Subject: SMML VOL 2431 Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 01:19:51 +1100 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http//sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1 Re Revell 1/720 USS Enterprise 2 Re Revell 1/720 USS Enterprise 3 Digital Preservation 4 Steve Wiper's epitaph 5 Corvette type in Monsarrat's books 6 USS Enterprise holes 7 Re USS Enterprise 8 Enterprise bow holes 9 Revell 1/720 Enterprise 10 Book on Janusz Skulski's 1/1000 Scale Models 11 Re Photo Quality 12 Re Revell Enterprise 13 How we judge models 14 Castle on the River Hunt? 15 spey modle no57 16 Revell USS United States ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Information 1 Quad Cities Scale Model Show -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1 Re 196 scale USN ship numerals 2 Model Ship Journal Subscriptions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From Brooks Rowlett Subject Re Revell 1/720 USS Enterprise >> I'm building the 1/720 Revell Enterprise and have run up against a problem I can not figure out how to solve. In the bow of the carrier - the real one - there are 3 holes with raised and rounded rims. I do not know what to call them. I can not figure out how to replicate them. << These are probably the hawser ports. Obviously, ships with enclosed bows with flight decks that cannot accomodate anchor chains on the flight decks, carry their anchor chain horizontal runs on an internal deck. In addition, ships usually have mooring bitts at the extreme ends. On USN carriers and flight-deck amphibs, these ports allowing mooring lines to be run to the bitts at the bow - but instead of being on an open deck, they are on the enclosed deck. Thus the lines are fed through these ports and tied off at the bitts. Have a look at a model of a WWII carrier with an open bow under the flight deck. You should see the anchor chains and mooring bitts there. Imagine then simply enclosing that open deck. The bitts will be useless unless you put ports in the plating to feed the mooring hawsers through. As for how - a hot needle pushed through at the location of the ports, and pulled back out, will leave a ring around it. Practice first! (Note that there is a line of portholes on most carrier on the flat forepeak just below the flightdeck. These are actually viewports for an emergency bridge right forward.) Brooks A. Rowlett ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From "Poutre, Joseph A" Subject Re Revell 1/720 USS Enterprise IIRC, they are portholes from the previous USS Enterprise, CV-6. You could make little bumps, then drill them out, or paint black spots in their place. In 1/720 you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Joseph Poutre ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From james.kloek@kodak.com Subject Digital Preservation For more on this topic see http//abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/SciTech/digital_photography_040208-1.html and http//abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/preservation010709a.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From BSteinIPMS@aol.com Subject Steve Wiper's epitaph >> I would like my tombstone to say "Steve Wiper, passionate yes, humble, NO, so get the hell off my grave peckerhead!" << Out in the Black Hills of North Dakota I once was reading epitaphs on tombstones in a graveyard known in the American Old West as "boot hill". I happened to see one scribed thusly "Here lies dear old Lester Moore, shot six times with a forty-four. No Les, no more". (American humor) Bob Steinbrunn Stillwater, MN Nautical Research Guild ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From Erwin Van Deynze Subject Corvette type in Monsarrat's books Hi! I'm busy reading 'Three Corvettes' by Nicholas Monsarrat, author of 'The Cruel Sea' in which he tells about his experiences in the RN during WW2. Something puzzles me though. In the second and third part he is posted to another type of corvette, bigger, twin screwed. At first I thought it was a castle, river or loch class. (After all, in 'The Cruel Sea', the crew switches to a river class (HMS Saltash) after the sinking of the flower. But in the second part he clearly mentions the fact that the corvette (HMS Dipper) is a pre-war build ship! The rivers and others were all late war designs AFAIK. Can anybody tell me what class these were? What I know so far pre-war build, twin-engined and screwed, triple expansion turbine (???? but then, he admits being not a technical genius), 4-inch gun forward, 88 crew, larger than a flower and more war-like design than the flowers (build in RN yards). TIA, Erwin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From "rtorgeson" Subject USS Enterprise holes Mark, On my ship USS Constellation (CVA-64) the round holes were portholes for the secondary conning position. Roger Torgeson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From Rick Heinbaugh Subject Re USS Enterprise Mark, Right up at the level immediately below the flight deck, carriers have some port holes for the Auxiliary Conning station. In case the island gets broken off -) or damaged in battle, the Navigator has a GQ station up foward in Aux Conn, where they could remove the covers from the port holes and drive the ship if necessary. Two levels lower, about at the hangar deck level, the fo'c'sle has some openings for mooring lines to pass through. They, too, normally have covers installed, to keep the ocean out. Best regards, Rick Heinbaugh Seattle, WA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From "Reynaga, Tim@EDD" Subject Enterprise bow holes Mark, I think the holes you are referring to at the bow of Enterprise are hawsepipes with chafing collars for mooring lines. You usually see thicker versions of these behind the anchors on ships hull sides as well. I replicate these by first drilling out the hole, then forming a length of wire or solder around the drill bit. Wrap it 3 or 4 times, with each pass right up against the last. This forms a sort of tightly wrapped spring. Slip the spring from the bit and cut it lengthwise from the inside. This will leave you with several tiny rings. Take one of these and set it on a piece of fine grit sandpaper. Pressing gently under your fingertip, work