NoelSmith
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Everything posted by NoelSmith
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How much would an unbuilt Airfix St louis kit be worth?
NoelSmith replied to shipman's topic in Plastic model kits
Shipman, If you are looking for a plastic kit of the St. Louis to build, Heller also did one that might be easier to source. I don't think that it is the same kit though. Some might think so because Airfix and Heller at one time were owned by the same holding company. Not to be confused with Heller's Royal Louis that I think is of a Napoleonic era ship. -
Lovely Ship in Bottle model. I really like your innovative method of displaying it as the barrel of a ship's cannon. Not seen a SIB displayed like that before. A real conversation piece.
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Looks like you are making good progress on the Occre Beagle. I see you have built the Occre Polaris and the Bounty's boat. What is your impression of Occre's kits you have built?
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Nice start. Those clips look good for keeping the main hull form parts square.
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Can anyone who has bought the Revell 1/120th scale Cutty Sark kit confirm if it is the Imai kit that was marketed under the Monogram label before being acquired by Revell? Original Imai ones sell for stupid money on Ebay. I'm a builder not a kit collector, so the exact same kit sold inexpensively under another brand name will do me fine. Just want to make sure it is the right one before buying the sets of photo etched parts from Scale Warship that they designed for the Imai kit.
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I would like to see AL produce a kit of the Confederate Sloop of War. CSS Alabama, the CSS Florida or CSS Shenandoah.
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Great 20 bucks worth!
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This thread has made really interesting reading about the Unimats and the Byrnes table saws. Got me to thinking that maybe some small precision engineering company here in the UK could make the Byrnes table saws under licence for the EU market. The nearest thing to compare to a Byrnes table saw in the EU look like the ones that Proxxon make in Germany. As for my little Unimat 4, fortunately it does not get heavily used so hopefully I will be able to use it as long as I can see for the foreseeable future. Just hope the motor does not pack up on it as the little machine is basically quite mechanically sound. Accessories wise, judging by what I have read in this thread, I am glad that I have bought the ones I need whilst the availability was better. Unfortunately the end of an era for the little Unimats I guess now that replacement parts are becoming an issue. Long may my little machine keep going.,............At least for the time being!
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Thanks for the rundown on your little table saw Shipman. Just shows what can be done with soma basic materials and a bit of imagination/innovation. It does what you want and that's the main thing. Bob and Bruce your posts about the Unimat machines and what happened down the years to the parent company made for some very interesting reading, so thanks for taking the time to come back with all the info. I looked on the Emco website links given and they have certainly moved on in a different direction. I wonder now if anyone has bought the copyright to all the little Unimat machine designs? It has probably all been either archived or perhaps even worse, destroyed. Maybe a bit academic now with other miniature machines being currently available from other established manufacturers like Proxxon and Sherline.
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I have a copy of that book Bruce, signed by Gerald. It explains the making of a number of very useful small engineering tools utilising the Unimat with working drawings. One of the things that I did make from his book was a four way tool post for the Unimat 3 and 4. I keep it on the machine pretty much almost permanently. Saves me lots of time as I can keep certain tools set all the time and just swivel them into position. To be honest, I am really surprised that Unimat never offered a 4 way tool post as an accessory to my knowledge. Shipman. Your table top saw. Did you make it yourself using a mini lathe as the motorised basis? Looks pretty good to me.
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Bruce. you are quite correct. I had forgotten that EMCO stood for Elliot Machine Tools. From what I can remember they were based somewhere in or near the Acton area in North London I think. The late Gerald Wingrove had an association with Emco, and can remember some of his creations displayed on their Model Engineering Exhibition Stand. Is EMCO still going? Is the Unimat company in Austria still going?
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That little SL was the first design Unimat Mini Lathe. A fine little machine. I have a Unimat 4 that was made in Taiwan. The last Austrian made machine was the Unimat 3 I believe. Unimat 3 and 4 accessories I think are interchangeable. As far as I can make out the 3 and 4 are identical machines, the 4 just being named that when it went to Taiwan for production. I bought my Unimat 4 a number of years ago and lost track of what Unimat have done since. Sounds like they ceased production judging by the comments on this thread and it would be interesting to know when they stopped production altogether. I wonder why they stopped? Did Emco, the parent company close down or just decide to axe the mini lathes and accessories? I guess that maybe the Taiwanese machines were being made under licence to keep costs down. Others like Proxxon, Sherline, Taig and Cowells still produce mini lathes and it is surprising to learn that the Unimats being so well established in that market not being around any more.
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There is a company in the UK named Slaters who make scored plastic sheets for model railway buildings and scenery that might be worth a look at.
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The German company Proxxon make small table saws and other model makers power tools. They might be worth a look. I don't know what torque the motors generate on Proxxon machines though but they look to be decent bits of kit from what I can see. The little Unimat Lathes have a small table sawing attachment as an accessory that also might be worth a look too.
