Newsletter. Contacts. Volume 41, Number 9, Sept. 2014

Transcription

1 Newsletter Volume 41, Number 9, Sept Contacts President: Larry Van Es ( Vice President: Bill Schultheis (714) Secretary: Paul Payne (310) Treasurer: Mike DiCerbo (714) Ocaso Ave, #DD204, La Mirada, CA Editor, Don Dressel (909) W. 22 nd Street Upland, CA Web Manager: Doug Tolbert: (949) Web Site Meeting Wed., Sep. 17, 7 PM, Red Cross Building, 1207 N. Lemon, Fullerton, CA Officers meeting Wed., Oct. 1, 2014, 7 PM, Bob Beech s house, 130 Clove Pl., Brea, CA (714) Work in Progress August 20, 2014 Reporter: Dave Yotter Don Dressel started off the meeting with a slide show of a few of the many ship models on display at the Maritime Museum in Paris. Along with the ship models there were many maritime artifacts, cannon, and a large collection of fine maritime paintings. The ship models ranged from very early in the 14 th century to modern ships of today. Many of the models were in the 17 th and 18 th centuries and were very highly detailed, built by the craftsmen of the time. The ship models also showed the large scale some of them are built to which only increases the detail. The group very much appreciated the presentation and enthusiastically asked for more, so Don indicated he would put together more PowerPoint presentations of other museums he has been fortunate enough to visit. David Okamura plans to have an SMA table at the OrangeCon 2014 exhibit held by the International Plastic Model Society, Orange County on October 4 th. The exhibit will be held at Titan Conference Center at California State University Fullerton. The information flyer for the 2014 edition of OrangeCon IPMS/OC s Annual Contest can be downloaded from our website: This year our event will be Saturday, October 4 th, Along with 46 Contest Categories, we have a special theme award for the Best World War One subject. This year s theme is OrangeCon 2014 Remembers 100 years of the Great War, World War I. David reminds us that models do not have to be made out of plastic to enter the contest and in fact many models built by SMA members have won prizes in the 1

2 past. There was a discussion regarding #11 scalpel blades as a superior alternative to hobby blades like Exacto. This has been brought up before and an excellent place to get these blades is Cincinnati Surgical ( They offer a house brand along with the Swann Morton brand (highly recommended by Mike Lonnecker, Don Dressel and myself once we tried them). They can be ordered in boxes of 100, $33.00 for the non-sterile ones. They have other blade shapes; I use the #10 s a lot and they also have a line of hobby/craft blades. They have lots to offer so poke around. There was also an announcement by Bill Schultheis concerning the upcoming potential model display at the Sea Coast Base in Newport Beach to honor Dennis Holland on September 13 th and 14 th, a Saturday and Sunday. A sign-up sheet was left on the table for those interested in bringing their models to the event models in cases are recommended. If anyone needs help with transportation and for further details, please contact Larry Van Es, our president. His contact information is printed on the first page contacts. USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) Burt Goldstein This class has a low radar profile; an integrated power system, which can send electricity to the electric drive motors of weapons, which my someday include a railgun or free-electron lasers; total ship computing environment infrastructure, serving as the ship s primary LAN and as the hardward-independent platform for all of the ship s software ensembles; automated firefighting systems and automated piping rupture isolation. The class is designed to require a smaller crew and be less expensive to operate than comparable warships. It will have a wavepiercing tumblehome hull form whose sides slope inward above the waterline. This will reduce the radar cross-section, returning much less energy than a more hard-angled hull form. As of January 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that only four out of 12 of the critical technologies were mature. The lead ship will be named Zumwalt for Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, and carries the hull number DDG Originally 32 ships were planned, with the $9.6 billion research and development costs spread across the class, but as the quantity was reduced to 10, then 3, the costper-ship increased dramatically. The cost increase caused the U. S. Navy to identify the program as being in breach of the Nunn- McCurdy Amendment of 1 February (from Wikipedia). With a crew of 142, USS Zumwalt will reach speeds of 30.3 knots. Her armament includes 20 MK 57 VLS missile modules, two 155mm guns and two MK 30mm cannons, plus she will carry two SH-60 helicopters and three MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). 2

