Newsletter. Work in Progress February 15, 2012 Reporter: Dave Yotter. Contacts. Volume 39, Number 3, Mar. 2012

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1 Newsletter Volume 39, Number 3, Mar Contacts President: Bill Schultheis (714) Vice President: John Simmons (626) 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 Work in Progress February 15, 2012 Reporter: Dave Yotter The usual crowd of about forty folks showed up for our Wednesday meeting in February. Time is getting short for submitting your dues. Bring a check for $25.00 cash to the next meeting. We had two visitors: one was Lee Green, visiting from the San Diego Ship Model Guild and the second was Mike Boren, recently retired and primarily a WWII air and armor modeler. USS CONSTITUTION Fighting Top Rob Boynes Meeting Wed., Mar. 21, 7 PM, Red Cross Building, 1207 N. Lemon, Fullerton, CA Officers meeting Wed., Apr. 4, 2012, 7 PM, Bob Beech s house, 130 Clove Pl., Brea, CA (714) Rob Boynes is making nice progress on his model of the USS CONSTITUTION fighting top. This resin kit by Flagship Models is a nice large scale, 1:35, and comes with one figure. Additional marines and sailors are available as separate kits. Rob will man the top with a complete crew consisting of three marines, three sailors, a captain of the top and a midshipman. Three marines are finished with another marine to go 1

2 and he is still working on some of the sailors. The size of these fighting tops on USS CONSTITUTION is huge and this is brought home as figures are added to the composition. Rob says that the marines were paid less than the sailors but still had to work the mizzenmast as part of their shipboard duties. One of the few perks that they got was that they were supplied a new uniform every year. HMS UNICORN John Simmons John Simmons has finished his model of HMS UNICORN from a 1:75 Corel Kit. HMS UNICORN was a 36-gun frigate, built as a 32. She fought in the Caribbean and French coast fleets but did not have a particularly spectacular career. The model features a fully rigged gun deck, at least the part you can see and he has added two chase guns for the bow and also for the stern. There is a full complement of ships boats and he has added two stern lanterns. He has use of a vinyl cutting sign machine for the ship s name. The rigging is complete, not including sails and he has the yards positioned at full working height. VTOL Transport/Strike Aircraft John Simmons John has come up with another original design for an aircraft (airship?), which could be configured for at least two different missions. The craft uses engines from an F-35 with cross-linked shafts to a ducted fan for VTOL (vertical take off and landing) capabilities. In transport configuration it would be configured for 12, 10 passengers (troupes) and 2 crew, with an aft entrance for deployment or as a medevac unit. As a strike aircraft it can carry five laser-guided bombs on a rotary launcher that is lowered through the bottom surface of the aircraft. It is, of course, a full stealth aircraft (radar cross-section of a 0.45 caliber bullet) with a faceted campoy and folding wings. The model is scratch built in 1:48 scale. 2

3 IJN YAMATO Sean Fallesen Sean Fallesen has finished his Tamiya Kit model of IJN YAMATO in 1:350 scale that he brought in as new in-thebox in December. The model is built in March 1945 fit although he felt that there were a few details still in question. Sean added an after-market wood deck to the basic kit and although the model is finished he may add a few more planes (one supplied in the kit) to the hanger in the stern. The wood deck was supplied as a self-adhesive piece and that did cause a few pop up problems after installation. The model is rigged with fly tying thread. The kit has very nice plating detail but he had to work hard to preserve this detail in one location that had a glue joint right in the middle of it. The turrets are very detailed inside, including breach blocks and ammo lifts, details that are hidden in the completed model. Sean noted that this is a very complicated, not-for-beginners kit. PHI A Vessel Doug Tolbert Doug Tolbert brought in a nicely finished scratch built vessel in 1:1 scale. In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the Golden Ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. Mathematician Mark Barr proposed using the first letter on the name of Greek sculptor Phidias Phi, to symbolize the golden ratio. Its value is: Usually, the lowercase form (ψ) is used. Sometimes, the uppercase form (Φ) is used for the reciprocal of the golden ratio, 1/ψ. Anyway, the vessel in question is a segmented, or polychromatic turning (looks like a vase) done in walnut and soft maple with the Φ built into the segments before the vessel was turned. (We must assume here that Doug did not intend the use of the uppercase Φ used in the vessel to 3