it in a circular motion until the little doughnut is half ground away. Attach it flat side down to the exterior of the hole and you have a nice little collared hawsepipe. Tim ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From "Koh, Adrian" Subject Revell 1/720 Enterprise Dear Mark, You can get evergreen styrene tube to the correct diameter. Round the inner and outer edges of the tube and cut off a thin section. Because it is styrene (and soft) you should be able to glue it to your hull with regular liquid cement, after which you can go over with light sanding. If you want a through hole after that you can bore through the center of the ring with the appropriate drill bit. Hope this helps Kind regards, Adrian Koh Tokyo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From "maeisen@erols.com" Subject Book on Janusz Skulski's 1/1000 Scale Models Folks Anyone know a source in the U.S. where I can obtain the book (in Japanese, or in English if is has been translated) about Janusz Skulski's 1/1000 scale ship models? Thanks in advance. Mike ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From Charlie Jarvis Subject Re Photo Quality >> I would like my tombstone to say "Steve Wiper, passionate yes, humble, NO, so get the hell off my grave peckerhead!" << Well, don't go anywhere until you get that Bagley book done. Charlie ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) From Fritz Koopman Subject Re Revell Enterprise Mark The three holes would be beefed up chocks. Behind those holes (inside the bow) is the ships foredeck so to speak. On it are the anchor capstains, and chain which then leads to the Hawse Pipes which lead from the deck down to the outside of the ship to the anchors. This deck also has several large bits which are used for mooring lines, or a tow. The three chocks are through which the mooring lines are led to the pier (for tie up) or to the towing vessel. As far as replicating them... I'm not sure of the scale.... but if you can find a piece of plastic or metal tube of the appropriate diameter (maybe a swizzle straw from the local wateringhole) for each hole. Drill holes in the bow to accomodate the outer diameter of the tube. Then cut a short length of the tube to be inserted into the hole, with just enough sticking out to create the "Lip". If it doesnt look beefy enough (the tube wall itself is too thin) then add alittle putty of choice around the outside of the projecting tube, and file to shape. If the tube walls are thick enough then simply file the tube edge round before inserting. Hope this helps Fritz Koopman Salem, MA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) From "John Sutherland" Subject How we judge models Harold, Apology accepted. As I said, from photos the Niko kits look good. Not sure I would rate them above some others, but then "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" comes to mind. More relevant than "beauty" in modelling is probably what each individual modeller is looking for in a kit. This is likely to be different! This got me thinking on how I judge a model. The things that I personally take into consideration when there is the luxury (rare!) of choosing between kits for a particular ship. In my case, besides the obvious quality of accuracy which should be a given, I find that I rarely want to build the model at the exact time of the ship's life the kit manufacturer selected. Therefore to me being a genuine kit is important - Niko, HP, Waveline, WEM etc score well with me on that point whereas the 90% single mould kits produced by Skytrex and B-Resina score less because they are much harder than needs be to alter. I also think a sensible balance, and the right choice of parts, in use of alternate materials helps - some kits overdo the white metal where resin would have been better for many parts - an IHP kit I'm trying to build comes to mind - I ended up replacing most of the metal with resin or PE from the spares box. I have a penchant for building ships in mid or late war configuration - this usually involves the presence of radars, davits, lots of carley raft frames, HF-DF, etc - so a presence of PE is a big plus. Type 286, 291 and 285 radars and HF and MF-DF in particular are chunks in anything other than PE due to the limitations of the other media. So for me having a PE set is essential to be considered "top league". WEM, Waveline and Samek, among others, have PE, WEMs being by far the most comprehensive - and while they go a little overboard at times many items are provided with resin alternates (thank goodness for the sake of my sanity!). In terms of crispest resin mouldings I have there really is not much in it - most resin kits these days are very, very good - and every manufacturer seems to be getting better with each release - one wonders how far it can go! Waveline wins the prize as having the hardest and crispest moulded white metal that I have seen to date by a big margin - it is a shame that all their kits I have are uniformly 3% undersized when measured out! (by some strange coincidence, the all white metal Skytrex kits I have are uniformly 3% oversized ... I know not why - together the Waveline Dorestshire and Skytrex Norfolk make an odd looking couple for sisterships! - though in fairness the Skytrex Norfolk has much more wrong with it than size and very hard to alter being so single mould built up). The winner by a long way in instruction sheets race is WEM - they are simply amazing. However to me great instruction kits are a bonus rather than essential as long as the sheet is followable (this because, as I said, I alter many kits anyway). Having said all that I will often buy kits that have been described as "poor" or even "dogs" simply because correcting a bad kit, especially when the faults are known, is easier than scratch building (for which I do not have the talent or equipment). The Tamiya/Skywave O class for example is a real dog (Shane was critical, but rather generous in his review, IMHO!) but with effort and perseverance can be made into an acceptable O/P class as I and plenty of others have done. I can testify it does require heaps of time, and effort, and a copious spares box. It can also be used as a basis of for something resembling the Q-Z classes and I have built