Subject: SMML VOL 2767 Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2005 00:35:01 +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 Re OLD IRONSIDES 2 Degausing cable 3 Aurora USS Hartford 4 USS Ronald Reagan 5 Hobby Shops in Austin, TX 6 More on the paddlewheeler kits 7 USS Constitution Sea Story 8 KEARSARGE kit vs. ALABAMA kit, yesterday and today 9 Contacting Cottage Industry Models re 1/96 USS Keokuk 10 Re Austin TX hobby shops? 11 OTULCC Tankers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From "Les Pickstock" Subject Re OLD IRONSIDES I have always understood the story about the whiskey to be at best apocryphal. I have heard it before where the amounts vary from 10,000 gallons to 50,000 gallons and the supposed dates from the one mentioned to 1780 (19 years before she was launched). One version I saw calculated that for her to have returned having consumed the Scotch, each man would have had to drink 2.26 gallons a day!!!! I'm also sure that this would be a much better known folk story in the UK had it actually occurred. Daring deeds of this magnitude are not easily forgotten here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From David L Miller Subject Degausing cable Hello, Researching the Queen Mary while a troop transport, one source mentioned a degausing (sp?)cable on the hull of the QM. One photo of the QM shows, what looks like to me, a pipe or conduit running down the length of the hull. Could this be the cable, and if so, what was the function? Regards, Dave Miller Macomb, IL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From Joel Labow Subject Aurora USS Hartford >> The side wheeler you remember may have been Aurora's USS Hartford of David Farragut and Civil War fame. << Bill, I agree that this is a great kit but Hartford was not a side-wheeler...she was screw propelled. The side wheel had pretty well disappeared from warship construction by 1850 because of it's vulnerability to battle damage and because of the amount of broadside space it consumed which would otherwise be available for more cannon. Best regards, Joel Labow ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From "shaya novak" Subject USS Ronald Reagan This is a new tooling the detail on the kit is much better than any of the other Nimitz's. The sonar bubble on the hull you will need to trace the cut out line on the hull to add the sonar. The crispness on the the island and the radar are very nice you get 30 aircraft & helos about 6 helos. Overall is a very nice kit. The only draw back is the very sparce decals for the aircraft. http//www.totalnavy.com/720reagan.htm The Captain at - Totalnavy.com www.totalnavy.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From Subject Hobby Shops in Austin, TX Greetings There at least two very good hobby shops in Austin. The first is King's Hobbies on Lamar in north Austin. It is possibly one of the best hobby shops in Texas, if not the USA; a wide selection of kits, books and supplies, but average for ship kits. The second is Village Hobbies. I am not sure of the address, but it is also in north Austin, maybe 15 minutes away from Kings. The owner is George Lewis. He usually has an interesting selection of kits and carries a more extensive line of ship kits than Kings in both plastic and resin. He's a bit pricey, but still worth the visit. Austin is also, in my mind, the funnest city in Texas. Traffic, however, is worse than cities several times it's size. You will have a good time; I think it is required by city ordinance. Enjoy yourself. John Collins, Franklin, TN, USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From Bill Michaels Subject More on the paddlewheeler kits When I looked on Hobby Link Japan's website a couple of years ago, the Susquehanna in 1/150 scale was listed under Aoshima, IIRC. I remember it was very expensive, so I passed on it. Mongram also (briefly) had a Susquehanna in 1/150 scale-- it must have been form the same molds. The old Imai 1/350 scale tall ships were later released by Minicraft. The Minicraft releases are better, as they added a lower hull and were half the price. For example, the old Imai kit of the USCGC Eagle in 1/350 scale was a waterline kit, and retailed for $20. A few years later, the Minicraft version of the kit came out. From the waterline up, it was the same kit as the Imai. But, it added a display stand and an optional lower hull, and retailed for about $10. Someone mentioned the old Aurora USS Hartford. I don't think this is the kit you are searching for- as Hartford was not a paddlewheeler- she had a propellor. for her steam propulsion. Bill ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From Bill Michaels Subject USS Constitution Sea Story The story of the Constitution is a Sea Story- a maritime urban legend, if you will. My apologies if I come across as humor impaired-- maybe it was posted as joke. But I've run into a number of people who have passed on this story as if it were true..... This story has been de-buinked on multiple points. I'll just address the most glaring one It should be obvious the story isn't true-- we were not at war with England in 1798-1799. (It is called the "war of 1812" for a reason, after all!) This i sobviously a story made up to amuse those who know nothing of the sailing navy or US History.... you know, landlubbers. In general, any Sea Story that starts with "no sh*t" should be immediately suspect, doubly so if told in a bar! (As in "This is no sh*t-- we were in Gibraltar once, and I saw.....") While the Constitution story doesn't start with the key phrase, it isn't hard to image it with it added..... Bill ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From "Ouellette, Lawrence M" Subject KEARSARGE kit vs. ALABAMA kit, yesterday and today Brooks Rowlett originally asked about the Kearsarge kit >> This famous large (1/96 scale) Revell kit from the 1960s has been reissued, listing for over $100 now. Can the ALABAMA kit be far behind? << The Alabama kit, which was apparently a modification of the original Kearsarge kit, was re-issued sometime in the last 5 years or so. (I have one.) Bill Michaels referenced the comparison on the Steel Navy website, which Joel Labow published after the Alabama was re-issued. Joel does a wonderful job comparing the two kits. The question most people have been asking is the Kearsarge kit just re-issued by Revell-Germany simply a reboxing of the 'Alabama' kit? Or did they retrofit it back to the Kearsarge? Or were there two sets of molds all along and is the Kearsarge kit of 2005 the same kit from 1961? The reason for the doubt about the 'Kearsarge' is that is has not been reissued in all these years, whereas the 'Alabama' kit has been reissued a few times. Has anyone, anywhere, compared the reissued 2004/2005 Kearsarge with the 'Alabama' kit or with an original Kearsarge kit? Larry Ouellette Volunteer, USS Salem (CA 139) United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum Quincy, Massachusetts, USA http//www.uss-salem.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From "cog" Subject Contacting Cottage Industry Models re 1/96 USS Keokuk Hello. Has anyone had recent contact with with Cottage Industry Models? I bought their USS Keokuk, a neat looking, though ineffectual, ship. The kit instruction booklet, FIG. 1, states "There may be a new piece in your kit to attach to roof [of forward tower]. If not, contact CIM." My kit does not have the new piece. Last October I e-mailed William Blackmore wjb@awod.com of Cottage Industry Models. No reply. December I snail-mailed an SASE to CIM, 1632-B AShley River Rd, Charleston, SC 29407. No reply. I'd like to take one more try at getting the new piece from CIM before contriving/fabricating something of my own. Any lead appreciated. Thanks, Morris ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From "Mark Shannon" Subject Re Austin TX hobby shops? >> I'll be in Austin, TX in a few weeks, and anticipate having a car for a day. Are there any good shops in the Austin area, especially dealing with ships? << There are two hobby shops, two Hobbytown shops, and three Hobby Lobby's. The best hobby shop, and arguably one of the best in the country, is King's Hobby, on North Lamar Blvd - about a mile north of 183 on Lamar, just south of Peyton Gin. The other independent hobby shop is Village Hobby on Anderson Lane between Burnet and Shoal Creek in the Village Shopping Center. King's is a little less complete in ship models, and does not carry resin ship kits on a routine basis, but they certainly carry new releases such as the Trumpeter Liberty Ship and Lexington. The Village has a lot of resin, but mainly older kits -- on the other hand, they have a wide selection of injection model kits for both sailing ships and twentieth century to modern. They also have many of the Bluewater Navy kits. The Hobbytowns are nothing special, being the general hobby shops they are, but they can have good bargains, same as Hobby Lobby, on occasion. Mark Shannon ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From Kelvin Mok Subject OTULCC Tankers I need some opinions (for or against) on the propulsion mechanism of 500,000 ton ultra large crude carriers. I once watched a program on Monster machines on Discovery Channel. I remember that the commentator said that the ULCC engines could only only go forward and there's no reverse. The engines were humongous but very simple low speed diesels. This made sense because the ship is so large that it would be next to impossible to change anything from a pre-planned route once it was underway. Change means relatively quick stops which would require reversing the single screw to act as a brake. Steering the ULCC away from an unexpected hazard would also be next to impossible as it would take many miles and much time for a leviathan to respond to the helm. With these constraints the ships designers did away with engine reverse, the reduction gears and reverse gears as they were of very marginal effectiveness. When approaching the single deepwater buoy for mooring the ULCC would have to let water resistance slow it down from afar then let tug boats do the final maneuvers. The rest of the arguments is in a thread in sci.military.naval. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the SMML site for the List Rules, Reviews, Articles, Backissues, Member's models & Reference Pictures at http//smmlonline.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume