Subject: SMML VOL 1731 Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2002 01:05:42 +1000 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http://sandlehobbies.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: 700 scale waterline 2: Re: 1:700 Waterline ship models 3: Re: Pearl Harbor colors 4: Re: Why didn't Bismarck steam stern first into Brest??? 5: 1/700 answer & question 6: l'arsenal 1/700 modern kits 7: A message to authors and publishers 8: LST 9: Loren Perry's "News from Gold Medal Models" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: NEW from TOM'S MODELWORKS 2: IJN CV camouflage 1944-45 Site updated -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: John Landry Subject: Re: 700 scale waterline In response to yesterday's querry as to why virtually 1/700 scale models are 'waterline:' simple - (say Tamiya, Dragon etc...) they are easier to build and enable us all to create dioramas - I personally prefer them that way simply for display purposes - eg. I'm currently working on an anti-ship dioarma of SSN (Soviet-era) ships: 2 X 'Sovremeny'-class destroyers and 6 X 'Tarantul' mini-fritgates - off to starboard is the 'Kursk' sub (obviously) surfaced...also doing a re-creation of the battlecruisers' Scharnhorst & Gneisenau w/ cruiser Prinz Eugen during the later stages of 'Cerebus' operation - the Gneisenau just hit a mine and has a list to port....get the picture? If anyone can help me contact Dragon of Hong Kong or Shaghai (or Tamiya or any manunfacturer) I'd appreciate getting a 700 scale waterline 'Kirov/Frunze' (Soviet) Russian battlecruiser - hands down the sexiest and most menacing surface warship on the seas...Dragon was going to do such a kit and even pictured it in a catalog but alas, no kit was made-I'm getting pretty desperate on this issue -I'd also like the cruisers of the 'Kara' &b 'KrestaII' classes-damn it! I want the whole Soviet navy!!! Regards, Mr. Jean Henri Landry Toronto-CANADA- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Mike Bartel Subject: Re: 1:700 Waterline ship models >> Question of idle curiosity. Why are most (at least, most that I've seen) 1/700 ship models waterline? << Smaller-scale ship models look better as waterline models, in my opinion, and they allow a large number to be collected and displayed while taking up little space. Also, they are the ideal scale for diorama building. In that small scale, you really don't need screw, bilge and rudder details. Mike Bartel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: DRPREUL@aol.com Subject: Re: Pearl Harbor colors Don is absolutely correct. In Oct of 41 Adm. Kimmel ordered that 5-D no longer be manufactured, to use up what was left over. Kimmel also ordered that camo measure 1 be replaced with measure 1a. 5-D to be replaced by a dark blue-gray not necessarily Navy or Sea Blue. I have seen the films also, and the color is Dark Blue-Gray and not Dark Gray. The action report on the Arizona states that the life-rafts were stuck to the ship which leads me to believe that the Arizona was recently painted. If this is true then I believe that the Arizona was painted in Measure 1a Dark Blue-Gray with Light Gray tops and not 5-D. I have a copy of Kimmels orders dated Oct 41. If I where to build a model of the Arizona I would paint it in Measure 1a. This statement is my belief by all the evidence I have seen. Unfortunately we still don't have direct proof that this is true, but it looks that way to me. Don Preul......J&D Productions.....Annapolis, Md. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Jeremiah O. Coughlin" Subject: Re: Why didn't Bismarck steam stern first into Brest??? Dear SMMLIES, These tubes/pipes did not extend below the hull. On Destroyers the Main Condenser valves were no more than 24-30" D, the Aux. Cond, was 12-15" D. 3 valves on the Main, Scoop intake, Circ. Pump intake, and the overboard. Just two on the Auxiliary Circ.intake and overboard. This is from memory for 2100-2200 class DD's, 60,000 SHP & 1350-1450 class DE's, 12,000 SHP. I also just remembered that there were 6,404 5/8" Cond. tubes, 11,000 sq-ft cooling area. There were plastic like ferrules over the tubes on the supply side that had to be replaced when we were servicing the tubes. ("punching them", running a brush through them). After opening the manholes we would run a blower for a couple of hours to get rid of noxious gases, then send in the fireman. One time the kid started screaming for his life, there was a very large live eel in the waterside. We lassoed it eventually and passed it over the side, huge teeth and very unhappy. Long ago and far away. Semper, jeremiah... PS-If this post bothers anyone notice that it contains info to help a modeler. joc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: tangui De Saint Hilaire Subject: 1/700 answer & question Hello there! For your question, Charlie, I just think it is far simpler to any models builder to design a kit from photos or dockside views of a ship than to have to wait for it to be seen in a drydock, ask for an authorization to look at it, and all this. This specially for cold-war soviet ships. Besides this, it is easier too to fit a waterline kit into a diorama. By the way, does any of you think it possible to build a 3-D diorama with full-hull ships immerged into blueish translucent silicon? With regards, Tangui de Saint Hilaire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: tangui De Saint Hilaire Subject: l'arsenal 1/700 modern kits Hello everyone! For those interested, I heard from Jacques Druel himself that he is going to release his first 1/700 kits during this summer, starting with a Lafayette class stealth frigate as is in french navy, and following on with t-47, t-53 and t-56 types squad escorts ("escorteurs d'escadre", class Maillé-Brézé, Forbin & such) in modernized 80s version. Saudi and Taiwaneese versions of Lafayette frigates should follow soon or late. I recall that L'Arsenal are building 1/350, 1/400, and 1/700 full-hull kits of both modern and historical naval subjects. For more info check by SteelNavy at: http://warship.simplenet.com/Arsenal.htm Best to all of you, Tangui de Saint Hilaire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "Robert Lockie" Subject: A message to authors and publishers I know there are a number of authors and publishers who read this list and I would like to say how appreciative I am of your efforts in bringing the fruits of your researches to the rest of us who are too bone idle/busy/dim/far removed from the sources to do it ourselves. However, as an end user and potential customer, I would like to make a few points which came to mind after receiving a couple of recent offerings (I bought them with real money, so I feel entitled to do so). Actually, I am (for the same reason) also entitled to name names but I am not sure that it would help in the grand scheme of things. So if you think this might apply to you, please don't firebomb my house or boil my cat; just consider if your next masterpiece might be improved by a little effort that would possibly even improve sales. Please employ one or more competent proof readers. It is desirable that they know something about the subject matter (ideally, have the technical person read it first and the spelling/grammar person last, although the latter should not have authority to change technical content without agreement of the former) but the most important thing is that they are competent in the language in which the book is written. I am thinking here of spelling, grammar and punctuation. This is, I thought, pretty basic stuff (and I speak only as someone who has not studied English for over 20 years, and who doesn't teach it), but horrors seen recently suggest otherwise, including, in no particular order: the phrase ".off of" (just "off" would have done); The use of apostrophes in plurals, particularly with abbreviations, where no possessive is denoted (e.g. if BB means battleship then the plural is BBs and not BB's, as the plural of battleship is battleships and not battleship's); The use of commas in the wrong places; The use of the wrong punctuation (commas instead of semi-colons etc.); The use of "sentences" which lack verbs; Mis-spelling of proper nouns, even when they are globally fairly well-known or could be checked easily (place names, manufacturers, "Yom Kipper War" etc.); Inappropriate use of capital letters for other than proper nouns; Split infinitives (e.g., to draw on the best known example, "to boldly go where no man has gone before"); Ending sentences in prepositions (e.g. in, of, from, to); Absence of proper nomenclature (e.g. in German parlance, calibres under 20mm were given in mm, while those of 20mm and upwards are given in cm. Hence what the Allies called the "88" is referred to in German texts as "8.8cm"). I know many of these are in wide use in speech (such as the non-existent word "nucular" instead of "nuclear" - I even hear many of them on the BBC!) but books, unlike the spoken media and even newspapers, are enduring and should, in my view, hold to higher standards. By the way, please don't bother to post gleefully to the list or to me any typos that you find in this message - I am not foolproof and it is always a mistake to proof something you have written yourself! Please also state the source of each photograph you include (ideally with negative numbers where relevant) and write citations (bibliography entries) in one of the recognised formats (thanks Mike!) so that others can continue the good work. A list at the end is fine. Finally, artwork. If you are going to include line drawings, which I applaud, as long as it is accurate and original or duly attributed, please render straight lines as straight and smoothly curved ones as smooth curves. I could draw wobbly ones myself but I wouldn't expect anyone to pay me for them. Captions should be printed (and spell-checked, preferably by a person and not a dumb computer!) and not hand-written - John Lambert stencils his (which must take for ever) but they can be run off on the most basic PC and printer and they do improve the impression given to the viewer. There is always the worry in my mind that a roughly drawn plan with scribbled captions may not be quite as accurate as it might be, the impression being that if the draughtsman was not sufficiently bothered about to make it look good, he may not have been that concerned about its accuracy either. Rough plans are not even much use, as a modeller needs to know where the point actually is and not just to within a few millimetres, or the parts won't join up. Is this where Lindberg went wrong? Having drawn plans from my own rough sketches and even inflicted the former on a few people who asked for the original dimensions, I know that drawing plans is time-consuming and no doubt buying them in is expensive. However, it does contribute to the quality feel of the finished item, as does not printing it on what feels like recycled lavatory paper (thankfully fairly rare these days). Sorry if anyone feels I am having a go at them. I really do appreciate your efforts, but as a person who might actually buy your future wares, it might actually help to sell more of them and fund your further projects if customers were convinced that they were buying something of good quality. Nobody is forced to buy a second publication if they feel the first one was poorly put together. Of course, if the customer doesn't care about these things, then they will buy them anyway and I will be wasting my time. Robert Lockie Swindon UK (but I'm not saying where and Swindon is a fairly large place) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: CA139JOHNF@aol.com Subject: LST Anyone know of a 1/350 Newport Class LST kit? If not how about plans hull lines so I can scratch build? FDD available plans do not list hull lines. John Frohock USNSM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "Edward F Grune" Subject: Loren Perry's "News from Gold Medal Models" I read Loren's 'Whats New' page; and in addition to the carrier parts what intriqued me was his new N-scale Roadkill item which he describes as "... Sixteen simulated figures of flattened animals and other life forms for use on country roads, residential areas, etc. Includes bunny, kitty, poodle, opossum, raccoon, armadillo, snake, feminist, lawyer, much more. Relief-etched in .013" brass for extra detail." I guess he's calling the lawyer an "other life form" ;-> I hope that he will include a photo of the fret on the page along with his other N-scale details. I'll have to figure out a good application for these details. Never ignore details for other modeling genres. I used Loren's N-scale TV antenna set to make the underwing radar antennas for a 1:144 scale Black Cat PBY). Ed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Tom & Carolyn Harrison" Subject: NEW from TOM'S MODELWORKS 1/700 scale set 751 for the new Tamiya Prinz Eugen kit, set contains cranes, radars, catapults, rails and much more. picture of set is on our web site. all the items you see on this set and more will be on our 1/400 Prinz Eugen set. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sets are also close behind these. Set cost 14.50 Set #752 US Carrier Flotation Baskets, half etched 60 per set, pictured on web site. Set cost $7.00 and not to be left out, the 1/350 builders can get set 3531 US Carrier Flotation Baskets, half etched and 48 per set. see web site for picture. cost per set $15.00 Both basket sets quality tested by HAZEGRAYADM prior to production run. For the 1/350 Scale USS Arizona builders, we now have 3 new conversion kits for the Trumpeter or Banner kits to add, improve and correct detail on the kits. they can be seen on our web site www.tomsmodelworks.com look for ship conversion kits TC3507, TC3508 & TC 3509 THE ESSEX KITS ARE IN THE SHIPYARD WITH CHRISTENING THIS YEAR. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Allanparry Subject: IJN CV camouflage 1944-45 Site updated http://www.geocities.com/ijncv/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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