The Ship Model Forum

Looks great!

I have dreams of building a 1/350 battleship row, but based on the size of yours I may need a bigger house... and more of the USN BBs to be made in plastic!

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-Nelson
Current Project:
1:200 U.S.S. Arizona
1:350 U.S.S. Chicago SSN-721

Future Projects:
All of them!

Excellent work so far Jeff, definitely using this as a reference.

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-Abram

Thank you for sharing the Pearl Harbor Diorama. I am impressed by the quality of craftsmanship..

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Peter.

Very impressive work. I stumbled upon your work today when doing a little research on how to get started creating a Pearl Harbor dio. I'm interteting in starting a long term project like this with my kids now they are getting older as a family obsession.

Would you be interested in sharing tips to get started. I'm very intertesred in realistic recreation and historical accuracy. Creating the terrain, water, and buildings is the curious part to me.

This is amazing, I am looking to do something similar with at least battleship row. Very inspiring.

Super work Jeff, it doesn't matter how long it takes, your way past the half way point now.
Looks awesome. Can't wait till you add the new addition and too bad the airfield was just a little further away, that would have been another
fantastic addition. Now I know you know more about water dios than me but I'll say it anyways, don't forget to add those few 1000 or so
little tiny tips of white to all those waves that are within 1/2 inch of shore and everything else before the next layer of water and then again
on top of the waves to give the water even more depth. That will bring the whole dio to life, but I'm sure you already knew this.

P.S. Is Pat still making 3-D printed chain ?? I need the same for my 1/200 Arizona, 3 - 13.5 LPI + 9 Chain Locks, and 5 chains for 3 - 1/200 Mikasa(s)
but I don't know what size the chains are for that ship, I'm thinking about somewhere between 16 LPI and 17.5 LPI Any help on that would be great.
And one last note. Thank you sooooo much for your WIP and research on the 1/200 Arizona. You and the few who helped you do all that work
will have saved me well over 40 to 50 hours of homework when I do eventually get around to doing my Arizona. Thanks again !

Edit: Don't worry about answering about Pat, I talked to him last week, ShapeWay's 3-D Printer can no-longer produce 13.5 LPI chain or the chain locks
so I am going to have to wait till they buy a brand new 3-D printer or someone else does, sounds like their printer is finally showing it's age, sucks
for me cause that is the last piece of the puzzle before I start my 1/200 Arizona.

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There are two ways of doing things, if you're not enjoying yourself, you're doing it wrong.

Willing to do Commissions, Wooden ships as well, building models for over 35 years.
Please respond to E-mail in Profile.

Really enjoying this. I'm working on a Arizona now, and Nevada is next - but I'm getting interested in modeling the ship's boats that were around the battleships. Any suggestions on good references for that?

Excellent work Jeff. You need to follow this one up with a dio of all PH in 1/2400 scale!

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Completed: Trumpeter 1/200 USS Arizona
Current Project: Trumpeter1/200 scale HMS Hood
Future Project: TBD

I love to see the detail in scenes like this, it carries away my imagination, excellent work!

Marco

Love it. Just like a photo, it is a moment you caught in history.

I think I am going to jump back into this project for awhile and start super detailing the ships with the latest 3-D printed upgrades.



I’m going to start with the cage mast BB’s. Blueridge models has recently released their latest 3-D printed version of the Big Five cage masts and I must say it is definitely an improvement over their initial effort they produced a few years ago.



First up for the upgrade will be USS Maryland with a new hull and upgraded 5” guns and cage masts. Here is a look at her on the bench on the left with those upgrades along with her two sisters of BATDIV 4.

Beautiful work, Jeff.

She simply was on my workbench as well when I took the picture. I had just completed her with the upgrades. I kit bashed her (Loose Cannon's 1942 kit) and Maryland (Pitroad kit) so that each had the proper hull while wearing MS-1 in 1941. The Pitroad Maryland kit did not come with the torpedo blisters on her hull so I had to correct that by using Colorado's 1942 hull.

Here is Mary on the diorama for a test look to see how she looks with her new hull and masts. I still have to rig her but I’m pretty happy with the upgrades so far.


I also have been researching the area of Ford Island between berth F-3 (USS California) and berth F-4 (USS Neosho). Not a lot of photos of this highly under developed area. I’m searching for some quality looks at the barge landing and the gantry crane that was used to place the barges in and out of the water.
I came across this shot showing the crane.


One thing that caught my eye was the Omaha class cruiser was clearly visible moored on the other side of the island. That gave me an idea to see if it’s possible to replicate this look to show Detroit and Raleigh in a few of my finished pics.
Here is a test run.

I think I can make it look believable when I shoot some final pics.

Looking good Jeff!

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-Abram

Awesome work Jeff! I too am working on a battle ship row diorama.
I'm pretty new with it all so my detail isn't quite what yours is. I'm only just discovering 3d printing. I'm in the process of all the placement design STL's for my nephew to print on his printer until I get my own setup.

I've only built 3 of the 9 ships, so far, and added temporary paper 'mock-ups' to the board to represent what isn't added yet.
The whole thing has been a massive learning curve...Searching through tons of photos. Learning 'Navy' terms, lol.
I have a few questions for you if you don't mind:
-Where did you find the Neosho, Nevada and Oklahoma? I've been searching everywhere for those kits, with not luck.
-I can't seem figure out what the barrier is that extends from the wharf the Neosho was moored too, extending east along the north side of the other ships. Is that some kind of port security barrier?
I can't find any good photos of it in order to fabricate something. What did you use?
Thanks!

Looks like you are off to a great start! It is a huge project depending on how accurate you want to get. I wish 3D printing was around when I did all the buildings.
The thing you are asking about was a dredge line. A simple pipe to transport dredged up dirt to another location. A lot of Ford Island was built up this way.
As far as Nevada and Oklahoma go, occasionally Pacific Front Hobbies will re-release these two kits in very small quantities but they go fast. I would recommend reaching out to them to express your interest in those kits.
Neosho is a separate problem. I have never seen this kit re-released since I bought it over 20 years ago. If memory serves me right, I think HI-Mold was the maker.
Good luck!

Jeff and Davis. Thanks for the help!
I will contact Pacific front for sure!
As for that dredge line, I've found some photos during the attack. It looks just like a pipe on floats with some 'scabbed' up railing I'm assuming was for assembly/maintenance?

Jeff,
I was wondering if there has been any progress with this project, has Dio #2 taken shape?
Eagerly awaiting an update.

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Jim Varnell
ABH2USN

"BATTLE STATIONS"

1/700 Scale PEARL HARBOR Complete Base Diorama
Every Ship and Vessel present on 7 December 1941
1/350 USS ALASKA CB-1 (75% COMPLETE)
1/350 USS TEXAS BB-35 (10% COMPLETE)

Hi Jim,
Good to hear from you again! Like for you, the trials of life has got in the way quite often for me with this project. So, not much updating lately with the BB Row. USS California has sat on my work bench for quite awhile as I’m upgrading her with 3-D cagemasts and changed her superstructure deck colors to linoleum brown.
As far as the Navy Yard goes, I’ve scratched together a YW-16, YW-10, YSD-27. I’ve also converted Loose Cannon’s Patoka kit into USS Ramapo with PT’s on her deck.
Jeff