Subject: SMML VOL 1425 Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 01:09:51 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Amati U-boat 2: Tirpitz refs 3: Re: Doolittle's B-25s 4: Re: Museum Ships 5: Re: ALTMARK 6: Re: Cabot 7: Re: USS Skipjack (SSN-585) 8: Re: Skipjack (SSN-585) 9: Well kept Canadian secret 10: On the subject of Museum Ships 11: Re: Skipjack 12: USS Gourley 13: Taranto and HMS Illustrious 14: Re: Museum Ships -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Laura and Jeff Herne Subject: Amati U-boat Wow, I thought they were long out of production...thanks! Jeff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: GAZWE@aol.com Subject: Tirpitz refs Hi guys i am building diorama of KMS TIRPITZ on the 'WAYS "and i need your help. I am looking for good quality photos of slip ways all views. I have the BISMARK class by KOOP. and battleship TIRPITZ by KOOP. i have looked at the german navy site, if you guys could help i would be greatfull. cheers in advance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Keith Bender" Subject: Re: Doolittle's B-25s Hi SMMLies, Thank you for all your imput on the OD colors for the Doolittle raiders. I'm on my way to the hobby shop now to check it out., Keith -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Hughes Family" Subject: Re: Museum Ships Anyone wanting to update John's impressive list here is one slight change. The USS Requin, Trench Class submarine, now resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We stole it from Tampa several years ago. Web site is http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/family/requin.asp Address is: Carnegie Science Center, One Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5850, telephone: (412) 237-3400 Jeff Hughes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: URUDOFSKY@aol.com Subject: Re: ALTMARK Sketches and technical details (dimensions, weapons, engines, performance) of the Dithmarschen Class of German supply ships are listed at www.german-navy.de/marine.htm ...... go to the ship index. ALTMARK (renamed UCKERMARK), NORDMARK (renamed USS DIXIE), ERMLAND, and FRANKEN have all been produced as 1:1250 models by various makers. For some interesting account of the movements of ALTMARK and GRAF SPEE, see the book by Joseph Gilbey (synopsis at www.grafspee.com). There is a photo of ALTMARK on page 33 in his book. Contact him, he may have more info. Ulrich Rudofsky ALTMARK Addendum: DITHMARSCHEN became the USS CONECUH (AOR 110). Also see the excellent site at the University of Giessen, Germany: http://homepages.fh-giessen.de/~hg6339/DataFrames.htm for technical information and a picture of this ship. U.Rudofsky -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: CapnAgee@aol.com Subject: Re: Cabot Great list John, but USS Cabot only exists in our memories and photographs. Her island is in South Texas but everyone missed out when she was cut in pieces for scrap last year. Ray Agee aka CapnAgee@aol.com PS: I failed to add the link to show one of the final pix taken of Cabot as she was butchered in Texas. We can thank the EPA as the major villain in the loss of the last CVL. Last Cabot Pix: http://www.usscabot.com/PKTMP029.jpg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Ed Grune Subject: Re: USS Skipjack (SSN-585) Glenn wrote >> Can anyone point me in the direction of the topside arrangement? << Hi SMMLies: The US Naval Historical Center has a series of photos of the USS Scorpion - a sister to the Skipjack. Included in the series are the last known photos of the Scorpion before she was lost in-transit home (1968). This series is very good as it presents a "sail around" of the Scorpion as she was moored alongside the USS Tallahatchie County (AVB-2) off of Naples. The address is http://history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/ssn589.htm Ed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: Ives100@aol.com Subject: Re: Skipjack (SSN-585) >> I just got the 1:230 Revell USS Skipjack (SSN-585). Pretty barren on parts, and with a 3 bladed screw. Can anybody hazard a guess as to if this is correct? If not, where can a suitable replacement be had? Can anyone point me in the direction of the topside arrangement? << The Skipjack originally went to sea with a five bladed, conventional shaped propeller. It was with this propeller that she set some speed records for that day (reportedly around 30 knots submerged). Shortly thereafter, the "blade rate" problem was discovered, in which the prop blades abruptly moving in and out of the wake of the cruciform tail sent out low frequency sound that propagated a long distance underwater. This could be readily picked up by a submarine sonar in the deep sound channel. As a result, the blades were redesigned to the 7 blade, crescent shaped screw, which has blades that gradually enter and leave the wake, greatly reducing blade rate noise. There are other features of the propeller design that are classified to this day. The Soviets took a while to catch onto this fact, which is why their submarines were tracked readily by sonar into the mid-80's. Where to start with the Aurora (then Monogram, now Revell) kit.... Many features are wrong, including the hatch over the reactor (wrong location, and no such hatch), the sail shape is wrong in the front and side slopes. The topside is all wrong. Ken Hart wrote an article 10 years ago in the SubCommittee Report correcting this beast. The article includes beautiful 3 view drawings of all features of the hull, including topside. Yes, I have it and can copy it for you. Be warned, this is a lot of work; you may be better off with the Blue Water Navy kit of the Skipjack if you want accuracy. I have lately come to the conclusion that some things in this hobby are just not worth the time and effort (with my work schedule