Subject: SMML VOL 1295 Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 04:21:03 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Modelkrak Ships 2: New Loose CAnnon Kits 3: Corvette Video 4: Re: 1/48 figures 5: Naval History & Pearl 6: Floating Drydock? 7: Re: HM Troopship Queen Elizabeth 8: Modelkrak ships 9: HMS Agincourt query 10: Re: Thai ex-US PC-___ 11: Yamato Rigging 12: USS ALBANY model 13: Book stores in NYC 14: Re: Floating Drydock 15: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II 15 Volume Set 16: Ship wakes and whitecaps 17: mononosets Potemkin or was it another ship? 18: ID and painting guide for Strasbourg floatplane + help needed! 19: Deck colours of IJN Destroyers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Brent Theobald Subject: Re: Modelkrak Ships From: "Henry T Chen" >> Anyone ever bought and built modelkrak ships probably has noticed a lot of useless (overpour?) resin below the waterline. Does anyone have suggestions as how to get rid of them with ease? I must say although I have done a few resin kits so far. I still found it difficult to combat this problem Modelkrak presented to me. Also, I have the "Takasago" by Modelkrak, but with my research I found the kit actually resembles "Yoshino" more than Takasago. Does anyone have any comment on this? The instruction sheet is practically useless on these Modelkrak kits. Sorry guys, I don't mean to sound like I'm bashing anyone. But it's so frustrating when I look at the instructions that come with the kits. I have bought 4 of them so far. Instructions are all worthless. Well, I hope I'm not starting a war here!! Any recommendation or comment is greatly appreciated!! << Howdy! I have purchased a few Modelkrak kits and hav built some of their 1/72 armor kits. They all do have big resin chunks on the bottoms. My suggestion is to just sink the whole resin plug into the base. Or, the obvious, start carving or Dremeling. A friend of mine built one of their ships and wrote an article for Internet Modeler. http://www.internetmodeler.com/2001/january/ships/hatsuse.htm Later! Brent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Lester Abbey" Subject: New Loose CAnnon Kits In SMML 1287 Brad Barker reviewed the first of two new releases from LCP. I'm waiting for the next review with great interest! Lester Abbey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: Corvette Video Phil Lord wrote - >> As for the movie "Cruel Sea" itself, thank goodness it was made, as it is, in my opinion, one of the finest war films ever. I hope it is available on DVD someday--Just think of the supplemental material that COULD be added--a tour of HMCS Sackville, a short "lesson" on WW II asw and wolfpack tactics, and perhaps some of the interview with Peter Gretton from the old "World at War" series might be incorporated. << Agree on it being a superior war film. I recall from visiting Sackville Landing last summer that the gift shop was selling two or three videos on the RCN and the Battle of the Atlantic. They're supposed to be adding a list of merchandise to the web site, so it might be worth checking out if you haven't seen it lately. Mike Alexandria, VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Fkbrown90@aol.com Subject: Re: 1/48 figures To Ed Grune Thanks for your prompt response to my inquiry about !:48 scale figures. When I attempted to contact you off list at: , the message was returned to me as undeliverable. Please contact me off list at: Thanks. Franklyn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: Naval History & Pearl The latest issue of "Naval History" has a cover photo and feature article on the movie "Pearl Harbor" by film and naval historian Lawrence Suid. The title is "Pearl Harbor: Bombed Again". Suffice it to say that he didn't think very highly of it. He does note that the technical advisors didn't seriously protest some of the film's more egregious errors, being happy that the movie was being made in the first place! Mike Alexandria, VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Graeme Martin Subject: Floating Drydock? I put an order into Floating Drydock for GMM etching in early March. (the idea being I could purchase with my credit card rather than go direct to GMM and have to go to the Bank to get a bank cheque) I waited ten weeks with countless emails to enquire as to where my etched parts were. Only got one reply to say he had been on holiday. In the finish received two sets of etched parts when I had asked for one. Probably doubled the order as he had forgotten my first order. I will check my card statements ASAP. Graeme Martin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Ken Hoolihan Subject: Re: HM Troopship Queen Elizabeth Gidday Stuart, The best source of info on the QE in WW2 as far as I know is the book "Queen Elizabeth at War" which was published in the mid '80's. Photos in this book show that the ships colour scheme and AA armament changed significantly during the war, so you will need to choose which period you wish to portray her in for your model. During most of 1941, including March - April when she visited Sydney, she had a black hull and grey superstructure. Her gun armament at that time was 1 X 6" plus 3 X 3"AA. In late 1941 or early 1942 she was repainted overall grey and spent the rest of the war that way. The number of light AA guns was also progressively increased during the war. I recently finished a model of the ship in the 1941 black and grey scheme and have researched all the changes made to that time. If you want more detailed information please contact me off-list. Ken Hoolihan Wellington, NZ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "D.Przezdziecki" Subject: Modelkrak ships Hi Henry, no danger of a war I am I think. ModelKrak models are a trurly mixed bag. Their overall casting and detail levels are superior to Kombrig's but the plug below the waterline is a pain in the arse and (in my experience) the only way to remove it succesfully is to affix a 180 grit sand paper to a flat,hard surface (I use a rectangle of 12 inch plywood) place the hull on it and sand it right down. Check from time to time that the hull sits straight on the flat surface (no lean to the side, forward or aft) and DON'T FORGET THE FACE MASK. As to the appearance of Modelkrak's kits I have major problems with some of them (Suvorov for example) and plenty of minor ones with others. I don't know about Takasago versus Yoshino but what they present as Hatsuse IMO is a very thinly disquised Shikishima. Dismal instructions are also a problem. What it all boils down to is that if you are interested in accuracy of your models do not treat ModelKrak kits as "straight from the box" stuff and realy on your own research rather than assumed expertise of the producer.So if you think that their Takasago makes nice Yoshino,than by all means Yoshino it is. Best wishes D.P -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "D.Przezdziecki" Subject: HMS Agincourt query Can anybody provide me with an information (preferably with a drawing and a photo or two) about appearance of HMS Agincourt from the time of the Jutland Battle?? I do have an article by MW Williams from Scale Models International about scratch-building the ship in 1/700 scale but it is in 1918 configuration. R.A.Burt shows how she looked in 1914 and in 1918 but only a brief description about 1916 appearance. All help will be gratefully received. Regards D.P -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Ulan Phayakavej Subject: Re: Thai ex-US PC-___ >> Which PC craft became the Thai Liulom, Longlom, Phali, Sarasin, Sugrib and Tongpliu? << Here the PC Hull number you need: H.T.M.S. Liulom - ex PC 1253 Commission date to Royal Thai Navy- 16/9/1952 Decom- 1/4/1994 H.T.M.S. Longlom - ex PC 570 Commission date to Royal Thai Navy- 6/6/1953 Decom- 1/4/1994 H.T.M.S. Sarasin - ex PC 495 Commission date to Royal Thai Navy- 20/11/1947 Decom- 30/9/1992 H.T.M.S. Tongpliu - ex PC 616 Commission date to Royal Thai Navy- 16/9/1952 Decom- 1/4/1994 NOTE: Now some of them were sunken as target Hope this help NyeNAVA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Eduardo Luis Marcovecchio" Subject: Yamato Rigging Hello friends, I'm building an Arii 1/600 Yamato, and I plan to do the most accurate and detailed rigging I can on this kit, but I don't have reliable references on the lines and cables that the Yamato had. The kit instructions don't talk about it. Please, could someone recommend a good book or web site that would help me in this matter? Thanks in advance. Eduardo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Darren Subject: USS ALBANY model I recall someone mentioning that there is a model of the USS ALBANY in Albany NY. Can anyone tell me exactly where it is and how to get there from the interstate? Thanks, Darren Scannell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Darren Subject: Book stores in NYC Going to NYC next week and wondered if there was a 'must see' book store with naval subjects? Darren Scannell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Mike Settle Subject: Re: Floating Drydock >> In reading Ken Groom's inquiry about Floating Drydock still being in business or not, I am having a similar experience with Pacific Front Hobbies; that is, I placed an order two months ago, received confirmation but no shipment. After one month I asked for the status of the order and was told it would be shipped the next day. That was over two weeks ago. Now I get no reply to my e-mails, just like Ken reported with his dealings. << I also have a long standing order in with Pacific Front Hobbies for the Snyder & Short Kreigsmarine II paint chip set. I e-mailed Bill Gruner a few weeks ago about it and he e-mailed back that he would take care of it. Still no paint chips. If anyone in the know has an answer, I, too, would like to know. Mike Settle I am not agent #1908 of the non-existent Lumber Cartel (tinlc)tm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Chris Neel" Subject: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II 15 Volume Set Howdy - Just thought I let everyone know that I found (and purchased) the new re-release of the complete set of the "US Naval Operations in WW II" this weekend at a local bookstore (and can also be found at Amazon.com for $150.00) - haven't had a chance to read very far yet, but what I've read so far has been detailed and informative. I was mainly interested in the many various actions which had taken place around the Solomon Islands (of which one full volume is dedicated to covering August 1942 - February 1943 - stating that the US Navy saw more action during this period of six months than in any other time of the US Navy's history...) - I don't believe that I have any book which fully covers all of the actions which took place there - but looks like this volume does. The series is written by Naval Historian Samuel Eliot Morison (et al) during the war and the first volume(s) printed in 1947 and revised in 1953. This set represents the 1953 revision. A summary on the back of each volumns lists the following descriptions (highlighting the ones that I found interesting): Vol I - The Battle of the Atlantic: Sept 39 - May 43 Vol II - Operations in N. African Waters: Oct 42 - Jun 43 Vol III - The Rising Sun: 1931 - Apr 42 "What actually happened at Pearl Harbor" Vol IV - Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions: May 42 - Aug 42 Vol V - The Struggle for Guadalcanal: Aug 42 - Feb 43 Vol VI - Breaking the Bismark Barrier: Jul 42 - May 44 "The Drive up the line of the Solomans" - more battles in the area I am interested in... Vol VII - Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls: Jun 42 - Apr 44 Vol VIII - New Guinea and the Marianas: Mar 44 - Aug 44 Vol IX - Sicily-Salerno-Anzio: Jan 43 - Jun 44 Vol X - The Atlantic Battle Won: May 43 - May 45 Vol XI - The Invasion of France & Germany": 1944 - 1945 Vol XII - Leyte: Jun 44 - Jan 45 "Te penultimate phase of the Pacific War" Vol XIII - Liveration of the Philippines, Luzon Mindanao, the Visayas: 1944 - Aug 45 Vol XIV - Victory in the Pacific: 1945 Vol XV - Supplement & General Index Each Volume contains maps and black and white photos - although, all of the ones I've looked at so far are nothing really new. Volumes are also available individually - but then, I couldn't resist having the whole set at once... don'tcha gotta have it now? Another book that I recently read and recommend is "The Last Battle Station - The Story of the USS Houston" by Duane Schultz - gives a detailed account of the heavy cruiser CA-30 during the early part of the war through her sinking at the Battle of Sundra Strait. The book is written based on personal(and moving) accounts from the survivors - gives a very detailed picture from the crewmen's point of view... later... Chris Neel Victoria, Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Kelvin Mok" Subject: Ship wakes and whitecaps >> Ray Bean here, the chap that built the 3 ship dio you were speaking of....that was a CVL in the center, a Fletcher to port, and a Pittsburgh on the starboard side, in heavy seas coming alongside for UNREP. << Hi Ray, The comment I made was general enough to have described the majority of naval dioramas and inevitably hit a nerve. I recall seeing your article and photos though I don't remember much else except that I would never have dared to attempt a similar project. Besides I am really an armour guy. The naval diaroma I referred to is another model (phew!). I grew up a couple of miles from a busy harbour and spent much of my after school hours fishing, beach combing and looking at the ships sail by. Things that I saw I remember although I never gave them much thought. Thus when something shows up that doesn't quite fit observations the first question is "How come?" and this curiosity had served me well in life in many ways of which model diaromas is a small part. I'd like to thank Ed and Fred who brought my attention to: http://www.steelnavy.com/WavePatterns.htm for the author describes exactly what I am looking for. Immediately printed that for my files. Kelvin Mok -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Pieter Cornelissen Subject: Mononosets Potemkin or was it another ship? The classic movie Mononosets Potemkin (strangely called armoured cuiser Potemkin in the dutch subtitles) by Eisenstein is doing the rounds again in the dutch arthouse cinemas. Yesterday I finally had the chance to see it on the big screen. The story line is rather at odds with what really happened in 1905 but for anyone interested in early 20th century warships the movie is really nice. Lost of shipboard scenes (with planking layed out in sections.....) including gun drill for the 6" guns and at the end of the film some really nice shots of the 'pursuing squadron'. It seems that Eisenstein was given permission to film the early 1920's Baltic fleet. One sees Boevoy and Sibirsky Strelok class destroyers, Bayan class armoured cruisers, some very nice detail shots of a Gangut class dreadnought and a number of shots of the two Andrey Pervozvanny class battleships forming up in battle formation. There is one question though. According to the cinema's website Potemkin had been scrapped by the time Eisenstein made his movie and 'sistership Dvenadstat Apostolov' was used for the filimg of the movie. As Dvenadstat Apostolov (not a sistership of Potemkin) was a low freeboard battleship with round turrets and all shipboard shots are obviously on a ship with high freeboard and 'pillbox' turrets I do not think the cinema's website is right. One does not see this ship move, whch is consistent with the fact that the machinery of all black sea fleet battleships was destroyed in 1920 by British sailors at the end of the British intervention in the civil war. Does any know which ship Eisenstein used for the shipboard scenes in mononosets Potemkin? Pieter Cornelissen Delft, The Netherlands -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Poutre, Joseph A" Subject: ID and painting guide for Strasbourg floatplane + help needed! >> I am currently working on the WSW 1/700 Strasbourg and wanted to see if anyone could provide me with information about the floatplane provided with the kit. What colors/markings would be appropriate for this plane circa 1940? << Yohan, I can't help you with fixing the gun barrel, because I haven't tried that yet myself. However, I can help you with the flying boats carried by Strasbourg. They were Loire 130s. Generally pre-Vichy aircraft would be painted overall gris hydravion, which is very similar to USN haze grey. As for markings, there would be French roundels on the upper and lower wings, plus the vertical blue, white, red stripes on the rudder. You can see a black and white picture of one at: http://frenchnavy.free.fr/Loire_130.htm Note that this one is from the cruiser Gloire - the markings on a plane from Strasbourg would be different. I'll look in my references at home and post any more details I find. Joe Poutre -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: "Axel Wolters" Subject: Deck colours of IJN Destroyers Hi IJN Buffs, help needed for correct colouring of japanese WW II destroyer decks. The box art of the different 1:700 scale waterline kits is sometimes confusing, as some boxes show parts of the DD decks painted brown (linoleum coated decks?) others grey (steel decks). I thought, that the older DDs built in the late 20s until mid 30s had the linoleum coated decks (like the light cruisers) and the newer classes built after 1939 steel decks but the Hasegawa or Skywave catalogues show built models of the different aeras painted both ways. So, what is correct? Thanks for assistance Axel Wolters Monchengladbach, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the SMML site for the List Rules, Backissues, Member's models & reference pictures at: http://smmlonline.com 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