Subject: SMML VOL 1902 Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2002 12:26:27 +1000 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http://sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: HMS Ariadne 2: An Unrelated Battleship Question 3: Re: Best place to live 4: Re: V&W class HMAS Waterhen 5: Best Place to Live 6: Calling all train modelers 7: Re: Sources of Information 8: Re: Best place to live 9: Texas 10: Chicago Model Show 11: Best place to live 12: Rattlesnake JACK 13: Small Propellers for Ship Models 14: J Bs rigging 15: Re: The Iowa Saga 16: Re: oz Vs Texas 17: HMAS WATERHEN 18: Rigging and warping of modelships 19: Re: U Class destroyers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "George Peat" Subject: Re: HMS Ariadne HMS Ariadne is covered as part of the Warship profile number 38. Abdiel class fast minesweepers. I have a copy here Mark if you want to get back to me off list & I will see what I can come up with from that source for you Regards. George Peat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Michael Worrell" Subject: An Unrelated Battleship Question OK, so I'm sorry for throwing in my half-pence on the question of battleships. Probably should have revised that post and edited it rather more. Nevertheless, onward and downward: While leafing through my copy of "Forward for Freedom: The Story of Battleship Wisconsin (BB-64)", by Amy W. Yarsinke, I've found a curious photo on page 61. It's a color image taken between 1988 and 1991, of WISCONSIN firing 'B' turret off to starboard. This is not strange. What _is_ strange is that there's a gaggle of observers watching. I'd seen the amusing movie "Under Siege", and I thought that perhaps the effects seen there of a 16" firing was plausible. With that in mind, I asked one of the docent types about the main battery, and he swore to me that nobody was on deck when the main battery was fired. No noise in the turret, but lots of noise outside. The picture has about six men in view, officers and enlisted. The enlisted guys are wearing ear covering, while the officers are casually standing there in khakis and ball caps, sans ear protection. The photo also nicely conveys the muzzle blast and water distortion from a single barrel (number 2, I think) being fired. The question is, I suppose, "What're they thinking?" I might be missing something, but if nobody hung around for the main battery in 1944 or so, why would they be doing so in 1991, and why no ear coverings? From my experience in other high-noise environments, a yellow pair of 'push-in plugs' isn't going to do much for you, and I daresay that a 16" rifle is louder than a bunch of racing engines. Rather nice book, if you're just in for a general overview of the vessel. It's got some nice pictures, including one that would make a great diorama: CA-173 ST PAUL and DD-761 BUCK are to port and starboard of WISCONSIN, respectively, and they're somewhere off the Korean coast while making medical & mail transfers in March of 1952. Rather nifty to see them in that arrangement. Any answers, comments, et cetera, are appreciated. Thanks again, Michael Worrell "You think you know what I'm doing, so obviously you don't."---Aeon Flux ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "D.Przezdziecki" Subject: Re: Best place to live It is TERRIBLY off topic, but the story is just too good (IMO) not to be told. Please keep in mind that it is only an anecdote and is not intended to cause offence. During the planning phase of first personal meeting of a group of online Yahoo bridge players we were discussing various venues in USA. One of the places proposed was Austin Texas. One of the women present (an American lady) objected strongly: "I promissed my body that I will NEVER take it to Texas again" she said, "And I intend to keep my promise!!!" :-) Best D.P ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "George Peat" Subject: Re: V&W class HMAS Waterhen From what I can find in my reference library Man 'O war 2 'V' & 'W' class destroyers by Alan Raven & John Roberts. The a/a guns fitted to Waterhen aft of the funnel were quad .5" vickers, fitted on the platform port & starboard. Hope that this little info helps George Peat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Devin J. Poore" Subject: Best Place to Live As someone who has been stationed in the north, south, east and west, born and raised in Indiana, lived in Florida, and now call New York City my home, I have to cast my vote for the San Francisco bay area and wine country. I'm just waiting for the real estate prices to come down (rents are already dropping like crazy), or some windfall of money (crossing my fingers for a published novel!) so that I can move out there. Devin ps My entire mothers side of the family is from Texas. They all moved. Guess they didn't like it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "Devin J. Poore" Subject: Calling all train modelers I figured it's time for a modeling related post: Okay, I have no access to hobby shops where I live. I want to order some of the train air horn assemblies, the types that mount of the top front of the diesel engines. I want to cut them down and shape them to use as ships bells in 1/350th scale. Can anyone give me a manufacture and part number that I can order from Walthers (tried ordering their catalog, it's out of stock), and what size I should use (N, Z, HO?) to be approximate for 1/350th? Thanks, Devin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: "Michael London" Subject: Re: Sources of Information There is no doubt that several references are better than one. The problem frequently arises however that an incorrect ref is picked up by others and repeated to the point that it becomes gospel. There is nothing more irritating when reading a