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Bandsaw Steve

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Posts posted by Bandsaw Steve

    Why did the RAF order/receive over 300 nuclear bombers?

    in Aviation Chat

    Posted

    3 hours ago, EwenS said:

     

    As for what finally persuaded the Japanese to surrender, who knows exactly what tipped the balance. But 9 Aug was a terrible day for them. Stalin kept his promises from Tehran in Nov 1943 and Yalta in Feb 1945. Considering that the Japanese had been trying to use them as intermediaries in an effort to seek a negotiated way out of the war, this was a huge shock. The Soviets rolled into Manchuria with overwhelming force just after midnight. The speed of their advance was something to behold. Then 11 hours later Nagasaki. That on top of their being pushed back in every theatre in which they were fighting, including southern China itself. The decision was not easy and did not go down well in certain quarters leading to a coup attempt.

     

    It has always struck me that it was the cumulative effects of all these things rather than any single one that changed their minds. They finally realised there was no way out. Efforts then shifted to how to keep the Emperor.

     

     

     

    What a great summary.
     

    I am always slightly miffed when when the narrative goes ‘The USA dropped the atom bombs and so Japan surrendered’. There was a lot more than just that going on, and such a simplistic summary essentially dismisses the importance of Commonwealth, Chinese, Soviet and other nation’s efforts as well as the enormous power & importance of US conventional forces.

     

    I have read that at the time the Emperor did not fully understand the impact of America’s ‘new bomb’ but fully and immediately understood what war with the Soviet Union meant! 
     

     

    • Like 1

    SS Xantho, Western Australia's First Steamship - Scratchbuild - 1:100

    in Work in Progress - Maritime

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

    It's good that someone acknowledges these events.

     

    Thanks mate. I think so too!

     

    It doesn’t need to be a solemn ceremony or anything too complicated or involved, just a mention in a conversation or a letter to a local newspaper or a post on-line can remind us that, wherever we live, there are always stories that add local interest and colour.

    • Like 2

    SS Xantho, Western Australia's First Steamship - Scratchbuild - 1:100

    in Work in Progress - Maritime

    Posted

    Anniversary

     

    Some of you may be aware that I'm a bit of a sucker for an anniversary.  Right this moment 9:40 PM on 13 Nov 2022 WA standard time it will be 150 years - to the minute - since Xantho cast off at Port Gregory on her final voyage.   To my knowledge this anniversary will go completely unmarked. In fact, I suspect that even the staff at the Maritime Museum might not have noticed it. Consequently, the weight of commemorating the first ever attempt to use a powered vessel to export mineral product from this state falls on my shoulders. I have held off hitting the 'submit' button here on BM until this very moment to mark the occasion.   :wow:

    To put the importance of this event in context... Xantho sank under the weight of 83 tonnes of lead ore.  In calendar year 2021 Western Australia shipped 844 million tonnes of iron ore worth $137 billion Australian dollars. The total value of all minerals produced was $211 billion Australian dollars.

     

    https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/western-australias-economy-and-international-trade#:~:text=The value of Western Australia's,per cent to %24231.5 billion.

     

    So despite the fact that Charles Broadhurst had bad luck that night 150 years ago,  he was certainly onto an idea that was going to become a very big thing in the future of this state.

     

    So what progress have I made on this model of his little ship?

     

    Here's where I was up to at the end of the last post.

    6TAFPYx.jpg

     

    Some work on the decks was due.  Here I'm using a needle and an incra-rule to scribe a series of equi-distant and parallel lines to represent deck planking.

    HA0aCgo.jpg

     

    This process was remarkably easy and can be recommended as a satisfactory way to produce a good starting point for a fairly convincing looking deck.

    rv3mFdq.jpg

     

    I think you can all see where this is going...

    e3sNYGL.jpg

     

    and I've done something similar over the poop deck.

    RNswLwd.jpg

     

    The four rather prominent wash-ports along the side of the vessel need to be cut out, although in retrospect I might have been better off cutting these before I glued the bulwarks in place.

    ICbwGmD.jpg

     

    In any case it was nothing too difficult. I just bored some 'easer holes' though the bulwarks then used a razor and some dymo tape to fully delinate each hole, the cleared out the hole with a fine chisel.

    o5HPLEA.jpg

     

    Here she is with the decks and some preliminary cut-outs of the hatches loosely fitted.

    04fzszF.jpg

     

    And here she is with - yet another - layer of primer applied.

    9e3fTJA.jpg

     

    Don't worry about the very roughly formed masts. At this point they are just there to give a bit more of a  'visual impression' of what the ship will look like when complete.

     

    Hw30GDk.jpg

    So there we have it!

     

    SS Xantho 150 years on.  Gone but not forgotten. 

     

    I might have a swift glass of port to mark her passing. 

     

    Best Regards,

    Bandsaw Steve.

     

    • Like 8

    The Entropy Group Build - 1 July 2023 to 22 October 2023

    in Future Group Builds

    Posted

    No, not a scratchbuild GB. Much more inclusive than that. I’ve noticed that, generally speaking, broad and inclusive topics do well in the bunfight. The idea is a genuine theme but - just like ‘Entropy’ - it could include practically anyone or anything.

     

    I’m not sure about two things:

     

    1, How much work is involved in running one of these things?

    2, Is it a good idea (or not) to float a new proposal during the bunfight?

     

    Any thoughts welcome.

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