Subject: SMML VOL 2520 Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 03:40:12 +1000 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http//sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1 GREAT FIREPOWER PHOTOS 2 Re Plastic Gears source? 3 Re TRIP TO CALIFORNIA 4 Re Chicago, Ill. and a putative aircraft carrier 5 Re Dreadnaught 6 Re Dreadnought 7 Aircraft carriers in Chicago, and Noah's Ark 8 Re Dreadnought 9 Re Dreadnought 10 Re Ark, as in Noah 11 Re Noah's ark 12 Re Hobby Shops in Chicago 13 plastic gears 14 Chicago Aircraft Carrier ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From URUDOFSKY@aol.com Subject GREAT FIREPOWER PHOTOS This photo of the USS IOWA demonstrates firepower at its best. Are there more photos of battleship power that can top this? http//www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/dod/8505379.jpg Ulrich Rudofsky ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From John Mianowski Subject Re Plastic Gears source? >> I have several boat models that I will like to motorize. I need to gear down the electric motor to bring the boats to scale speed. The boats are single, twin and triple screws. That means I have to make my own gear train to match the shaft positions and motor installation. The motor mount and gear train is easy enough to make from acrylic plastic. Is there a source for plastic gears. The gear-tooth size should match the motors' used in motorized cars. I haven't been able to get suitable gears from toy cars and I need lots of them anyway.. Modelling tips I have been getting plenty of scrap acrylic sheets from the retailer. Some of these are sizeable, such as a half inch thick by 34 " x 12 " panels. In two of the boat kits the wood was warped. I restored them by soaking the wood then weighing them down between two of these panels. The panels are absolutely flat and quite heavy, more than enough to flatten the wood parts. And they are waterproof! I also had a bunch of 1/16" acrylic square offcuts. These are excellent for making hull templates as the outlines can be scratched directly on the sheet, cut and sanded to the exact profile. The hull reference grid lines can also be scratched onto this template and you can stack them together to get a good eyeball check for accuracy. The acrylic material is strong and dimensionally rigid. << See http//www.sdp-si.com/ http//www.servolink.com JM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From Darren Scannell Subject Re TRIP TO CALIFORNIA >> You plan to be in Long Beach on the 11th AND SF the same day!? You driving or flying? If the latter, you got a LOT of drivin' to do. We're talking near 600 miles and some of this will be in heavy traffic. Then leave SF on the 14th and arrive in Portland on the 15th and Victoria on the 16!? Holy cow! You won't be arriving in Portland. You'll be driving thru at about 80 mph. You plan to sleep at all? Sounds like a race to me. Are you one of those folks from the east coast who thinks that since L.A. and S.F. are in the same state they're only two hours apart? I suggest that you rearrange your itinerary or you're gonna need a vacation when you finish this one. By the way, if you find time to slow down and enjoy the scenery I recommend the air museum in Tillamook OR., along the coast. Lot's of beautiful, real antique aircraft. Paul (in San Jose CA). P.S. Bring shorts and a lot of sunscreen cause it it'll be HOT in the southern parts. << Hi Paul, YES! You are correct! The times and days are very tight!! But never fear, I specialize in this kind of trip and much prefer the fast pace as opposed to lying on a beach somewhere for two weeks. That's why my family doesn't come with me. I have been down the coast before and know the lay of the land. One day in LA is enough and the drive to SF in the evening will be tight, but doable. And yes, Portland is just a stop to see the goose, then back on the road again. Cheers! Darren ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From "Jerry Slagle" Subject Re Chicago, Ill. and a putative aircraft carrier >> Some weeks ago I noted on SMML that I would be visiting Chicago this fall and asked for any hobby shops of note. The silence of the response was deafening. So be it. I now need to check on something else there. I have a Captain who flat insists that a couple of years ago, he was in Chicago and boarded an aircraft carrier tied up as a museum ship. I can find no mention anywhere of a CV of any variety moored at Chicago [at least not since the paddle wheel flat-tops SABLE and WOLVERINE were training pilots on the Great Lakes]. I admit to more than passing skepticism as to how even an older CV would get there, and wonder what my boss was consuming on that trip. However, does anyone know of any such museum vessel that could be visited? << Roland, Do you think your boss was talking about New York? I'm thinking he saw the INTREPID and that's the only one that I could think of in that area of the country (East Coast sort of). Maybe he was thinking of the U-boat? I couldn't help you with the Chicago request from a few weeks ago, but as a suggestion for the future and for other modelers going to new cities, try looking for IPMS websites for the area of the country that you are going to visit. They may list hobby shops and/or have the local officers with the phone numbers which you can call. I know that worked great for me in the Seattle area. Sorry I can't be of more help, but at least it wasn't a deafening silence ;-) Jerry ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From Richa5011@aol.com Subject Re Dreadnaught >> I have seen an article written in Japanese arguing that although the Dreadnought was a revolution, making the other battleships obsolete, it also meant that the other battleships of the Royal Navy were made obsolete, too and therefore that other powers (especially Germany) got (or perceived) a better chance to catch up with Great Britain in Naval arms races. Does anyone know an article or a book written in English making a similar argument? I would like, if any, an English reference. << There are many such references. Oscar Parkes' British Battleships and Arthur Marder's From Dreadnought to Scapa Flow (volume 1) quote that same argument...as do many others...but they also debunk the argument as well. As these, and other, references point out that the development of the Dreadnought type of battleship was inevitable. The US Navy had already authorized the Michigan class ships, but a delay in appropriating the funds caused a delay in the ships start - and hence Dreadnought (which was authorized later) was finished first. The Italian Cuniberti (spelling?) had concepted a Dreadnought type ship even earlier. Had the RN not pursued such an agressive construction schedule, the Dreadnought would have been the third such ship completed and we would today be refering to this type of ship as the "Michigan-type" battleships. Nat Richards ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From "James Davies" Subject Re Dreadnought There was a lot of debate about HMS Dreadnought. Traditionally the Royal Navy was not the first to introduce new innovations, as it was not in their interests to change the current balance (being the strongest navy in the world at the time), and if a new innovation was adopted by another power the Royal Navy relied on being able to build new ships more quickly. There was a strong opinion that this approach should also be adopted for HMS Dreadnought, but in the end the view was taken that the advantages of having her first outweighed the disadvantages of making the previous ships obsolete. Take a look at "Battleship" by Peter Padfield, ISBN 1 84158 080 5 Regards James ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From "Poutre, Joseph A" Subject Aircraft carriers in Chicago, and Noah's Ark From Roland Mar >> I have a Captain who flat insists that a couple of years ago, he was in Chicago and boarded an aircraft carrier tied up as a museum ship. << I can guarantee you the only carriers he could possibly have been on were the Sable or Wolverine. All carrier museums are in the oceanic coasts. The only ships in Chicago are the U-505, which is landed in the Museum of Science and Industry, and one tug and two former research vessels at the Great Lakes Naval and Maritime Museum. The best reference for something to resemble the Ark would be materials about Sumeria and Babylon, as the story in the Torah and Christian Old Testament is based on the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and other myths and legends of those lands. If you want I can offer some links about boat construction in those days. Joseph Poutre ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From THEGAVEL@aol.com Subject Re Dreadnought Jane's "War At Sea 1897-1997" on page 75 states "Fisher, meanwhile, had made a wholesale clearance of the Navy's antiques in order to concentrate resources where it mattered. Seventeen battleships were among the 154 warships retired." Doesn't say it in the same words but the thought is there. Other references to Dreadnought make the point that the US had laid down the first "all big gun" battleship before the Brits did, but they launched theirs first. The idea was there in the minds of ship designers including the Italians. It really wasn't a choice on the part of the Brits as the Japanese article would make it seem -- but I have seen the argument made that way in other references...I just couldn't put my finger on one using the same words. John Gavel ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From john redman Reply-To phil@jpredman.freeserve.co.uk Subject Re Dreadnought Ito-San, Allan Massie's 'Dreadnought', an 800-page tome discussing the naval background to WW1 starting in 1837, covers this issue in some depth from the perspective of the protagonists of the day. I am reading it at present, but skipping lots. It was well understood at the time that in building Dreadnought the RN was making the rest of the RN battleline obsolete. One faction thought this was dumb and another thought that since someone was going to build a dreadnought anyway it had better be the RN that did so. I think it was Fisher who commented that the Admiralty were damned either way if they built Dreadnought others would argue they'd made their own navy obsolete, but if they didn't, they're be sending men out to fight in ships they knew were second-rate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From Ned Barnett Subject Re Ark, as in Noah >> I’m not an expert on the subject but I did see an interesting British TV documentary recently in which it was pointed out that the quoted dims for the ark were wildly optimistic for a wooden ship and that the thing would have been far too big to be practical and would have broken up once launched. It certainly looked massive in the CGI reconstruction. I suspect that you can therefore apply significant artistic licence to your project. Wonder what camouflage measure he used…… Interestingly, they suggested that he probably built a rather smaller raft (presumably the lions had to hot bunk with the gazelles due to the smaller space) and that he was washed down the Euphrates (or the Tigris) into the Gulf and that he then ended up on what is now Bahrain. << I saw that documentary, too; claimed that Noah was an Iraqi (hence, probably a subversive ). Seriously, the documentary seemed to forget that with God as the Naval Architect, problems of construction/tensile strength, etc. might be minimized ... Seriously, I saw that documentary and was profoundly disappointed in it's minimalistic perspective on a great and expansive myth. But thanks for reminding me ... Ned ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From Jason Porter Subject Re Noah's ark I have heard that "Gopher wood" is obviously not from Gopher trees. . . but is a form of glue-lam timber construction. This appeals to my engineering. Certainly would make a difference in strength and ease of construction. Jason Porter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From arthur w rohloff Subject Re Hobby Shops in Chicago Roland, sorry for the lack of response on hobby shops in the Chicago area. The best selection for plastic ships is Venture Hobbies in Wheeling (about 25 miles NW of Donwtown). Their address is 23 Huntington (just East of the intersection of Dundee and Buffalo Grove Roads). Phone number is 847-537-8669. Al's hobby shop in Elmhurst has some ships, including an occasional resin model on consignment. And there is a little place out by my house called Prosek's Greenhouse and Military Models that has a suprisingly good selection of plastic models. I don't know of any shops that have a decent selection of resin models--the best I ever saw was Colpar in Denver, Colorado. And I have no knowledge of any Carrier tied up as a museum ship! Have a great trip and if you need any more info, send me an email at awrohloff@juno.com. Happy Modeling! Art Rohloff Winfield, IL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From "Kurt Van Dahm" Subject plastic gears Kevin Mok asked about plastic gears for gearing multiple shaft drives for model boats. If you are looking for gear teeth to match motorized car's that's the section of the hobby shop to visit. I suggest you consider using "O" rings as drive belts. You can make simple drive wheels of any diameter to give you the right "gear" ratio and the O rings do not need to be very tight to transmit the power so you don't have to worry about side thrust wear on your bearings. If you want your props to turn different directions you can cross on belt to be a figure 8 and this will make that prop turn opposite the other. Just remember to use a longer drive belt O ring. Take care, Kurt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From "Kurt Van Dahm" Subject Chicago Aircraft Carrier To my knowledge the only carriers ever in Chicago were the Wolverine and Sable that trained pilots during W.W. II The closest thing Chicago has to a museum boat is the U505 submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry. There nearest floating museum boat to Chicago is the USS Cobia at Manitowoc, WI, a Gato class sub. Take care, Kurt PS I can swear that I answered your, or another, SMML inquiry regarding Chicago hobby shops of note. The only ship related hobby shop near Chicago is the Ship Chandler in Mt. Prospect (about 6-7 miles N of O'Hare Airport). Unfortunately, the Ship Chandler is open on a hit and miss basis lately due the the illness of the one proprietor, Gus Kaufmann. Saturdays they are usually open due to Gus' partner Dick Lund being there. The phone is 847-577-8044. Call before you drive out there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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