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Literalman

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  • Website URL
    www.stevedunham.50megs.com

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Upper Darby, PA
  • Interests
    Naval history, railroads

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  1. I got one request for the model and two for books, so I guess the fair thing is to give them to people in the order their requests arrived. I'll be happy that some of you can put them to good use.
  2. I have three things I would like to give away: A Model Shipways solid-hull Harriet Lane model kit How to Make Old Time Ship Models by Edward W. Hobbs (1977). This hardcover book has foldout hull plans for the Royal Albert. The Neophyte Shipmodeller's Jackstay by George F. Campbell (1976). I was intending to build the Harriet Lane in retirement, which began five years ago, but my eyesight and dexterity have declined enough that I have decided to give it up. When I was young I built the Model Shipways Phantom and Forester models and scratchbuilt a small vessel. So if you can make use of the model kit and books or maybe could use them to help someone get started in the hobby, just let me know. Steve Dunham Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania sgdunham[at]verizon.net
  3. I don't think it was mentioned in the posts above, but Katy was a nickname for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, based on the KT part of the initials. Maybe this was stated in plain sight and I just didn't notice …
  4. My first model was also the solid-hull Phantom. It came out pretty well. That was about 50 years ago. It's still on a shelf in the living room, but when it needed some minor repairs after moving, I no longer seemed to have the dexterity or eyesight to do the work. However, after the Phantom, when I was young, I was able to do the solid-hull Model Shipways Forester and scratch build a Revolutionary War Washington galley. I'd agree that the Phantom is a good place to start.
  5. Two e-books added at the Gutenberg website offer naval history and may be helpful to modelers: The Imperial Japanese Navy by Fred T. Jane (of Jane's Fighting Ships), 1904, with illustrations & specs. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74624 Navies of the World by Lieut. Edward W. Very, U.S.N., 1880, with descriptions, specs & crude plans https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74406
  6. Yes, I built this model almost 50 years ago but no longer have the model or plans. Not much I recall about building it either. 😞
  7. This book is now available as a free download on Project Gutenberg at Sea life in Nelson's time by John Masefield - Free Ebook (gutenberg.org). The first chapter has many details on ship construction and what colors were used on hulls, gunports, etc., in different parts of the 18th and 19th centuries.
  8. When I was a kid, the church hall had those balls of fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. They never went into action, fortunately. Around 1998 I went to work for a government contractor in Virginia, USA. (Is there another Virginia? I don't think so, but in the Philippines you can buy Virginia hot dogs, which I've never seen in the USA.) I worked in the publications group, and I had to wear a tie. Although I was an editor, I sometimes worked in the print shop like everybody else in the publications group. Around machinery, I would tuck my tie into my shirt, something I think I learned from Navy movies or photos.
  9. Decades ago, I was talking to an old-timer who said he had flown the B-26 Marauder. I said I had heard it called the Widowmaker (maybe in a Wings documentary). He told me you had to fly it, in contrast to some planes that were easy to fly and almost flew themselves. He said that their saying in training was "One a day in Tampa Bay." These points are noted in an article that someone posted a few pages back.
  10. For scratch building or kits, I think I've used only one power tool ever: an electric drill. I'm sure that with other power tools I could mess things up faster and more thoroughly than with hand tools. 😉
  11. Regarding plexiglass cost: when I lived in Boston (more than 40 years ago) there was a plexiglass dealer in South Boston that sold the scraps left over from cutting. I was able to get pieces big enough to build cases up to about 2 ft x 3 ft x 1 ft. The dealer sold the scrap by the pound. I would pick out the pieces I wanted and carry them to a big scale. It never cost much. If you can find something like that it makes the plexiglass affordable.
  12. Inside a B-24: one of my uncles died in a B-24 in World War II some years before I was born. In the 1990s, probably, I was at an air show and saw a B-24 on display. Although it was a big plane for its day (considered a heavy bomber, I believe), inside it seemed small. I could imagine going into battle in it with nothing but sheets of aluminum, I suppose, between the crew and the flak.
  13. "old, old … from the 1960s": hmm, yes, that's when I was building plastic kits as a kid. Mostly Revell, as I recall. I started on wooden models when I was in my 20s: a couple of kits and a scratch build. I have a mostly untouched Model Shipways Harriet Lane still in the box, and I will attack it again one of these days. Being old, old, and retired about a year, I have more time but less energy and eyesight not as sharp; however, I intend to do it.
  14. Looks good! I like lightships. I've seen a few and imagined I would have enjoyed serving on one.
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