and trying to complete a professional book by the publisher's deadline). I would personally just build the Revell Skipjack OOB for the heck of it. Tom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Boatbldr Subject: Well kept Canadian secret Hi folks Here is a tip to save some money - there is a well kept Canadian secret - especially now with the weakness of the Canadian dollar. If you are looking for alternatives to other online retailers who may sell micro sized tools etc. have a look at www.leevalley.com They do cater for model builders - http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=41754&category=1,180,42240&ccurrency=1&SID= is an example. They are their own manufacturer as well - they make the Veritas range - very unique tools! Standard disclaimer - I have nothing whatsoever to do with these people, just passing on a money saving tip to fellow model builders. regards Boatbldr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Devin J. Poore" Subject: On the subject of Museum Ships On the subject of well preserved museum ships, I'd like to say that I just visited the USS Hornet in Alameda two weeks ago and found her to be in excellent shape as well. There is a lot of ongoing work, as they haven't had her that long, but it looks to me like they're going in the right direction. I can see her eventual being as well restored as I remember the USS Yorktown. Far far better already than the USS Intrepid here in New York. I just hope that they're able to keep up the wooden deck on Hornet, and not have to resort to the measures taken with poured concrete on the Yorktown and Texas. I'm also glad to hear that the North Carolina is in great shape. I plan on making a "ship seeing trip" in the next year or two, I want to hit all the east coast museums before I make the move out to the San Fran area. Devin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Chuck Messer" Subject: Re: Skipjack >> I just got the 1:230 Revell USS Skipjack (SSN-585). Pretty barren on parts, and with a 3 bladed screw. Can anybody hazard a guess as to if this is correct? If not, where can a suitable replacement be had? Can anyone point me in the direction of the topside arrangement? << Glenn, I recently got the 1/230 Skipjack myself. It is the third time I've built this kit, the first time in the mid-sixties when it was new. One of the differences I noticed was the addition of raised panel lines which didn't exist at first. Also, the sail-mounted diving planes were rectangular in planform, while the present kit has the more accurate swept-back leading edges. There are probably some innacuracies in the model, but nothing that seemed glaring I could see just by looking at it. Except, of course, the three-bladed prop. The Skipjack had a five-bladed propeller. There is an excellent photo of a Skipjack class under construction, showing the prop in Norman Friedman's US SUBMARINES SINCE 1945. Be warned, however, that the photo has probably been reversed, and the blades are angled the wrong way. There is a photo of a Skate class under construction which was undoubtedly reversed, as the stenciling on the boat is backwards. I was lucky in that I still had the prop from the second Skipjack, which I'm converting into the Nautilus from 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. I cut the blades from the two props. The blades are the right shape and seem to be the right size. I glued them to a new hub made from the nose of a 1/72 scale 2,000 lb. bomb. I added a shaft made of styrene tubing, and viola! An accurate-looking prop. The finished result should look like a Skipjack class sub. If you don't want to waste a second kit, you can use the blades on the existing prop to fashion blades from sheet styrene. If the sheet is thick enough, then you can sand the edges sharp, and it should look quite nice. In the photo, the edges of the blades are covered. They were probably quite sharp and tapered, and this protected both the construction crew and the blades themselves. Chuck -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Clem Jensen" Subject: USS Gourley I just inherited a partially completed, Vietnam era, model Ashley class [?] frigate the USS Gourley. It's set up for RC, about 50" long. There are no drawings, photos, etc and I would like to finish the boat. Where do I start? Ps: The hull is completed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Norman Samish Subject: Taranto and HMS Illustrious The Illustrious was certainly a well-designed and built ship, operated and defended by a courageous and competent crew and airmen. She is well worth modeling. Her history says a lot about the virtues of an armored flight deck, which enabled her to survive direct hits by five 1,000-lb bombs. There is a account of her history at http://www.world.std.com/~Ted7/Illus.htm, by N.J. Hickman. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: Richard Sweeney Subject: Re: Museum Ships Hello. I'm sure that this is going to be one of many replied, This List of Museum ships is great and will be of great use. But it brings up the old debate about U.S.S. Constellation. At This point even the Navy is saying that she is NOT the Frigate built in 1797, but a 1st rate Corvette of 24 guns built in 1855. During her recent Very extensive restoration, The Navy tried to get some well deserved financial support to the private organization that owns and maintains by telling Congress that She was very worthy of restoration as she was "The Sole surviving CIVIL WAR ERA sailing warship in the Nation." A point which was most widely first acknowledged in Howard I. Chapelle's work "The History of the American Sailing Navy" first printed in 1949. Well, My Two cents worth anyway. Richard Sweeney -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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