Subject: SMML VOL 1489 Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 12:01:10 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Questions about ordering on-line 2: Re: Revell 1/429 PENNSYLVANIA 3: Re: Painting flight deck markings 4: Re: "realistic flight deck demarcation divisions" 5: Re: Paint Question 6: Re: Subject: ABDIEL and MANXMAN - Camouflage 7: Polish WW II destroyers--Colors-Help! 8: hobby companies etc 9: WWII USS Arkansas BB-33 10: Interesting model kits -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: Delays in shipments -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Harold Stockton" Subject: Questions about ordering on-line The very best situation that I have ran across so far with ordering items on-line dealt with two companies, one in Germany and the other in Great Britain. The German firm was instructed to send a book after the first of this year after I had ordered a number of items back in November. I received a note from this German firm that the item was shipped on the 10th of this month and that my credit card had been billed accordingly. This is the way this should happen in a perfect world. The second good experience happened when I found a book that I had been searching for since 1975 on Amazon.com.uk, with one of their used book dealers. The price was an unheard of $60, but I have never seen this book anywhere else in the world. I sent my credit card information on-line by their secure server on a very early Friday morning. I received an almost immediate e-mail confirmation that my card had been billed by the UK company and that this Cincinnati, OH, book-dealer had been instructed to ship the aforementioned book immediately. Early Saturday morning I received a confirmation e-mail from the Ohio dealer informing me that the book was to be shipped out in that day's Priority Mail Insured. Well, who lives in a perfect world? Guess what? In Monday's mail was an absolutely impeccably wrapped and protected USED book of the book of my dreams, and it was exactly as described in Amazon's UK website. And, the book is worth every penny that I paid for. But, there always is that other end of the spectrum with ordering things on-line. I had ordered about $200 worth of SALE items from my Russian book-dealer some time during the summer. The order was confirmed and my credit card was billed, so I settled down for a month long wait. NOT, one soon turned into almost three. Knowing that there is a three month limit on billing problems with any credit card company, I immediately contacted both my credit card company and the ordering book-dealer. I was informed by my credit card company that there now was a hold on payment for this shipment until I could get it resolved. The book dealer contacted me immediately with an explanation that there would be a still further delay of a few weeks because of the size of the order, a number of items were back-ordered, and other such excuses. To say the least, I was not pleased at all. I forwarded the dealer's e-mail to the contact person at the card company, and was waiting the extra thirty days that my card company was going to give the Russian dealer to fill my very old order. Surprise or surprises. Almost five days later I received a VERY large package in the mail with Russian stamps being more visible than the plain brown paper wrapping. The shipment was sent in two parts, by surface mail, in very secure wrapping paper, plastic, cardboard, more paper, and further plastic. The second part of the shipment arrived about a week later, and within the extra thirty days specified by my credit card company. Was the order worth the wait? Considering that I had received about $650 worth of very valuable reference material that was not available anywhere else in the world for exactly $200 and close to four months worth of wait, YES IT WAS. A word of note is well worth remembering when ordering on-line. Instant gratification comes with a very stiff price-tag. Plan for problems to develop in any order, but keep a very close watch on that three month contention period that some credit card company's strictly enforce. But, if you are willing to work with many companies through their e-mail services, most problems and questions can be resolved to a person's satisfaction. The Net gives a person a lot of access to things well beyond their capabilities to grasp. And, there also are those few persons out there who cannot seem to be trusted with any amount of trust. In essence, think a little before you order on-line and caveat emptor. Harold Stockton -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Derek Wakefield Subject: Re: Revell 1/429 PENNSYLVANIA >> Yes it is spendy but by the time you add all the detail stuff the Revell kit will need bet it works out about the same. Plus ISW is a great outfit to work with great service. << No questioning your last statement. Ted and Jon have FANTASTIC customer service, and I look forward to the day when I have the bucks to work with them again. As far as the cost to convert the older kits.... Well, it depends on how much you want to put into them. No doubt...if you add the work-hours into the equasion the resin kits are worth their weight in gold. Accurizing the older kits takes an enormous amount of time, paitence, and brain work. Material wise...that's harder to determine because it depends on how much accuracy you want to put into the project. Generally though you're talking about adding up the cost of plans, brass kits, aftermarket parts (when/if available), brass rod (if needed), styrene strip/rod/sheets, chain, etc. That's a rather subjective figure because depending on the kit that's going to vary a great deal. For the banner kit, if you were to get GEM, Tom's, and WEM's brass kits for it to pick out the best parts available (as some folks like to do), yeah...the price is going to get up there in a hurry. If you only get one, plus all the other materials, it's possible to build a Arizona/Pennsy for a tad less than the ISW kit. Yet, you'd better calculate your workhours because that ISW kit is going to be an OOB build, while that Banner