Trumpeter has had a long history of releasing models that have glaring errors. Their most awful release was a few years ago when they put their 1/32 Wildcat on the market. The fuselage was so misshapen that the outcries made Trumpeter recall the kits and remake the molds to more accurately represent the aircraft. There are several other examples of Trumpeter's failures but none as obvious as the Wildcat.
That said, I was thrilled when I heard Trumpeter was releasing a 1/200 Arizona. At no time did the errors in Trumpeter's past dampen my enthusiasm to purchase a well detailed dreadnought. At three feet long, this Arizona could be the centerpiece of any modeler's collection. With over 1040 parts plus PE, how can it be a loser? And overall, its not a loser. But I'm a long time old detail freak and if something doesn't look right, and could be easily corrected by the mold maker, it really gets under my skin. Again don't get me wrong, this is one beautiful large battleship when completed. But it should and could have been so much better.
I'm not going to point out every error in detail but I will show what I find troubling. Hopefully these tips will help you out if you choose to build one of these. Just a side note; whenI saw the test shots three years ago, I notice some of the hull portholes were oval shaped rather than round. I said, " That's the first thing I'm gonna correct". Never did after discovering all that I was up against.
1. The hull is off in many dimensions. I'll leave it to the experts to give you the exact problems. Many have said Trumpeter did this to make it a stable R/C model. That explains a lot.
2. The deck has the wrong plank pattern and should be recessed at the perimeter.
3.The cutouts in the turrets are too high, giving the turrets the 'surprised' look. I filled them in to be lower.
4.The shape of the anchor holes need to be corrected, if you can. And the hull is void of detail. Needs horizontal braces and a fuel line on the port side.
5. The cutouts for the 5" guns isn't high enough. The barrels are just about hitting the top.. I lowered the guns mount by drilling down the deck.
6. The propeller shaft housings should be rounded not flat.
7. The number two turret doesn't have the two telescopes. I scratch built mine.
8. The pilots is missing the window at the front. I found this out too late and made mine with a square decal.
9. The rear aircraft crane has braces in the middle of the oval cutouts. Even the aftermarket PE got this wrong also. I removed these and moved them to the cranes centerline where they should be.
10. The antennas on the rear tower are totally wrong. I scratch built mine. Still not 100% accurate, but better.
11. The taxi boats have no portholes. Why Trumpeter? How hard could it be to get that right? I had to drill mine.
12. Trumpeter's PE stairs/ladders are too short for some areas. I bought several sets so I had the right lengths.
13. The turrets have molded ladders on both sides but they should be only on the port side except for the ladder going to the Catapult's deck.
14. The catapults detail is over-simplified. I chose to get the railings right.
15.The boat cranes have a molded ladder in the wrong location. I sanded it off and put a PE ladder in the correct location.
I'm sure you'll see some other mods I did if you compare my Arizona to one built OOB. some of my work got pretty sloppy towards the end of this build but I was determined to finish this monster, so I took some shortcuts.
I spent two and a half years of my limited free time on this challenging kit and often I was tempted to take a hammer to this kit and beat into a pile of plastic splinters. I think I'm through with Trumpeter kits unless they get great reviews.