The Ship Model Forum

Wow, can’t believe I’ve decided to do this. Let’s get some back story real quick.

About me: I am a 32 year old electrical contractor with a wife and 6 kids..... yep no typo, SIX!!! We haven’t quite figured out what causes that. So as you can imagine, my time is limited to work on this model between raising a family and running a company, its amazing I even have time for this hobby. I have been modeling for a very short 2 years now and my ambition has led me to the grand mistake of purchasing the mighty mo 1/200....

About the model: I am building the Mo as she sat in Tokyo bay (real original right!? But hey when a ship has such a historic moment on her decks...) The kit comes with some PE and I have order some PE but not the large detail kit (this is my first experience ever with PE) I also ordered the teak wood deck for this boat (which is the wrong color btw....) I bought the TFD book and the super drawings book from Larry on here. I cant imagine trying to build this thing without those books. Thanks again Larry!!

This could be an absolute train wreck of a thread, so grab some popcorn, buckle up, and prepare your best advice and criticisms!!!! Do not hold back, I am on here because you guys are incredible builders and I would love to be at your caliber someday!

Hi, and welcome to the 1/200 club.

You will get plenty of help on here, one thing to remember - there aren't any silly questions! If you get stuck, just shout, I know someone on here will have the right answer and will be only too willing to assist you.

Good luck with your build and post loads of pictures.

Cheers, Jabb

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HMS Hood, the big one!

I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure.

Right on and thank you. I’ve been ghosting this page for a few months now so I’m excited to tap this knowledge well!

IModel, my first question would be if you have enough room to construct a model that will probably take in a few square meters of your hobby place for a year or so. What I would also recommend is that, like the Bismarck thread you find somewhere on these pages, you first build this model in a smaller scale, i.e. 1/350 or 1/700 and learn how to work with PE on this model. I think even a moderate PE kit for a 1/200 Missouri is a headache for a novice, because you will have to constantly compare the kit instructions with the PE set plans, carefully checking out which parts in the kit will have to be discarded or modified. The PE will sometimes replace details that are molded on the plastic kit, so you will need some "surgery tools", get some experience with superglue and you also need a decent primer to stay put on the metal parts. I hope the Pe you bought also provides the railing needed to complete each of the decks on the ship.

I made the old Tamiya Missouri on 1/350 when I was about 15 years younger, which was then a decent kit, and I made the 1/535 Revell one which is showing its age now. Try to find some reference for the period you have chosen, because a lot of the modern color pictures will show it upgraded to its modern configuration, with the wrong masts, helideck or cruise missile installation. Good luck!

Oh, and I saw you bought the wooden deck. I just installed one on a model myself, this you see in the Princeton build around here. I can recommend it on a carrier, but battleships also need some experience. Take time to dry-fit the new deck before you fix it, nothing that sat on the old deck may interfere with it and it should be sanded flush if so.

Lots of good concerns there so I’ll hit them one by one.

Working space: I have an entire bay in my garage (that is very clean and warm, my wife’s Denali sits in the other bay and the kids are NOT allowed in the garage lol) i have a bench that’s about 12’ long and 2’ deep. I also have a rolling cart with shelves that i use to place the mighty mo on for paint. It has wheels and turns so it is actually a pretty nice stand for painting.

The build itself: I’ve been using this forum to do my research and I’ve accumulated quite a bit of tools based on what i see you guys using and then kind of using my own common sense and knowledge of tools. I’m positive I’m missing some stuff so hopefully as i build this, you guys can chime in and give me some input.

The wood deck: ok here’s the sad part....I’ve actually bought two of these models. The first one i rushed into ignorantly without doing ANY research and i messed some stuff up badly. Finely i screws the wood deck up and i pretty much got the model to a place where i couldn’t fix it so i ordered another one (dumb determination.....probably). With this one i haven’t made the some mistake. I’ve been reading and researching tirelessly this time. With the wood deck, i have a lot of experience with vehicle vinyl (when i was younger) we normally applied vinyl with soapy water. Since i screwed up the first Mo, i tried a similar technique and the deck went down very nicely. My confidence is at maybe a 70% with the wood deck

Weathering: I’m really stuck here. I’m confident i can build a nice model without weathering it, but the stuff you guys build and weather is mind blowing. I’m very unsure of what to do with this. I may build a smaller shop (I’ve done multiple Arizona’s) and practice weather on that. Thoughts?

IM_215,

I might suggest that you also (if you haven't already) obtain a correctly scaled plan of the ship - sheer elevation (usually the starboard side) and deck plan. You can purchase these from TFD and make sure they match the time frame (09/45) of your model. They will be available in 1/16th scale (1:192) so all you need is to take them to a large format printer and have them slightly reduced to 0.96% of the printed plans (200x.96 = 192). This gives you a scaled plan at 1:200 scale. Have two sets made and stash one set, rolled up in a tube and tucked away.

