Subject: SMML VOL 1336 Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 01:12:51 +1000 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: For those with some spare cash!! 2: Military/Naval bookseller 3: Re: Firewall 4: 19th Century French torpedo boats 5: Re: Safety First! 6: Re: Harbor Tour "deal' 7: WWII Subchaser 8: Re: windbreaker coat CVN 65 9: Re: Which clear coat? 10: SMMLies ID "Mystery kit" with 100% accuracy 11: Re: Good Model Story [USS GEORGE WASHINGTON] 12: Re: Torpedo belts 13: Lindberg PH Set -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Infomation 1: Small Warships SIG -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: Lindberg LCI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Bradford Chaucer Subject: For those with some spare cash!! Found this on the 'Bay sitting at a mere $525 with no bids yet and a buy it now price of $650 AZIMUT SCHNELLBOOT S-100 1/35 RESIN BOAT KIT Item # 1621479352 Regards, Bradford Chaucer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Randall.O'Malley@clarica.com Subject: Military/Naval bookseller You should be aware of Peter L. Jackson Military Books, in Toronto. Peter specializes in Canadian, British and German regimental and unit histories and has a considerable number of long out of print books on specific ships and classes as well as biographies of lesser known figures in naval and military history. I recently acquired from him a hard-to-find copy of Ensign 3: Flower Class Corvettes by Alan Raven and Antony Preston, at what I felt was a very reasonable price. In my case it was a straight trade for a day-by-day, unit-by-unit account of the Battle of Britain. You may be able to trade with him as well. Peter also helped me find another excellent reference for modellers of the Flower Class. Canada's Flower's: History of the Corvettes of Canada 1939-1945 by Thomas G. Lynch. This book had a small run and has been out of print for some time. When I was in his shop I also saw some out-of-print Anatomy of the Ship books. Some of the books on German topics were quite old and written in the German language. Peter has an excellent selection of serious books for modellers and researchers on specific topics pertaining to all the major conflicts. Equally important, he is a very nice man. Peter is polite, soft-spoken and hospitable. At 73 years of age and a former officer in the British Army he lived some of the history he is selling. I'm only 35 and he shared his knowledge without condescension and answered my questions with patience. He is a far cry from the far too common, arrogant used book dealers who think they're doing you a favour to buy or sell a book. Unfortunately, if you buy from him on-line you may never meet him. Still, I urge you to look at his web site or write him if you need a hard to find book on military/naval science and history. Peter L. Jackson, Military Books 23 Castle Green Crescent Toronto, Ontario CANADA M9R 1N5 (416) 249-4796 jacksonbooks@home.com www.abebooks.com/home/PLJ/ Sincerely, Randy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: Bradford Chaucer Subject: Re: Firewall >> There seems to be epidemic of e-mail borne viruses lately. I have received 3 in 3 consecutive days. All were intercepted by totaly free program called "ZoneAlarm" from Zone Labs. There is a pro version but you have to pay for it. It also makes your computer proof to the "knocking from the outside" by creating its own firewall. I have no links with Zone Labs but members of the list on a thight budget might find the free version very usefull. << I have used it since I went to dsl. Works like a charm and in addition to virii which are not it's main forte, it renders your system completely invisible to hackers probing for entry. The free version is one of the best buys on the net!!! all kidding aside. Regards, Bradford Chaucer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: J Nyce Subject: 19th Century French torpedo boats Hi I am looking for information/literature/models of French torpedo boats prior late nineteenth/early 20th century. Can you help? JM Nyce -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Ned Barnett Subject: Re: Safety First! Steve Wiper wrote: >> So, guys and gals, wear those safety glasses whenever you use any power tolls. I sure am glad I do. << Last week, I was grinding down a 1940 Turkish Mauser bayonet blade (a hobby of mine is sharpening bayonets, knives and swords while I watch VCR movies - it started when I wanted to do something with my hands while on endless conference calls with clients) and got a tiny sliver of metal in my eye; fortunately, I got it out with no permanent damage, but it scared the s(ahem)hit out of me. I'll be following Steve's advice in the future, and encourage you to do so, too. Ned -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: stillmo@mb.sympatico.ca Subject: Re: Harbor Tour "deal' Hi Craig,....... just thought I would comment on your posting re Nauticus, Wisconsin and Norfolk Harbor Tour.....I think you should clarify that the Norfolk Harbor cruise is the one that crosses the Metro Machine Drydocks and into the Elizabeth River upstream where you can asee an assortment of ships in the yards.....I dont think the ticket you mentioned will take the you past the active cruiser, destroyer and carrier piers of the NOB Norfolk. I found out the past few times that I have been there that you have to take two separate tours---and this is all great and fine, just be prepared to shell out more money for fares......and its all eye candy for the photo enthusiast like myself as you can go nuts in the Elizabeth River area .....everything is pretty nice an close.....NOB Norfolk, a good moderate zoom lens to slight wide angle works really fine. Anyway, if that ticket includes the carrier piers, Im on the plane now..... RD Bean -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "DarekL" Subject: WWII Subchaser Hi All, I am in the process of designing and building 1:250 scale model of the subchaser. It is based on the set of plans from the french museum. Very good plans over all. But what I am lacking is the interior lay-out of the wheelhouse. I have that cut-out drawing from the Splinter Navy website but its not clear enough to figure out the exact arrangements. So my first cry for help would be in this regard. The second question is about the pennant number. Since the plan shows this vessel under french flag its pennant number is CH123. Would anybody know what was the number of this particular boat in the US Navy ? Any help is highly appreciated. If you'd like to check on my progress with the construction of this model you can visit my website http://www.paperlab.com/ and than click on the Upcoming. I hope you don't mind a little bit of self promotion :) Darek -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: stillmo@mb.sympatico.ca Subject: Re: windbreaker coat CVN 65 Hi Mike...... Patch Collecting itself is another hobby and I dappled in it for some time, trading and buying. It too can get rather frenzied and overboard like kit collecting. CVN 65 patches in different sizes abound everywhere and there are 4" and 5" patches available from the Navy EXchnges and from the ship itself of course. Its far easier getting patches from commissioned ships and squadrons still in existance than the ones that are decommed. What is perhaps rarer is the CVAN 65 patches which dates back to the 60s and early 70s. There are cheap knockoffs out there, the good ones have finer embroidery with clearer distinct edgings. I am no expert on any of these, but I have noticed differences and they are obvious when you place a good and bad one side by side. Because of their popularity, I believe that all the IOWA class BB patches are still readily available and also some of the recently decommed carriers.....whats harder to get are the assorted Cruise Patches which some have tongue in cheek humor or suggestiveness to them, or if not, are very colorfull and collectable. RD Bean -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Paul Lewis" Subject: Re: Which clear coat? Hi Guys, I have for a long time been dis-satisfied with the norm matt finish, it gives the model a kind of powdery look. Having been aboard several modern warships and also HMS Belfast you can see quite plainly that the finish isn't anywhere near a matt but nearer a satin look. I have recently finished building the 1:400 Heller King George V and applied 2 coats of Humbrol satin varnish to all areas, except the decks. These coats certainly improved the overall look of the finished model. I would tend to leave the decking matt though. Paul Lewis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Paul Jordan Subject: SMMLies ID "Mystery kit" with 100% accuracy I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Al Ross, Craig Bennett, Shirley Sachsen, Tom Dean, David Wells, Mike Maynard and Matthew Prager who took time to respond to my request to ID my little 17" plastic model Minesweeper. Every one of you pegged it exactly and with such consistency you left no doubt what it is. Having now checked it out against prototype photos, it's definitely the US Navy "Admirable" Ocean Going (AM) Class Minesweeper (possibly "USS Sentry" AM-299) put out by Lindberg. Mike Maynard informs me the model was manufactured in the late 1950's with some of the models offered as a powered version and last produced in the late 1970's. So again, to all of you (with sincere apologies to anybody I might have missed) thank you again..you've proven that when it comes to identifying old plastic model ship