Subject: SMML20/02/99VOL462 Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 23:55:47 +1100 shipmodels@tac.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: Ordering Replacement Parts 2: Re: Tamiya and IRC's 3: Tirpitz colors: green 4: Revell USS Burleigh Assy. Instructions 5: Re: Replacement Parts 6: Paint scheme Fujimi's Missouri 7: Re: Straightening Warped Models 8: HMS Jervis etc. 9: FuJian Galaxy Models - Caveat Emptor 10: Re: warped resin hull 11: Classic Warships USS Salem 12: Re: Replacement parts....IRCs 13: Re: Tirpitz 1944 14: Re: Confederate Flags 15: Re: 5"/38 guns 16: How About Russian Ships....? 17: Mk 48 Adcap news 18: H.M.S Vanguard 19: New modelling site featuring...... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: "efoeth" Subject: Re: Ordering Replacement Parts I have ordered many parts from the dutch Tamiya importer. If you have broken parts, they will send you replacement parts for free, provided you send them the broken parts. They will send you a small collection of parts under $5, and if they think you are ordering too much, they will try to sell you a new sprue, for around $6. I even ordered a new hull for my Tamiya 1/350 PoW model, when I was just starting making models and airbrushing, and subsequently ruined the hull (don't ask me how). They said it would cost me extra, so I ended up paying around $15. That's without postage, but still a great price. So, if you are lucky enough to live in Holland, replacement parts are cheap, and the service is great (new parts usually arrive the next day!). In my beginning era, I used to order quite a lot of new parts (Now I try to scratchbuild or cast new ones), and they remained very friendly. Also, about those new Fletcher guns: there are 6 guns in the kit, so I think a lot of modelers have a spare mount. Perhaps you'd better place an ad: I don't think modelers will charge you $10 per gun. Also, you might use your spare mount (if you still have it) as a master and cast a few copies. Evert-Jan Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: SHIPMDLR@aol.com Subject: Re: Tamiya and IRC's Try contacting Marco Polo Imports. I believe they are an importer of Tamiya kits. You can now find the Fletcher kits on sale for about $28.00 if you look. That amount for replacement parts is criminal! Obviously designed to force consumers to pay for another kit. Also, ask the hobby shop who you bought it from who the distributor is. Since he spends lots of money with his distributor, he would have better luck getting the parts for you than you as an individual. Hey, you got nothing to lose. Rusty White Flagship Models Inc. Ships and Tips http://www.okclive.com/flagship/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "efoeth" Subject: Tirpitz colors: green I have a color scheme of the 42/43 operations by Mr H. Gally, and he is convinced that green was used on one side. Only a few patches. So perhaps green was used in later sceme's too. BTW, Mr Gally is the same one introducing yellow on her sister ships turrets. So, believe it or not. From the B&W pics I can't say if the green is wrong or right. Evert-Jan Foeth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: therbert@zibex.com (Tom Herbert) Subject: Revell USS Burleigh Assy. Instructions Greetings all-- I'm new to the list. I'm here at the suggestion of Bill Gruner at Pacific Front Hobbies, and I have a small dilemma that I hope that one of you may be able to help me with. About 6 or 8 months ago, I bought a Revell 1:400 USS Burleigh from Jim, among other things, and put it on the shelf until I had time to devote to it. The other night, I opened the box, and found that it contained no assembly instructions, just the parts trees. I sent Jim an e-mail, asking him to open another kit and xerox the plans for me, but alas, he informed me that he has no more of this kit in stock, and it has been discontinued. I don't hold much hope of getting a response from Revell, so I'm writing this in the hope that some kind soul out there in the ether has one of these kits, and would be willing to copy the assembly instructions for me. I would of course be happy to pay any costs associated with copying and postage. Or, as an alternative, they could be scanned and e-mailed as an attachment, which would be much faster. Thanks in advance for any assistance. Tom Herbert Katy, Texas, USA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Djhudgel@aol.com Subject: Re: Replacement Parts Gee, I thought it was just me. I ordered a replacement smoke stack from Glencoe for the battleship Oregon six or seven weeks ago, I've lost track and have as yet to hear from them. So much for service after the sail. Doug Hudgel, Anniston, Ala. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: "Jim Brower" Subject: Paint scheme Fujimi's Missouri Good day to all, I reciently purchased Fujimi's 1/700 model of the Missouri. On opening the box I see all the painting info is in Japanese. Not being fluent in the laguage, is there someone out there who could give me a rough idea on the colors to use? Jim Brower -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Ed Grune Subject: Re: Straightening Warped Models To Rusty and Bill I don't think you should mess with Rob Mackie's tried and true method. You should never use propane. Only the finest Mesquite wood should be used. By the way, they're starting to clear the pasture across the street to put in more houses. Soon I will have a corner on the Mesquite wood market. For a small fee I can provide the members of this list with a supply of Mesquite necessary to dewarp the most severly formed kit. Ed