Subject: SMML VOL 1997 Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2002 12:41:13 +1100 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http://sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Full suits of sails 2: Type 23 3: Stephen Allen's USS Twiggs 4: Re: 1/350 Pola 5: Type 22's 6: Re: Tirpitz Camo 7: B&w photo color interpretation 8: Hypodermic needles 9: Re: Type 23 10: Seydlitz coal scuttles ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Information 1: Small Warship SIG Website -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: WEM Hornet Special Offer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Robert Mosher" Subject: Re: Full suits of sails >> I believe that on large naval ships there was a position of Sailing Master. His job was to actually direct the use of these various combination of sails (comparable to the function of the Chief Engineer on powered ships) to enable the Captain to execute his tactical objective of combat maneuvers. Thus the Captain could focus on the battle and not be diverted by the need to direct the sailing operations as well. The Sailing Master must have not had regular "duty" hours, but be "on call" 24 hours a day, similar to the Ship's Master (Captain), as sudden weather changes often ocurred at any time, not just in battles. Things must have gotten chaotic in battle as saiors scurried from serving the guns to setting the sails, back to the guns, back to the sails, etc.. Commands were all vocal. Can you imagine the pandemonium of guns roaring, gunnery officers shouting, gun captains yelling for powder and shot, Sailing Master calling for men to go aloft, cries of the wounded, etc., etc.? No place for a Mama's Boy. And you thought your job was hectic!!!!!! Hoo Boy. << You are correct that this would be confusing and that is why the RN and most navies did it a bit differently. The ship's crew is divided into a number of "watches" each led by a petty officer and under the direction of either a midshipman or junior officer. If it was anticipated that changes of sail would be needed during an engagement (most engagements were actually fought under limited sets of canvas according to weather conditions and the amount of maneuver anticipated) then one or more of these watches would be detailed to carry out any sail changes while the remaining watches stayed at their guns. (each watch was assigned to specific guns as well as to specific sailing stations, so that the crew and the officers know who is supposed to be where and doing what under various conditions) Robert A. Mosher ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Graeme Martin Subject: Type 23 About Type 23's. Thanks Chris. But I live in Auckland, New Zealand. So joining your band in the UK would be somewhat difficult. Graeme Martin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "james tulloh jr Subject: Stephen Allen's USS Twiggs I enjoy your site and I esp was empressed with stephen allen's 4-stack uss twiggs. As I myself model the revell 4-stack dd I would like to get more info on how he did the guns, aft deckhouse, pe etc. This is the first real review I have seen on working with the revell model. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You Jim Tulloh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: Timothy Dike Subject: Re: 1/350 Pola >> Does anyone know anything about Trumpeter's 1/350 Pola? I saw it is sold for a very low price and was wondering if anyone knows if it is a quality model or a dud? << That depends on what you want to put into it. There is a review of it on ModelWarships.com and also in a back issue of Model Ship Journal that Steve Wiper did. My opinion is that is is more of a bathtub toy than a serious effort at a scale replica. That said the hull and basic shapes are there, and it could prove a good foundation for a nice buildup. But you will need some scratchbuilding experience it you want to build an accurate model. Timothy Dike Webmaster and Editor ModelWarships.com http://www.modelwarships.com/index1.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: "Andy Airlie" Subject: Type 22's Read in Navy News that HMS Sheffield a Batch 2 type 22 is to pay of early and leave the 'Fleet'? Is there something I don't know about the 22's as they look to me to be extremely handsome and mission capable ships, The 42's have much less firepower and are much older. Is this purely down to manpower demands? Seriously thinking about the WEM 1/350th Type 22, Is this kit available and anyone built it yet? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: Tirpitz Camo >> I'm looking for details for March 1944. << Well, looking at my references for TIRPITZ, here is my educated guess (since no one has yet written the definitive story of her camouflage) based on photos. She was in a "dazzle" or "splinter" type camouflage consisting of two colors, with very light panels at the bow and stern. The colors appear to be as follows: Darkest: (Norwegian) Blaugrau Dunkel (Colourcoats KM07); Middle Tone: (Norwegian) Blaugrau Hell (Colourcoats KM09); Light panels at bow and stern: Schnellbootweiss (Colourcoats KM10); Steel decks: Dunkelgrau 2 (Colourcoats KM 06); Wood decks: Teak (Colourcoats C01); Boot topping: Schiffsbodenfarbe III Grau 1 (Colourcoats KM05); Underwater hull: Schiffsbodenfarbe III Rot 5 (Colourcoats KM04). Mr. Pletscher and/or Mr. Krakow may chime in here and correct me. As I say: "my educated guess." Best, John Snyder White Ensign Models Home Page for WEM, http://WhiteEnsignModels.