Jump to content

Revell USS Arizona


Recommended Posts

Started on this one with plans of joining the Revell/Monogram group build. BUT I forget to document the beginning of the build so I guess I need to put the thread here. Not going completely whole hog but I will do some detailing and adding PE rails. Here are some shots of where it stands currently.

underway.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Steve. The water effect is something I just watched a video on using aluminum foil as a basis and then building up with gel medium from there. I still have a lot of building up to do for the wake but I think it's coming out pretty cool. It was easier than I thought to cut it to make a waterline model.

 

I'm torn between trying to get the ship "correct" for the Dec 7th time period, or just go with a sort of in-between close to the modernization but not having all of the elements of the latest configuration. One thing I do prefer is the look of the 5-25 deck guns without the armor shields. I think it's cleaner (and much easier to not put back on LOL)

 

Here is a shot of the superstructure. Pretty hard to get the windows somewhat clean with the seam going through the middle like it does. I did just ok but good enough for this build I think.

 

 

 

 

superstructure.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Phantom. I'd like to have gotten into the group build but being the idiot that i can be, I forgot to shoot any pics of the unbuilt kit or early early construction shots. Oh well, thems tha rules.

 

Not a huge update, just kind of working on small details and tidying things up before I move on the the edge deck railings. So far I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out. Here I added the two signal flag storage bins (not sure of the technical name) and when I get to rigging I'll try to rig to them if I can manage to pull that off.

 

 

signal flag storage.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

IMAG2179.thumb.jpg.8b00819be2dc00da5b02c1454c3ac577.jpgThis is apparently the first shot I took of the build. At this point I was still dry fitting and hadn't cut the hull yet, but you can see I did start removing the molded railings from the superstructure and the tower platforms. If you feel that's not too far along for the GB I'd be happy to move it over there. Even if it's not eligible for the drawing, I'm good with that. Just let me know.

 

well it didn't post. let me try again

 

Bill

Edited by niart17
Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks great Bill! That PE really brings the old girl to life. Nice work with it. I wish someone would make a real wooden deck for this kit (I looked but couldn't see any). I use nothing but wooden decks on my 1/350 ships so I'm spoiled. Saves oh so much time. Now that I know you're building down here I will pop in and follow along.

 

Keep up the great work :thumbsup:!

 

Regards,

Don

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Don. So far all the photoetch railings I've used have been from an old sheet for the Trumpeter 1/350 scale Nimitz model and Tom's Arizona set detail for this kit. I ordered Tom's 1/400 scale railings and their inclined ladders set but the inclined ladders from the 350 Nimitz set look smaller and closer to scale. A wood deck would be nice.

 

A couple of updates. I've located some replacements for the mid-sized lifeboat shaped boats from a 1/350 scale Hasagawa U.S.S. Gambier Bay kit. It came with a couple of extras and they are almost the exact size of the kit's but much more detailed and better shape.

 

I've also reshaped the back of the hull of the boat that goes on the bottom of the stacked boats (forgive me for not knowing the name of the various boats, I'm a land lubber) and I've added some sheet styrene details to dress it up a bit. It should be a little better looking and less square.  

small launch.jpg

Edited by niart17
Link to post
Share on other sites

I've also borrowed some gun mount bases from the Gambier Bay kit for the upper deck 5" 50 guns. They aren't exactly right but pretty close the right shape and size to mount the kit's guns once the base of them has been filed down. I''ll work on the shape of the gun body and dress them up with something to detail them a little. Here is a shot with most of the deck fittings and structures dry fit in place. The only structure glued down so far is the funnel stack and the upper gun deck. But with all of this dry fitted it's starting to fill up the deck space rather nicely I think.

 

Thanks for checking it out. Critiques, comments and suggestions requested but not required.☺️

deck space filling up.jpg

Edited by niart17
Link to post
Share on other sites

Last night I slapped some paint down on the detailed boat. Not sure if the colors are correct but it's a bit of what I've read and have seen on other builds. Plus the brown top decks will add a little visual interest. Next I'll do a similar treatment on the second level boat and work up some sort of support frame system close to what was used. In this shot you can also see the gun on it's stolen base a little better. I THINK it will work once painted and detailed a little. Should look better than the crude guns provided as-is. Let me know what you guys think.

 

Bill

 

 

painted launch small.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Holmes. Its been a pretty fun build so far. The kit isn't bad really, it's just showing it's age. There are a lot of parts where you can tell the die alignment pins are worn and mold halves don't line up. It's really bad on the crane parts. But that's part of the fun of building these older kits. Overcoming obstacles. Hope to have a little more done this evening.

 

Thanks,

Bill

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very nice progress on this build. The clean up of the launches and swapping better boats, nice call. 

 

I browsed around.....Scale Decks makes a wood deck for Trumpeter. I wonder how far off from the Revell kit it would be though?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Brett. Pretty sure the Trumpeter is quite a difference in size. This is around 17". I believe the Trumpeter comes in around 20"-ish. I did some refining on the guns. I decided to try to rebuild the bodies and use the kit's barrels. They came out ok, but not sure how much i like them. Perhaps a few more details and some paint on them and they'll be ok. Here is where the build stands now with things just dry fitted on deck. I also added some of the morring open chocks from an old U.S.S. Enterprise model from Kangnam. Just cut the top slit and they are about perfect size.

 

 

deck guns placment.jpg

Edited by niart17
Link to post
Share on other sites

I painted the guns and I like them much better now. I still may add a few details just for fun but if not I think they still are a little improvement over the kits. If I wanted to spend more money on the kit it definitely could use some brass barrels for these, but it's not too bad I guess. Here is a close up of the guns dry fit on deck.

 

If you notice, something I didn't mention is that I cut off the top of the mast when assembling it because of how the kit parts didn't want to line up very easily. So what I did was assembly the 3 mast legs to get them squared up not worrying about how level or twisted the top was. Then cut the top off so the top of the tubes could be sanded and allow the top to be placed back on level and true. It's the easiest solution I could think of. Also, if I decided to 3D model the mast tops, it will be that much easier to replace it.

 

Thanks for looking. Getting kind of lonely down here.

 

Bill

dry fit deck guns.jpg

Edited by niart17
Link to post
Share on other sites

I also had some anchor chain sitting in a box somewhere so I painted it up and ran it loosely around the capstans I built. The kit's were so out of alignment from the mold they weren't really usable. Besides, they looked a little undersized. Speaking of which, the chain may be a bit too small as well but I don't think I'm going to sweat it unless run across some more that looks closer.

 

 

dry fit anchor chains.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

And last pic for now, and overall view of where it is currently. Starting to fill in and almost ready for deck railings, photoetch cranes, various mast parts and finally rigging. (not so confident about the rigging, never done a battleship's before)

 

 

overall dry fit.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm considering getting the 1/350 scale one maybe sometime down the road. I'd love the 1/200, but not sure I'm ready to sink that kind of time and money into it. I think I could really get into building ships more and more though. May have to look for my next build to be a ship.

 

Bill

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Making a little headway on this build. I was going to try open ports for the secondary guns but getting them detailed and installed was more than I wanted to try at this time. So I put the turret walls in and modified them so the guns could face parallel to the deck like they typically are oriented when not in use. And I put some sheet plastic on the sides of the secondary struture and re-drilled the port holes, to clean up the seam and to put them lower, more centered like they should be. I also started some of the second deck railing.

 

Thanks for looking. Comments, critiques and suggestions welcomed....actually solicited. PLEASE! :)

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

underway2.jpg

Edited by niart17
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...