S. Berliner, III's Comet AUTHENTICAST Continuation Page B keywords = "Comet Authenticast Comet Metal Products Slonim ordnance tank armor armour track self-propelled artillery gun cannon rifle airplane spotter ship naval navy"

Updated: 01 Dec 2008, 22:50 ET
(Created: 18 Nov 2008)

[This is authcmtb.html
(URL http://sbiii.com/authcmtb.html )]

S. Berliner, III
Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"

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[consultation is on a fee basis]

Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology

Comet AUTHENTICAST

Model WWII Ships

A rare cased set of 47 Comet Metal Products AND South Salem Studios U. S. WWII ship (1:1200) models is now available for sale. All of the models are screwed to the shelves/slats/bases and are in fairly good shape. (12 Nov 08)

{ships do not bear model numbers}

The ships can only be bought as one single cased set; individual pieces will NOT be sold separately.

Owner's photos of the case and ship models follow; all have been cropped and lightened to bring out detail. Lighting was apparently not ideal and focusing seems to have been a problem on some pictures. The first set of pictures is random and unidentified, as received (unless I happened to do so); the second set of pictures was identified by the owner.

I have made no attempt to present these to a common scale but have tried to show some or all of the shelf in each instance for reference. As you can see from the case photo, there are two sets of cubbies or compartments, 16 in each half of the case, left and right. Each half is divided in thirds; the left and right thirds have 5 cubbies each and the center has 6 wider ones, for a total of 32 cubbies. There are, however, 47 ship models; most of the smaller (outer) cubbies hold two ship models, screwed to shallower plywood shelves and inserted in the cubbies together, side-by-side. Each ship model has the name and class of the ship molded in the model.

The 12 large bases are approximately 10½" long (wide) by 2½" deep (front-to-back). The smaller bases are approximately 7½" long by 1¼" deep.

So, the original set of photos, with the full case first and then the left and right sides separately:

(Cropped from Oct-Nov 2008 photo by owner - all rights reserved)
[All photos are thumbnailed; click on the image for a larger picture]

(Cropped from Oct-Nov 2008 photos by owner - all rights reserved)
[All photos are thumbnailed; click on the images for larger pictures]

Next, some blurred shots of the Comet and South Salem labels and of the handle and stenciling and a sample photo showing the three different sizes of ships (small, mediium, and large):

The distinction of size only matters in relation to the cubby sizes; the biggest ships had to go in the center cubbies.

The underside of the "left" (Comet) half of the case is rubber stamped with the Navy's "U. S." and anchor device:

I asked for and got a better shot of this device:

Here are far better shots of the contract labels:

The white labels or information tags appear to be plastic (probably a form of Bakelite) with thin red and gold colored outer bands and are attached with four screws (one in each corner). They are fitted to the right tops of the case halves; the top of the left half bears a black stencil reading:

U. S. NAVY MINIATURE MODELS".

The left tag reads:

5-A U. S. MINIATURE SHIP MODELS
[SER. NO. 2732]
[CONTRACT NO. NOa(S)-2246]

with golden winged emblems on either side, Air Corps. on the left and Navy on the right; below this information the tag continues to read:

MFG. BY. COMET METAL PRODUCTS CO.
RICHMOND HILL, L. I., N. Y.

The second white tag opposite on the top of the right half of the wood case, which has no stencil, reads:

5-A U. S. MINIATURE SHIP MODELS
[SER. NO. 3730]
[CONTRACT NO. NOa(S)-2351]

with golden winged emblems on either side, Air Corps. on the left and Navy on the right; below this information the tag continues to read:

MFG. BY. SOUTH SALEM STUDIOS
South Salem, N. Y.

Now, we have the balance of the unidentified model photos ():

(Cropped from Oct-Nov 2008 photos by owner - all rights reserved)
[All photos are thumbnailed; click on the images for larger pictures]

This last (right) image is of one of the largest ships and was rotated to fit this page; I left some of the ends of the 10½"-wide shelf showing to give some idea of the size. It is an Essex Class carrier (U.S.-C.V) from South Salem Studios and measures 8¾" long by 1½" wide.

(Cropped from Oct-Nov 2008 photos by owner - all rights reserved)
[All photos are thumbnailed; click on the images for larger pictures]

Well, so much for the unidentified pix; on to the identified ones (perhaps I'll just bring this page up on my laptop alongside my desktop and compare the foregoing pix with those that follow to identify the first batch (unless someone out there cares to do it for me).

The code numbers (such as #787 or #4207) are based on photo numbers and
CMP = Comet Metal Products while
SSS = South Salem Studios;
L = Left and R = Right:

L - #787 Benson CMP | R - #788 Somers Class (US-DD) SSS