reference book (highly praised in forewords by knowledgable and respected individuals in the field) than to see flagrant errors, some even contradicted in the same book. In one highly touted tome I counted no less than twelve major errors, excluding obvious typos. It makes one wonder just how many others there are which one hasn't caught. Remember the writer's dictum: "Stealing from one source is called plagiarism; stealing from two or more is called research". Michael London ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Michael London" Subject: Re: Best place to live Tongue firmly in cheek this thread confuses me. I always thought Texas was a state and not a country. Anyway, bearing this in mind, I dragged out my atlas and couldn't find a place, province or whatever called Texas anywhere in Canada. Michael London ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Sam Pullig Subject: Texas It is off topic, But I got a kick out of reading the posts. My son is at Texas A&M went to the football game there this weekend (first). He is in the Corp of Cadets. 76,000 people there and it was a OFF week, school has not even started yet. There will be 84,000 at the next home game. Are there that many people Down Under? This is our Labour Day hope everyone has a good day off and good weather. Sam Pullig ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Kurt Van Dahm Subject: Chicago Model Show The annual International Model & Hobby Expo is being held here September5-8, 2002. The ONLY day the public is admitted is Sunday, Sept. 8. It is at the David E. Stevens Convention Center on River Road (just S. of the Kennedy Expressway) by O'Hare Airport in Rosemont, IL. Admission is about $7 with parking at $10. All the major manufacturers will be there but with the exception of Dumas and Midwest don't expect to see too much ship/boat specific stuff unless the fast electric r/c boats are your thing. But, all the major plastic kit people are there as well as the airbrush, paint, glue, etc. mfg's. Lots of RR and r/c cars and planes. Take care, Kurt Van Dahm Westmont, IL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: BSteinIPMS@aol.com Subject: Best place to live Actually, it's Minneapolis. Why? Because we only have contact with the turbulent outside world during the two weeks of summer when the dogsleds can get through. Bob Steinbrunn Minneapolis, Minnesnowta U.S.A. Nautical Research Guild ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: "Wayne E. Weatherwax" Subject: Rattlesnake JACK If my memory serves me correctly the U.S. Navy brought back the flying of the Rattlesnake JACK for the American bicentinial celebration in 1976. At that time all US Navy vessels flew the Rattlesnake flag as the JACK from the jackstaff located on the bow of all commissioned vessels. At the conclusion of 1976 the Secretary of the Navy decided that the oldest commissioned vessel would hence forth fly the Rattlesnake at the JACK position. I believe the destroyer tender USS Dixie was the first ship so honored, but I may be wrong. So once again having all vessels fly the Rattlesnake is not new, and I doubt it will ever take the place of the National Ensign flown on all vessels Main mast. The Rattlesnake would only be flown in port or at anchorage, only the US Flag is flown when a US Navy ship is underway. Wayne ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: Edwparent@aol.com Subject: Small Propellers for Ship Models As a builder of small ship models, mostly of Civil War period in 1/240 scale, I am always looking for suppliers of tough to scratch build model fittings. There seems to be very little available in ship's propellers under 1 inch in diameter, particularly 4 bladed and/or left handed. I usually have to scratch build them from twisted paper tabs glued onto short slices of styrene tubing. Some of my propellers are only 1/4 inch in diameter and are a real pain to make. Perhaps some of you SMMLies know of a supplier of tiny molded or photoetched small ships props that could help me out. Maybe someone like Tom's Modelworks would take this on? Thanks for any help. Ed Parent ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "graham and melanie" Subject: J Bs rigging JB has a pet spider :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: AAA Hobby Subject: Re: The Iowa Saga >> After reading the above paragraph, albeit out of context, the solution came to me. It was the mention of the word airship that did it. If the USN tied the Iowas to a large number of helium filled balloons at various heights above the ship so that it could soar into battle then these behemoths could become very useful indeed. << John, what we really need to do is dredge up the Yamato, install a wave motion gun --- oh, that's been done already! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Chisum" Subject: Re: oz Vs Texas >> we have farms that are bigger than Texas << Yeah, but what do they produce? Our "farms" ...Ranches have greenery >> wonder what things Texans are ashamed of << Becoming a state again.... If you like Texas, you're welcome to stay. If you don't like it ' then PLEASE LEAVE!!! R. Chisum ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: "Andrew Jones" Subject: HMAS WATERHEN Was wondering did you do a search via the war memorial's web site as some of the photos on the data base might be able to help you Andrew ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "James Baumann" Subject: Rigging and warping of modelships Thank you Ian McBean for your kind comments on my modelship rigging; I have been seriously thinking about putting pen to paper and nail down once and for all for all to see what it is that I do; its all a bit of a mystery to me too....!! Without writing a huge tome of disjointed information that no one can follow