Subject: SMML VOL 1440 Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 00:00:05 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: St Nazaire 2: Revell 4-Piper 3: Re: Airfix 2002 releases 4: USS Oriskany 5: St Nazaire Docks 6: Re: glue tip demo 7: BB35 Texas - shipbuilder's model in Austin 8: Trumpeter Hornet and Essex 9: HMS Cambletown 10: V&W class 11: Re: glue tip demo and snipped off needles 12: Re: St. Nazaire raid 13: Re: new Trumpeter carriers 14: Re: PH BATDIVS, Trumpeter Arizona, Oriskany 15: Re: Trumpeter 16: St Nazaire raid 17: glue tip demo 18: 1/700 Arizona Kits 19: Re: Trumpeter carriers 20: St Nazaire 21: MINESWEEPER BOOKS 22: Re: 1/350 ESSEX 23: KM Scheer 24: Revell S-boot has arrived 25: Pacific Fleet Battleship Divisions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Les Pickstock Subject: Re: St Nazaire A good book on the raid is "The Greatest Raid of All" published by Corgi but the author escapes me for the moment, I read my copy to destruction. I got a good book for xmas last year called "Maps of WWII" or something like that which had an actual tactical map from the raid showing the tracks of the ships involved, gun positions and the final positions of the ship that were destroyed. I'll post the proper title and the ISBN tomorrow. The author of "greatest raid" was C.E.Lucas Phillips. The book is presently available from Amazon for £5.59p (bargain!) I think the maps book was Historical Maps of WWII By Swift and Sharpe. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: John Snyder Subject: Revell 4-Piper >> I still have my original Airfix 1:600 scale (priced at 38 pence!) and the Revell 1:240 scale kits to assemble once I have decided what arrangement/colour scheme to produce them in. << Hi Les, Just don't forget when building the Revell kit that you'll have to do something about that planked main deck--since the real ships had steel decks! Cheers, John Snyder White Ensign Models http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/white.ensign.models -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: VONJERSEY@aol.com Subject: Re: Airfix 2002 releases My question about the Airfix HMS Campbeltown is how is she depicted? in original or modified form? I remember making the Ward many years ago and would love to get a second crack at her. given her role on Dec 7, 2001 i hoped revel would have repreleased her. i have to confess that i always harbored a certgain fondness for the WW1 US four stackers. Ken Auslander Hi Ken, She is depicted before being modified for the raid. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Subject: USS Oriskany hello all.... Regarding the USS Oriskany, a good series of pictures of her in October may be found here: http://www.flinthills.com/~bacon/CVA34_no_access/mvc-002f.html It hurts to look at those.... j -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Edward F Grune" Subject: St Nazaire Docks Ken wrote asking for information on the Normandie Dock at St Nazaire. There is a fairly new book Osprey Campaign Series titled "St Nazaire 1942 - The Great Commando Raid." It is written by Ken Ford. This book has some photos of the Normandie Dock. They are primarily aerial reconnisance photos, but there is one showing the Normandie in the dock. There is a small photo of the backside of the caisson gate - showing one of the German tankers that was in the dock, as well as the Campbeltown's bow protruding over the gate. There are also some recent photos of the dock, showing the new cruise liner Infinity in the dock. The book centers on the commando operations, including the German military actions in hunting down the commandos as they sought to escape St Nazaire into the surrounding country. There are some photos of the Buchanan/Campbeltown as well as the "Little Ships", but if your're looking for a lot of photos of the ships involved - this it primarily a story of the planning, attack, and its aftermath. Ed Mansfield, TX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Darren Subject: Re: glue tip demo >> Is that basically the use of a sewing needle stuck into the end of a dowel, with the end of the eye cut off to achieve a small "Y: at the end of the needle?? << No Bradford, Robert described it pretty well in Vol 1437. It's basically a hollow form of stretched sprue that can work miracles. Loren Perry gave me a sample once and when I couldn't find a source up north, I just started making