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The Tamiya primer you already have is fine for a plastic model, you should not need anything else.
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Good luck with your build. It looks as though you already have the best books available about modelling the Cutty Sark. The Longridge and Underhill books are classics. Noel Hackney's book about detailing up the Airfix model is really helpful as it is about a plastic model build. Another source if you want some lovely plans are the 3 plans by George Campbell available from the National Maritime Museum shop at £8.00 per sheet. A brilliant set for £24.00. They are the best plans that I know of and only available from the museum shop's Cutty Sark Collection.
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Bugatti Type 35B by CDW - FINISHED - Italeri - 1:12 Scale
NoelSmith replied to CDW's topic in Non-ship/categorised builds
Should be interesting having just acquired the Italeri kit myself. Looks a good kit in the box as far as I can see. -
I agree Frank that the Bowcock book on EBay is generally very expensive. Having constantly checked the site for a long time one suddenly came up at well under the sort of prices normally being asked for and reasonably priced shipping too from the US, so I went for it. Before that I was reluctant to buy at the prices being asked for. I also have a book titled Shark of the Confederacy that is an account about the history of how the ship was secretly built and a dialogue about its two years at sea. Fascinating account of its voyage. The Builder, Captain and Plans book you already have is the other book I have often seen recommended as an alternative to Bowcock's book for details of the ship itself. I have never seen a copy of it but I guess from what I have read about the book it may be all you might need in any case.I Andrew Bowcock I learnt was on the committee that was looking to build a full size replica of the ship to be placed on display a Birkenhead in Liverpool where the original ship was built. The project unfortunately was shelved, but a copy of a brochure for the project was published that can be obtained from the museum in Liverpool.
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Thanks for putting the YouTube video up Frank. It will be most helpful. Incidentally, I have not long received a copy of Andrew Bowcock's book on the Alabama on Ebay. It must be the most comprehensive treatise about this ship I would imagine. His research is just incredible.
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Nice poem recollection. Not heard that one before. If you ever get to the UK, I see you mentioned that the V&A is on your list. The Science And Natural History Museums are nearby. Literally a minute walk across a road. Lots of exquisite ship models in the Science Museum. Greenwich however is the other side of town but also amazing. London has some incredible museums and galleries to visit, suiting all tastes. Oxford and Cambridge our two most famous university cities have some really interesting museums too. We have two organisations, the National Trust and English Heritage who are custodians of many interesting stately homes, castles and countryside.
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Lindberg Jolly Roger -- Can you send a ship back in time?
NoelSmith replied to Dan DSilva's topic in Plastic model kits
The kit was originally issued as La Flore, French Frigate. Check out the stern mouldings for the name. Lindberg would probably not have removed it. Their Wappen Von Hamburg I think was also re released as a pirate ship too. -
Johnny, I missed out on the Oseberg ship as the cruise I was on could not do Oslo due to adverse weather. So we got to see Helsinki instead as an unscheduled stop. If you get to Europe some time the UK has much to offer too in maritime history.
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I looked on the Greenwich website this morning in the Museum Shop section. They have a Cutty Sark Collection selling themed items related to the ship. The George Campbell plans are available from them and are exclusively on sale by the museum. They are a very reasonable £8.00 each for each individual plan. The set consists of 3 sheets totalling £24.00. Very inexpensive compared to other commercially available Cutty Sark plans for the model maker and by far the most definitive.I Their shop carries some really interesting nautical books worth browsing. Over recent years museum shops have really upped their game with regard to quality gift and reference merchandise.
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Further to my very last post, I was looking through Kingkit's site (a well established UK second hand kit warehouse) for Cutty Sark kits. I came across one or two 1/120th scale kits by Revell that I suspect may be the Monogram/Imai kit under the Revell banner. As many already know, Revell acquired Monogram a few years back.
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Thanks for the further feedback Snug Harbor Johnny. Your response certainly made interesting reading. I understand too from something I may have read somewhere that one ship was a bit longer than the other by a number of feet. Going on to your current build of the Vasa. A few years ago before the Covid restrictions I got to see the Vasa for real whilst doing a Baltic cruise. It was absolutely breath taking to see how the ship is preserved. That leads me on to something that you might find useful. If you look on the Artesania Latina website for their Vasa kit, they have downloads of their instructions, part of which is a good photographic guide to painting all those intricate carvings. An added bonus whilst on the cruise, being a small ship it.docked right in the heart of St.Petersburg for a couple of days that coincided with the Russian Navy Days, so got to see some of their modern stuff, a frigate, fast patrol missile boat and a submarine were there. Their pre revolution cruiser the Aurora was permanently moored nearby. Our lady tour guide had a wicked sense of humour and said about the Aurora that it fired the first shot of the revolution and brought their country 50 years of misery!
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