4 represent the reciprocal or everything would have had to be in the ratio of 1:0.618 instead of 1: The polychromatic part is demonstrated in that the letter Φ is seen on both the outside and inside of the turning. Doug noted that various dimensions of the vessel are in a Φ relationship with each other. For example, the vessel height / maximum width = And also there was something about golden ratios in the neck area but I am a little fuzzy on the particulars. Nice vase Doug. Japanese Tanker and Spinning Jenny Clyde Emerson Clyde Emerson brought in a couple of items that he is repairing for the Vallejo Gallery. The first was a very nicely finished and detailed model of a Japanese tanker in 1:250 scale. The model was built by Momiyama Ship Model Manufacturing, a well-known builder in Japan according to Yas Komorita. There were lots of very finely detailed fittings, gold plated. Clyde has refinished the base and is working on rigging repairs. He is planning to use 6/0 unithread, a polyester fly tying material for the rigging. The second article was a spinning jenny, a neat little sailor-made piece of whalebone and whale tooth carved into a female figure with a spinning wheel. The figure is all articulated: when the crank is turned, the wheel spins, the head moves and the arms go up and down. Besides making sure all the parts moved appropriately, Clyde s main task was to make a new hat for the lady. He made the hat from whale tooth, starting with his CNC mill and then hand worked it to its final shape and finish. HMS ROEBUCK Don Dressel Don Dressel is continuing work on his scratch built HMS ROEBUCK in 1:64 scale. He is continuing to plank the outer hull planking using ebony, pear and pau marfim with bamboo dowels, with the upper section of the hull now basically complete. Work has temporarily stopped on the model while more research is done on the stern carvings, as the plans by Harold Hahn lack a lot of detail on these carvings. Requests have been sent to Greenwich in England for copies of the original lines 4

5 drawings in 1:48 scale done in 1774 along with the Gun Deck, Orlop Deck, Quarter and forecastle decks, upper deck and inboard profile. Once copies of these plans have been received, work will again commence. Don plans to incorporate all the interior hull details on the model while building up the decks. The cannons, of appropriate size, will be turned as each deck is installed, since it will be impossible to do that once the upper decks, beams, etc. have been done. Some research also has to be done with respect to the appropriate stove to be installed, etc. Cutter LADY NELSON Don Dressel Don is continuing work on his 1:64 Victory Kit (a combination of Amati and Euro models) of the 18 th century Cutter LADY NELSON. A mahogany base was supplied with the kit, however, the base was badly warped and could not be used, so Greg Wilcox helped out with a new mahogany base. Basically the base was split down the middle lengthwise and glued back together with the wood grain running in opposite directions, thus preventing any warping of the base in the future. Also, the keel is made out of very thin pressed wood and was causing potential problems with a secure mounting to the base board using the pedestals supplied in the kit. Don s work around this was to use piano wire through the keel and then to epoxy telescoping brass tubing into the pedestals to receive the piano wire. The wood for the model is mostly from the kit with the exception of the holly deck and ebony wales. The masts were turned from lemon wood, but the yards were turned using the material supplied in the kit. Work is now continuing with the standing and running rigging. Hopefully, the model will be completed by the meeting next month. One object has always been to use as much of the material supplied in the kit as possible. The beginning modeler should have no problems with this, essentially, basic kit model. Two Paintings Mike Boren Mike Boren brought in two paintings. He has recently retired and is hoping to do more painting, primarily of maritime subjects. The first painting was of a WWII airport scene, pilots and ground crew conversing next to a P-47 razorback. The second was a Napoleonic era ship (a British 74?) close up on a disturbed sea in the manor of Geoff Hunt. Both paintings were nicely proportioned and will composed to my eye. Mike is interested in doing more of this and he would like to contact modelers with Napoleonic War era subjects ship models to 5

6 photograph. Using such photos will help with composition and detail for his paintings. Those interested should contact Mike at or call at Mike did indicate that he would like to take pictures of the ship models in broad daylight, outside of the home and removed from the case if the model is in a case. He also indicated that some form of payment could be arranged for those willing to have their models photographed, such as a complimentary copy of the painting he does using the ship model photographed. It is hoped that Mike will be able to photograph some of the SMA ship models for his painting efforts. 6

7 Rob Boynes USS CONSTITUTION fighting top John Simmons HMS UNICORN John Simmons HMS UNICORN John Simmons VTOL transport/strike aircraft 7

8 Sean Fallesen s IJN YAMATO Clyde Emerson s Japanese Tanker Doug Tolbert s PHI a vessel Clyde Emerson s spinning Jenny Don Dressel s HMS ROEBUCK Don Dressel s Cutter LADY NELSON 8