my own. : ) Darren -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: doug brown Subject: BB35 Texas - shipbuilder's model in Austin Greetings, If any of you are near Austin, Texas, this month, you may want to visit the new Texas State History Museum before Dec 31. The museum is displaying a terrific shipbuilder's model of the USS Texas, BB35 -- the model is on loan from the Department of the Navy Bureau of Ships, Naval Ship Research and Development Center, but the display ends on Dec 31, 2001. The model is roughly 12 feet long, scale 1/4" = 1' 0", and the level of detail (down to the turnbuckles on cables) is pretty impressive. From the display: The battleship Texas was commissioned on March 12, 1914, carried the largest guns on earth at the time, became in 1919 the first battleship to carry an airplane, was flagship for the fleet in 1936, participated actively in WW1 and WW2. The Texas is now anchored at the San Jacinto Battleground just outside of Houston. Web sites: Texas State History Museum http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/tspb/TSHM/Home/Home.htm BB35 http://www.usstexasbb35.com/introduction.htm http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/battlesh/battlesh.htm Doug Brown, Austin TX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: Shirley Sachsen Subject: Trumpeter Hornet and Essex at this point I'm too starved for a big scale carrier of these classes to really care about overall quality. I know I should probably hold out for class A design as otherwise the manufacturers will get the idea that they can produce crap and we'd still buy it--but at this point I no longer care. a bad model is better than no model. and if the thing resembles the usual Lindberg club, then my backyard pond will acquire a new asset to accompany the Lindberg minesweeper and Aurora Enterprise... my hope is that if a big scale lousy model sells reasonably well, it might inspire a real manufacturer to put out a real big scale model--like the Nimitz that's at the top of every Fine Scale Modeler poll every year.... as others on the list have commented: if the hulls are basically decent, there's no end of aftermarket parts to dress it up. but as always, I'll believe it when I see it. for too long there have been promises of a big scale Essex and so far no delivery.... (with the exception of 'mortgage the house' resins...) s -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Chris & Lulu Langtree" Subject: HMS Cambletown Hi All Osprey have just brought out a volume on the St Nazaire raid in the Campaign series. It has several photos of Cambletown in her disguised guise. Chris Langtree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Chris Drage" Subject: V&W class Hi All, Does anyone have any ISBN / publisher details of Antony Preston's "V and W Class Destroyers 1917-1945"? Cheers! Regards, Chris Drage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Ray Boorman Subject: Re: glue tip demo and snipped off needles Bradford, Darren's glue tips are much superior to the snipped off needle's or the looped deice of wire or the myriad other methods of applying small amounts of CA. If you can pull HSP you can make the glue tips since its pretty much the same process. As Darren said go to your local hobby store and buy RC Pushrod tubes then just cut them as you would to stretch plastic sprue and stretch them the same way. The name brand of the pushrod tubes I use are Dubro. A 3 ft section is enough for a few years worth of tips and costs about $2. The glue goes exactly where you want it and in miniscule amounts which makes for really strong joints. If the tip becomes blocked you snip off the last few mm's and continue using. Since the tips when pulled are about 2 inches long you can get them to very small spaces just like the needle method however they win hands down because of the following; I keep my CA in the fridge and I put a glue tip on once a month or so, I don't need to re-seal the ca and I don't take the tip off again until its totally blocked and not useable anymore (after a month or so). Since using these tips I am using less glue and getting stronger and pretty much invisible joints even with the smallest parts. The CA doesn't evaporate, dry out or get wasted with these tips. Darrens tips are bloody great in my opinion. Oh btw thanks Darren for demonstrating these in Vancouver. Ray -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Erwin