November Ship Club Meeting

 Hi all and thanks to all who were able to attend our meeting today.  If you were unable to attend you can find the recording here:  LINK

We started off looking at what was in the news.  This is a Ukranian created Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) which successfully attacked multiple Russian ships including the Admiral Makarov which was one of two frigates of the Black Sea Fleet.  These drones hit their mark.  According to Forbes magazine the two ships hit by the drones are inoperable and in port.  

Reminder that Archer Fine Transfers is closing business on November 15th now.  They have a lot of product in stock.  It's unclear what will happen with the remaining product after the 15th.  Will there be a sale?  Will they sell remaining stock to somebody else?  Something of interest regarding Archer Fine Transfers below in discussion on anti slip treads.

Sam lead a discussion on the US Escort Carriers in Operation Torch.  Note the instructions chocked on the deck.  It would be interesting to know just what was written on the decks.  

Next up David Angelo shared with us his beautiful 1/350 USS Lexington.  David used Tom's Modelworks photo etch for the safety nets and supported them with wire.  David is working on the air wing now.

John Widmar then shared some of his recent builds with us...

First up the HMS Hotspur H01 in 1/700 scale.  This kit is from IBJ models.  John's positive comments were supported by both Gerald and Roger.

John's next boat is a 1/700 German Torpedo Boat, SMS 14 from Combrig models.  The photo etch railing were not included in the kit.  

John's third model is from Orange Hobby and is the 1/700 USS New Mexico BB-40.  John reported that the kit had excellent detail.  However the fine scribing in the deck was somewhat lost in the painting phase.  

And John's fourth model is the 1/700 USS Barnaget AVP-10 from NIKO Models.  John mentioned that the model comes with the seaplane.  

I then shared with everyone my latest rabbit hole.  Anti slip measures on WWII ships.  The only company that made stand alone decals representing anti slip treads were from Hawk Graphics.  They are out of business and the owner has no interest in selling any of his remaining stock.  According to Fred, the printer Hawk Graphics used is no longer working.  So time to move on.  I'm working with another company who has created some sample anti-slip decals which I hope to share with you at the next meeting.

I started a thread at Modelwarships.com looking for information about anti-slip measures.  I think this LINK will take you to that thread.  Included there are some official Navy documents of the time with information these materials.  While inconclusive, it provided some great insight.  j

This photo shows anti slip pads that are relatively thin.  An indication that these may have come off a roll of some sort and cut to fit by the crew.

These photos are from a Fletcher.  More evidence that these strips came off a roll.  Note that the pads on the port side are longer than the pads on the starboard side.  

In this photo you can see that the cut pads are butted up next to each other indicating that they were perhaps pre-cut when the crew applied them.

In this photo squares were butted against each other to make continuous pathways.  It's hard to see but it's there.  

In this photo you can see the individual rectangular pads laid out on the deck to form pathways.  However look at the bottom ship.  Next to the torpedo tubes you can see the square pads laid out with gaps in between. 

In this photo you can see clearly die cut pads with curved corners and a fabric layer making them quite thick.  Note that some have been cut and separated so that they don't cross weld lines in the deck.  

Finally this photo shows what the documents called for in the modelwarships.com thread.  There are pads used for pathways.  However in the gun tubs there is a product called Ferrox which is a paint impregnated with sand or grit.  This product was painted over the entire gun tub floor.  Ferrox is a product that is still available for sale today.

Sam shared this product from Archer Fine Transfers.  These are N Scale Louvers (Item No AR88041) which are a dead ringer for 1/700 anti slip treads.  We compared them to a decal sheet of 1/700 anti slip pathways and they appear to be the right width and do not seem to be overly thick.  They have larger sizes but I don't think they represent anti slip pads in larger scales very well.  Stay tuned for what I hope to share with you at the next meeting.

We covered some new model kits and products.  First is from a company nobody was aware of called Foresight Models.  This is Hibiki-class ocean surveillance ship.  The vessels have an AN/UQQ-2 Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), which is installed in the United States. Data from the sensors is relayed through the Defense Satellite Communications System, and processed and shared with the United States.  The data is fed into the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System.  The crew is made up of both US and Japanese personnel.  This model is crying out for some photo etch.

Next is an oldie but a goodie.  A new company called Micro Acel/ARII is re-releasing these 1/800 scale kits.  These old kits are very basic.  Richard advised that their scale may not be very accurate.  More like 1/720 scale?  

Revell is releasing a new 1/144 type IXC/40.  The original type IX boats had trouble flooding quickly and getting underwater.  This boat was redesigned with a narrow foredeck to assist in submerging.  Revell previously released this kit in 1/72 scale and this is a much more manageable size.  RCModels.CZ is going to release a photo etch set for this model early in 2023.  

This boat type was made famous by divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler who dove on this boat for two years off the coast of New Jersey before they confirmed it was the U-869.  

This next kit was first released by Trumpeter.  Pit Road released a version of this previously, and JAG and Big Blue Boy also released versions of this model.  

Trumpeter is releasing a 1/700 Tashkent.  This is an interesting ship but very basic and lacking detail.  It's crying out for a major upgrade kit.  Stay tuned!

Takom is releasing a 1/35 MQ-8B Fire Scout kit.  Each kit allows you to build the model in one of two versions.  As discussed before IPMS has added a "Technology" category for 2023.  This would be perfect for that.  This aircraft has been released as resin kits previously by Attack Squadron and Brengun in 1/72, 1/43, and 1/32 scales.  

As a side note, the Fire Scout is being replaced by MQ-8C which is a drone Jet Ranger.  You can also find this model from Attack Squadron and Brengun in various scales.  

A new kit from Doggy Industries is the 1/700 Pohan Class Corvette of the Korean Navy.

From Dream Models is a 1/700 Russian Frigate, Project 22350.  Dream Models makes very good quality kits, not necessarily ships though.  

The kit includes something different which is using a decal to cover the deck saving the modeler from hours of masking and painting time.  3D parts are included and just enough photo etch.  

Another kit manufacturer we had not heard of is Magic Factory.  This kit has parts to produce one of eight different ships.  

The kit is basic with no photo etch parts.  It does include some interesting components such as the vertical launch tubes fore and aft.  

From Bizarro World is a new kit from MENG.  This is a Chinese company and notice the blimp has "Freedom" printed on the side.  Not as easily seen is "Big Brother is Watching You".

Hopefully they don't end up like this guy!  Anybody seen this guy lately?

What looks like a gem is the new release from Very Fire of the 1/350 Light Cruiser, USS Atlanta CL-51.  This kit comes in a basic set at about $85 and also a deluxe set at about $150.  Victor advised that he bought this kit so we'll be anxious to see his experience with this model.  

Coming from Starling Models in the UK is the Canadian version of the River Class Frigate.  Starling advised that there were significant differences from the British version of this ship so photo etch changes took longer than expected.  They hope to have it released before Christmas.  

Something different.  A company in Japan called Atake Bunne produces interesting wood Japanese subject models.  You can see more of their products at this LINK

From L'Arsenal in France is a new 1/144 Flower Class Corvette bridge.  This is a specific style different than the one offered in the Revell kit.  As reported last month L'Arsenal is releasing new 3D printed detail parts.  Check it out.

Finally from Bunker Studios I had to share the parts they are producing.  These parts are incredibly fine.  For example the sight cages look to scale and not overly thick.  I'm not sure what they're doing but the quality of these parts is amazing.  They have a big line of detail weapons and fixtures.  If this is an indication of what's to come from them, keep a close eye for the parts you need.

See you in December!  I can't believe 2022 is close to being over!