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: David Miller Subject: B&w photo color interpretation Hopefully, we are not too bored with the color interpretation thread, but I have another question in this matter. I am building a small display model of the USS Cairo, a Civil War, casemate, river ironclad. I have examined many photos and read many sources and still have some concerns regarding the color for the model. The conventional view is that the ships (except the deck and hull bottom) were painted black overall. This was the standard Navy practice at the time. However, in many of the photos I have seen, such as the following: http://www.pookturtle.org/cairo.htm http://www.pookturtle.org/carondelet.htm http://www.pookturtle.org/stlouis.htm the ships do not appear black to me. I am concerned that the uniforms of the sailors, the stacks, the davits, the ships boats, and cannons all appear to be much darker than the ships sloping and vertical surfaces that were supposed to be painted black. Some helpful experts have suggested this effect could be due to fading of black paint. This could be possible. Old photos and light can really play tricks on the eye. Has anyone, however, encountered a credible source that indicates these ships were painted in some lighter color(s), such as a neutral gray, or a shade of light blue? Would the hastily organized "river navy" of the Civil War been been painted differently than the ocean going navy? Did some of these ships receive "unofficial" or makeshift paint jobs while in service? If the collective wisdom gives a "no" to these questions, I will proceed with a faded black color scheme. Thanks for your consideration. Dave Miller Macomb, IL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: BSteinIPMS Subject: Hypodermic needles Another source for hypo tubing is your local pharmacy, that is, in states where these can be legally sold over the counter. In Minnesota, you can buy whatever you'd like, in any size, and very inexpensively. For example, on a 1/192 model of a FLETCHER class destroyer I built I used stainless steel hypodermic tubing for the gun barrels of the 5"/38 caliber guns, the 40mm Bofors, and the 20mm Oerlikons. And in a thousand other applications. The many rigged antenna lines had insulators about two scale feet long. After casting about for a way to make them, I finally settled on #29 gauge insulin needles. Perfect outside diameter, and the hole within allowed me to string these realistically on .002" monofilament lines. The monofilament came from Pacific Front Hobbies and is Japanese fishing line by Dai Riki. The insulin needles came from Wal-mart in a package of six for $1.29, including the syringes. Now that's cheap. Each was long enough for me to cut two "insulators" from each needle. For safety, I always cut the sharp tip off the needles before sorting them in a parts drawer by size. I also agree with not using used needles under any circumstances for modeling. I work for a hospital and get to see lots of nasty things caused by reusing needles "in the big city". The hospital has an autoclave, a pressure cooker of sorts used to sterlize surgical equipment, and there is no way you can duplicate this by boiling your used needles at home. Beside, the stench is awful. Bob Steinbrunn Minneapolis Nautical Research Guild ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: "George Peat" Subject: Re: Type 23 The type 23 is available here in the UK from Fleetscale in 1/72nd scale. In 1/96th she is smaller in length and proportionally smaller in beam there for making the model less stable and more difficult to work on at the pond side. 1/72nd scale offers a more stable better looking model on the water with much better handling than the smaller scale, George Peat BEM Secretary TF72/UK ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "James Baumann" Subject: Seydlitz coal scuttles Hello All I am submitting this query on behalf of a friend who is in the process of building the SMS Seydlitz in 1/350. The question pertains to the coal scuttles which are littered all over the decks; were they a circular hatch in deck only or were they mounted on/in a framed construction within the deck? The reason for the query is that he has been looking at the models built by Mr Durr who recently published a book about his 1/100 scale German High Seas fleet models, in one the photographs of one of the ship (Lutzow?) the scuttles( I am led to believe) were surrounded by a square of brown with the scuttle within it. the question is: If this is corrrect is the brown perhaps a lino surround? i have not seen the photographs in question (the query arose during a telephone call) Thanking you in advance JIM BAUMANN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Information ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Small Warship SIG Website Latest edition of Escort published today - www.brown.abelgratis.co.uk. Don't forget Scale Modelworld at Telford next weekend! If you're a SMMLy but not a member of the SIG, still make yourself known at our display. The Battleship and Cruiser SIGs will not be far away. Regards Les Brown ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: John Snyder Subject: WEM Hornet Special Offer We're told by our distributor to expect the HORNET around the end of November. WEM's price will be £68.04 (£79.95 EU/UK customers), and we're taking orders now. AND, we'll sweeten the offer: Pre-order the kit AND our photoetch set for it (PE 3525, priced at £27.66 [£32.50 UK/EU]) NOW, and we'll throw in the appropriate Colourcoats (5-N Navy Blue, 5-O Ocean Gray, 5-H Haze Gray, Deck Blue 20-B, Norfolk 65A Antifouling Red, and Black) FREE OF CHARGE! This offer will stand until the day we receive the kits. Best, John Snyder White Ensign Models Home Page for WEM, http://WhiteEnsignModels.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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