Subject: SMML VOL 2527 Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 01:36:35 +1000 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http//sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1 Re Noah's ark etc 2 Civilian merchant ships rule 3 Re 1.1 inch and 20 mm gun colors 4 Re Noah and his Ark 5 HMS Undine- Mirage kit 6 Re Liberty Ships ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From "Ken Goldman" Subject Re Noah's ark etc Regarding Rafael Patai's quoted contention that "450 feet in length was way too large for a wooden ship even as late as the 19th century", it is believed that in the early 15th century, Chinese Admiral Zheng He's flagship had nine masts and measured 440 feet in length. Ken Goldman ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From Mark McKellar Subject Civilian merchant ships rule I agree. I've taken a break from building warships - got tired of painting everything grey. I just finished the NS Savannah and am working on two merchant ships right now. The 1/700 Modelwerks San Clemente class tanker and the IMEX Ro-ro. If only there were more to build and in a consistant scale. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From "Devin" Subject Re 1.1 inch and 20 mm gun colors From what I've seen, and what I do with my '42 era ships is that the mounts themselves are the color of the ship, with the actual gun barrels and bodies being in the oiled gunmetal/black color. Same for both 20mm and 1.1. Hope this helps. Devin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From "bendinggrass" Subject Re Noah and his Ark Thinking about the Ark, and just speculating... I really can't comment on the dimensions of the Ark, however I believe that the "historical" event of the flood may rest on "dry" land... sorry, just couldn't resist. Flood stories do seem to come from all parts of the world. My suspecion is that this may be related to the historical event of the end of the last Ice Age. During the Ice Age large areas of plant covered dry land were available to human beings and animals for a lengthy period of time, perhaps a million years. I know that much research still needs to be done, but it does appear the transition from an Ice Age could occur in a very short period of time, and if, as it seems likely, people chose river-ocean areas for settlement, it seems likely that people would have been a long distance from the ocean boundries we know today. As the ocean level rose, "planes" could have been flooded relatively quickly. Connected with this is the recent discovery of the flooding of the Black Sea near 7000 years ago. Prior to this the Black Sea was a large inland lake, supporting a human population active in agriculture, with no connection to the Mediterrerian Sea. As the Ice Age ended, the Med rose, finally breaking through to the Black Sea. From all indications, this was a very rapid inflow of water raising the Black Sea by 500 feet and flooding a very large area. This flood may be the source of the Ark story, especially as Mt Arrarat is so close to this area. It would seem to me that Arrarat would not fit into an old Hebrew story when Arrarat is so far from the Israel of Biblical times. Just thinking out loud on possibilities. Randy Nugent ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From andrew jones Subject HMS Undine- Mirage kit Hi there working on the "new" Mirage HMS Undine.... argghhhh!!! Ok Im going by the box art model (so without the deck gun) 1) Is the rear of the main deck sloped down as in the instruction sheet version (which still shows the deck gun) or is it just a flat rear end before it works it way down to aft section? 2) Was the deck gun still on board during ts WW2 cruise (before it sank) or was it "beached" & just used torp's? 3) what is that bar or what ever it is, that is running from the middle of the coning tower to the end of rear upper deck? There is no mention of it in teh instruction sheet! 4) During the war, Undine did not have its name on the side of the tower , only the number 48. 5) There is a "xmas tree" antenna on the rear deck... was that used in WW2 configuration? My impressions of the kit so far.... would be nice if Mirage did an instruction sheet version of both gun sub & WW2 sub..also plenty of gaps..the resin deck, did not fit well onto the hull..so the supports of the hull had to be cut off & part of the deck shaved to fit..Also the resin nose , not too bad... light sanding to clean up the excess. Thanks Andrew ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From "L'Arsenal - Jacques Druel" Subject Re Liberty Ships Hello John, I don't know about Trumpeter, but expect a civil version of L'Arsenal's Liberty Ship later in the year. There are many differences between the basic military version and civil version used later that justify the release of a new kit. Best regards from Normandie where we had great moments of emotion these last days! Jacques Druel L'Arsenal ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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