1/200 Arizona finally DONE!

[Jeff Sharp]

Well, after a couple of years of this one being the biggest box in my stash I've decided to give it a go.
I'm not going to stress out over all the dimensional issues that have been pointed out by others, so no cutting up the hull on this one. I will simply try to improve on the highly visual inaccuracies (which are not too many). This kit IS all in all a very nice kit.
To start out, I added a little detail to the lower hull, drilled out the portholes, added the avaition fuel line to the port side hull, and reshaped the anchor hawse.






After doing all of that I decided that I have never been fond of full hull kits. I've always felt waterline told a better story. So off with the lower hull and into water she will go. Maybe I'll detail up the lower hull real nice and try to sell it.

[Channell]

Cool! She's a fun project. The anchor hawse pipes look great!

[Jeff Sharp]

Unfortunately the split in the hull does not represent the true waterline of the ship as she sat in the water in 1941. If you place her simply on a base she is sitting too high, so I have to either cut the upper hull down a bit or raise the water level.



I chose to raise the water level.





Giving it the eye test, I raised the water level up about 1/4"

[boomstick68]

You have chosen......wisely.

[Jeff Sharp]

I am a huge fan of MS-1 camo and eventually want to do another one of these kits in that scheme, but this one will be in prewar standard navy gray which gives the ship a much brighter,cleaner and colorful look.
The time period I'm going to model her is right after her January 1941 refit. Soon after that refit a camera crew jumped on board and filmed a promotional video for the navy. Even though the quality of my copy of this film is not that great I will be referencing it a great deal throughout this build.
While I start the first stages of the seascape I also started doing some fun stuff like the main turrets.
Here is the first clip from that film that I will use for Turrets 1 & 2.

Some observations:
#1 turret top - light gray (not red)
#2 turret top - Red
Black blast bags and black ladders
spotting rifles covered in canvas (rifles are black)

[Jeff Sharp]

Did some work on turrets 1 & 2. For the most part, turret 1 is pretty uneventful and straight forward. I sanded off the two nipples on the turret roof that I guess was supposed to be the location of the periscopes. Turret 1 didn't have any periscopes.
I added handrails, a ladder, and scratchbuilt a spotting gun. I also will not be using the kit supplied blast bags. Those are overscaled and lack detail. I scratched those as well.
Turret 2 is a bit more interesting. Red top, 2 fairly big periscopes and an access platform under the backside. Here is a pic of that platform.








I wasn't sure what color to paint the periscopes. The film I'm referencing doesn't give me a good look at them so I'm relying on this shot of Idaho showing hers as true blue to match the roof top.



On to turrets 3 and 4 now.

[Timmy C]

Are the ladders black, or is that just the shadow?

Looking great, though! Nice and sharp!

[MartinJQuinn]

Off to a good start, Jeff. What ever happened to that Texas you were working on?

[Jeff Sharp]

Are the ladders black, or is that just the shadow?

Not positive but here is a closer look and another view from a different time. Looks like it may have varied from time to time from black to gray?

[Jeff Sharp]

Off to a good start, Jeff. What ever happened to that Texas you were working on?

Hi Martin, I needed another break from Texas. I keep dragging my feet on that one in hopes a different kit of her is produced some day. Eventually I'll finish her but I want to do something fun for now.

[Jeff Sharp]

With Turrets 1 & 2 done�.

...I've been working on Turrets 3 & 4.

When I built my USS Maryland diorama, I was 100% positive she was the only Pacific Fleet BB that had railing around the parameter of turret 3. Now, after researching Arizona's 3rd turret I'm 100% positive Mary wasn't the only.

The difference is Mary had a permanent bar railing, Arizona had this chain rail that could be taken down or put up very easily.

I also decided to follow what this Idaho pic is showing us. The #3 turret top has deck gray painted on it. There was always activity on top of turret 3 with air ops so it make sense to paint it deck gray.


Here is my nearly completed #3 turret. I used KA photo etch catapult as a starting point but had to scratch quite a bit more onto the catapult. I also added an access platform under the turret just like I did for #2 and two periscopes.

[kylewoody]

Awesome! I need to build a 1/200 eventually, the size is beast - and you're doing a fantastic job!

Kyle

[Leftie]

Jeff, excellent start. You picked up on some details I missed like the periscopes on turret #3. I'll be watching:)

Leftie

[Jeff Sharp]

I knew this day would come, but I didn't think it would come this early in this build. I've officially entered the realm of the obsessed! I have constructed the casemate compartments. I know nobody will ever see or know these are there but its pretty cool seeing firsthand how they were laid out. I don't think I'll go as far as adding doors or detail on the walls though.


I've also starting stressing out about how I'm going to add the brackets on the aviation fuel line. There are a ton of them.


I marked the locations with pencil but have no clue how I'm going to add these minuscule things. I don't want to drill top and bottom holes in the hull for every one so I have to come up with a different plan. Notice also, the black ladder up the side of the hull. Looks like I need to redo mine! Little sloppy!

[Jeff Sharp]

A bit more progress over this holiday weekend. I finished up the seascape and permanently secured the hull in the water. That allowed me to lay the decks down and work on some more fun stuff. I assembled the case mate guns, fixed all the "inside out" doors and painted the deck of each case mate compartment linoleum. Is this right? I don't know but it makes sense that those decks were not teak planking because they were individual rooms.



Then I fixed something that Trumpeter got completely wrong and that is the Director Platforms next to the empty gun tubs on the quarter deck. We know from a few overhead photos after the attack that this is indeed a "platform" and not a "tub". Also, I was able to grab a still from the video mentioned above of the platform. Here is a view of it from aft looking forward on the port side.

So here is my fix on the kit.



And an overhead of everything that has been done so far.


And Texas makes another cameo!

[boomstick68]

Very nice

[Leftie]

This would be a good time to lower the mounting of the "5" inch guns. I'm sure you'll see the barrel is almost touching the top of the opening. The right way to correct this problem is to raise the opening/wall but that is nearly impossible to do. Just one of the many things Trumpeter got wrong with this Arizona. Good Luck!

[Jeff Sharp]

This would be a good time to lower the mounting of the "5" inch guns. I'm sure you'll see the barrel is almost touching the top of the opening. The right way to correct this problem is to raise the opening/wall but that is nearly impossible to do. Just one of the many things Trumpeter got wrong with this Arizona. Good Luck!

Thanks Leftie. How did you do yours? Did you counter sink the holes? Is there enough plastic there to counter sink?

[Leftie]

Yep, That's what I did. I took a large(ish) drill bit and drilled until I got the guns about mid-window. No big deal. HTH.

[Jeff Sharp]

Small update. I went ahead and took the advise given to me from Leftie and JCRAY to lower the case mates down.


Glad I did. It definately looks better in my eyes.
You can see the subtle but noticable difference here. Unlowered on the left, lowered on the right.