of the Shinano had she entered service? I have the 1:1200 Revell kit, and the painting instructions are not very useful. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: Fkbrown90@aol.com Subject: Re: Rod Dauteuil's crewmen My drydock displays represent the ships as they might appear on a Sunday afternoon, which may be a day off for both the dockyard employees and the ship's crew. This is really a weak rationalization of the fact that I haven't yet found a source of 1:48 U.S.Navy modern figures. Franklyn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: "Robert Lockie" Subject: Skywave Echo II class SSGN Hi everyone Would any of the modern submarine experts care to offer an opinion on the accuracy or otherwise of the above? Are they superior to Dragon's efforts in the submarine genre, for example? Many thanks Robert Lockie Who has nothing on the workbench as said workbench has yet to be acquired, but at least I get a whole modelling room in my new house, albeit all the models and reference materials are still in boxes..... I had no idea how many books there were until I packed them up, but all made the trip safely so within a couple of months, I might even be up and running. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: "Mark C Krumrey" Subject: Thanks To Bob Santos: I don't have your email address, so I will use this forum to thank you for the information you sent me on the Oregon. It is now clear what you are writing about the extra deck etc. This will make a good winter project. Thanks again Mark Krumrey New RIchmond WI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23) From: wem Subject: Re: colour liferafts on US Navy ships WW2 Hi Franz, USN liferafts in WW2 were camouflaged, not high visibility. You can check out official USN painting instructions on our website. John Snyder Snyder & Short The Paint Guys http://www.shipcamouflage.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