9 BY Don Dressel Old salts in port: Steve Jones, John Bakker, Mike DiCerbo, Don Dressel, Don Leyman and Yas Komorita. It was a gloomy Sunday afternoon that looked like it would rain, but it did not. The meeting was conducted inside John s family room as usual, and the weather had no impact on the meeting. Amidst the very friendly atmosphere, hot coffee and cookies were available for those who wanted to partake. Don Dressel again started the works in progress discussion speaking on his LADY NELSON. Steve asked for a clarification on the method used of the installation of the brass pedestals that support the ship. The brass pedestal was taken to Don s local hobby shop (Pegasus) where he purchased brass tubing (2 foot lengths). The first brass tube was just large enough (outside diameter) to fit into the hole in the pedestal, then another tube was purchased which fit into the first tube, thus filling up the large hole in the pedestal. Next, a piano wire was purchased with fit into the hole in the second brass tube. These items were taken home, a hole drilled in the keel of the ship to accept the piano wire, which was epoxied into the hole. The brass tubes were cut the appropriate length, inserted into the brass pedestal, the piano wire (cut long enough to go through both the hole drilled in the keel and the brass pedestal and wooden base) inserted through the brass pedestal and the entire assembly then epoxied together, the brass pedestal to the wooden base as well. A very strong, firm base mounting was the result. Don then discussed the rigging plans supplied by the Amati kit, which are lacking in a number of ways but generally pretty good. There is no mention made of seizing the shrouds, no indication of just how to make the mouse for the stay, and it is questionable concerning some of the line leads as shown in the plans. There was a long discussion concerning the leads shown for the rudder control, which Don is going to not include on his model due to the feeling that the method shown would not work. A question was raised by Don Leyman concerning the lower gaff and an apparent lack of a line to hold the lower 9

10 gaff down when sailing at the mast location. The author could find no reference to a tackle like this in the book Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft by Lennarth Petersson. This is something else to look into! Don Leyman also brought in his scratch built LADY NELSON, which is 50% larger than the kit model but based on the kit model plans. It is a very clean, well done model of the ship so far, with the next step being to rig the model. Don did indicated that he will not arm the model, but will rig it. The woods used were basically out of his scrap box of material, some of which he obtained from John Bakker several months ago, probably from the estate of Bill Wicks. He has used some box wood and other exotic woods, but admits that he is not sure exactly what woods were used on parts of the model. It is beautifully done as attested to by the picture of his model in its current state. He still has to build the pumps for the model, then complete the rigging. There was further discussion concerning ship construction with relation to the MYSTIQUE, which John Bakker has been working on for a number of years he seems to have some kind of problem with the rigging. The model is for his son, who has given up on requesting sails for the model and will now except it rigged only. Perhaps we will see some more work done on this model before John gets in more trouble. He is also trying to figure out his problems with the stern and quarter galleries on the SOLEIL ROYALE, which I am sure he will figure out shortly. Meanwhile, he is working on his other woodworking projects as shown by the enclosed photo. John is becoming an expert at scroll saw work! Yas Komorita was unable to bring in his scratch built model of the LADY NELSON but greatly admired the models by Don Leyman and Don Dressel. He also had some excellent pictures of his aircraft carrier model he has been working on for the past fourteen years or so at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. He has just finished the many aircraft that are on the model along with a LOT of life rafts. The model is extraordinary. The only problem Yas has now is how he is going to remove it from the back room of the museum where it is being built. The doors are not big enough! 10

11 SMA Model Display at Brea Library There is currently running an excellent ship model display of some of the SMA modelers at the Brea Library. There are 15 models currently there on display. The Brea Library has informed Bob Beach, the organizer that the models may stay on display until the end of April. More models may still be displayed if desired contact Bob Beach. Potential changes and additions to SMA meetings There was a discussion at the last SMA Officers meeting concerning additions and changes to the current meetings with additions including demonstrations of ship modeling techniques as well as other changes. Announcements will be made at the upcoming meeting this month to see what the interest is with the general membership. Volunteers will be sought for presentations at each meeting as well as a possible work shop on a Saturday if a suitable location can be found to conduct the workshop. To start off, there will be a showing of a Powerpoint presentation by Kevin Hudson (from Australia) of Gus Agustin s flag making process thanks to our president bringing his computer and projector to the meeting this month. Possible Admiralty Model s work shop in California Guy Bell has contacted Greg Herbert of Admiralty Models to inquire what it would take to have a work shop locally. The cost would be $ each. Currently 7 SMA members have signed up and 13 more are needed for a successful event. Treasurer s Report Our esteemed SMA Treasurer, Mike DiCerbo, indicates that the current balance in the SMA treasury is $3, as of the end of February Web Manager s Report Above is the chart of the hits experienced by our SMA web page through the end of February You should check out the web page as there will is great set of articles on the speakers who were at the recent WSMC&E, according to Doug. There are other potential additions to be added to the web site including a rooster of the SMA membership. 11

12 Sean Fallesen s IJN YAMATO Donald C. Dressel 908 W. 22 nd Street, Upland, CA Next meeting Wednesday, March 21, 7:30 PM, Hillcrest Park Red Cross Building 12