3 Burt Goldstein said he got the 1:730 model through Nighthawk Studios, but I did not have any luck finding the kit in follow-up. The 8.75 inch model represents a 600 foot ship at this scale. Burt also brought in his finished model of USS Freedom (LCS-1). He found this kit as a $12.00 download from The model needed its helicopters radar masts and other details to complete the model. He found that this is not an easy kit to build, lacking fold lines and noted that the 5 gun was particularly difficult. For those of you who thought this bow configuration (of the USS Zumwalt the smaller model next to the USS Freedom) was rather new in modern warship design your reporter has included a photo of USS Cushing (TB-1). The first torpedo boat built for the US Navy, Cushing was launched by Miss K. B. Herreshoff; and commissioned on 22 April 1890, Lieutenant C. M. Winslow in command. She displaced 116 tons, was 140 feet in length, had a beam of 15 feet and a draft of 4 feet 10 inches. Power was 1,600 hp via two vertical quadruple-expansion reciprocating steam engines and two Thorneycroft boilers. The engines powered two screws for a speed of 23 knots. Her compliment was 22 officers and enlisted. Armament was 2 X 6-pounder guns and 3 X 18 inch torpedo tubes. Cutter HMS Andromede John Simmons The cutter HMS Andromede is the seventh cutter John has completed, including the USS Shenandoah, HMS Diligence, HMD Dandy (a modified Diligence), HMS Lady Nelson, Le Cerf and Le Renald. John Simmon s model of Andromede is being built using a Solcaine kit in 1:74 scale of a ship of about 72 to 75 feet in length. Armament is 10 X 6-pounder long guns and 4 X 18-pounder carronades along with four each 1-pounder and 2-pounder swivels. Andromede now has her full suit of 3

4 15 sails bent on as supplied by sail maker Jerry Blair. John admits that they were probably not all set at once but the model is intended to illustrate all the possible choices. The sail configuration includes a lower crossjack yard, which spreads the square mainsail clews and supports the lower studdingsail booms. Next up the mast and riding on a stout hawser set in front of the mast rather than by a truss or parrels is another crossjack yard which spreads the topsail clews and the studdingsail booms dividing the lower and topmasts studdingsails. The yard for the course is riding on the same hawser above that. The topsail is attached to the topmast in a more traditional fashion. All this is done so that the luff of the gaff mainsail can be fastened to the mainmast with mast hoops and also allows the yards to move independently along the mast. Apologies if the terms are not quite correct but I think that is fairly close. Additional sails included in this amazing cloud of canvas include four jibs, a ringtail and a water sail. The ringtail is like a studdingsail for the gaff main and the water sail hangs below the outboard end of the main boom. Both of the latter two were only likely used in very light wind conditions. Halifax Don Dressel Don purchased a Lauck Street Shipyard plank-on-frame kit of the Halifax produced by Robert Hunt several years ago. The kit, as I now understand, is no longer available. There are a lot of things that have to be corrected with respect to the kit, as many of the parts are supplied in resin or plastic, which Don finds unsuitable. All carvings will be completed in boxwood, cannons will be replaced, etc. The basic kit itself is OK, however, with cherry wood material used to construct the frames. So far the keel, stem and sternpost have been completed, the building jig finished, and the frames constructed and installed on the keelstem-sternpost assembly using the Harold Hahn style jig. All the frames were faired and sanded smooth. The transom was then installed and faired. The next step was the installation of the wale, which was a walnut strip provided in the kit. The Walnut strip was stained black prior to installation, which is the current stage of the model when brought to the meeting. Planking will continue, but in addition to the kit instructions, dowels of the proper size will be fabricated and installed for each frame as was done with the prototype. Once the outer planking has been installed, the model will be removed from the building jig. Then more details will be added to the interior while completing the decking, etc. Hopefully, the hull will be complete for the upcoming ROPE 40 th Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan next April. Don also recommended two books: The sloop of War by McLaughlin and H.M. Bark Endeavour by Ray Perkins. 4

5 SLC 200 Maiale Ray Juncal The idea was successfully applied by the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) early in World War II and then copied by the British when they discovered the Italian operations. The official Italian name for their craft was Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC for slow running torpedo ), but the Italian operators nicknamed it Maiale (Italian for pig ) because it was difficult to steer. The British copies were named chariots. By far the most successful of the various mini/midget subs deployed during WWII the Italian Maiale s sank two battleships, a cruiser and ten or eleven auxiliary ships. Ray Juncal s model of Maiale is scratch built in 1:10 scale. Some of the techniques he used for this model include vacu-forming some of the hull components. The figures were hand carved and he used some components from G. I. Joe figures like the hands. Sovereign of the Seas Paul Carter Paul wrights: The Sovereign of the Seas was ordered by King Charles I in August 1634 and was built by Peter Pett under the guidance of his father Phineas Pett. She was built in Woolwich Dockyard and was launched on 16 th October She was the most extravagantly decorated warship in the Royal Navy, completely adorned from stern to bow with gilded carvings against a black background. The carvings were made by John and Mathias Christmas after a design by Anthony Van Dyck. The gilding alone cost 6, equal to 948, today. Since the last visit I have installed the rudder, the bulkheads are 95% complete (handrails need refinement), stairways are done along with a few gratings. The belfry, capstan and bilge pumps are also complete as well as the ensign flag base. I had to put on a goldsmith s hat to start applying the gilded castings at the bow, bulkheads, stern and stern gallery. I must mention here that I had to reshape the stern from that that was started by the deceased original builder. Luckily with a little bending, fitting and hammering, the gilded castings now fit the stern. 5

6 Pilot Schooner Hesper Clyde Emerson Hesper was a Boston pilot schooner, designed for speed in order to be the first to reach offshore merchant vessels and escort them through the treacherous harbor islands into the port. The fastest boat got to the client first, and Hesper had the reputation of being the fastest of the fast throughout her working career. Designed in 1884 by Boston naval architect Dennison J. Lawlor, the schooner measured 102 feet on deck by 23 feet in beam, with a 12-foot draft. Clyde Emerson has started two model hulls of the Boston pilot schooner Hesper using 3-D printing. The plans for Hesper come from Eric Ronneberg. The hulls were printed by Shapeways ( using two different media. The larger hull in 1:96 was done in nylon and the smaller hull in 1:192 was a resin material which allows more detail. Shapeways has 5 to 6 different techniques depending on the material used including metal and ceramic along with other polymers. Clyde used Rhinoceros ( a 3-D modeling program (about $ ) to construct the digital model. Once the file is sent to Shapeways lots of decisions on material, size, detail desired and surface texture need to be made to come up with a final price. The smaller hull was around $44.00 and $ for the larger one. One ordered in 1:48 would have been $ There is an excellent article in the Nautical Research Journal summer 2014, vol. 59 No. 2 by Patrick Matthews. This article is a primer on the subject of 3-D printing and its many potential users in ship model building. Chart of the East Coast of Russia Bill Schultheis Bill shared a chart he found of the East Coast of Russia. The chart was printed by the Admiralty in London in 1:78,000 scale. 6

7 Burt Goldstein s USS Zumwalt & USS Freedom Don Dressel s Halifax John Simmons cutter HMS Andromede Ray Juncal s SLC 200 Maiale Paul Carter s Sovereign of the Seas Clyde Emerson s pilot schooner Hesper 7

8 By Don Dressel Old Salts in Port: John Bakker, Steve Jones, John Vanderneut, Yas Komorita, Don Leyman, Don Dressel, Guy Bell, Doug Tolbert, Mike DiCerbo, Greg Wilcox. Ship in Port: USS President, La Réale De France, Halifax, HMS Pegasus, mystery ship, King of Mississippi, US Brig Syren, Le Soleil Royal. The meeting started off, as usual, with a lively discussion of all kinds of different topics related to ship modeling and other things of interest. These discussions were done while the group slowly gathered together, everyone apparently being present by the appropriate time of 1300 hours. The first of two pots of coffee was already made, thanks to John s attentive consideration for his guests. Everyone was comfortably seated and the program commenced. Don Dressel started the presentations with his offering of the Halifax. Don commented upon the work that was completed after the SMA meeting last Wednesday which included the final details on the port and starboard wales, the installation of the lower stern planking and the installation of the dowels for the wales and installed planks. Don also showed the inch treenail maker which is a unique tool for model builders available from Vanda lay Industries in Running Springs, which is up near Lake Arrowhead ( layindustries.com/html/treenail_maker.html). The tool requires a Dremel motor tool to function and Don demonstrated just how easy it is to make treenails (dowels) for your model. Sorry about the small amount of saw dust on John s floor! Don Leyman next talked about his recent work on the HMS Pegasus, indicating that he was building the lower deck off the model and installing it in sections, making sure all lower bulkheads and ladders were in place. The holes were drilled first for the deck beam supports and a line was installed the length of the ship to make sure the centerline was correct. Don wants to make sure all the items below the deck are installed correctly. He also indicated that 8