in extreme brevity here it is: Use the right plastic for drawing sprue; Airfix classic ships HMS victory has sprue runners to die for and it is black and draws like a dream.... Heat an end on a candle flame, allow it to light, blow out and dab the hot melting end on a piece of cardboard or scrap timber over a table and pull gently but speedily until you get the required thickness; keep tension on the thread as it cools so as to keep the thread straight (unless you need drooping lines or wind deflected lines (Ensign halyards off a gaff etc) Cut the thread into suitable lenghts, dont worry about the waste,one HMS Victory Kit will rigg 20ooo ships!!!!!! Using soft and absolutely dead parallel ended tweezers (so as to prevent kinks in our superthin length of sprue) raise the sprue of table and dab end into either: matt varnish,superglue or liguid cement (Revell proffesional; smells nice too) attach to spar and WAIT 20 seconds while supporting sprue thread. Let it go and using a cocktail stick or fine paintbrush or piece of wire or knife blade (or anything that suits you or comes to hand) apply smallest quantity of chosen adhesive to terminal point of rigging; using the paintbrush with small amount of liquid cement "grab" the thread and draw it thru the adhesive on spar until reasonably tight; take tweezers and pull gently on waste while brushing very gently the sprue on the waste side of the spar until the sprue parts leaving a clean and crisp attachment without furry bits Funnel guy wires are the trickiest because they have to be a pre cut length twixt deck and funnel, use a piece of thicker drawn sprue to make pattern, copy in chosen thickness in length and attach to funnel first with matt varnish (thinned),after 20 seconds attach to deck with matt varnish Hey presto, easy rigging!!! (notwithstanding going crosseyed and swearing at lungbusting volume and vowing to take up golf/hang-gliding (simultaneously??) or gardening etc Having completed the rigging use smoke from a steady source (incense stick is good; less cancer than tobbaco...) to tension your rigging(practice the tensioning techniques before rigging your WW1 Dreadnought et al) At some stage I shall rewrite the above into a more comprehensive format to cover other materials than sprue for larger scales such as 1/350 etc as well as rigging order, colours,thicknesses, pulley blocks and cage ariels etc NEW SUBJECT: Warping resin hulls and concertinaing PE railings..... Every waterline model be it plastic or resin that I have ever built has been mounted on a sea base which is made of a material that does not bend (visibly) usually a laminate of aluminium/perspex/aluminium for 1/700 which I get cut to chosen size by my local sign engraving company to fit my wallcase or showcase as appropriate For very long resin hulls (Lutzow mentioned by Kathy/Pirie Sublett) as an example or my Derrflinger I use a piece of stainless steel plate 3mm thick (it cured the attempted warping of AKAGI!!!) this I get cut by a sheetmetal workshop. All the models are then A) glued to base with cyano B) screwed to base at extremities as well as midships with selftapping screws into pre drilled holes on underside of model as many times as you dare.... The main problem with temperature variations (in northern Europe/England) is the serious differential in relative expansion rates of dissimilar materials (resin/plastic/stainless steel/brass ) in very close proximity Good example is Ocean liner models with long runs of 5 bar railing, in cold weather the rails can look like ski slaom run. A partial cure is to use short lengths of rail at a time in 1/700 about 2 inches max, cut the stanchion off at join and draw thinned matt varnish across join to next stanchion; this will give flexible expansion joint and prevent snaking (unless you are building plastic models in Hawaii to show to your friends in Greenland....) NEW SUBJECT: Have just returned from an absolutely splendid holiday in Brittany in France (steeped in history, beautiful architecture, glorious landscapes, beaches that are totally devoid of other tourists and kids and jetskis, with the most wonderful sandy beaches where swimming is a pleasure etc etc etc and of course excellent smooth roads with little or no traffic, no visible speed cameras, all this in a fast car with Katrin next to me; life could not get much better... but it did!! For all enthusiasts of weird and wonderful pre and post dreadnoughts I heartily reccomend the book that I found in the Maritime Museum at Douarnez Cent ans de Cuirasses Francais which roughly translates as 100 years of french battleships published by Marines Editions 359 route de Sainte Luce BP20152 44301 Nantes cedex 3 France http://www.marines-editions.com Feeling thoroughly inspired for massive reverse sheer ram bows; l Arsenal,Jaques please help me........!! I hope to meet some SMMLs at the UK IPMS National show at Telford in November; if you are suddenly in shadow its because I am standing behind you!!!!! JIM BAUMANN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: Mike Potter Subject: Re: U Class destroyers >> can somebody point me in the direction of colour photos of any U class destroyers and close ups of the bridge and any other structures What was on the floors of the bridge << I too would be interested in color photos of WW2 late-WW2 destroyers. I recall from a visit that HMCS HAIDA has wooden gratings on the floor of the bridge. WARSHIP Vol 5 (WARSHIP 18) has close-up black-and-white photos of HMAS WARRAMUNGA, a similarly-equipped destoyer. These photos clearly reveal a grating on a raised platform inboard of the bridge bulwark, and less clearly indicate that a grating is on the bridge, too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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