kits, SMMLies really DO know their stuff!! Paul Jordan Victoria Model Shipbuilding Society Victoria, British Columbia, Canada -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Roland Mar Subject: Re: Good Model Story [USS GEORGE WASHINGTON] This reminded me of something that happened to me in the early 1980's. My first Professional Note published by the USNI PROCEEDINGS involved a modification and new use for the early SSBN's we were in the process of decommissioning. I worked swing shift and one morning, far earlier than my usual arising time, I received a phone call from a Navy Captain at OP-2P. This was during the pre-publication process and the Navy had reviewed the article. This Captain wanted to know where I had gotten the "classified" drawings of the exterior and interior of the GEORGE WASHINGTON. I soon convinced him that 1) I did not work with classified material and 2) that if I had stumbled across something the Navy wanted to keep secret; they could cancel the article with my blessings and I would destroy all copies. I did note that I had drawn the notational interior spaces based on the Revell cutaway model of the G.W. sitting in my study, and the exterior from a $1.50 set of plans from Taubman Plans Service. This explanation literally took the wind out of the Captain's sails. The article was published. Roland Mar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "D.Przezdziecki" Subject: Re: Torpedo belts Hello Ken, I am not a specjalist in a warship construction but as I understand it experiments carried out in late XIX and early XX century showed that best way to protect against torpedo attack is to dissipate the blast and not the protective belt of armour. All British waships up to "Queen Elizabeth" and "R" class battleships were protected with internal anti-torpedo bulkheads, fuel bunkers and internal sub-divisions. I personally have not come across a single ship with a dedicated anti-torpedo armour belt but maybe somebody other on this list has.... Regards D.P -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Derek Wakefield Subject: Lindberg PH Set I'd highly recommend that kit for a younger modeler for the simple fact it's a simple build. Granted, the Lindberg 1:1000'ish Arizona makes the Revell 1:720 kit look like a Tamiya in comparison, but to most younger modelers they aren't going to know the difference. My first ship model (built in '73 when I was in 4th-5th grade) was the Revell 1:720 Pennsy. The irony of which was I was desperate for an Arizona model and didn't know it the Pennsy was a reboxed Arizona. As simple as that one was, it still gave me a few fits (re: the fighting tops and uneven tripods). A few years later I started picking up the Lindberg kits and found them a breeze to build. Of course I didn't know how inaccurate they were, but they were sturdy little buggers, easy builds (even with that crappy non-tox, lemon-scented, blue-top Testors tube glue I was forced to endure with), and worked great for my backyard naval battles. IMO, the Prince of Wales/Duke of York was the best of the lot, but I bought more of the Yamato's than anything else. At $2 a pop, they worked well into my allowance back then. We all complain about the lack of accuracy/detail on these antique toy kits, but IMO they work well for the younger generation. As toys, they are easier to build. Up to the time I was in HS, all I built were the older Revell, Lindberg, Hawk, and Monogram kits. During that time, I supremely lacked the patience for anything other than slap-dash projects. The eight hours it required to paint the decks and build one of the old Revell Iowa or SoDak kits seemed like an eternity to me. I still remember my first Tamiya kit -- a 1:700 Yamato a friend gave me my senior year in HS. That bugger took me 6 months to build up (and even then it was effective a slap-dash effort). The biggest beef I had was when the small parts (namely the gun directors) kept popping out of my tweezers and landing in the cracks of the wood floor in my bedroom. Spent many an hour on my knees with a flashlight and a magnifying glass trying to hunt them suckers down. I remember desperately wanting the 1:350 kit back then. When I finally got one a few years back, and looked over the parts, it struck me that I probably would've lost my sanity trying to build such a monster back then. Recalling all of this, my attitudes at the time, etc (strange how you remember all of these things), I don't believe most younger modelers would have the patience to deal with the higher-end kits. I'm not saying all (because there are exceptions to the rule), but most kids seem to prefer projects that can be completed in an afternoon's time frame. Younger minds are easily distracted. I'll never forget the B-17 in 7th grade that I thought would