mdesaxe

I saw what I think may be the ugliest EV creation yet - a Volkswagen ID Buzz, which is the EV successor for the Kombi and all its derivatives. Unfortunately, I could not get a photograph, but look it up if you want a shock. Maurice

There is a very nice model available of USS Johnston (DD-821) from Kraken Hobbies - https://krakenhobbies.com/shop/ols/products/1700-uss-johnston-dd-821-fram-i-kit. I will see if I can successfully post images. Maurice

There is a minor problem with the Tamiya E-class model. The E- to G-class destroyers were armed with 4.7-inch guns on CP Mark XVII mountings which allowed 40 degrees of elevation. To accommodate the breech at that elevation, the guns were installed in wells 4.5 inches below the level of the surrounding deck so that the breech was not too high above the deck for the crew to load the weapon. Tamiya's pattern makers misinterpreted the drawings and put in raised platforms for the guns in place of the wells. I cannot think of a good solutions, since we are looking at tiny differences - 0.0065-inch - maybe some cunning trompe l'oeil painting? Maurice

Did you get your six-pack Captain's licence at the same time? Maurice

I might add that steel decks were painted with a very hard-wearing black paint with some anti-slip panels fitted. Steve D's image is most definitely not of one of the V104 to V108 series but of an example of the Schichau S90 series. The latter had typical Schichau decks that were cambered like a turtleback into the hull sides. The kit subject has a hard break at the sheer between the deck and the hull. Maurice

Obviously OneDrive no longer works. Let's try this. https://imgur.com/qyncDDc Maurice

Does this help? https://1drv.ms/f/c/1fd2ec6b6c2ba24f/UgRPoitsa-zSIIAfeAgAAAAAAF9adkcgpmMZ6yc?width=1024 Maurice

There is a 1/700-scale resin kit of Repulse as in 1916 by Poseidon Models (catalogue no. 002). I bought mine over ten years ago and it is a rather nice replication of the real thing. I have no idea if it is still obtainable but some items from the producer have shown up on Aliaexpress. A Japanese model builder has made a rather nice version of Renown in 1920 from the Poseidon kit: https://maidoworks.com/works/shipmodel/renown1920-700poseidonmodel/ Maurice

According to Erich Gröner, the four boats of the V105 class (V105 to V108) were black until November 1916 and dark grey thereafter (except for V107 which was mined and sunk in 1915). From what I can determine, the Imperial German Navy did not apply boot topping to torpedo craft and all the black-and-white images I have found of these boats seem to show a black underwater hull. These boats are interesting – they originally were ordered from A.G. Vulcan as Z-1 to Z-4 for the Netherlands and seized on the outbreak of World War I. V105 and V108 were ceded to Poland and became ORP Mazur and ORP Kaszub respectively. They were refitted with the forecastle lengthened to eliminate the well and place the bridge upon it, and Mazur was even more heavily modified in the late 1930s with only the fore funnel remaining. The Netherlands, meanwhile, built four more of the type as Z-5 to Z-8, the first two at K.M. de Schelde, Vlissingen and the second pair at Fijenoord Co. Rotterdam. Maurice

I'm not convinced - alloy wheels and side exhausts under the door? Maurice

The Booklet of General Plans for USS Tuscaloosa is available here: https://archive.org/details/ca37bogp193x Maurice

That is a very beautiful result! There is one problem, however. The arrangement of the 5-inch anti-aircraft guns on Tuscaloosa was unique. The central gun on the forecastle deck was mounted to overhang the hull, like the one ahead of it, while the aftermost gun was inset and did not overhand the hull side. This is apparent in the painting and the photographs. Maurice

I use matte varnish to attach port rims and rigols. Maurice

He recovered and even found it amusing in retrospect but has kept as far away as possible from Robins ever since. Instead he took up less dangerous hobbies like racing my 1948 Manx Norton at British Historic Racing Club meetings and, about ten years ago, took part in one of the early Isle of Man Classic TT events. Maurice

My brother-in-law was driving a Robin along Goldhawk Road one day when someone shot out of a side street to turn right and clipped its rear corner. The next second he and his seat were on the tarmac as he clutched the steering wheel and was surrounded by chunks of fibreglass and other debris. Maurice

My wife is from New Mexico. During the decade we lived there we always had SUV's because a) there are more unpaved than paved roads in the state (including the 1.5km-long dirt road leading to our house), b) it's pretty mountainous, and c) we did a great deal of hiking, backpacking, and skiing, so we needed the load-carrying and four-wheel drive. When we moved to Provence we bought a RAV4 for most of the same reasons, although we do not use it for travelling all around Europe to visit family and friends; we used a V-10 Audi S8 for that until we replaced it last year with a Lucid Air Touring, which I'm sure will horrify everyone since it's an EV. However, it's fast (0-100kph in 3 seconds and 10 seconds more to 220 kph), great handling (probably even better than the Audi and very necessary around here), very comfortable, and it has a range of 650 km that can be recharged to 500 km in less than 20 minutes using a super-charger. Maurice