Van Deynze Subject: Re: St. Nazaire raid Hi, Ken There are a couple of aerial pics in 'Above All Unseen' by Richard Leaf, a book about the actions of PRU in WW2. One pic of the harbour before the raid (april '41), one four days after and one a month later. The latter shows the drydock emptied with the wreck of HMS Campbeltown minus her bows plain visible. If interrested, mail me off-list. Erwin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: "Poutre, Joseph A" Subject: Re: new Trumpeter carriers I am debating whether to buy a Trumpeter 1/350 Essex, which may be stolen property, or hope that ICM comes out with theirs before I die of old age. If Trumpeter does pantograph an existing model, I have to ask myself how much effort is going to be needed to make it into an accurate model. If they take bits and pieces from other models, then make it better with new parts, how much do they have to borrow before it becomes theft? Some resin manufacturers apparently to copy Skywave bits - how many do they have to include before it it's outright theft? How much of my profits will be benefitting the ChiComm military? On the other hand, how many other companies will benefit from their effort by creating replacement and modification parts? PE and resin replacements for bad and missing parts, conversions to long-hull and early SCB versions. We may never see another 1/350 long-hull Essex in plastic, and I don't know if I'd dare hack apart a very expensive resin by Tom's. I hate moral dilemmas. I guess I'll wait another year or so for ICM's, but how much longer for such a long hoped-for model? Joe Poutre -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: AAA Hobby Subject: Re: PH BATDIVS, Trumpeter Arizona, Oriskany According to Battleship & Cruiser Aircraft, here are the assignments of December 1941. The ships are listed in the same order, which I will assume to imply the aircraft side numbers 1-3, 4-6 or 7-9 Pacific Fleet BATDIV1: VO-1 Arizona 1-O-1, 1-O-2, 1O-3 Nevada 1-O-4, 1-O-5, etc. Oklahoma BATDIV2: VO-2 Tennessee 2-O-1, etc Pennsylvania California BATDIV4: VO-4 West Virginia Colorado Maryland Atlantic Fleet BATDIV3: VO-3 Idaho Mississippi New Mexico BATDIV5: VO-5 Arkansas New York Texas James Corley AAA Hobby Supply email: aaahobby@earthlink.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Sean D. Hert" Subject: Re: Trumpeter Yes, they do. http://www.trumpeter-china.com/ It's not much though. It hasn't been updated with the new kit projections or anything. Sean D. Hert -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Andrew Jones" Subject: St Nazaire raid I saw at a book shop the other day (Napoleons in Sydney OZ) Osprey is re-releasing some of their old books & I think it maybe a re-release not sure, but there is one on the raid with a few colour paintings of the commando's & the MTB's in action, there may have been a colour painting of the Campletown (not sure), but they do include colour photo's of the dock/lock where the commandoes practised the raid & also a few modern photos of some French liner in dock, i think both external & internal photos & the usual re-con photo's etc... maybe thats worth a look. Seems to be the best source of photos on the dock that i have seen..& of course there are the standard photos etc.. im hoping to get it soon & maybe do a story for the APMA mag or something, after i finish my 4 other articles -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "John Rule" Subject: glue tip demo >> Is that basically the use of a sewing needle stuck into the end of a dowel, with the end of the eye cut off to achieve a small "Y: at the end of the needle?? << Brad you really need to see the method that Darren is talking about. He literally applied the CA glue through a stretched polyethylene tube that was thinner than a human hair. the inside diameter must have been about a thou. I've tried it myself and it works. Mind you I'm more of an expert at stretching than shrinking as you may remember. John -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: 1/700 Arizona Kits Derek asked – >> I recently ordered the Trumpeter 1:700 Arizona, figuring it might be better than the old Revell 1:720. Any opinions on this kit thus far? For that matter, is anyone producing any brass for the kit, or is it going to be "use the standard 1:700 fare" << See Tim Dike’s comparative reviews of the MiniHobby and HP Models kits in the ModelWarships.com