mdesaxe

Still in New Mexico. My brother-in-law has a friend who has a restoration business, mainly for 1970s muscle cars. I visited him and saw these in his warehouse waiting for customers to collect them (apart from the Corvette which is his own vehicle). He also has several motorcycles, including two Indians, one from the 1920s and the other from the 1950s, and a horribly over-restored Morris Mini-Minor Traveller that he is trying to sell for $16,000 – way overpriced in my opinion. My phone battery died so I couldn’t get shots of these and several others in the warehouse (there were about 15 cars altogether). While we’re in Albuquerque, I will definitely visit the Unser Racing Museum which is only about 30 minutes’ walk away from my brother-in-law’s house (yes, people do walk in the United States and walking is the quickest way to reach the museum because of the mess of traffic circulation on the way there). The Unser clan has been in the motor racing field for a hundred years and the museum has many of their vehicles, so it should be quite exciting. It looks like we may be prevented from returning to France on schedule because we are booked to fly via London and it seems that the UK’s Border Force is going on strike exactly when we are supposed to be transitting Heathrow, so we are trying to find an alternative that avoids Britain. Wish me luck! Maurice

I finally located the folder in which I had placed the original Grumman camouflage diagram for the G-36A/Martlet I. Maurice

The Chevy Bolt is an electric car currently in production with a range of around 250 miles. My brother-in-law and his wife each have one (one black and one white) but the lime green one I saw was quite startling. I believe GM also sells Bolts in a lurid metallic orange but I am pleased to say I have not seen one yet while over here. This is the black one - imagine what it would look like in lime green! Maurice

I'm in New Mexico with my wife visiting her family here. We went for a short walk around the neighbourhood and I saw a 1949 Pontiac Streamliner Silver Streak, a 1953 Chevy Nomad (both being restored), and a rather nice dark blue Volvo P1800. We also saw a fluorescent lime green Chevy Bolt. I'll try and get photographs - I might give the Bolt a miss because it probably will break my camera! Maurice

Love it! I especially like the period-appropriate aftermarket wing mirrors - but I'm not as enthusiastic about the (unnecessary) bonnet straps as I never had a problem with the bonnet lifting on mine (an A-series with moustaches instead of the full-width front bumper and very like that example except it was red and tan). Maurice

Not so sure about the colour. Mine (bought in 1979) was Rosso Alfa and I much preferred that. It always struck me as strange that the used 2600 Sprints were cheap at the time (I think mine cost me less than ₤1,500) while 2000 Sprints were two or three times as expensive. Maurice

When the French aircraft were taken over by the British Purchasing Commission, Grumman refinished the aircraft from the French overall grey finish into a colour scheme apparently provided by the Royal Navy's Aeronautics Branch representative, Lt. J. H. Millar, RNVR. This was a disruptive scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey and Light Sea Green on the upper surfaces with Duck Egg Blue under surfaces. Roundels were 40" A Type above and below the wings, 30" A1 Type on the fuselage side with 6" Yellow surrounds, and the whole rudder striped like the French machines, but with Red leading. All this comes from the camouflage diagram 23350-3 in Grumman's archives for Contract F-292. The colors applied to the first ten machines were high gloss. While awaiting delivery these aircraft carried the same special US civil registrations applied in white to the upper starboard wing, and the number alone applied in white on each side of the fin. Propellors also acquired standard USN Blue-Yellow-Red tips. To be blunt, the colours suggested by Paul Lucas seem to have been based on his interpretation of the several colour photographs of these gloss-finished machines and they are not born out by the colours revealed by the restorers at the FAA Museum, which match the colours specified in the Grumman diagram. As I recall, he first put forward the Flag Blue 24, Sea Green 28, Light Blue 27 theory in an article in SAM or SAMI, after which I wrote to Neil Robinson (then the editor) and pointed out there was no evidence for this idea and that the Grumman archival material existed (and sent him a copy) but it was ignored. It seems Mr. Lucas has simply carried over that article theory to his book. I am curious - the Martlet exists in a publicly-funded museum, so has anyone thought of asking Yeovilton what colours were used? As a PS - Flag Blue is the official colour for the blue component of the United States flag and is nothing like the shade visible on the Martlet at Yeovilton. It is worth noting that the Grumman colour photographs of the first British Martlets almost certainly were Kodachrome images - and Kodachrome is notorious for emphasising blues. Maurice

@Sabrejet My Daimler SP250 (popularly known as a Daimler Dart but I don't think Daimler ever so designated it) had a 2.5 litre V-8 - smaller than the 3-litre engine of my Austin-Healey 3000 Mk.II. Maurice

I notice a separate thread started by @MDriskill on Martlet II variants in January of this year. In it there was mention of the lower fuselage fairing differences (below the undercarriage bays). Why they were different on some of the Martlet II series, I do not know but, for your information, the fairings cover fuel dump piping. The long fairing was unique to some of the Martlet II series, but the Grumman records do not show that there was any difference in the piping arrangement for these machines. Maurice

