Subject: SMML VOL 2460 Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 02:02:01 +1100 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http//sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1 First impressions Kombrig Moskva 2 What's an SO2? 3 Re Prinz Eugen Teak 4 Re Fresnel Lens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1 Models on auction 2 Kits and books for sale in Australia ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From Pieter Cornelissen Subject First impressions Kombrig Moskva Hi Gang, It's the 2nd half of the eighties. Star Wars themes and Front 242 tracks boom out of a much abused cassete player. There's a bit too much SF stuff in my room to be psychologically healthy. I'm looking at a black and white picture in a maritime magazine.....The subject is called "Krasina class" or "Slava class". I can't help noticing something strange. While Ronald Reagan is bragging about Star Wars the Soviet Navy has already built an (evil?) Imperial Star Destroyer........ .........20 years on..... I've just received my second Kombrig Moskva. Unlike the previous one this is the project 1164 missile cruiser kit, not the project 1123 helicopter carrier. Unlike most Kombrig kits this kit has PE included. As project 1164 was the conventionally powered equivalent to the Kirov class (project 1144) nuclear powered cruiser I'd like to compare her to the combination of a Trumpeter Frunze and WEM PE set for it. Be aware however that Kombrig doe not include railings and ladders in it's PE set, only the special railings for the helicopter deck. The hull is almost perfect. Cast in a light grey resin it is dead straight, has sharp detail and the right (double curved) sheer line worked in (!).The helicopter hangar and after superstructure area are part of the hull casting. The VLS 'circles' and reloads system for the Fort (SA-N-6 Grumble) missile system are cast into the hull and are very sharp. There are no difficult-to-fill deck levels like the Trumpeter kit. No lower hull is supplied however. Small minus points The shielding around the 130mm gun was broken off on my example and there are some annoying 'aztec temple' stairways near the helicopter deck to remove. There are three big superstrucure parts two of which fit into holes in the deck.The bridge level fits on one of those two. The advantages of resin casting really show in this area. The funnel/ECM tower combination is one of the best single piece castings I've seen. One can find sharp detail on every side of the parts, no extra pieces to clean up and seams to fill. What looks like and ugly seam where the hull and forward superstructure parts meet is in fact hidden by the support structure for the missile canisters. All 8 canisters on each side are supplied as one part with their supports which saves a lot of potential fit problems. There is no walkway under the inboard side ofthe canisters however, but that can be changed quite quickly using a razor saw and sandpaper. Some deck levels with smaller structures are supplied in a rather thick resin wafer. As I try to minimize sanding of resin parts I think I will be cutting the small structures from the deck levels and cut out replacement decks out of polystyrene sheet. Especially as the deck levels are a bit heavy. The smaller parts are bit mixed. Gatling guns, searchlights and ASW rockets launchers are OK, the Top Dome radar and support do not match any of my photogrphs or drawings and should be replaced by Trumpeter parts. This is also true for the 8 Side Globe ECM bulbs. There are no bigger boats supplied in my kit, only small boats. So that's another reason to raid a Trumpeter Kirov or Frunze. OTOH the Pop Group small missile radar sytems and the Hormone helicopter are nicely done, better than the Trumpeter examples. And that brings us to the question that any Soviet Navy fan has been waiting for Did they get the 130mm turret right? The answer is 'yes'. Unlike Trumpeter or Skywave Kombrg captured the lightbulb-like shape of the turret as close as possible in 1/700. The barrels are also in scale, one only has to add the cooling liquid tubes. The stainless steel PE fret is very thin and parts intensive. The Top Sail/Big Net combination for example consists of 16 parts, 14 of which are PE. This will be very difficult to assemble however as the support girders for the main radar disch are supplied as seperate parts. The WEM solution for this radar has less parts and is far more user friendly. I think I will try to build it anyway and buy an extra WEM set if necessary. The Hormone B helicopter has seperate gear legs (unlike the WEM version) and relief etched rotor blades. The weakest point of the kit is the small (A4 size) instructions sheet. There are no steps outlined and the exploded view that is supplied is far too schematic to be useful, especially for the PE. The instructions and drawings for the Top Steer radar are simply wrong. Get the Concord publications book by Steven J Zaloga on Slava, Udaloy and Sovremanny for good close-ups of this radar system or surf the internet. Top Steer was fitted to all early Sovremenny's so you should be able to find a lot of pictures. I've started detailing the bridge structure using this book and it is a good starting point. I've been adding a few doors and ladders but that's it so far. I think the kit should be far easier to build than the trumpeter Kirovs. It is also 4 times as expensive and I have already bought an extra Kirov as a spare parts source. As I build about one soviet subject each year the extra parts will also be useful for other projects anyway. Verdict. The Kombrig Moskva (Slava) is a very good, state of the art kit of a difficult subject. It is also a bit expensive and it is not recommended for people without experience with resin and PE. And after 20 years I have finally received my evil empirial star destroyer. Pieter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From "Allan and Crystal Plumb" Subject What's an SO2? I'm working on a 1950's Fletcher for a friend. His father was an "SO2" thereon during 1955-1957. A quick look found this listing of current rates http//usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/navyjobs/blnavyjobs.htm but I don't see "SO" in there. (I know, or think I know, that the "2" means "PO 2nd class", right?) I'm planning a brass plaque with his rate, and although it's just going to say SO2, I want to know... Thanks! Allan Plumb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From wem Subject Re Prinz Eugen Teak Hi Bill, You'll be on target using Colourcoats C01 Teak. Best, John Snyder The Token Yank White Ensign Models http//WhiteEnsignModels.com for secure online ordering. For the latest news from WEM, Click Here http//www.whiteensignmodels.com/brochure/whats_new1.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From Val Kraut Subject Re Fresnel Lens The primary resaon for a Fresnel lens is weight reduction. A convex lens -curves outward and is thicker in the middle - is used to produce a collimated (directional) beam of light from a source. That is, a small source produces a concentrated directional beam. The lenses required to do this for long distances such as a light house lenses are very thick in the Center. The resulting weight is a major problem. Fresnel realized that only the curved portions are necessary and thus the center material was unnecessary. He invented a lens with concentric circular sections that had the right outside curvature but were essentially collapsed to get rid of the thick middle. Optical scattering at the points where segments join make these lenses unsuitable for optical telescopes, but they are more that adequate for producing a tight collimated light beam. Early light houses had complicated reflective systems, Fresnel replaced these with 1 refractive Fresnel lens. These lenses with a "ribbed" looking surface are found in many systems where a tight beam is required and weight is more important that optical quality. Val Kraut ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From "Rod Dauteuil" Subject Models on auction Just to let the fellow SMMLies know, I've listed some models on Ebay including an original Lindberg Bobtail Cruiser with brass railings. My username is c177guy and I have a bunch of planes out there too. I do plan on listing some more ships and planes perhaps over the weekend. Rod ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From "chris" Subject Kits and books for sale in Australia Hi All, I have the following for sale in Australia ONLY. Prices DO NOT include postage. Kits Mirage 1/400 Type IXA U-Boat U-40 w/ photoetch set $20 Mirage 1/400 Type VIIC U-Boat U-570 w/photoetch set $20 Revell USS Lionfish w/ Nautilus Models resin upgrade set and photoetch $50 1/48 (?) Fremantle Class patrol boat hull. Fibreglass, comes with a stand. $65 Billings Boats Bankert tug. Suitable for radio control. $80 Books Two book set US Submarine Operations in WW2 US Destroyer Operations in WW2 Written by Theodore Ruscoe. Both books are hardback with dust jackets and have photos, illustrations and fold out maps. Books are in excellent condition. $60 Thanks, Chris Evenden Canberra ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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