website. No matter what it’s flaws, the plastic MiniHobby kit is an infinitely better starting place than the dreadful old Revell kit for building an inexpensive 1/700 ARIZONA. Mike Alexandria, VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: Burl Burlingame Subject: Re: Trumpeter carriers The carrier models in 1/350 should be just fine. Trumpeter acquired the Tom's Modelworks masters to work from..... Burl Burlingame -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20) From: "Mike Leonard" Subject: St Nazaire Ken Goldman asked – >> With all the recent talk of HMS Campbeltown and her "disguise" for the St. Nazaire raid, does anyone have or know where to find good drawings and photographs of what the drydock installation looked like before Campbeltown ran up on the gates? The photo taken after the ramming but before she exploded is all I have been able to find so far. << I’ve got several books on the raid and they tend to recycle the same photographs over and over. The newest titles is "St Nazaire 1942: The Great Commando Raid" by Ken Ford and Howard Gerrard, Osprey Publishing 2001, Campaign #92. Appears to be a very good value for the price, and includes a number of then-and-now photographs as well as line drawings and color artwork. Other related books: "Storming Saint Nazaire" by James G. Dorrian, Naval Institute Press 1998 "St. Nazaire Commando" by Stuart Chant-Sempill, John Murray Ltd. 1985 "The Greatest Raid of All" by C. E. Lucas Phillips, Bantam 1981 "Raid on St. Nazaire" by David Mason, Ballantine Battle Series #14, 1970 And of course the Warship Profile on HMS CAMPBELTOWN. As for models, the 1/350 CAMPBELTOWN by Tom’s Modelworks will save one a lot of conversion work. (I’m just waiting for WEM to come out with Mountbatten Pink in the Colourcoats range.) If building the old Airfix 1/600 version, the WEM photoetch set for WW2 RN Destroyers is a must. It really will improved that rather crude kit. Mike Alexandria, VA USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21) From: "Dengar" Subject: MINESWEEPER BOOKS I have a German friend and would like to send him something on this subject, that would enable him to build a museum quality model. Any suggestions would be very appreciated. Gary McGee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22) From: ECammeron@aol.com Subject: Re: 1/350 ESSEX Whether ICM or Banner or any other company comes out with a 1/350 ESSEX, you can be sure their aircraft won't compare with 1/350 offerings from WEM. I've got the F4F, SB2C and F4U and they are really excellent. All we need now are the carrier kits to go with them. Eugene -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23) From: "Daniel Bauer" Subject: KM Scheer Hello, This is my first time on SMML.I have read many of your comments and questions with interest.I am a missionaary here on Guam, and I am an avid steelship modeler. I would like to ask if anyone has knowledge of any good pictures or line drawings of KM Admiral Scheer during it's sortie in the Indian Ocean. Thanks, Dan Bauer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24) From: "Michiel Woort" Subject: Revell S-boot has arrived Yesterday finaly the Revell 1:72 S-boot arrived in the store, I only had time to do a quick look and I was surprised. The hull is realy nice to see, a little bit bigger than the Airfix one. You can build a four late war versions out of it and the details looks realy good. Very good instructions and the price is just about the half from the Airfix kit in the Netherlands around the NLG 40,- (say about 16 dollar), just a nice ptrice as the Revell Flower Class. I just cannot wait to see the WEM photo-ets and build one. Michiel Woort The Netherlands -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25) From: "SINGLAR,STEVE (A-hsgAndover,ex1)" Subject: Pacific Fleet Battleship Divisions Someone was looking for information about the Battle Divisions in the Pacific Fleet. I found this at www.pearlharborattacked.com/ in the chat room. Hope it helps. BATTLESHIP DIVISION 1 Arizona (Flag), Oklahoma, and Nevada BATTLESHIP DIVISION 2 California (Flag), Tennessee, Pennsylvania BATTLESHIP DIVISION 3 (Transferred to Atlantic, 1941) New Mexico (Flag), Mississippi, Idaho BATTLESHIP DIVISION 4 Maryland (Flag), Colorado, West Virginia Steve Singlar Pelham, NH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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