Mansfield TX (its in the upper 60's, the daffodils are up and it looks like winter is over) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: "Douglas Martin" Subject: HMS Jervis etc. Shane: You got it right 'Jervis', 'J' class destroyer to represent all the RN DDs, Jervis being only 1 of 4 survivors out of the 16 J/K class (Jervis/Javelin/Kelvin/Kimberley). For the category of AMCs, Jervis Bay would have fitted the job (or Rawalpindi). Aoshima kits: Looking back, I think all the old kits were extremely poor in detail, as for accuracy, well....I never actually went into that matter. But if you wanted 1/700 warships of those vital classes back in the 70s, that was it! Fujimi Kongo class. I built them all and a couple of replacements......However, go for the newer Hasegawa versions, they appear much better, although more expensive. Hasegawa Alabama/South Dakota, I took details from Breyer (I think), and added extra quad 40s, moved the single 20mm around to suit the diagrams. Still didn't get those 'cranes' added..... Of for someone to have added extra parts to convert a KGV to Duke of York in 1945, all those extra AA mounts......ahhhhh, bliss. Douglas (Scotland) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Ed Grune Subject: FuJian Galaxy Models - Caveat Emptor Hello all I was in my local hobby shop and they have a supply of ship models by a Chinese firm called FuJian Galaxy. The shop had some CA SanDiegos, DE Cannons, DDG Udaloy, DDG Sovremmeny, and all three batches of the RN Type 42 DDs. All were priced at $7.95 (USD). They were sitting right next to their Skywave and DML/Dragon counterparts which were marked for retail at $23.95 (USD). These Galaxy kits are remolded versions of the Skywave and DML/Dragon originals. Whether there is an arrangement with the original manufacturer or not, I don't know. There are some flaws. I'll pass on what I found so let the buyer be ware. The instructions are copies of the former kit's with the company name changed. The Japanese script has been replaced with Chinese script. The same atrocious spelling and grammar mistakes are repeated. The decals are poor, the color match and registration is very bad. The hull and deck pieces of the San Diego are molded as finely as the Skywave original. The nice thing is that the Galaxy kit is whole hull, although its a little generic and reminds me of the early Revell box scale hulls. But its a starting point. All of the grates, hatches and portholes compare between the two kits. The MAJOR drawback is that Galaxy only provides one weapons sprue where Skywave provides two to make up the 8 twin five inch gun mounts and 15 20mm mounts. They make up the shortfall by using 5-inch single gun mounts. They even retouched the box art to show single barrel gun mounts. They ignore the missing 20mm mounts, If you have the parts in your spares box - the kit is quite salvable. I'd give it a C. If it had 2 weapon sprues, I'd have given it a B. The H.M.S. Sheffield is similar. Typical to its DML cousin, the missiles and gun barrels are oversized. It too is whole hull. I'd give it a C+. With some work and some of Caroline's brass sets it could turn out nice. The USS Cannon looks like its a pantograph of the Skywave kit. The former's crispness is lost. Like the Skywave version its a twin kit - but that means its twice as bad. The gun barrels are oversized. The kit just appears to be "bigger" than Skywave's. It is whole hull too, same box-scale effect.. I was sort of disappointed with it - I'd give it a D. Caveat Emptor Ed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Steve Singlar Subject: Re: warped resin hull Thanks to everyone for the advice on the warped hull. I'll try the oven technique. Regarding the grass on the Salem's deck, my recollection is that the deck was washed down with salt water on a regular (sometimes daily) basis. This eventually did the trick. Of course it helped rust the deck edges, but that is another issue. Steve Singlar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: "Rob Mackie" Subject: Classic Warships USS Salem I recently obtained the 1:350 scale USS Salem by Classic Warships. First off let me say that I was disappointed. I had the barbecue fired up (real charcoal, by the way. Neither propane nor backyard nuclear reactors work as well) and the invitations ready. Then I opened the box only to discover that the hull was straight and true. And it was crammed with detail. This is the best 1:350 scale effort from Classic Warships thus far. Instructions are thorough, and the smaller resin and white metal parts are of similar high quality. The 8" gun houses are especially noteworthy. This should be an easier build than past CW efforts due to the amount of surface and structural detail cast integral with the hull. I am preparing an in-depth look at the Salem for Warship. But my initial impression is that Classic Warships has "nailed" the Salem with this very impressive model. Rob Mackie Warship http://warship.simplenet.com Martha Stewart's Favorite Ship Modeling Site -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From: Malcolm Subject: Re: Replacement parts....IRCs IRCs buy the cheapest overseas airmail stamp in the country they are surrendered in. In the UK thats 30 pence or for the 11, 3 pounds 30p or about 2 dollars in your funny money . Its the Canadian Post office which is ripping you off not Tamiya Malcolm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From: jmaine@golden.net Subject: Re: Tirpitz 1944 My thanks go out to Robert Lockie and Evert-Jan Foeth for their contributions regarding Tirpitz in her 1944 rig. I certainly will