Subject: SMML VOL 3026 Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 03:32:08 +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 Computer Thread 2 Re Revell Polaris Sub propeller 3 Re computer thread 4 Re Polaris sub propeller 5 San Francisco offered option to bid for WWII battleship Iowa 6 CFB Esquimalt Museum Mystery Ship Photo Project 7 OLD GUILLOW'S KITS 8 Zvezda Hotel-Class Submarine ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From "Rick Nelson" Subject Re Computer Thread John mentions, "a large deck of punch cards" which reminded me of my days coding on IBM 360s. I guess there aren't too many folks who still know why a heavy dark line was drawn diagionaly across a card deck with a marker. Rick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From "Rick Nelson" Subject Re Revell Polaris Sub propeller >> Thanks for the link to the bananna-blade prop illustrations, Rick. Can never have too many views of these props, IMHO - now that the Cold War tension is over. To that end, take a look at this, the best pic I've found and the one on which I based my scratchbuild << Thanks Matt for the URLs. The pics reminded me of when I was on the Houston in the mid-'60s. I especially liked the last pic of the BRA-8. We used to refer to it as the "bomb", pre-Star Trek days. It was a very tricky device to deploy and we "lost" one or two. The prop can do a number very quickly on the tethering cable if you take too steep a down angle. One reason for having to deploy the "bomb" was if we had just cut the "wire" (again due to steep down angles) and needed the BRA-8 to maintain VLF comm while we re-streamed a new wire. Rick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From "Shirley Sachsen" Subject Re computer thread >> You're raking up old memories. In the late '50's I did some programming on an IBM 650. This used vacuum tubes, tape drives, and a spinning drum. The drum had 1,000 programmable cells, accessed using punch cards with machine language. (We didn't have Formula Translation language, or Fortran as it came to be known.) Later on the drum was replaced with one with 2,000 cells - a giant advance! << when I was in tech school, I had an instructor who'd done gov't contract work and he described these data drums. he said one time the bearings blew and the entire drum broke out of its mountings, crashed through the building wall, rolled down a hill and finally came to rest against an airplane's front mount on a runway. he said when they recovered it, none of the data was lost or damaged. now THAT'S durable memory -) ....how unlike today's machines.... s ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From "Rick Nelson" Subject Re Polaris sub propeller Tom writes >> The original SSBN propeller was a 5 bladed version with broad, fan-like blades. The later propellers were 7 bladed, J series propellers. << Tom, when you say "original SSBN" which boats or boat class are you referring to? The 598's? The Houston SSBN609 hit the water with the 7-blade variable pitch prop. The original thread was discussing Ethan Allen 608 class boats. The Renwall Ethan Allen model kit included a 5-blade prop only, which I do not believe was ever installed on a 608 class boat. Rick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From tatagg@aol.com Subject San Francisco offered option to bid for WWII battleship Iowa SAN FRANCISCO City offered option to bid for WWII battleship Iowa Joe Garofoli, Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writers Saturday, December 17, 2005 Pressure increased on San Francisco officials Friday to decide whether they want the World War II battleship Iowa after two key federal lawmakers agreed to let any California community bid for the vessel. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who had been offering dueling proposals on the Iowa's future, agreed that the ship should be transferred to California for permanent donation status and that any city in the state could bid for it. Pombo's proposal would have directed the Navy to give the 63-year-old Iowa, now moored in Suisun Bay, to the Port of Stockton. Feinstein proposed opening it up for bid. The language will be included in the defense authorization conference report that Congress is expected to pass in the next few days. If it does, Feinstein aide Howard Gantman said, the Navy could decide on the winning bid within a year. The process shouldn't take too long, as the only California cities that have openly expressed interest are Stockton, which has a deep-water port, and San Francisco. But while Port of Stockton officials have already pledged a 1,000-foot dock, a 90,000 square-foot building and a 15-acre parking lot, supporters of bringing the Iowa to San Francisco are still trying to convince the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom that it's worth the effort. Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 not to back a plan by the nonprofit Historic Ship Memorial at Pacific Square to bring the ship to the Port of San Francisco as a tourist attraction. Opponents gave a variety of reasons -- lukewarm support from the Port of San Francisco and Newsom, the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy against gays and lesbians serving in the military, and the city's history as a center of the peace movement. But San Francisco's Iowa supporters are hoping to reintroduce what they call a "brand new" resolution to the board in mid-January. It would include a proposal to hold an annual "peace conference" on the battleship. Supporters are meeting with supervisors about their new plan. Friday's agreement between Feinstein and Pombo "absolutely turns up the heat for San Francisco to decide whether it wants this," said Jim Maloney, executive director of the Military Education Initiative. The organization, which seeks veterans' support for gays and lesbians in the military, is working with the Historic Ship Memorial group to bring the Iowa to San Francisco. It wants to open a museum on the Iowa focusing on the contributions of gays, lesbians, ethnic minorities and women to the military. Port of San Francisco staffers are reviewing the supporters' business plan for bringing the vessel here. "The people who want the ship here are still working hard at it," said Supervisor Fiona Ma, who wants to see the Iowa brought to San Francisco. Feinstein, who blasted the supervisors in July for their "petty" vote against the Iowa, said she was still interested in having the battleship moored in San Francisco as a tourist attraction. "I'd like to see it there,'' she said in an interview in Washington, D.C. "There is great interest in these ships. Most San Franciscans have no idea what these ships are like or what life aboard them was like for the crew. It's really interesting. "But the board's resolution remains a problem,'' Feinstein said. "It's up to them.'' Stockton port leaders expect that San Francisco will submit a bid for the ship, and that another city could enter the contest as well. "No matter what the ground rules are, whether it's just us and San Francisco, or another city, we will be ready," said Richard Aschieris, director of the Port of Stockton. "This would mean a lot to the Central Valley." E-mail the writers at jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com and eepstein@sfchronicle.com. URL http//sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/17/BAGMUG9DVP1.DT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From Paul OReilly Subject CFB Esquimalt Museum Mystery Ship Photo Project Shane, Lorna et al As a volunteer at the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum (what a mouthful!) I've been put in charge of scanning the museum's photographs. While this project is still underway I've noted that there are a large number of photos that are either not identified at all or are mis-identified. To this end I've asked the museum to add a function to it's web-site such that some of these photos can be posted for comment by knowledgeable persons, such as those on this board. Please go to the site liked below and have a look. If you can identify the ship or add supplementary date then send an e-mail to the webmaster with the correct information. In most cases the info displayed on the site is from the accession books and this may well be in error so don't be fooled by the photo's title. We'll be replacing the photos as correct info comes in or if there is no action on them. Today 7 photos were placed, some with a blow-up of a wider photo to help in the identification process. Most of the unidentified ships will be non-Canadian subjects as these are the ships the museum staff have little information on. The photos are the property of the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum but they are available for personal use. If posted elsewhere we ask that credit be given to the museum. http//www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/resource_pages/ID_Project/ID_Project_1.html Thanks for your help. Paul O'Reilly ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From "DUCKMAN" Subject OLD GUILLOW'S KITS HOWDY ALL, THANKS FOR ALL THE TIPS ON THE ABOVE. NUFF SAID ABOUT THEM THINGS THAT USUALLY DON'T FLOAT VERY WELL. DAVID IN DIXIE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From "Chuck Messer" Subject Zvezda Hotel-Class Submarine I was just wondering when the Zvezda Hotel-Class Submarine kits were to be released. This looks like an interesting subject for a 350 scale model. Thanks, Chuck Messer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the SMML site for the List Rules, Reviews, Articles, Backissues, Member's models & Reference Pictures at http//smmlonline.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume