Taking on the 1/200 Missouri...

[Timmy C]

I suggested a two tone paint job, medium gray to waist level then a lighter gray (measure 32)

(that's Measure 12 and 22; 32 is a dazzle )

[anyahajobuzi]

... and A LOT more square centimeters to cover! You know, I have a perfectly good 1/350 Tamiya New Jersey + Pontos set sitting in my stash... what was I thinking?![/quote]


Hey Jason!

Is that the modern version New jersey? If it's still in your stash in, let's say, 2 years, let me know if you are willing to sell it. That would be the forth ship I would ever build.

Nice Job on the portholes!

Cheers: Laci

[anyahajobuzi]

That is a really cool technique. Do you think it would make any difference on 1/350 though?

yeah, I agree with Jason too, they are just too much trouble for the 350 scale. Glossy black does magic!

[BB62vet]

Jason,

You're killing me, here with your portholes!!!! (great way to do them, though!)

Actually, during the Vietnam tour, NJ had very few (if any) of the portholes open that I can recall. Bridge & Adm. Bridge windows, YES! But the berthing & office/admin area portholes were usually closed (due to A/C being in use). Also, they are a condition Z factor and most crew didn't want to mess with upsetting set conditions.

These round bulkhead portholes consist of an inner solid steel lipped cover w/gasket that dogs in place once the porthole glass is closed. The porthole glass is hinged as well in order to open or close the port. It's also gasketed on the exterior facing side, I believe. Somewhere I've seen a detailed plan and photos of the various parts of the typ. USN round porthole, but can't tell you where I've seen it.

I plan to leave the ports as they came on the kit - only removing ones that were not there in the mid 60's.

Hank

[Fliger747]

On BB63 many of the portholes have been plated over, as exemplified by a very subtle circular weld line. Looking at some WWII photos of Iowa I remember seeing closed ports with the ribbed covers dogged from the inside. What was a bit surprising was I didn't see any glass. To set them up that way would require separate glass and steel hinging. I have seen the description of porthole setups somewhere. It might be in the encyclopedic hatch and scuttle drawings I got from the HSNA reference materials. Will let you know if I find the porthole reference.

Cheers. Tom

[Channell]

Just ordered my Veteran Bofors today! I decided to pass on the upcoming Pontos super-duper additional superdetail set; everything else I should be able to scratchbuild just fine. (I could have done the Bofors too but it would cost me my sanity )

I'll get some pics up when I get them.

Not a lot to report on progress; I've drilled and ground out most of the portholes on the superstructure and am still messing with that &#*!ing bow gun platform. I think the kit is off here; by the looks of the comparisons on the CASF page it would seem the bow at deck level is a bit too stubby, robbing me of the real ship's graceful bow lines in that area when looking at it head-on. I plan to take it off, do some grinding and go at it again.

[tko24]

Just ordered my Veteran Bofors today! I decided to pass on the upcoming Pontos super-duper additional superdetail set; everything else I should be able to scratchbuild just fine. (I could have done the Bofors too but it would cost me my sanity )

I'll get some pics up when I get them.

Not a lot to report on progress; I've drilled and ground out most of the portholes on the superstructure and am still messing with that &#*!ing bow gun platform. I think the kit is off here; by the looks of the comparisons on the CASF page it would seem the bow at deck level is a bit too stubby, robbing me of the real ship's graceful bow lines in that area when looking at it head-on. I plan to take it off, do some grinding and go at it again.

That's my problem with Tamiya's 1/350 Iowa class BB's. Stubby fat bow syndrome. I get irritated when I hear we don't need a new tool Iowa class in 1/350. Still the 1/200 Missouri's bow looks closer to the real thing than the Tamiya 1/350 kits. How did you figure out where to make your cut to waterline it since there is no indicator molded on the hull?

[Channell]

That's my problem with Tamiya's 1/350 Iowa class BB's. Stubby fat bow syndrome. I get irritated when I hear we don't need a new tool Iowa class in 1/350. Still the 1/200 Missouri's bow looks closer to the real thing than the Tamiya 1/350 kits. How did you figure out where to make your cut to waterline it since there is no indicator molded on the hull?

It broke my heart when I starting researching this build and found out how far off the Tamiya kit really is!

Anyway, the waterline is easy to find on this kit.



The scuttle drains on the kit are a carbon copy of the Floating Drydock's plans, though Trumpeter made them too big (It almost looked like the Trumpy guys thought they were portholes )

Here's my hull in progress for example (I ended up replacing the vents with styrene tube, BTW):



Anyway, to make a a long story short, I just taped a pen to a cup shimmed up to the right height (just below the drains about a 1/16" below the bottom of the boot top location) and ran it around the hull, then cut the bottom off.

On another note, the Pontos Oerlikons are a PITA! That magazine is a nightmare to get folded... also after looking at lots of photos of real Oerlikons it appears the Pontos instructions direct you to put the barrel too deep in the "receiver", making them too short.

I had already assembled a dozen per the instructions but I am doing them over with the barrels out further. Only 45 more to go :

[Fliger747]

Wonder if it represents the barrel in recoil position? Nice job on the bilge drains. Did you drill out the styrene for a thinner wall diameter? Hey at least you will be really good at the Orlikons by the time you are done. It took me a few Tom's PE Inclined Ladders to figure them out but was easy and fast eventually.

Regards Tom

[Channell]

Wonder if it represents the barrel in recoil position? Nice job on the bilge drains. Did you drill out the styrene for a thinner wall diameter? Hey at least you will be really good at the Orlikons by the time you are done. It took me a few Tom's PE Inclined Ladders to figure them out but was easy and fast eventually.

Regards Tom

I don't know... could they be locked back when not in use? Judging from the pics I've seen it looks like the Oerlikons were bagged when not in use to keep them out of the weather so it's hard to tell.

It could just be Pontos too... these things are crazy small and fairly complicated despite being 1/200 scale. They are cooking my brains and cramping my fingers, just like I knew they would!

It looks like the Mk14 gunsights are too big in PE form as well; it might be better to make them from styrene or cast them rather than use the PE.

My scuttle/bilge drains are the second iteration; first I did them with brass but they just didn't look right. They are now flush mounted styrene tube. I ground out the backs of the portholes to thin them out but not the drains.

[Fliger747]

I have some technical details for the 20 mm, I think and will look and see what is available. It could be they fire from an open bolt as with many automatic weapons.

Cheers: T

[thudman]

You think the 20mm are bad, wait until you get to the 40mm bofors. It's this reason I bought the veterans models 40mm sets which in my opinion are better detailed and easier to assemble. Good to see that you got your waterline correct also. Yours is the first waterline Missouri I've seen except for mine and I have one of each being built, one waterlined and one full hull.

[Channell]

You think the 20mm are bad, wait until you get to the 40mm bofors. It's this reason I bought the veterans models 40mm sets which in my opinion are better detailed and easier to assemble. Good to see that you got your waterline correct also. Yours is the first waterline Missouri I've seen except for mine and I have one of each being built, one waterlined and one full hull.

Yea, I've got some veteran bofors on the way.

The kit definitely makes for an interesting waterline model!

[Channell]

Did some more work today on the bow:

Here's where I started... the bow end is a bit too rounded and stubby in "stock" form.



I sanded the sides in to match the correct profile and replaced the raised hull edge, as well as reworking the shape of the extreme bow area a bit:





I also worked some more on the AA platform... the idea here is to make it appear to stick out wider, something the kit got wrong:



I made the central hawsepipe with putty and styrene:







Obviously there is more work to do (the hawsepipe frame is too wide still for one) but now we're finally getting somewhere. Now it's looking more like the graceful prow of an Iowa Class that's so familiar to us!

[BB62vet]

Jason,

Well done - very nice looking (and correct) bow!!

Hank

[Fliger747]

Yep, good job Jason!

Cheers. Tom

[Kelly Quirk]

Wow, excellent work! I admire your commitment, you (several of you) are really nailing the details.

[thudman]

Nice work man on the bow. Well done!

[Channell]

Thanks everyone!

I'm nearly finished cleaning up the hull... now I've gotta figure out how to get the plate lines/gussets on it!

[Goodwood]

Foil tape?