At 'Em Arizona Fans!

[Tracy White]

It's also worth noting that the margin planks weren't unique to the soft patch area- you see them around features that break up the deck plank pattern such as hatches, vents, turrets, etc.. You can see them around the deck-edge bits in Jeff's photo as well. They are some more examples and information (Royal Navy but relevant) here.

[seaforce]

FFG-7 I If I get the Arizona model kit was planing as is build out of the box, not familiar with the issues you pointed out torpedo bulge lacking, and hull shape off, would have research this , decide then on level of scratch build and needed corrections, if I get the kit.

Will probably get the kit just for memories, when I was in fifth grade I built this model, one of my first ship models, did a presentation on Pearl Harbor in school in 5th grade. stand in front the class and tell about the Pearl Harbor attack, the model was pass around in class as I talked about Pearl Harbor attack. one of my friends had the Bismarck model maybe 1/400 scale claim his battleship would win in duel against my Arizona, I did not know that much about naval weapons/ships at the time, I would claim Arizona would win.

[FFG-7]

if & when you do a build thread on your Arizona, i'll show you what I have done to correct the torpedo bulges & the concave stern.

[FFG-7]

when were the deck embedded lights on the main & upper decks removed as shown being there on the BB-39 USS Arizona Booklet of General Plans 1928 but not shown in the 1941 plans?

[Jeff Sharp]

when were the deck embedded lights on the main & upper decks removed as shown being there on the BB-39 USS Arizona Booklet of General Plans 1928 but not shown in the 1941 plans?

They were probably eliminated during her 1936 refit.

[FFG-7]

thankyou.

[ModelMonkey]

...Will probably get the kit just for memories, when I was in fifth grade I built this model, one of my first ship models, did a presentation on Pearl Harbor in school in 5th grade. stand in front the class and tell about the Pearl Harbor attack, the model was pass around in class as I talked about Pearl Harbor attack. one of my friends had the Bismarck model maybe 1/400 scale claim his battleship would win in duel against my Arizona, I did not know that much about naval weapons/ships at the time, I would claim Arizona would win.

Never underestimate the power and joy of a "nostalgia build". Those models we built as kids can still be a world of fun.

[66misos]

Hi,
do you know anybody this new 1/350 USS Arizona kit from Chuanyu DALIGEJIAN Model?

Here is comparison with with Border/Eduard kit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ZokMav2iw, in Chinese language with English subtitles,

and here is in-box review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHcEu2WOue8 in English.

Link at Squadron https://squadron.com/1-350-dali-model-u ... t-premium/

Box art:

[FFG-7]

is actually being worked on in this thread viewtopic.php?t=410155 & the model's armor belt along the stern is the wrong shape mentioned in that thread.

[Jeff Sharp]

Oh geez! My log for this one might not be the one to follow if you want to just build this kit straight from the box. My build will deviate a lot from what is offered in the kit. All kits have their accuracy issues and this one is no exception. This kit has detail on it that is a blend of how she appeared from 1931-1941. If you want to be as accurate as possible for a 1941 Arizona, then my log will help you as much as I can.

Fun "little known" fact about 1941 USS Arizona! It is not widely known that on Sunday July 13, 1941, film actress Loretta Young and her Husband spent the day aboard USS Arizona, visiting Admiral Kidd, eating lunch and touring the ship.
She was the last celebrity to come aboard. I find it amazing that no photos of this day exist. She met many crew members that day. I'm thinking that by this date, cameras were off limits to the crew while aboard ship.
A couple of sailor's did document Ms. Young's appearance on that day.

S1c Ivan Joseph Huval wrote the following to his sister:
“Oh! Yes Sunday I saw Loretta Young in person. She came aboard ship and I happen to be with the old gang of boys and we had a little chat with her. She’s O.K. but doesn’t look like her self on the screen.”

LT Clifford Thurston Janz wrote the following to his wife:
"Guess who was out on the Arizona for lunch today and then a tour of the ship afterwards? Loretta Young and her husband...T.H. Lewis. Her brother married a cousin of Adm Kidd's, hence the invitation."

Sadly, neither S1c Huval nor LT Janz would survive December 7th.

[Tracy White]

Most of us know that the Atlantic Fleet was separate from the Pacific fleet, but I think it's worth saying that personal cameras were forbidden in Atlantic fleet ships as of April of 1941 and there may have been a similar, regrettable disfavor of cameras owned by enlisted (we know of the photos and film taken by officers, of course).

[Jeff Sharp]

Here are some starboard side turret detail shots of USS Arizona while she was at sea from Sept 4-10, 1941.
These are cropped images to capture as much detail on the turrets as possible.

Here are turrets #1 and #2.
This photo suggests that both turret tops were indeed painted red at this time. Turret #1 has no life rafts. Turret #2 has two life rafts on the top. The starboard side of barbette #2 has an interesting combination of rafts and a paravane. Notice also that there was another raft on the forward most part of the barbette. I suspect this raft was THAT far forward on the barbette because there were 2 paravanes on the port side taking up all the space over there.
Notice also that the canvas covers for the 5" casemate guns were painted 5-D. From what I've seen so far, Arizona is the only battleship to have painted these canvas covers prior to Dec. 7th. Although not seen in this photo, the canvas covers that went over her crew deck hatches were also painted 5-D.



Her plans indicate there were 2 paravanes on the portside and 1 on the starboard side.


This photo shows her #3 and #4 starboard side turrets. Like turret #1, turret #4 did not have any rafts. Barbette #3 had a raft hanging vertically. Port side was basically a mirror image of the starboard side with just one set of rafts hanging vertically from Barbette #3.

[Dan K]

Nice images. While I'm not challenging the idea of her turrets tops forward being painted in red in this timeframe, I'd be cautious about drawing that conclusion from the first image. Note that the top of the 14" barrels show reflected light to the same extent as the top of the turrets. It could be just reflected light here. Just sayin'......

Out of curiosity, is there an image of the entire ship from which these were cropped?

[SeanF]

I'd say the raft on turret #3's barbette looks more diagonal than vertical.

Concerning the cover on the casemate gun: Are we sure that's the canvas cover we're seeing, and not the hard cover? They had both, and the photo is too fuzzy to easily determine.

It does appear that the blast bags on turret #1 are darkened, while those on #2 are not. Can't really tell for #3 and #4.

And as Dan said, I'd live to see the whole ship in this photo. Curious if the range clocks are still mounted at this time.

- Sean F.

[Jeff Sharp]

Hi Dan! I agree with you about drawing any conclusions about the turret tops. That's why I said "suggests" both are red. The demarcation lines at the front edge of the turret tops are visible. Is that two different colors or two different metals reflecting light differently? I strongly believe we need better evidence that she ever painted her #1 top red.

[Jeff Sharp]

Concerning the cover on the casemate gun: Are we sure that's the canvas cover we're seeing, and not the hard cover? They had both, and the photo is too fuzzy to easily determine.

Hi Sean!
By mid 1941, the fleet was in constant battle ready mode, always drilling at sea. This was one of those drills. I suspect the metal shutters didn't get much use at that time.
To me, they look like canvas here.


Arizona painted her canvas covers to match the ship as early as 1939 whereas her sister did not.

[Jeff Sharp]

This photo is not much help with picking out detail on the port side #2 barbette. It does however show the darkened canvas cover over the open deck hatch between turrets #1 and #2.

[Dan K]

I took the liberty of sharpening the clarity of your last 2 pics.

[Jeff Sharp]

Besides the raft hanging from the signal bridge bulkhead, it appears another small raft is stowed just aft of the #1 5" casemate gun.


Although much tougher to see, Port side appears to also house one there. The large raft on the forward part of barbette #2 appears to be hanging vertically.

[Jeff Sharp]

This is a shot of USS Arizona taken from the deck of USS Enterprise on September 4, 1941 as part of Task Force TWO. The Task Force had just left Pearl that day. The four stacker in this shot is either USS Perry or USS Zane.
Shortly after this shot was taken, Plane 1-0-3 with pilot Ensign Ramsdell and observer RM2c Dickerson would be catapulted from the top of turret #3.

I like how you can see "FR 45" on the deck edge of Enterprise.