Boat Dummies - Stay or Go?

[Mark Sarsfield]

Results will post after voting is finished.

[Travis McLain]

they always creeped me out, when I was opening the boat in the mornings, cause when it is dark in there and you see something staring at you in the dark it is just kind of weird. Also when i gave tours alot of little kids thought they were dead people, and one little kid even started crying because they were scary.

[Lance Dean]

I like the "dummies" in the sub museums, but proper attire and proper placement is key.  That's just my 2 cents.   

[Travis McLain]

I think the dummies at the Drum are alot better than the ones at the Batfish.  

[Lance Dean]

I think the dummies at the Drum are alot better than the ones at the Batfish.   

Are they beat up looking?  Have any pics?

[Tom Bowser]

We just moved "Skinney Ginney" from the galley to the referigartor until after the movie filming, some times they are a real pain when you have to work around them.
Tom

[Travis McLain]

[/quote]

Are they beat up looking?  Have any pics?
[/quote]

No they are just really faded and pale, and they are not place correctly.

[Rick]

good discussion guys.  Does anyone have pic os the drums?

I will get some of the Batfish ones....

Rick

[Lance Dean]

Here's my pics of the "Drum dummies"

[Tom Bowser]

Thanks Lance, I will have to make you a crew member and I think you have more than earned a volunteer t-shirt.
Tom

[MWALLEN]

I like the "dummies" in the sub museums, but proper attire and proper placement is key.

I agree.  I think if they are placed in the right places w/ dress from that time period, they are good.  Laying them in a bed doesn't do much for me.

The one in the galley looks like he's had too much torpedo juice

[Travis McLain]

I agree there, and somehow he transported into the future and bought a U.S.S. Batfish t-shirt from Muskogee Oklahoma.

[Fred Tannenbaum]

Regarding period dress on mannikins, remember that on war patrol, crews spent very little time in their dungaree pants and hats. Shorts were more like it, along with leather sandals. Shirts, T-shirt or otherwise, may have been optional. While the boats were air conditioned, I believe it mainly lowered the humidity but didn't keep the temperature as low like the systems of today. It was still rather warm, especially back in the engine rooms and maneuvering room. I think the only time they wore full dungarees was entering or leaving port.

If you end up removing the mannikins, then consider what they've done on the USS Cod, which is filling the living spaces up with reproduction bunk bags, ironing boards, old magazines, vintage foul weather gear and the like. There may not be mannikins but that boat looks full of life.

 

[Rick]

Thanks for the pics of the Drum Dummies.  What I am seeing, dummies always give the museum that cheap traveling carneval look.   That is unless you get some real highend life like figures and those cost thousands of dollars.   I am still of a mind to work more into something more like the Ward Room were we have the space all decked out and lived in. 

I am open for comments.

[Mark Sarsfield]

Yeah, a lived-in look sounds like the best approach. I heard several kids say that they were creeped out being on the Batfish last weekend.  It doesn't make them want to come back, again, which is bad for business.

Sound effects piped through the boat would add to the realism of a working boat, as well.  Even if you have some pump or electric motor humming noises piped over the speakers and maybe some metal creaking noises, it would make a big difference but you don't want to creep people out.  ( ihave a bunch of submarien sound effects on my computer and a memory stick if anyoen wants me to email them to them).  "People noises" being played over the speakers (i.e. conversations, tools hitting something metal, etc.) without anybody actually being seen making them would be a creep factor, too.  The only exceptions would be a phonograph or radio.

Lighting is another issue.  It's probably historical to have 40-watt bulbs in all of the lamps, but if it reminds people of a dungeon with cob webs, then, they aren't in any hurry to come back and show their friends.  I like idea of having lights in the lower deck, too.  Flourscent bulbs are great for saving energy, as long as they aren't directly visible.  I have started looking for clear 60-watt bulbs when I go to the stores.