When I was an undergraduate, the Met had several white MGC roadsters. The only way you could tell they were police cars was if you spotted the 'Toblerone' police light on the boot lid. Since I was driving an Austin-Healey 3000 Mk.II at the time, with essentially the same engine set up as the MGC, I borrowed a friend's to try one. In every way the Healey outclassed the MGC, in my opinion, even on handling! Maurice

I have not checked every kit (obviously) but it seems that the finest panel lines inscribed on the top-of-the-line examples of today are 0.003 to 0.005 inches wide. At 1:72 scale, that equals 0.216 to 0.36 inches. At 1:48 scale that equals 0.14 to 0.24 inches. I rather doubt that gaps of that size would be acceptable on a full-size machine, but model builders extol their accuracy. I do not know the actual thickness of the skin material on an F4F. I understand the minimum thickness of Alclad is 0.040 to 0.050 inches and the maximum is as much as 0.24 inches. At 1:48 scale the thinnest material is a thickness of 0.001 inches., at 1:72 scale it is 0.0007 inches. Clearly, a lap of 0.003 inches could be considerably overscale, but so is a gap between flush skins of the same width, yet one is "overscale" and the other is an "excellent" representation. Maurice

I have watched craftsmen making masters for resin-cast models of rivetted hulls do this. They place very thin self-adhesive tape along the line of the overlap and skim car body stopper up to it with a spatula. If it is possible on a 1:350-scale model, it ought to be possible for a major manufacturer to solve this challenge. Maurice

Since my name became associated with this thread I have been following it (cautiously). I took the opportunity to follow up on the references to Jumpei Temma's work on the F4F and was most impressed by his attention to sourcing original material for it. I also found it interesting to learn that his work was the basis for new kits in 1:48 scale (Eduard) and 1:72 scale (Arma), so I decided to take hard looks at the online reviews of these two kits. I am sorry to say that all of the above have missed a significant feature of all the F4F family (and also of the F2F, F3F, and (I believe) the F6F family, too). The fuselage skin of the F4F is not flush - the individual panels lap over each other, starting from the tail. In other words, there is no narrow division between the panels but a ridge the thickness of the skin material at the trailing edge of each panel with a line of quite prominent dome-headed rivets just forward of that trailing edge (rather like the plating on a rivetted ship's hull). The manufacturer was not sometimes called "Grumman Ironworks" for no reason! Both Eduard and Arma have the rivet pattern correct but the flush skin of the fuselage and the panel line is just plain wrong. Maurice

I am fascinated to find material that I posted over ten years ago resurfacing now - thank you MDriiskill. It seems to highlight the continued value of this site! Some background may be useful. In 2000 I visited the Grumman archive on Long Island to search for materials relating to the Martlets supplied to the Royal Navy. The staff was extraordinarily helpful in assisting me finding this information. Afterwards, they provided me with 8x10 prints (not photocopies) of virtually all the pertinent photographs in their collection, along with photocopies of correspondence, specification, camouflage patterns, and some contract information. Quite a few of the photographs, by the way, also exist in other repositories (especially the National Air and Space Museum) but they originate from Grumman. Subsequently, after 9/11, access to the archive became much more restricted (and I was no longer in the United States) but I was fortunate to contact a fellow researcher who still had good access. He uncovered some additional material that I had missed earlier and again sent me photocopies. All the photographs and almost all of the information (including the Pilot’ s Notes) I posted came from that source. In other words, it’s primary source material and not secondary opinion (although the opinions are indeed mine). Even after this time, I still stand by what I posted - I only found a single significant mis-captioned image from Grumman (it purported to be a camouflaged Greek Martlet). I must admit that I opted out of further postings when a trend towards using more recent secondary sources to over-ride primary documentation became apparent. On a side note, I recently visited the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton and saw its wonderfully-restored Martlet I. When I returned home, I looked up the additional information on the museum’s website. I must admit that I was taken aback to read this in the report by David Morris, Curator of Aircraft: “Little has been recorded in detail about this odd batch of aircraft…". When I visited the museum in 2001 to research the modifications to Lend-Lease aircraft for the FAA, I gave David Hobbs (then the director) in person scanned copies of all the material I had uncovered at Grumman (with the archive’s permission), including the correspondence about the transfer from France to Britain , the changes agreed, colour and black-and-white photographs, and a Grumman diagram of the vunique camouflage scheme applied. Maurice

Love the models! My wife was born and brought up in Corrales until she went to high school. We even were married in the church of San Isidro there. She still has family in the area so we have spent a lot of time in New Mexico during our thirty-plus years of marriage, most recently several days at Chaco and Canyon de Chelly. We still have a house (built in 1820) in Las Vegas. I have to ask - red or green? Maurice

What a wonderful work of model building! Great detail, crisp finish, and nice presentation. I also appreciate that you have the title correct; the nickname "The Mighty 'ood" I believe originated with an article in the Daily Mail in the late 1920s in which it was attributed to a member of the lower deck. Since then, far too many authors and commentators, following the example of Professor Henry Higgins, have "corrected" the sailor's original statement to more proper English as "The Mighty Hood". I really admire that rigging!! Maurice

I recently was able to examine the Cover for the River class TBD's of the 1901-1902 Programme (boats launched in 1903) at Greenwich. This includes a statement that steam capstans were to be fitted for the first time in Royal Navy TBD's on these boats, implying that all earlier TBD's of the 27-knotter and 30-knotter types only had manual capstans. Maurice

I do not have my copy of Friedman immediately available. Looking quickly through Lyon, in addition to the two places @GrahamBmentioned, the platforms are apparent in the draughts of Arab (28), Havock (54), Hornet (55), Hasty (57), Conflict (65), Thorn (68), Vixen (71), Fervent (74-75), Crane (78), Haughty (82), Swordfish (86), Hunter (88-89), and Zebra (90-91). They also show up quite clearly in photographs of Snapper and Bullfinch (73), Zephyr (76), Flying Fish (80), Hardy (83), Spitfire (85), Zebra (90), Cheerful (93), Whiting (107), and Hunter (108). On the other hand, I cannot see them in the photographs of the Laird 26-knotter Lynx (99). Maurice

I do not have any of the Combrig kits for these A to D-class destroyers in either 1:350 scale or 1:700 scale but I must agree they make up into very attractive models. All the five or six examples I have seen completed exhibit the same small error which leads me to believe it is a result of a deficiency in Combrig's instructions. All these destroyers had a quite prominent capstan on the turtle-back. I am not sure whether this was steam-powered or not (the draughts are not clear enough in this area to confirm this or not), but the capstans definitely were set up to operate manually in the old-fashioned manner using the crew to push bars and rotate it. Consequently, there were small part-circle platforms on each side of the capstan for the crew to walk upon as they pushed the bars. The outer edges of the platforms were supported by the stanchions of the railings than ran from the gun platform to the bow. This means that these railings curve to match the platforms on each side and do not run straight fore and aft until forward of these platforms, a feature which would also be necessary to allow the crew to rotate the capstan. I really like this model, especially as it is in the Mediterranean Fleet's colours and, correctly, has black anti-fouling paint. I am scratch building a 1:250-scale model of one of Laird's later 30-knotters, HMS Griffon, which has the same colour scheme, so this makes it even more attractive to me. Maurice

If I am not mistaken, HMS Cossack was the first of Airfix's 1:600 warship kits. Maurice

All of his service was aboard Oribi (he may even have been what the Americans call a 'plank owner'). He contracted tuberculosis from the constantly cold and wet conditions aboard while escorting Arctic and North Atlantic convoys. This left him with only one lung but that did not stop him smoking 2-3 packets (40-60 cigarettes) a day (preferably Gitanes) until he died almost 50 years later. He rarely talked about his service but he always said the best reward was the result of Oribi's part in liberating Copenhagen in 1945 - the Danish girl who became his first wife. Apparently, it was a classic 'dashing sailor meets naughty nurse' scenario, since that was when he was hospitalised with tuberculosis. Maurice

I will be following this one with great interest. My uncle was captain of B gun aboard HMS Oribi (rather appropriately, since he was a South African) during the Battle of the Barents Sea. For many years one of my sisters kept a 4.7-inch cartridge case he had 'liberated' and brought home from that action - she used it as a door stop! Maurice

I lived in North Carolina for a period and we used to claim that the real State Motto was "Men Working". This was especially the case when driving into the state since one such sign always seemed to be posted right next to "Welcome to North Carolina" and completely obscuring "Buckle up - It's the Law". Maurice

That is beautiful!! On my 1948 500cc Manx Norton (with magnesium hubs and engine cases and a plunger frame) the tank is semi-polished bare aluminium with all the lettering and pinstriping hand-painted on it. I have no idea how I ever could replicate that if I ever had to restore it. Nevertheless, it still races quite regularly. Maurice

This photosensitivity is why it is important to make sure that you apply a coating over anything made from polystyrene. Almost any pigmented coating is effective in protecting the polystyrene against the sun's ultraviolet emissions. Unfortunately, a large percentage of clear coatings provide no such protection so, if you want to preserve a model without painting it, you need to check whether or not the clear coating you want to use is ultraviolet resistant. Unfortunately, most manufacturers of finishes for model makers do not make this easily apparent (they do not think it purchasers will consider it important, unlike manufacturers of clear finishes for boats or furniture, for example), but it is worth doing the work to check if you do not want to use a paint finish on your polystyrene model. Maurice