For many years I avoided automatics like the plague but now I'm not as adamant in opposing them. My one early experience was with a borrowed Daimler Conquest Roadster, which had what was then Daimler's standard four-speed preselector gearbox and a fluid flywheel. I discovered after a week or so that this was very slightly out of adjustment, so instead of being a preselect transmission, it was a random select gearbox that chose for itself, including on one occasion opting for reverse instead of first gear as I prepared to accelerate away from traffic lights. Maurice

Thanks to all @EwenS @dickrd @Ngantek @Our Ned Maurice

Ewen, Very helpful in confirming my doubts about the drawing (which I do not myself have so I cannot post a copy on the site). The drawings shows two twins opposite that single 20mm forward by the wind break on a platform on the starboard side. That seems plausible. The other four are depicted between the 4-inch twin mounting on the foredeck and the two singles you mention just ahead of the hangar. As you say, that would be very wet and exposed, much more so than the two singles by the hangar. I saw the Hobbs note - it may be that two twins replaced those two singles and that would match his earlier number exactly. Thank you again. Maurice

I recently was shown some drawings by Witold Koszela of the aircraft carrier Furious in its final operational state. It shows the light anti-aircraft armament as five 8-barrelled pom-poms (two on the old forward flying-off deck, and one before and two abaft the island on the flight deck) along with six twin 20mm Mk. V mountings (two forward on the starboard side of the flight deck and four on the old forward flying-off deck) plus seven single 20mm. I have not found a reference to Furious carrying five 8-barrelled pom-poms anywhere, so all of is this correct? Maurice

I have several photographs taken by my father-in-law of his ambulances while he was serving with the American Field Service, a Quaker all-volunteer ambulance service that was formed originally during World War I and re-activated for World War II. His company was attached to the British army from 1942 onwards, serving in Egypt, Syria, the Western Desert, Tunisia, and finally in Italy. While in Egypt and Syria in 1942, the ambulances had RAF-style A-type roundels painted on the bonnets - no yellow surround. When they returned to the Western Desert in late 1942, no such markings were carried. He was a pacifist and conscientious objector, and his experiences as an ambulance driver led him to switch from a career as a journalist to becoming a doctor. He applied to and was accepted into medical school but did not realise this until he was evacuated wounded during the Third Battle of Monte Casino, during which his company was supporting the 4th Indian Division and the Gurkhas in particular, because he had stuffed the acceptance telegram into his battledress and did not stop to open it until he was on the troop transport going home. It was very hazardous driving an ambulance - he was one of about a dozen members of his company to survive the entire period from 1942 to 1945. He was most irate when he later received an Honorable Discharge and several medals from the US Army in 1994 because he had never served in the US Army, nor would he have done so if given the opportunity. Maurice

John M. Elliott (author of The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 3) points out that. although dated July 16, 1956, MIL-C-18263(Aer) that introduced the Land Camouflage scheme was "released at some later date." As with the earlier iteration that introduced the Light Gull Gray/Insignia White colour scheme for carrier aircraft (dated February 23, 1955) actual implementation could be quite a bit later. For example, photographs of ATG-181 embarked on USS Forrestal from January 24 to March 31, 1956 (a year later) show aircraft in three different schemes: the new gray and white finish, overall Dark Sea Blue, and unpainted metal, sometimes even within the same squadrons. Maurice

@Pete in Lincs described my Stratos Stradale as "absolutely stark staring bonkers!" This Lamborghini is even more over the top! Maurice

The one that got away! When I had a series of Lancias, whenever I had a problem with them that I could not deal with myself, I took them to a marvelous elderly Italian mechanic who ran his hole-in-the-wall shop on Pentonville Road near the Angel. We became good friends (dinners together with him and his wife and so on) and he would let me use his personal 250 GT Lusso as a loaner if he had to keep my car for any length of time. When he decided to retire (he was well into his eighties) he offered to sell it to me for about the same price as I had paid for my flat in Islington. We agreed and set it up to conclude the sale when I came back from a two-week business trip to Tokyo. Unfortunately, when I returned he told me the deal was off because his two sons, who had absolutely no interest in his business or the car, wanted him to keep it in the family. So that’s how it got away! The only good thing that came out of it was that we remained good friends (not so much with his sons) and he very shortly afterwards put me onto a rather nice red Maserati Mistral Spyder, which is the only car from that time I kept and I still have it here in Provence. Maurice