9 you have to make sure your spacing is correct he had to sand a little more off one of the deck assemblies because it was creeping and the spacing was becoming too much. The deck beam supports helped to make sure everything was aligned correctly. See the pictures below. John Vanderneut was next up. He discussed the problems he was having with the old Aeropiccola kit he was building, which was originally the USS Constitution but John decided that the kit was closer to the USS President. He was having difficulties with the plans. He purchased the cannon for the model from Ages of Sail ( The cannon were the correct size, but they did not fit the model correctly (the gun deck was in the wrong position, either too high or too low). He did say the ladders came out nice, however. The copper plating was corrected and the model is now properly mounted drilling the holes in the keel for mounting the model 9

10 worked out great, thanks to the advice gathered from last month s Mayflower Group meeting. His next step is to re position the deck properly so that the cannon mount correctly. Guy Bell brought in a real mystery ship. He discovered the ship while doing some repair work in a home as was asked if he would repair the model also. According to Guy, the first thing he had to do was remove all the rat shit that had accumulated on the deck of the ship. The rigging and sails were also in tatters. He showed the Mayflower Group a number of pictures of what the model looked like when he first took it home. He will make new sail for it and re rig the model, which will not be too difficult since there are no blocks or tackle involved, just lines. The bow of the model is kind of strange maybe originally built for exploring in the Polar Regions? No name is associated with the model. It should look fairly decent as a folk art model once Guy has finished cleaning it up. Doug Tolbert was next up and discussed the plans and photo s he had for his project in making a model of the HMS Buckingham of 1751, which was a 70 gun third rate built from the 1745 establishment. The plans are from Greenwich and he plans to build the model in 1:64 scale. A tremendous amount of research has already gone into getting as much information as possible about the ship, including many of the captain s logs and other information gathered while making several trips to England. Doug has already purchased the Rhinoceros computer software which will be used to reproduce all the details for the model. He has so much information now that he may be able to write a very accurate book on the ship with complete details of her history and the captain s and people who manned her. We look forward to the day when actual sawdust starts to fall! It was a very fascinating and interesting discussion. Greg Wilcox brought in a parts for his King of the Mississippi and showed the poor ladders supplied with the kit, which forced Greg to make is own ladders. He showed us the result and the jig that he used to make the stairs. The jig is shown in the accompanying picture. The angle for the cut is set and the little piece sticking out is to set the distance 10

11 between the threads of the stairs. Greg also indicated that even the threads of the stairs were not the correct size and he had to cut longer threads. A scratch built stair is shown at the lower left side of the photo. Note the dowels in place to reinforce the jig and make sure it does not break apart while the sawing operation is in progress. John Bakker then brought out his La Réale De France and showed the progress he was making on the model, many details being added along with sails. Note the photographs below. John also showed several of his other works in progress including his US Brig Syren and his Le Soleil Royal. John is still trying to contact Model Expo in reference to his USS Essex and apparently getting nowhere. See photo s below. All in all, another great get together of ship modelers who all enjoyed a fine afternoon and learned a number of interesting things about ship model buildings. It was a very good turnout and an enjoyable couple of hours spent at John s home. 11

12 Small Maritime Museums: Saint Malo Part I Don Dressel When we had the privilege of visiting France a couple of years ago, one of the places my friend Mr. Michel Mantin took us to was a small museum in Saint Malo, near Mont Saint Michel. The accompanying photo s show both Mont Saint Michel (on the left) and the entrance to the small museum of Saint Malo. The museum is really unique in that it is housed in part of a castle/fortress along the coast of France. When visiting, you can see the much worn, very narrow, round steps that lead up to the room that houses the museum artifacts as well as the small slots (windows) cut into the outer walls for the archers along with cannon ports, as I remember. The maritime museum itself houses some very interesting models, not to mention the many artifacts that are on display. It is a small museum, but well worth the visit for a number of reasons. I have included several photo s of a number of the models on display. The first photo is of the Cōte D Emeraude, a schooner manned by a crew of 30. Note the patched sails on the model and all the ships boats stacked up forward. I am sorry for the poor photo, but also note the many artifacts and paintings in the background that are on display. He model represents a schooner of relatively modern times, being around The detail on the model is very fine. Another model, shown in a photo on the next page, is of great interest as it shows how the ships were beached at low tide to work on them and do whatever repairs were necessary that they 12

13 could not do when the ship was floating in its natural element. The photo to the right shows one of the fishing boats with a model in the background and the general layout of the museum itself in a castle like setting. Needless to say, the atmosphere of the museum was itself intriguing. Two more interesting photo s of models that were displayed, the first of which is the close up of the model shown in the picture above, the second picture is of a building they had a number of models of buildings, I assume from the surrounding countryside and the city itself. It may have been the mayor of the city s house, I am not sure, but the name on the plaque is La Chipoudiére. For a maritime museum that was small, there was a lot of material packed into the area. Again, it was not a large museum like the one in Paris, but contained a number of very interesting models and exhibit, well worth making an effort to see. I am including several pictures of what appears to be a very old ship model with the sails and rigging evidencing great age on the next page. I found this model in particular to be very intriguing due to its apparent age and condition. You can see through the sails and it is also apparent that the sails were made just like the real thing, from cloths. I wonder how much longer the sails and rigging will last on this model. I spent quite a lot of time looking at the model while there. 13

14 Since a picture or photo is worth a thousand words, I will conclude this small article with an additional number of pictures of the models that were on display in this maritime museum. In addition to the model above, there were other models which I have not seen represented at any other maritime museum, but then I have not had the pleasure of visiting all the maritime museums in the world. One of which is an apparent receiving ship or maybe a prison ship I am not sure, as it was a few years ago that I visited this museum. 14

15 Rochefort Maritime Museum Ship Models Don Dressel completed his presentation of the Ship Models in the Maritime Museum in Paris last month. He will again present another power point presentation, this time of the ship models in another Museum in France, Rochefort, part of the AAMM. This is the location where La Fayette s frigate Hermione was recently launched. Tall Ships Festival LA 2014 The tall ships return to San Pedro during September 20-24, 2014, commencing with a parade into the harbor on Wednesday, September 20. (Most sources say the parade begins at 10:00 AM, but at least one states approximately 2:00 PM. Check the below sites for updates.) Over a dozen ships will participate, along with The World s Largest Rubber Duck. (Strange but true!) Ship tours, dockside demonstrations and nautical-themed entertainment are also scheduled. For more information, see: and Japan in 2015 The ROPE in Tokyo, Japan will have a very special Exhibition #40 next year in Japan. The SMA is a sister club of the ROPE, and as such, I would like to have SMA members think about going to Japan next year for their 40 th Exhibition as well as bringing a model. We can get a VERY good financial deal for each person who desires to do so. Please consider this opportunity. Contact Don Dressel if you are at all interested. The dates are April 12 through April 19, 2015, which includes a special event on April 19 th. Web Manager s Report The Webmaster, Doug Tolbert, is pleased to announce that there are now 480 SMA Newsletters of the past on line in pdf format on the SMA website. The issues go back to The latest 12 issues are restricted to SMA members only. Above is the chart of the hits experienced by our SMA web page through the end of August

16 Paul Carter s Sovereign of the Seas under construction Donald C. Dressel 908 W. 22 nd Street, Upland, CA Next meeting Wednesday, September 17, 7:30 PM, Hillcrest Park Red Cross Building 16