Subject: SMML VOL 1422 Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 00:53:31 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: USS CAINE 2: Doolittle's B-25s 3: USS North Carolina 4: Re: LCAC models 5: HMS Liverpool etc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Paul & Renee Jacobs" <1250man@home.com> Subject: USS CAINE >> Not so in the movie, The ship that was used in the movie was a Benson-Livermore class (DMS-18) High Speed Minesweeper << The ship in the book was definitely a 3 funneled DMS. When the movie was made in the early 1950's, sad to say not one of the old 3-4 pipers still existed. So they used one of the more modern ones still in commission. It is regretable that not one of the venerable old 4 pipers was preserved as a museum ship. But then back in the 40's and 50's little thought was given to preservation at all, not even when veterans protested, such as with the ENTERPRISE. Battleships like TEXAS survive because they had state governments willing to take them. Paul Jacobs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Keith Bender" Subject: Doolittle's B-25s Hi SMMLies, Here's an aircraft question for you. Yes I know but if the planes are going on a carrier then that qualifies as a ship type question if you look in the rule book. What rule book, there is none I'm making this up as I go. Anyway, the B-25's for the Doolittle raid. I understand that the drab was more of a brown then green as is the drab today. If so what would be a good solution to what color to make them? As always your help is appreciated, Keith -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Kelvin Mok" Subject: USS North Carolina >> Here's the deal on the NC hull restoration. It won't happen until about 7 or 8 years from now and I think it's going to take less than a year to complete. So feel free to go to Wilmington & tour this magnificient ship. It's well worth your time. << I happened to visit the USS NC late October when I was going to Wilmington then on to Southport for that weekend. Not being a battleship aficionado I can only give a layman's view. Before I get spammed, yes I enjoyed that visit immensely and if I ever get to visit another I will be more prepared to get the most information out of that. The USS NC was floating high and somehow doesn't quite give the sleek ominous threat a battleship low in the water would, as depicted in most pictures and drawings. She looked like she got a recent coat of paint with colours similar to those from the Tamiya range - a medium grey, a dark blue and and a light blue - pretty but not "warlike." I always had the impression that BBs were humongous ships. The NC was the size of a mid sized cruise liner. I hadn't expected it but everything inside was really tight for space with the bridge barely the size of an average bedroom and the captain's quarters that of a walk-in closet. Officers' quarters were the size of a bathroom. The ship had a pretty roomy messroom though. The engine room installations were like a maze of machinery, cables and pipes. I don't know how anyone can figure out where to start if anything goes wrong. Or for that matter how to carry out regular maintenance. Infront of the bridge was the combat information centre protected by 6 inches of armour. Now I get what 6 in of armour is like. The plot room, the communications room were equally small and crammed full of really ancient electrical equipment. The rear triple 16 inch turrent was accessible to the public. Again every space was packed tight with machinery and I can't imagine how bearable the noise would be like when those guns fired. There was one piece of equipment that puzzled me. At each end on the rear of the turrent was a projection that housed optics - a range finder. They were joined by a tube that ran through inside of the turrent. But I couldn't figure out where the incoming image would be merged to provide an image output that could be used by a gunnery officer. The tube had no housing that would suggest an output? The 20mm Oerlikons and the 40mm twin Bofors had new coats of paint that couldn't hide the fact that they are badly rusted, missing vital parts and no amount of restoration would make them work again. The Bofors were described as water cooled. While the barrels looked thick enough to incorporate a water jacket I didn't see the associated plumbing and radiators that would have been necessary for water cooling. Kelvin Mok -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Lkjohnson214@aol.com Subject: Re: LCAC models There is one available in 1/300 scale from SIMTAC (www.simtac.com), which produces wargaming pieces. The kit is in resin and metal, and not too bad, especially considering all the wargaming pieces you can use to load the cargo deck. I had two and was quite happy with them (I think they set me back $12US each) until I sold off my 1/300 collection. (I ran out of room for 1/300 scale BBs and CVs in my game area) Cheers, LJ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Raymond Guy" Subject: HMS Liverpool etc G.Day Chris. To answer your query re fitting standards with regard to working as opposed to static exhibition models, I was expressing an opinion based on my experience with Sirmar fittings etc, as they are manufactured with their working model warship kits in mind. As regards working models some the ships I have seen have a remarkable degree of delicate detail, however I would certainly not fit 3 thou brass PE rails etc to a removable deck that is regularly handled to gain access to R\C equipment and batteries etc. Get my point? And now for John. I have been called many things during my residence in South Africa but never "smelly" unless it was warranted by a surfeit of B.O. The ZA in my e-mail address stands for Zuid Afrika and not Zambia which is a thousand miles plus to the north of us. I think you need to deposit that atlas of yours in the nearest dustbin. Thanks for the info I will take you up on your website. Yes I am very fond of the RN Cruisers, I think they were some of the most handsome ships afloat. Dad had a long association with the Phoebe and the Euryalus whilst we were in Malta as well as the destroyer flotilla tied-up in Sliema Creek. We were regular visitors aboard HMS Chequers. We also lived in Gibraltar from 1951 onwards in a block of flats owned by the Dockyard known as Tower Buildings opposite the main dry dock next to the South Mole. We had a very good view of almost the entire yard. My main pleasures in those days were frequent visits to the Superb and Swiftsure whenever they were in port. The combined fleet excercises with the Americans and French were quite something as the entire bay used to be full of warships. We were invited aboard the USS Valley Forge on one occassion which was quite an eye -opener as the conditions aboard were almost luxurious when compared to the average RN warship. Regards Ray -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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