Subject: SMML VOL 2752 Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 04:16:45 +1100 The Ship Modelling Mailing List (SMML) is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http//sandlehobbies.com For infomation on how to Post to SMML and Unsubscribe from SMML http//smmlonline.com/aboutsmml/rules.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1 USS Olympia 2 Re Thunderchild/USS Alarm 3 Re Realistic planking and USS New Jersey deck shade 4 Are tamiya painting instructions for USS New Jersey realistic? 5 Re Sub hull colors-The End 6 USS Alarm "Fowler Wheel" propulsion 7 Source of Italian plans 8 Obscure predreadnought kits 9 Re Interesting report from WWII USN Veteran re US Destroyer INGRAHAM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From "Leslie D. Foran" Subject USS Olympia Regarding Sean Obrien's question regarding Revell vs. Lindberg Olympia kits, I do not think the two kits are made from the same molds. I have not seen the Revell kit, but the Gold Medal Models PE set for the Revell Olympia appears to call for PE installation on parts not present in the Revell kit. Hence the Lindberg kits needs some modification in order to use this PE set. The Lindberg kit includes a lot of cast-in detail that probably would be separate pieces in the Revell kit, especially railings and ladders. Also, the areas under the front and rear bridges in the Lindberg kit are closed off, necessitating opening up the vertical surfaces and installing scratchbuilt decks beneath them. Also, the walkways on either side of the boat deck are not represented, they will need to be scratchbuilt, along with the boat racks on the boat deck and the big skylight at the rear of the boatdeck. Building the Lindberg Olympia is a fun project for those who like to scratchbuild a lot of detail onto what is a very basic model. This is true of Lindberg kits in general, and is why I like to build them. I found this kit to be molded of a rather heavy white plastic that is more brittle than what is usually found. It certainly fills a need for a low-cost predreadnaught cruiser in a scale near other kits of the same era. Les Foran Too Long out of Salt Water ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From david@dhathaway.freeserve.co.uk Subject Re Thunderchild/USS Alarm Any good plans for the USS Alarm available? David ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From Bevilacqua Luca Subject Re Realistic planking and USS New Jersey deck shade Tom Detweiler wrote >> I would think deck planking would be one of those areas where copier/reproduction technology would be workable. That is, you draw a pattern on your computer using one of the paint or draw or better yet CAD programs, in a larger scale, say 1/80 for the larger wood models. You can either find a good background of wood grain to use and shrink it, or use a real veneer to copy for background, Then you shrink it down to whatever scale you need on a good copier, which will shrink lines down to engraver fineness. You cut out what you need and make a template for the decks and glue it down. This idea I thought was kicked around a bit when discussing the Bismarck a while ago. << Tom, do you mean actually gluing the printed sheet on the deck ? I think it could work if printed on the appropriate paper (decal sheet something, maybe...) and then coated. Could be an idea for some aftermarket decal supplier. If ordinary paper, glueing could be an issue (I fear CA could ruin the paper and the surface). Anyway an interesting idea, thanks a lot. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From Bevilacqua Luca Subject Are tamiya painting instructions for USS New Jersey realistic? Dear all, tamiya painting instructions for USS New Jersey show a blue colored area aft, in beetween two dark gray (antiskid i suppose) areas. That did not seem quite logic to me so I went looking for photos and found http//www.navsource.org/archives/01/016262.jpg that altough B/W does not seem to show this color at all (aft antiskid gray looking quite uniform to me). Anyone can help? Grazie e ciao Luca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From Ives100@aol.com Subject Re Sub hull colors-The End Rick Nelson said >> Tom also states, "Time frame matters in modeling." I'm surprised that he didn't take this truth into consideration more in his response. << Actually, I thought I did. Some hulls were overall black during different periods, some were red halfway down & black halfway up. Some got the vertical gray scheme during the 60's. I think we're both saying the same thing It varied. Pick a time period and specific boat and do the research. I will admit that I have had more luck finding the black over red scheme in photos, but there aren't as many drydock photos of submarines available as one might like. If I recall correctly, somewhere way back (a week or two ago) there was a question about the Nautilus (SSN-571)paint scheme at the time of commissioning. I actually turned up the following photos of her in drydock during her 1959 second core refueling. Geez, she had red on her bottom at that point! The black paint extends pretty far down the sides. Also, although the propellers are shrouded, if one looks carefully & counts the edges, it appears that at that point she had already been fitted with the 7 bladed scythe propeller, as opposed to the original five bladed job. That's much, much earlier than I would have supposed! http//www.navsource.org/archives/08/0857125.jpg http//www.navsource.org/archives/08/0857126.jpg http//www.navsource.org/archives/08/0857128.jpg OK, I'm done with this topic for a while! Tom Dougherty ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From "Ouellette, Lawrence M" Subject USS Alarm "Fowler Wheel" propulsion "Ken Goldman" wrote >> Forget the painting, I think of Thunder Child as being more like the ram torpedo gunboat USS Alarm. You can take a look at http//www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-a/alarm.htm << The second photo on the page shows the stern of the USS Alarm and the "Fowler Wheel" propeller. Anyone out there know how that thing works? I'm fairly good mechanically and understand the real basics of how a propeller works, but that thing looks like it would just churn water, not move a ship! Larry Ouellette Volunteer, USS Salem (CA 139) United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum Quincy, Massachusetts, USA http//www.uss-salem.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From "Paul Giltz" Subject Source of Italian plans I came across an interesting web site < www.anb-online.org> that has many plans for Italian built merchant ships.(some warships too) Their e-mail address < info@anb-online.org> isn't working properly. Does anyone on the SMML list have an alternate e-mail address for this group? Thanks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From chris Tilley Subject Obscure predreadnought kits Thanks to Leslie Foran for pointing up the Zhengdefu kits, even if they are in some odd or 'semi' scales. Something to start from is always good, so nice to know someone does an Armstrong-Elswick Cruiser. There were enough of them! On the subject of obscure manufacturers, does anyone out there no anything about a maker of IJN Russo-Japanese war vessels called Fairy-Kikaku? I've found photos of a AC Yakumo, PC Kasagi and one of the Matsushimas made by them, but I've yet to find any more details of the company or the rest of the range (and if they do anything not covered by other companies) Any ideas? Chris Tilley ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From Brooks Rowlett Subject Re Interesting report from WWII USN Veteran re US Destroyer INGRAHAM A followup interview with the INGRAHAM veteran, coupled with pictures he had, has resulted in the conclusion that we had a combination of accidental mis-statement and mis- communications. INGRAHAM did indeed have the normal 5 inch configuration, and the 40mm quad installation did indeed replace the #2 torpedo tube mount, not the #2 5 inch mount. However, we did obtain an interesting interview, according to my friend in contact with the veteran, and I hope to be able to provide perhaps some accurate sea stories or other information, in contrast to this contention which proved (as somewhat expected) inaccurate. Brooks A Rowlett ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the SMML site for the List Rules, Reviews, Articles, Backissues, Member's models & Reference Pictures at http//smmlonline.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume