Taking on the 1/200 Missouri...

[Channell]

Foil tape?

I think I will first try to do the horizontal plate lines with primer (tape along the top of the line, spray a couple thick coats of primer and remove the tape, then go to the next line). I will do the gussets with either foil tape or tamiya tape; I have some bare metal foil I can try too if the other stuff seems too thick.

Of course I'll get some pics and details up if it works.

[Fliger747]

The technique of using a high build primer for the plate lines can work fairly well. I went with a strip backed with putty to get the taper this time. Gussets... I tried foil tape at one point but wasn't 100% happy with its adhesion (This was the 500 mph tape we used on the 747). I ended up using thin Strathmore paper, which you must seal if you use water based paints. The gussets are of the same 25lb plate as the hull here, or about 5/8 inch. What's that, about 0.003 in scale?

Sure it will look good when you are done.

Cheers. Tom

[Channell]

Got my Veteran Bofors today!

All I can say is WOW! They aren't just a scaled up version of their 1/350 quads (which are already amazing by themselves) and really take 1/200 to a new realm of previously undreamt of ultra-detail craziness. Here's some OOTB shots with some accompanying Trumpy "Bofors" to make sure you will simply be unable to live with your kit guns.











If you were hoping they'd be easier to assemble than the Pontos kit mods you might be disappointed though... each gun is a model kit by itself and a fairly complicated, crazy-tiny one at that.





I am now officially in over my head... again.

[BB62vet]

Jason,

Looks like you will be wearing glasses sooner than you thought!! If you aren't already.

I'm glad I'm not having to deal with either the 40's or 20's.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Nice touch they are showing them without the covers over the loading slots. Well this should keep you off the streets at night for some time.

Cheers: Tom

[Channell]

Thanks for the support Hank and Tom. Also, I hate you guys... you and your neat, uncluttered and modernized Iowas. I'm gonna be building AA guns until I die!

So, you've seen the Veteran kits in pieces but you never really know until you put the damn things together. Anyway, the verdict is in:



These things are spectacular!

I couldn't help throwing a Trumpy Bofors together for the sake of comparison again:







Of course... there IS a catch. That's about 6 hours of work on 2 little gun mounts! Granted, they are my first, I spent a fair amount of time fighting the carpet monster for a couple of the parts and I am NOT the greatest modeler who ever dared to post his work online, but absolutely DO NOT consider them an "easy out" detail... they are damn hard to get together! I have never before put so many tiny pieces on a little model that fits neatly within the diameter of a quarter.



The instructions were not great either and basically amounted to: "Here's where each one of these 30-40ish microscopic parts per gun go on the finished product. Want an order of construction? Too *#&ing bad... also don't feed your bofors pieces to pets or small children. NFA compliance and BATF permission is required with all USA sales. "

... and the kit bofors? It took maybe 3 minutes to get together. The surprising thing about the Trumpy guns is that while they look like crap up close they actually blend in well with the veteran bofors once you get past a certain distance. Just sayin'!

[Fliger747]

Jason

The detail clutter that you mention is one of the things that makes for a convincing model of a large ship. Almost every ship has few bare areas, and then it takes forever to scratch build small repetitive components. So there are trade offs. In a couple of years when you finish all the light AA it will be spectacular! These will be a particularly convincing detail clutter.

Good photos, stay away from good close up detail photos! The issue, always something more to add.

Keep at it, a very nice build.

Cheers. Tom

[Channell]

I really was expecting the bofors to be less of a chore, but Veteran made no concessions to get truly accurate looking guns which is not a bad thing either. Sometimes I forget that when it comes to modeling, your work is only as good as the time and effort you put into it. Luckily I'm not on a time schedule for this build either!

We finally got a new camera (it's officially my wife's camera for her photography hobby) so my pics will hopefully be better too.

[Fliger747]

You realize of course that then you have to bring the rest of the ship to this standard..... A good thing.

Good for the spousal unit to have a photography hobby. That's how my gal and I got together!

Cheers. Tom

[Channell]

You realize of course that then you have to bring the rest of the ship to this standard..... A good thing.

Good for the spousal unit to have a photography hobby. That's how my gal and I got together!

Cheers. Tom

This is the fantasy model kit that I've always wanted to go absolutely wild and crazy on!

On a side note, I just found this interesting resource for pics that y'all might be interested in:

http://svsm.org/gallery/wisconsin

[Fliger747]

Thanks Jason, helpful for the link to the photos. Each of the ships now has a lot of differences, but a lot the same. Note carefully the signal halyards, they have a pulley at the top and are a double line. Many excellent models (some on this board) miss this! I realize as my submarine friends would say, a lot of bridge under the water till then!

Cheers! T

[Channell]

This week's progress:



1/2 way through the Bofors!


I also started on the 16" turrets:







I'm mostly following the pontos directions here; the only deviation of my own was to inlet the edge of the hatch plate and cut out the plastic behind the hatches so they will actually look like hatches when everything is painted. The blast-bags are still not attached; they were a poor fit and took a bit of trimming and filing to get them over the barrels but they are gonna look good.

[Channell]

Still making progress... my AA box got a little bit fuller this week:



Now that I have a system going, I can get a single quad built in about an hour or so. I also got all the Oerlikons together (minus the mk14 sights) and primed them too:



Those drum magazines were lots of fun!

The pontos PE Mk14's look too big and clunky in my opinion, especially compared to the Veteran Mk14s. I'm trying to figure out a good way to make 50 of 'em without going crazy.

[Fliger747]

One a week with thanksgiving and Christmas off, hey it's only a year....

Good luck. Tom

[Channell]

One a week with thanksgiving and Christmas off, hey it's only a year....

Good luck. Tom

If you want me to work faster, you're gonna have to start paying me.

I'd hate to know my hours spent on this project already though... It's surprising how long it's taken for me to get a waterlined hull, thinned out portholes and a box full of AA guns. There should be some kind of therapy or psychedelic drug that can be prescribed to people who are incapable of building models "out of the box".

Still, it's good to get some of this ultra-repetitive stuff out of the way early on!

[Fliger747]

I think it's supposed to be psychiatric as opposed to psychedelic... But possibly not so far off. I see Kelly has left the little devils for last, that approach does lend the impression of greater overall progress. Sometimes it is a motivator to see the ship taking place, letting you imagination run with

At one time I thought my CB1 was about 90% done and it has been sitting there looking all the like Hawaii for many years. The experience with Missouri shows me it's more like 10% complete as there is almost as much light AA. The good news is the plethora of addons is now available in this scale which weren't about when I started that project.

Be a great ship as she comes along!

Best from all. Tom

[Fliger747]

My recollection there was just one hatch at the rear of the turret though the only one I have ever poked my head through into the turret booth was on turret 3 of Missouri. If I come across any photos I might have of this area I will pass them along. Certainly Cliffy B would know.

If I am in error I will let you know as well.

Cheers. Tom

[Kelly Quirk]

My recollection there was just one hatch at the rear of the turret though the only one I have ever poked my head through into the turret booth was on turret 3 of Missouri. If I come across any photos I might have of this area I will pass them along. Certainly Cliffy B would know.

If I am in error I will let you know as well.

Cheers. Tom

I distinctly remember two hatches on the turrets when I visited the Missouri. I actually went into the turret and got to "fire" the big guns.

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Jason

your project is progressing well, because all these little things are terribly painstaking and time-consuming
good job
best regards
Nicolas

[Fliger747]

Jason

Just hoping you didn't go raving into the mountains after finishing the last 20 mm.....

Regards. Tom