kill me (Grandmom... You started it...you're gonna finish it, and before supper time). Tell you what...sure enough taught me to never start a model on the kitchen table in the middle of an afternoon. The Tamiya Yamato thoroughly discouraged me because it wasn't an easy build like I'd become used to. Even though I was a die-hard Yamatoholic at the time, I kept putting it back on the shelf. That's why in part it took me six months to build the sucka. By then Grandma had moved out of town, and Mom never has supported this hobby (her general reaction has always been "oh, that's nice", but then again she really didn't know what she was looking at either, so it's hard to criticize her too much). Thus, there wasn't any external support to keep me going/motivated. All things considered, it's a wonder I managed to get done anything at all in these regards during these years. That said, IMO the ease of build (to keep the project within their patience threshold) and support (to keep up their heart/esteem that what they are doing is worthwhile) are key factors in keeping younger modelers going. I don't think we're going to find any lack of support here (it's like preaching to the choir), but it's worth mentioning. The ho-hum reactions I got growing up in these regards didn't do anything for my self-esteem or make me want to try new things to improve my skills. I didn't even start using paint until I was in HS because of this. It took seeing my cousins and schoolmates models to fuel (enflame) my competitive male-ego enough to make me want to step things up a notch. I think that's one of the reasons why we adults have shows/contests (ooh, you make me sick...how can I do that/one up that?") We need someone to ooh and ahh over our efforts. When a child doesn't get that, they lack the motivation to continue or progress. This also effects our ability to carry through. When I was young, the end result was always more important than the building of the model (hence the tendency to slap-dash, hurry the project). Teaching the lesson that "doing" can be just as enjoyable as "finishing" is lost on younger folks. I really wish I'd been taught this through my modeling efforts growing up because it led to my rushing things and not caring whether it was done correctly. How fast can I rush through my homework so I can go out an play...same issue, you don't learn nearly as much as if you take a little extra time to get a firm understanding of what you're learning. Yet, the counter to this is a tendency to demotivate. I can see this project is gonna be a buggerbear, so I'll put it off until I have more time (and you never have more time). This has been one of the banes of my attempts to get started modeling again. Admittedly, lack of space, finances for paint, glues, brass, sundry supplies, etc. are bigger issues I still need to address, but procrastination probably excuse #1 (note I said *excuse* not *reason*...I know what my problem is and as they say that's half the battle). You're talking to a person who has models he bought in the mid-80s he still hasn't built. This is a curse and unfortunately it's touched a great deal of things in my life. Priority wise, modeling is pretty low on the "gotta get my butt in gear and get something done" list. Suffice it to say, I've come to believe support/encouragement in getting started/doing is just as important as support/encouragement in having completed a job well done. Sorry for the length of this, but the topic has made me remember a lot of things and how it relates to things currently going on in my life. Perhaps it will help some of you working with younger modelers though. Derek Wakefield -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Infomation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Small Warships SIG Issue 9 of 'Escort' is now available on the IPMS Small Warships SIG website < www.brown.abelgratis.co.uk > Regards Les Brown -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Steven P. Allen" Subject: Lindberg LCI I have dug up a Lindberg LCI kit, No 788. It's in 1/159 scale (that's REAL close to N scale--1/160). This is an old version in a signature box calling itself an L. S. I., but it's an LCI. As far as I can tell, all parts are present (this kit is from long before plastic bags), but a few are off the sprues. The instructions are present and so are the decals, but they've yellowed. No work at all has been on the kit. The box (for those of you into that sort of thing) is in super-good condition with just a little fading. For $20, I will ship it to you USPS Priority Mail. First come, First serve. Steve Allen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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://apma.org.au/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume