AUTHENTICAST/COMET Continuation Page 8 keywords = Comet Authenticast Comet Metal Products Slonim ordnance tank armor armour track self-propelled artillery gun cannon rifle airplane spotter ship naval navy South Salem Wyandotte
Updated: 18 Jul 2008, 22:35 ET
(Created 24 Jan 2006)
[Ref: This is authcmt8.html (URL http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/authcmt8.html )]

S. Berliner, III's

AUTHENTICAST/COMET
Continuation Page 8

Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher

Comet Auth Part-Color Logo Comet Auth B&W Logo

Comet Auth Full Color Logo Comet Auth Waterline Logo (Logos from 1945 Catalog)

This site has now been visited times since the counter was installed.

Please refer to the Ordnance page, et seq.

INDEX:

On the main Authenticast/Comet page:
Comet Metal Products, Inc.
AUTHENTICAST

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 1:
Comet Metal Products History
(collected and moved there 02 Jul 03)
1945 Comet Metal Products AUTHENTICAST Catalog
Tank Scale of 1:108
1945 Comet Metal Products AUTHENTICAST Price List
AUTHENTICAST Ship Models.
AUTHENTICAST Miscellany.

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 2:
1950s Fitted Case of Tanks (continued on Cont. Page 5).
Atomic Cannon.
Honest John.
USS Northampton - CLC-1
South Salem Studios.
Comet, AUTHENTICAST, South Salem, and Related Links.

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 3:
Comet Then and Now and Map.
The Greater World of Comet AUTHENTICAST - A History. Red, White, and Blue Boxes.

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 4:
WWII Tank ID Box.
1:500 Ships Price List
Old AUTHENTICAST Photos.

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 5:
1950s Fitted Case of Tanks, 1 - 50,
(continued from Cont. Page 2, and continued on page 6, 1950s Fitted Case of Tanks, 51 - 100, on page 6).

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 6:
1950s Fitted Case of Tanks, 51 - 100,
(continued from Cont. Page 5, 1 - 50.

On the Authenticast/Comet continuation page 7:
1950s Fitted Case of Tanks. (comments, continued from Cont. Page 6).

On this Authenticast/Comet continuation page 8:
South Salem Studio's U. S. Navy Ships Case.
South Salem Studio's Navy Ships Box. (10 Jun 08)
South Salem Studio's Merchant Ships Box. (18 Jul 08)
Comet Authenticast HELP!

On the Ordnance Continuation Page 1:
MORE ORDNANCE APOCRYPHA

On the Ordnance Continuation Page 2:
RAILROAD GUNS.
ATOMIC CANNON.
SMALL ARMS.

On Ordnance Continuation Page 3:
CALIBER (Calibre).
Anzio Annie.
SMALL ARMS (moved from Page 2 on 13 Apr 00)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Russian Armor.
HELP!

Comet "Authenticast" 1:432 Aircraft Models,

and see Airplanes on the main Comet/AUTHENTICAST page.

Comet Metal Products Co., Inc.
AUTHENTICAST

Comet Auth Full Color Logo Comet Auth Waterline Logo (Logos from 1945 Catalog)

South Salem Studio's U. S. Navy Ships Case

A Floridian sent me photos of a South Salem Studios cased set of U. S. Navy World War II ship models (a U. S. Navy WWII set of U. S. Navy WWII ships, that is); here are close-ups of the top of the box and the nameplate:

Blow-ups of the top:

which reads:

U. S. NAVY MINIATURE MODELS

and of the nameplate:

which reads:


SPECIAL DEVICES DIVISION
USN BUREAU of   AERONAUTICS
DEVICE		  SERIAL
NUMBER		  NUMBER
5-A		     193
U. S. MINIATURE SHIP MODELS
CONTRACT NO. NO(s)-1846
MFRD. BY SOUTH SALEM STUDIOS
SOUTH SALEM, N. Y.

Note how the rope handles retract into slots for packing; I shouldn't think that bodes well for the models in the compartments where the knots are.

The rest of the pictures:

(owner's photos - all rights reserved)
[Thumbnailed images - click on pictures for larger images]

Here's the lead photo again:

There are TWO ships in many compartments; some are from
"South Salem Studios" (labelled S) and some from
"Comet Metal Prod N. Y." (labelled C) .

I have arbitrarily labelled the compartments as follows:

A1	B1	C1	||	D1	E1	F1
A2	B2	C2	||	D2	E2	F2
A3	B3	C3	||	D3	E3	F3
A4	B4	C4	||	D4	E4	F4
A5	B5	C5	||	D5	E5	F5
B6		||		E6

and, in the listing, added a letter "(S)" or "(C)" to each ship to indicate its manufacturer; these listings are reproduced verbatim, as received, without editing:

A1 (S) - EVARTS (DG5) CLASS (US-DE)
   (C) - ATLANTA USCLASS (CL)
A2 (C) - OMAHA CLASS - US-CL
   (S) - SOMERS CLASS -(US-DD)
A3 (S) - NEW ORLEANS CLASS - (US-CA)
   (C) - RAVEN CLASS - (US-AM)
A4 (S) - COLORADO - COLORADO CLASS (US-BB)
A5 (C) - DIXIE CLASS - (US-AD)
   (S) - PENSACOLA CLASS (US-CA)

B1 (C) - YORKTOWN CLASS (US-CV)
B2 (C) - IOWA CLASS (US-BB)
B3 (S) - ESSEX CLASS (US-CV)
   (C) - SARASOTA CLASS (US-CV)
B4 (C) - RANGER CLASS (US-CV)
B5 (S) - NEW MEXICO CLASS - (US-BB)
B6 (?) - ??? {to follow}

C1 (C) - CLEVELAND CLASS - (US-CL)
   (C) - MAHAN CLASS - (US-DD)
C2 (S) - SANGAMON CLASS (US-CVE)
C3 (C) - CHICAGO CLASS - CA - NORTHAMPTON CLASS (CA)
   (C) - PHOENIX CLASS -(US-CL)
C4 (S) - PORTER CLASS (US-DD)
   (C) - INDEPENDENCE CLASS (US-CV)
C5 (C) - BOGUE CLASS (US-CV)

D1 (C) - Barnegat Class (US-AVP)
   (S) - DD186 Class (US-DD)
D2 (C) - Curtiss Class (US-AA)
   (C) - Farragut Class (US-DD)
D3 (C) - Sims Class (US-DD)
   (C) - Benson Class (US-DD)
D4 (C) - Livermore Class (US-DD)
   (C) - St Louis Class (US-CL)
D5 (C) - Fletcher Class (US-DD)
   (S) - Portland Class (US-CA)

E1 (S) - Wichita Class (US-CA)
E2 (S) - NEW YORK Class (US-BB)
E3 (S) - Tennessee Class (US-BB)
E4 (C) - Buckley Class (US-DD)
   (C) - Terror Class (US-CM)
E5 (C) - Gridley Class (US-DD)
   (c) - Fulton Class (US-AS)
E6 (C) - Cimarron Class (US-AO)

F1 (S) - NEVADA CLASS - (US-BB)
F2 (C) - Baltimore Class -(US-CA)
F3 (C) - South Dakota Class (US-BB)
F4 (C) - North Carolina Class (US-BB)
F5 (S) - Pennsylvania (US-BB)

South Salem Studio's Navy Ships Box

Here's a new one (new to me, at any rate); it's a set of WWII ships from several countries, packed in pasteboard boxes and overwrapped in a corrugated box (the pictures are too faint to process):

(10 Jun 08)

(photos cropped from owner's pictures - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed pictures for larger images]

The outer box measures 9" wide by 5" high, with 6½" sides and it was sealed with brown paper tape. The back panel has an anchor with the letters "U" and "S" on each side. The front label is 4¼" wide by 3" high; it has a black line 5" by 2½" around the printing:

DEVICE 5-A-3
SHIP MODELS
SOUTH SALEM STUDIOS
SOUTH SALEM, N. Y.
CONTRACT NXsa-I4747
STOCK NUMBER (R) 93-I50565
The middle photo above shows Illustrious (undamaged) and King George V (missing the catapault); the right photo above shows Renown and Fiji (undamaged).

The left photo below shows Dido, an L class, and Charybdis (undamaged). The middle photo below shows Tirpitz missing her main mast, Atago missing her #2 turret, and Shokaku broken in two. In the right photo below, I blew up the preceding photo and doctored it to try to show the crack more clearly:

(photos cropped, and far right enhanced, from owner's pictures - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed pictures (left and center) for larger images]

All the inner boxes are printed:

MADE BY SOUTH SALEM STUDIOS
SOUTH SALEM, N, Y. APRIL 1943
I assume that Shokaku suffered from the dreaded IGC!

The owner would like to know more about what appears to me to be a rather rare find; so would I, please.

South Salem Studio's Merchant Ships Box

Now, HERE's a set of which I know nothing (or forgot); a Feb 1945 boxed set of merchant ships from South Salem Studios under United States Army Air Force contract (Don't bomb our stuff!):

(18 Jul 08)

(photo cropped and enhanced, from owner's picture - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

Removing all the shelves from the right side of the box reveals the full list of the contents:

(photo cropped from owner's picture - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

Cropping away the background, here's the list, itself:

(photo cropped from owner's picture - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

And here is what it says:

NOTE

A number and the name of the ship
type is imprinted on the wooden panel on
which each model is mounted. The number
only appears on the bottom of each model.
The following code list gives the type of
ship represented by each number.

  1.  PASSENGER-New (two stacks)
  2.  PASSENGER-New (one stack)
  3.  PASSENGER-Old
  4.  PASSENGER-Coastal
  5.  LIBERTY SHIP
  6.  STANDARD FREIGHTER-Old
  7.  MODERN FREIGHTER (split
	Superstructure)
  8.  OLD THREE-ISLAND
	FREIGHTER
  9.  ENGINES AFT CARGO
 10.  COMBINATION PASSENGER
	CARGO-Old
 11.  COMBINATION PASSENGER
	CARGO-Modern
 12.  TANKER-Modern
 13.  TANKER-Old
 14.  COLLIER
 15.  TRAWLER
 16.  WHALER

SOUTH SALEM STUDIOS

South Salem		   New York

Don't strain your eyes; here are the left and right sides with their ships listed to match:

(photo cropped from owner's picture - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

Left Side

1. Passenger-New (two stack)		4. Passenger-Coastal

2. Passenger-New (one stack)		6. Stand Freighter-Old

3. Passenger-Old			7. Modern Freighter (Split Superstructure)

10. Combination Passenger Cargo-Old	5. Liberty Ship

Right Side

8. Old Three-Island Freighter		11. Combination Passenger Cargo-Modern
9. Engines Aft Cargo			12. Tanker-Modern
13. Tanker-Old				14. Collier
15. Trawler				16. Whaler

[Whoa! These appear to be all wrong - I'll post it as is and sort it all out later - SB,III]

The top of the case has both stenciling and chicken-scratching:

Top markings:

RESTRICTED			Property of A.A.F.
Miniature Metal Models of Merchant Ships
  S / N 5300 - 717798-6		2/45
Made by So. Salem Studios	So. Salem, N.Y.

The chicken scratching on the top, below "So. Salem, N.Y.", is hash marks in groups of 5, a total 23; we have no idea how or why they are there.

Now, some detailed shots -

The #1 two-stack modern passenger ship data, side, and top:

The #2 single-stack modern passenger ship data and side:
2PassData

The #5 Liberty ship data and side:
5LibData

The owner's father bought this set during the 1950's for $1.00 from the brother of someone in the Navy who had quite a few similar sets to sell. Unfortunately, the father didn't have the money to purchase them (then).

This set seems to be a rarity; if you have any information regarding production numbers and the serial number it would be greatly appreciated.

Comet Authenticast HELP!

I will post request s for help about Comet and Authenticast Models here, at my sole discretion:

(19 Oct 07)

A gentleman bought a 1:1200 USS Alaska to be part of a memorial to honor his grandfather, who served aboard her aboard her in WWII, after going through boot camp in Sampson, NY: (19 Oct 07)