is going to be a "My wife keeps telling her friends she has a rival named [fill in name of ship]" affair. If you're single like me, you don't have to worry about that, but... That's why I finally decided this weekend to start shucking back my pennies for the ISW Pittsburgh because this Revell one - although of great sentimental value - is beyond my current level of skill, paitence, and sanity (and that probably is the ultimate question we have to ask ourselves). It doesn't mean though I don't plan on tackling this kit someday. Derek -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "David Griffith" Subject: Re: Painting flight deck markings Dear Ray, I would echo what was said yesterday about painting the lines and masking them before painting the flight deck proper. But my point is that an easy way to cut very thin strips of masking tape is to take two No 11 scalpel blades and stick them together with a piece of sticky tape so their points are exactly level. You now have a double pointed blade. If you stick some masking tape onto a sheet of glass or a wall tile you can use this blade to cut strips of tape as wide as a scalpel blade is thin. For interrupted markings, just put the whole length down on the deck, cut across it at regular intervals and remove alternate sections of the strip. While typing this, it occurs to me that it should be possible to get even thinner strips by using razor blades, rather than scalpel blades. Regards, David Griffith -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Bruno Gire" Subject: Re: "realistic flight deck demarcation divisions" Laying these long and thin decal stripes onto a flight deck has always been a nightmare for me and for the kids in the plastic modelling club I'm managing since 1989. I think I've now built or assisted in building of nearly all the Italeri super carrier line (from Forrestal to J. Stennis) and most of Hasegawa WWII flat tops, each one twice or more since 1992 and I gave up with the decals since about 1995. Last December, a 15 year old girl in my club started another Forrestal ("my" twenty eight carrier !!!), and we'll use the following. I use only airbrushing for a very realistic result. The process is as follows: First build the model up to the flight deck, then airbrush the flight deck colour (I use Tamiya XF-24 or XF-53 or a mix of the two with slight variations). Let dry for 24 hours. Now I start the lengthy process of masking: to mark each stripe, I use exclusively Parafilm. Parafilm can be found by MicroMark (25feet long rolls). This is a transparent, stretchable film, which goes fixed onto the plastic by electrostatic forces, not glue which may remain after or damage the under coat of paint. It is micron thin, and transparent, so the moulded lines or any detail is still visible throughout. Airbrushed paint, even diluted will not pass under and in this field results are far better than any tape, even Tamiya's! Then I cut the stripes through the Parafilm (It's so easy and thin that, with a new #11 blade even my X-Acto own weight is enough to cut through without "scratching the deck below". Other flight deck areas without stripes are then masked with ordinary masking tape (as Parafilm is rather expensive). At last, airbrushing: I start with an overall matt white (Tamiya XF-2) to mask off the dark grey undercoat. Then, I proceed with different shades of off-white for landing deck stripes. For alternate stripes (red- and yellow-white for example), after the white has dried, I mask it with equally spaced transverse stripes of Parafilm and spray the other colour. Then, the whole deck is weathered (with "Doc O'Brien's powders, available by MicroMark) and varnished (spray satin acrylic) The results are astonishing. The whole process isn't difficult. The kids in my club (11 to 15 years old, with none to two years of modelling experience) can airbrush the flight deck and lay the Parafilm without help after a dozen hours. Then I draw the pattern myself with a Pilot G-Tec (fine) ink pen, directly on the Parafilm. The kids make most of the cutting, I do the checking and they airbrush the white, red and yellow. Last year, on a 1/720 Nimitz, a 15 year old boy with four years of modelling experience took about 2 hours to mask and cut and one more to paint: he made the big id number forward the same way. I recommend Parafilm + airbrushing: I found it as the best way to mask extremely thin details before airbrushing. I've used since 1995 for deck marking, 1/700 camouflage patterns (Saratoga measure 32, Yorktown II and Enterprise measures 33) and I'm completing a beautiful 1/700 Prince of Wales, 6 colours Admiralty pattern. I've also used Parafilm as standard for masking 1/72 aircraft canopies, markings and camo with always great results. Although expensive, Parafilm is useful: in my club, we spend about two to three rolls a year for an average of 70 to 80 kits assembled. Hope this helps Bruno Gire Bordeaux, France -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Michael London" Subject: Re: Paint Question >> I am ready to paint my 1/400th scale Bismarck. Does any one have the color formulas for Humbrol paints for use on the Kriegsmarine using the Synder paint chips? << White Ensign Models have paints specially prepared to match Snyder & Short Chips. http:www.whiteensignmodels.com Michael London -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: Dimi Apostolopoulos Subject: Re: Subject: ABDIEL and MANXMAN - Camouflage >> However, one shot on the Australian War Memorial website (negative number P00090.104 ) shows a ship in a similar (but not identical) pattern, but is captioned 'ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, 1940. HMS ABDIEL IN THE HARBOUR'. Since she wasn't completed until 1941, the caption must be in doubt, but the background LOOKS like Alexandria! Does anyone know if she also carried this geometric pattern, and if so, was she still carrying RDF Type 286, and quad .5" guns instead of the 20mm? Alternatively, is this a miscaptioned picture, and it's actually MANXMAN? << Tim, The AWM is of Manxman. Dimi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "Phil