some of them from it and will build more (although a WEM JKN class might be a better base for the Q and R classes). Personally I find plastic is easier to alter than resin which in turn is easier to alter than metal, but even the Skytrex all metal Norfolk - another "dog" IMHO - can be made into an acceptable kit (albeit still 3% oversized!). I have also built quite a number of the 90% moulded kits of B-Resina and Skytrex. The former's Belfast is also a work of art moulding-wise and with a WEM Southampton class PE set is a winner as long as you want her in that configuration! Also, I would note that bad kits are often an exception, and most ranges have one somewhere. Tamiya and Skywave are rightly recognised as top tier plastic kit producers - the O Class kit is a rare exception for either firm (it was originally a Skywave mould altered (not for the better) by Tamiya). Similar story with Skytrex Norfolk - I have a number of other Skytrex kits and they are all fine within the limitation of that media (i.e., like the resin kits they badly need PE!) and their uniform scale oversize. Paradoxically, sometimes a manufacturer's mistake can be bonus. Good example is B-Resina's Glowworm - grossly oversized she scales out as correct for the G class leader Grenville or the ships of the C, D, E and F classes (and the A and I class leaders too) for which there is (or rather was) no kit (you do need to replace the quin torpedo tubes with hard to find quads though)! I would be interested in hearing / reading what others look for in a kit. I suspect the results will be varying and interesting reflecting the diversity of our interests! John Sutherland NZ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) From "Bob Pearson" Subject Castle on the River Hunt? Are there any 1/700, 1/400 or 1/350 kits of the Castle class corvette or River class frigates? Additionally I am looking for some other 1/72 hulls to go along with my various Matchbox/Revell Flowers. to that end I am particularly interested in the Castle, River, Hunt, Abdiel and Dido classes. Right now I'm tempted by the Combat Models four stacker USS Ward as a cheap starting point for a companion and a further long term conversion to an RN escort. Regards, Bob Pearson Flower Class Corvettes http//www.cbrnp.com/RNP/Flower/index.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) From "Barb p" Subject spey modle no57 "I am looking to purchase a model of HMS Spey by JSC Models. I found one shop in UK, Marcle, but they don't have it in stock. Might you know of other UK shops selling JSC?" Barbara Powell (uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) From "Steven P. Allen" Subject Revell USS United States I'm looking for a 1/96 Revell USS United States (the big frigate that was Constitution's sister and which Revell modelled using more or less the same kit). I'd appreciate any leads. Thanks, Steve Allen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Model club & SMMLcon Information ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From GRBroman@aol.com Subject Quad Cities Scale Model Show The Quad Cities 8th Annual Scale Model show will be held in Davenport, Iowa, USA on Sunday, March 28th at the Davenport Holiday Inn. We've always had a pretty good turnout of ship modelers and hope to have some more this year. Hope to see some list members there. Glen Broman ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From SCALSHPYRD@aol.com Subject Re 196 scale USN ship numerals Doug I still supply USN shaded hull numbers in 7 sizes, 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", 1", 1 1/2" & 2" Contact me at scalshpyrd@aol.com for further information on these and the hundred of other items I produce for USN Ships in 196 scale . W.L. Upshaw The Scale Shipyard www.scaleshipyard.com Largest Selection of quality fiberglass model ship hulls. Now Accepting PayPal for in stock items ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From "Victor M. Baca" Subject Model Ship Journal Subscriptions I only recently read the subscription postings relating to Model Ship Journal. Offering subscriptions were killing me financially. Many modelers and a good number advertisers decided to "wait and see" if we'd survive. That was four years ago and we're still here after an all out effort to revive the company and make up for poor advertising and subscription revenue. Well we survived BUT the greatest number of subscribers we were ever able to obtain was 1,000, and with the vagaries of customer renewals the figure would go as low as 350 some quarters. That's not acceptable, so I decided to drop that money losing/labor intensive operation and infuse new blood in the magazine. If it wasn't for our hobby distributors and strong hobby dealer support, Model Ship Journal would be nothing but a collector's item. We are taking steps to provide subscriptions, you can now order subscriptions from Chris Decker at Trident and we will probably add another subscription dealer so you have a choice. We sold 4,000 copies through retail distribution this quarter to test the waters. The first unsold copy return report from our largest ordering warehouse showed 100% sell through. The other warehousess were not quite that high, but the numbers are respectable. This means that many stores (Barnes & Noble, Hastings, Chapters, Indigo etc.) sold all the copies in stock. So I may have torqued off some of our loyal subscribers (I still lose sleep over that as you are good and valuable to me) but the bottom line is that Model Ship Journal can continue publishing and reach a greater audience than ever. And believe me, if Barnes & Noble wants a proven seller, they will get it regardless of the fortunes of any one distributor. And don't make it harder on yourself than you need to! It's easy enough to obtain copies of the magazine regardless of whether or not there's a brick and mortar store near you. You're on the internet e-mailing SMML and as long as you're online, go over to www.modelshipjournal.com and see what's new. I'll also make postings on SMML, SteelNavy etc to let you know when it's time to order each quarter. Victor Baca Editor & Publisher MODEL SHIP JOURNAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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