have less of an excuse to delay getting started on my own Tirpitz once I've finished Bismarck. :) I also have Brown's 'Tirpitz, the Floating Fortress" and Breyer's "Battleship Tirpitz". The famous overhead shot of the ship, taken by a PRU Mosquito on July 12, 1944 does show the main deck camouflage very nicely. The background colour of both the main deck and the main upper deck look to be the same light colour - is this the "light grey" to which you are referring, Robert? Did the Germans really paint all that deck surface and then paint the mid-grey mottle on top? - whew, that's a lot of painting (on the other hand, they spent a lot of time in port...). As for the dark and light grey on the hull sides, I'm wondering if that would be the same scheme that appears in two of the pictures of Tirpitz in Breyer's book. These pictures are captioned, "July 31, 1944 - Last time out to group exercises, this time with the 4th Destroyer Flotilla." The paint job on the hull looks extremely worn (or very hastily done), with a lot of dark areas apparently showing through the light grey segments. It is this fact that has made me wonder if, at the time of the July 12 photo, the hull sides may have been a uniform dark gey, to match the dark grey of A and D turrets and the vertical surfaces of the lower superstructure. Any more thoughts, anybody? John Maine Kitchener, ON (namesake, I believe, of HMCS Kitchener, well-known Flower class corvette) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From: "roger torgeson" Subject: Re: Confederate Flags Jon, Have you seen the book "Rise Of The Ironclads", published by Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. out of Missoula Montana? It has a picture of the C.S.S. Virginia (Confederate name for the Merrimac) model that is on display at the U.S. Naval Academy,Museum. This photo shows two flags, the mast forward mast has the Stars and Bars and the aft mast has the National flag with a blue field with 11 white stars in a circle, and three bars, Red - White - Red. the bottom Red bar is the full width of the flag. I know of two different sizes for Confederate flags, both are designed for wargaming. (15mm and 25mm) and are manufactured by a company called Revo. The Stars and Bars in 15mm are about 7/16" X 7/16" the National flag is 11/16" X 3/8" the 25mm flags are 11/16" X 11/16" and 1" X 9/16". both may need a little touch up with paint. The flag has a star in the center of the ring that may or may not need to be there. If you can't find them let me know and I will send a set to you Roger Torgeson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From: "roger torgeson" Subject: Re: 5"/38 guns Paul, have you tried Mike Bishop at Blue Water Navy ? He should be able to help you out with the guns that you need. He has both the correct shape mounts. It may cost you a few dollars, but I don't think any were near $38.50. I've had good luck dealing with Mike. I just recently asked him what the price for two new smoke stacks on a Gearing class destroyer, my grandson lost, helping me build the kit, when I was at work, he said he would just send two, no charge. Good luck Roger Torgeson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From: "Sean D. Hert" Subject: How About Russian Ships....? Hey SMML'ers Since I got a great response on my IJN Mogami Q's, here's one a bit tougher; a buddy of mine wants to build a Soviet Kronshtadt class Large Cruiser. I have some info from my copy of Conway's; laid down in '39, never completed. From the description they sound quite a bit like the Alaska's- 12" guns, 33kts, etc. But I have no line drawings, no plans no descriptions. Anyone got ideas on this one? Thanks, Sean D. Hert Webmeister, MBG Site: http://www.netwalk.com/~popev/bg/ IJN Mogami (Fitting Out) "People shouldn't treat Y2K lightly. Historians are only starting to realize that Y1K caused the dark ages." Hi Sean, I seem to remember an issue(or two) of Warship International had an article on the Kronshtadt, I'll have a look & find out. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17) From: SJantscher@aol.com Subject: Mk 48 Adcap news Rick Thanks for the info! I took up your advice, and gave Fisher Models a call and sure enough, they have the molds, and remember making the kits back in '91. As others said, the owner of the company selling the torpedo kits (forgot the name) passed on in '92. He said he found an old casting of the Mk 48 while we were talking, but said that just after moving this past year, he hasn't unpacked the original molds for the torpedo, but expected he would. Of further interest, he indicated a desire to reissue updated US submarines in 1/192 scale, perhaps later this year. Talk about unbending a chunck of resin, these could double as baseball bats! Thanks again all who answered this avenue of research. Lets hope we get some new "silent service" kits soon. Steve Jantscher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18) From: "Jim Macneil" Subject: H.M.S Vanguard Evening all, how are we? I'm a new member and I'm totaly hooked on the Royal Navy. I was wondering about exactly what the last Vanguard (last RN Battleship) got up to during its career. Thanks Jim -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19) From: Shane Subject: New modelling site featuring...... Hi gang, I was just reading the WW1 modelling list & came upon a new modelling site. Check out: http://www.argonaut.net/cdm2000/ This is the site of Alberto Rada's modelling club & features Alberto's HMS Vega, as well as some other great stuff. Have fun. Shane -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume