Subject: SMML VOL 207 Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 14.50:47 +1100 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http://sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: HMS Manchester 2: Hood colors 3: Help please 4: Re: Hornet's Flight Deck Color 5: Oil-stained Decks 6: SMML Questions 7: Re: CB Alaska 8: Bill's USCG List 9: Publication 10: Interesting version of Revell elco on ebay 11: Interesting items on eBay 12: Christmas Wish 13: Destroyer decks 14: Re: british destroyer deck colors 15: Where to find... 16: Re: SMML Questions 17: Re: Help me- USS Ben Franklin 18: Re: Interesting items on ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: GUSDOCVILL Subject: Re: HMS Manchester David Sepos, Just read your request for the Batch 3 destroyers. Contact me with how many you want. Hobby shop has one for sure and possible three. I will contact them and tell them to hold them for me. They are expensive out here -- $25 -$35 each. Awaiting your reply. Grace and peace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, bless you and your beloved family. Gus Semper Fi ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: "Michael Taylor" Subject: Hood colors I'm finishing up the WEM Hood and find that quite a few other modelers have painted some of the incline ladder parts in a wood color. It varies from person to person but I can find no reference to any part of these stairways being wood. Does anyone know what parts of the Incline ladder parts (handrail or steps) were constructed of wood? TIA........Mike T ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "lamkeel" Subject: Help please Hi to you all I am after background, or operational information on the 1950's R N Seaward Defence Boats of the Ford Class of around 1955. The reason. I am preparing a three sheet (or more) set of detailed drawings of HMS Shalford (SDB 01) for the magazine Marine Modelling International to be published early in 2003. Unfortunately I am only able to establish a few basic facts about the design. Designed in the early 50's as a replacement for the well known (and popular) 72 ft H.D.M.L. they were steel built 117' 3" o.a. units with distinctive twin funnels. Designed to guard esturies against submarines. Powered by diesel engines, they had a third smaller engine for cruising. They looked fast, but could only manage 18 knots max. or 8 knots when cruising on the centre engine. I know that many were sold to the South African Navy. I have 17 units listed but I believe that up to 20 were built. I have no idea what they were like in service, although the drawings show that they were well equipped. Any help would be much appreciated. May I take this opportunity to wish all of you (and in particular Shane & Lorna) (including those that I have lost their e-mail addresses) Seasonal Greetings and a better 2003. Yours "Aye" John ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: Hornet's Flight Deck Color Hi Robert, >> 1.the boxart clearly shows the flightdeck to be wood (possibly teak), but the paint guide tells it to be 30% navy blue + 70% dark grey. which is right. << HORNET's flight deck was wood, Douglas fir to be precise. It was stained blue, a color called Norfolk 250-N. This was a shade very close to 5-N Navy Blue, which is the darker color used in the camouflage on the hull. If you want to avoid having to mix paints according to Trumpeter's instructions (they reference Gunze Mr. Color paints, which have no correct USN colors), just get Colourcoats enamels. These are accurately matched to USN WW2 colors, and the only mixing you'll need to do will be to shake and stir the paint before applying. We've got all the colors you'll need. Best, John Snyder The Token Yank White Ensign Models Home Page for WEM, http://WhiteEnsignModels.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: John Snyder Subject: Oil-stained Decks I received another excerpt of information today from Denis James--to give credit where credit is due--regarding the RN practice during WW2 of darkening wood decks with fuel oil. This is from WELL DONE LEANDER, published in 1971. The following, on p.37, took place when LEANDER was Flagship of the Red Sea Force: "Sunday's routine, much to our Padre's annoyance, and ours, was somewhat upset. The Sin Bosun expressed agitation in that our spiritual uplifting would now be delayed for another week; we, because SNORS advised Captain Horan, who informed the Commander, to tell our Divisional Officer to order the Buffer to have those beautiful yellow holystoned decks obliterated with crude oil. Not-so-Jolly Jack Tars fisted buckets of the thick stenching liquid, grabbed long-handled scrubbers and commenced to scrub the evil smelling stuff deep into the grain of timbers previously immaculate. This sacrilege followed reports from our bombers that British warships stood out starkly not only in sunlight, but moonlight. "Sleeping on deck now ruined one's bedding as well as one's sleep but we felt more securely obscure." Cheers, John Snyder The Paint (and oil) Guy White Ensign Models ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: BK Dean Subject: SMML Questions Brooks No, can't say. But my father did test fly the B-47 Stratojet. I will venture a wild guess and say the Black Aces. BK ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: David Sepos Subject: Re: CB Alaska Donald Morgan wrote: >> I'm a collector of 1/1250 metal scale ship models, and I'm currently hunting for a 1/1250 scale model of the USN Large Cruiser Alaska, by the Delphin Co. Delphin is long gone, but some of their stuff is still around. Can anyone tell me where to find the model I want or, if anyone has such in good condition, please state price. << Have you considered the 1/1250 Neptun USS Alaska? It's a beautiful model; I've had one for awhile. It has been in recent production and should be available from several sources. Unless you're strictly a Delphin collector, give it a look, and it may be less costly than paying collectors prices for an OOP Delphin. As I recall, I paid around $60 for mine. Regards, Dave ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: EDWARD GRUNE Subject: Bill's USCG List Hi Bill Regarding your list, you need to add a couple of items. 1) The ISW USS Paulding-class destroyer - served as CGDD during 1925 to the early thirtys as "Rum Chasers". A couple of the early 4-pipers served in this role too. 2) The ISW Barnegat-class AVP. These became WAVPs/WHEC later. Ed Mansfield, TX ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Fkbrown90 Subject: Publication A few months ago a well thought of periodical asked if any SMML people were interested in submitting articles for publication. I now have a modest essay to present for consideration, but I cannot find the name of the organization, address, or whom to contact. Therefore I will appreciate it if anyone will please advise of a contact person. Thank you. Franklyn ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: "Stephen Allen" Subject: Interesting version of Revell elco on ebay Someone is currently auctioning a Revell kit HS 312-200, 1/72 80 foot Elco on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3101813013&category=2590 What's interesting about this is that the kit subject is PT 190 'Jack of Diamonds' complete with a sprue detailing the mk 13 aerial torpedoes and roll-off racks! Before anyone gets too excited, the rack details are both sparse and inaccurate - too widely spaced for a start - and the base kit is still the early build Elco used for the PT-109/117 etc - but I had no idea that Revell had ever moulded an alternative roll off rack torpedo set for this kit. Wonders never cease but please roll on the day when we have a decent armament set for the 80 foot boats - if we did WEM might just shift quite a lot of their USN green and brown shades... regards Steve ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: paulship37 Subject: Interesting items on eBay I saw these items for sale at eBay: WW2: The D-day Ships http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2900780055 Lesser known British Naval Actions 1804-1942 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2901223685 St Nazaire The GREATEST RAID OF ALL http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2901224238 British Warships Since 1945 : Critchley 1981 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2901561242 British Warships Since 1945 Part II http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2901561243 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Kelvin Mok Subject: Christmas Wish Trumpeter Hornet I haven't seen the Hornet kit yet but all the rave reviews make me salivate in anticipation. One wish does cross my mind. As part of the box art I would wish that Trumpeter could have printed good diaroma drawings of the insides of the hangers complete with drawings of planes and busy personnel. The idea is that one can cut out the box art panels and pose them belowdecks. A casual look through the model's elevator hanger doors would make appear as if the hangers further back in the inner recesses of the ship are hard at work. The drawings will also provide a template to detail the elevator hangers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: "Chris and Kayo Amano-Langtree" Subject: Destroyer decks Hi Aryeh British destroyer decks are a difficult subject. You also need to remember that corticene or any of the propriety deck coverings came in different colours and that almost certainly chocolate brown was one of the interior colours not exterior. Destroyer decks were various shades of grey and during the war also blue. Chris Amano-Langtree ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: John Snyder Subject: Re: british destroyer deck colors Hi Ed, Most of the information you're seeking can be found at: http://www.shipcamouflage.com Just follow the links to the series of articles written by Alan Raven and published in Plastic Ship Modeller in the late '90s. He thoroughly covers RN camouflage development. BTW, RN destroyers only had some decks covered in Corticene, while others were painted steel. For the Towns, some did retain USN #20 Standard Deck Gray for some time. Once they repainted, however, it would have been to whatever deck colour was called for in the particular camouflage scheme they were wearing. In the cast of Western Approaches camouflage, the deck colour would have been MS2. You really need to get hold of the 3-volume series of soft bound books from WR Press on Royal Navy Camouflage (a 4th volume will be along later, I'm told). We stock all three volumes, priced at £16.95; they're full of camouflage profiles, many in colour, and lots of textual information. And of course we have all the accurate WW2 RN camouflage colours in our Colourcoats line of warship enamels. Best, John Snyder The Paint Guy White Ensign Models Home Page for WEM, http://WhiteEnsignModels.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "Rui Francisco Matos" Subject: Where to find... Hi smml'ies I've been looking for this model, but don't find it anywhere: LW Models - 1/72 scale Russian Torpedo Boat Chesma Any help would be appreciated!! Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year for all of the Crew!! Rui Matos (aka Skipper) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: BSteinIPMS Subject: Re: SMML Questions SSNBuff writes: >> I needed Buff color paint for a Victorian ironclad and ended up at my local hobby shop. They had the color but it was a Floquil Railroad color! Did I violate a shipmodelers code here by using railroad colors? << >> No, indeed! Floquil marketed a line of naval and a companion line of nautical colors for years. These were solvent-based acrylic enamels, just as finely ground as their railroad colors, and all airbrushed beautifully. The naval colors line received a fair amount of criticism for color accuracy but, this aside, they were (and are) a joy to use. They can be brush painted over small areas, but for larger areas such as hulls and superstructure you really need an airbrush. If you're airbrushing Floquil over polystyrene and are worried about the solvent attacking the plastic and think you need to use Floquil's Barrier as a protective undercoat, you can now relax. Floquil will airbrush beautifully over styrene *if* you apply it lightly, slightly dry (but not so dry that you get a rough "pebble" finish), and gradually build up successive coats. But this is good advice for *any* brand of paint you're airbrushing. I've used Floquil's railroad colors for about 25 years now in aircraft modeling, mixing the various stock colors to proper aircraft colors using their color charts which are available separately. These are not the paint chip charts which are displayed next to the paint racks in hobby shops, but color charts in an 8" x 10" format available for purchase separately with paint chips and mixing formulas for a number of countries which operated aircraft including the U.S, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Italy. And for steel warship models I've used a combination of Floquil's naval and railroad colors, mixed for greater historical accuracy and lightened for scale effect, for a number of years now. Some of my models have even gotten a second glance. Since they haven't shown up yet, I feel certain that the much dreaded yet little-known "color police" will probably leave me alone. All this might be academic since Testors Corporation has bought out Floquil. They say they'll continue most of the railroad colors and will drop the other, less successful, lines of paints. If I were just starting out and didn't have a desk drawer full of Floquil, I'd send John Snyder a large check, my first born, and 10 lbs. of chocolate in exchange for a comprehensive starting line-up of WEM Colour Coats. Just an opinion, mind. Bob Steinbrunn Minneapolis Nautical Research Guild ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: Ives100 Subject: Re: Help me- USS Ben Franklin >> I'm trying to find a pre built model of a submarine my father was stationed on in 1968. It was call the USS Benjamin Franklin. I would appriciate any help. << I am currently BUILDING just the same ship for someone who was served as a sonarman on the Ben Franklin, SSBN 640. I am using the Blue Water Navy resin USS Simon Bolivar SSBN 641 kit, and have made a custom wood base with keel blocks. BWN kits are reasonably accurate, and at 1:350 scale, build up to a nice size, particularly an SSBN (about 15 inches long). As far as pre-built, there is an outfit called "The Submarine Store", and they DO carry prebuilts of this same kit (http://www.submarinestore.com/models-us.htm). Hold onto your wallet, though. They sell the unbuilt kit for $59.95, and the built kit (WITHOUT BASE) at $425. [Hey guys, this is for those who want to know how much your time is worth on a relatively straightfroward assembly & paint job!] They only ship by Fedex, and that price is NOT included, so add another $30-50 to the cost. My advice? Befriend a modeler who has some experience at submarine models in your area. You may find someone to do it for minimal cost. I just did two models of the USS Halibut (see the SteelNavy page under "Submarines" for pictures) for the USS Halibut 2002 reunion. Because I admired the extremely dangerous work that boat did during the Cold War, I donated these to the Halibut crew for their reunion fund raiser; my first non-paying job. Tom Dougherty ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: SHIPMDLR Subject: Re: Interesting items on ebay Everyone, After seeing the plans mentioned on eBay, I want to caution all of you to make sure you know who drew them. If Mr. Wiswiesser drew them, I would take it with a grain of salt. His plans have been lacking some critical linework found in the BU Ships drawings of the same plans as well as being quite different in some areas. I have noticed some lines being completely left out of the hull plans. I have nothing against Mr. Wiswiesser at all. I have just found his accuracy to be less than accurate in some of the drawings I have. Just so everyone is aware. Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. Purchase online with all major credit cards http://flagshipmodels.com Proud sponsor of the 2003 IPMS/USA National Convention http://www.ipmsmetrookc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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