Lord and Gayle Fink" Subject: Polish WW II destroyers--Colors-Help! I went to support my local hobby shop Friday night and met another ship modeller who sold me on trying a Mirage 1/400 "Wicher." The price and scale certainly recommended it, plus the 3 stack silhouette is a unique addition on its own. What else could I do except buy it. "Wicher" was sunk the first week of World War II. Can anyone suggest appropriate colors for the vertical and horizontal surfaces. If I am reading the instructions correctly, they indicate an overall "Pale grey" (is there a more precise color) with "Mid brown" for the decks. I searched the SMML archives and found links for two terrific Polish Navy websites--but couldn't locate any camo/color info---well OK, I can't read Polish so it might have been there after all.... After this I think I'll look for a Mirage "Burza" in its 1944 fit with the British radar lantern and, according to the box art, a nifty two-tone camo scheme. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Phil Lord -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Andrew Jones" Subject: hobby companies etc well it seems that many people are quite happy with Naval Base hobbies. As i said in an earlier post, with a few companies on here & with few new members why not have the comapnies on this list sort of explain their business to us, are they full time business or cottage etc..sort of get to know ya thing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Sargent, Danny" Subject: WWII USS Arkansas BB-33 Hi Folks, This my first post to SMML so please forgive me if my etiquette is wrong. I'm going to skip introducing myself because I'm not sure if I should. I'm hoping someone out there may be able to help me. My father-in-law served aboard the USS Arkansas (BB-33) during W.W.II. The Arkansas was in the USS Wyoming (BB-32) battleship class. The USS New York (BB-34) & USS Texas (BB-35) are sometimes placed in the Wyoming class but my research says this not accurate. I would like to build a model of the USS Arkansas as a gift for him. Do you know if anyone makes, or made, "any" type of kit of this class of battleship? I have searched the SMML archives, yes all 52 posts, and the WEB trying to find one without any luck. Thanks for your time and help in advance! Danny Hi Danny, Intros are welcome mate ;-) - But it's up to you. Regards, Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Rod Dauteuil" Subject: Interesting model kits Good evening, I just purchased 3 models that I'd like to tell about. First is an Aoshima 1/700 "Yahata Maru" Japanese Pacific ocean liner. This is no 97 in their waterline series and is a very nice little ocean liner. Finally something to go with the 1/700 scale warships! I am not a fan of IJN, JMSDF or any other Japanese vessels, but this one caught my eye because it has the shape and design of any generic ocean liner, and could easily be transformed into an American liner. On the shelf were 2 other "Maru" liners, essentially all the same mold. The price was a whopping $12.00, which I find very reasonable. Next are two aircraft carriers made by Nichimo, the USS Enterprise CVN65 and the USS Nimitz, CVN68. These are labeled as 30cm scale models which, after I measured them, they scale out to around 1/1150. Both are motorized for play, but are split at the waterline for display. The biggest drawback is they both have a slot in the flight deck for the on/off toggle to pass through. Each carrier was $11.00. The Nimitz actually has 2 islands, with the second one being for the USS Eisenhower, CVN69. They both have the ship's numbers embossed onto the island for easy painting. The ships are a mere 11-1/2 inches long, but are nice in different ways. First, the airwing is a real beauty in this small scale. There are E2's, F14's, A6's, A7's, and a lone RA5C. The hull sponsons look right, as does the shape of the island and masts, The flight deck is also slightly detailed with markings finely molded into the deck. Not a heck of a lot of detail overall, but the model reeks of fun. The Enterprise is basically the same type of model, with the same construction features and airwing. Of course the hull is different. One thing that stands out to me is that the elevators are cast to represent the see-through grate elevators found on the prototype. Same airwing, and it even comes with two islands, the original beehive island with radar panels, and the modern island. There were two different models of the Enterprise on the shelf: I bought the modernized ship, but there was another model in the as-launched configuration. I was able to examine both ships, and the 1960's Enterprise didn't come with parts for the modernized version. But the modernized version was the same molding, with an extra sprue for the modern island and sponsons. I'm looking forward to starting these beauties, especially the ocean liner. And yes Joe P, if you want I can write a review of these for the "Rajen" list. Rod -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Duane Fowler Subject: Delays in shipments I must offer my most humble apologies to Shaya and the other retailers of my decals for the time that it has taken fill orders. Although I am not in Tibet, I am currently in Taipei which is generally a much more dangerous place. I realize the difficult spot it puts them in when trying to provide for their customers. I would ask those of you who order from them to please be patient and understanding. Shaya and the other retailers are doing me a big favor because as the sole employee of Dunagain Decals, I simply can not handle retail sales myself. I also realize that some of you have been waiting a very long time (over a year in some cases) for custom jobs. This past year my main job (not decals, unfortunately) has taken me overseas much more than the past. (>100K air miles) I will be at the US IPMS Nationals this year so you can take it out on me there. Thanks and best regards to all, Duane Fowler Dunagain Decal US Computer Graphics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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