Then find an open wall and tape one set of these plans to the wall in an accessible space (where you can mark on them, etc.). As you build the model, you yellow out that item (turret, anchor, etc) denoting changes, and make other modeling notes. This is old school, but gives you a full scale visible point of status at any time - let's see you do THAT on a computer!!!!

That's just a starting comment on something I had on my wall for the entire 6 years it took me to build NEW JERSEY. Mine was the sheets from her 1967 Booklet of General Plans. On a bedroom wall was the Tom Walkiowiak plans for her in 1:200 to use as a comparison.

Hope this helps,

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HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

That’s an awesome idea! I have the right printers for this type of thing at my office, Larry sent me the TFD book for this project, I am sure I can scan this stuff, put it on my plan swift program and adjust from there, that program also gives me the option to double check dimensions (mostly for construction to make sure my take off is good) I may put some dimensions on this thread for you guys to double check and correct for me as needed. Some parts of this big boat are not correct, which Larry had already given me a heads up about. I am not really sure how I am going to correct some things. Also, seems like the bow of the ship (sub water line) isn’t quite correct, are you guys leaving this as is?

IM_215 wrote:


You need to read my entire build (BB-62 kit bashed NEW JERSEY etc. etc) on the Completed Forum and you'll understand that the hull is quite a bit incorrect in the lower areas. It's quite a lengthy discussion, won't repeat it here.

Hope this helps,

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HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

Greetings, IModel_215! Welcome to the land of the big 1:200 ships! Glad to see someone else is brave (or stupid) enough to tackle one of these beasts.

First, I'm doing the same as you - modeling her as she appeared at the end of the war. Also, I too, have the teak deck. Yeah, it isn't correct for the actual time of the signing, but on the way back to New York her decks were holystoned back to the teak, so we are somewhat correct - after a fashion!

Second, Yeah, I know the hull isn't correct and that it's out of whack at the bow and especially the stern. But, I figured that by the time I get all the detail on this beast and all painted up setting there under a plexiglas case, it's not going to matter one iota. Besides, only someone who has extensively studied the Iowa class ships is going to know how wonky this model is. 99.9% of the people who see my model aren't going to know it isn't correct.

I, too, am a novice at PE and this is my first extensive use of it. Yeah, it's daunting at first, but you soon learn what to do and what not to do. I started with the 20mm guns and by the time I finished those %#$&% bastards, I considered myself a pseudo-expert. Just be patient, take your time, and don't work with tiny pieces of brass when you're tired and exhausted. You WILL screw it up! A good glass of wine helps, too!

One of the first things I had to learn was when to paint first and when to assemble first. If it's the same color, glue the parts up into a sub-assemply first, then prime and paint. Otherwise, spray the PE while the parts are still on the fret, then glue them and touch up any bare places with a tiny brush.

Most of all, have fun, and if you run into problems or have questions, ask! And don't expect to finish this beast any time soon. I've been working on mine for a couple years now and I'm nowhere near completing it.

Good luck! Oh, by the way, what's your name? Or would you rather us continue to call you IModel_215?

Larry

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Larry Steiner


Completed: 1:200 USS Missouri (Monster Mo)
Next project: Definitely NOT another big ship!!

Larry, my name is Charlie. I’ve been following your build extensively. You’re doing an unbelievable job. It’s very intimidating following you guys on these builds but damn you guys are producing some absolute art!

I figure on this build going better than a year. I’m not going crazy with PE, mostly using the stuff that came with the kit. Plus the deck. Which i actually dressed her up a bit. I’ll be posting photos tonight. I ended up mixing 5:1 navy blue:grimy black to get what i consider the best shade of navy blue. I thinner it down to maybe 50:50 and added light coats to the deck before i started “weeding” out all the crap. I think it turned out pretty good. Pictures very soon! As in as soon as i figure out the best way to load them.

So i think i figures out how to add photos from my phone. Below are some of my main paint mixes, my work area (to the left is the big paint cart) and some adjustments i made to the wood deck color (along with all the weeding I’ve done)

Maybe not wine, but definitely a cold glass of Stella!

As a Belgian I do not object.

Looks like a very fine workplace!

Hi Charlie,

I like the color your deck turned out. Kinda wished now I would have done something similar but it's way too late now.

A word of advice, if I may. Several folks have had problems with the deck not sticking down properly and coming loose at the edges. I'm not sure who recommended it, but they said to kill the adhesive on the back with Krylon clear matte spray and then use Artist Gel Medium to glue the deck down. I did this and it worked great. I'll try to locate the post that outlined this process and let you read it.

Meanwhile, you're coming great! And I love the Red Wings decal on your shop vac!!

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Larry Steiner


Completed: 1:200 USS Missouri (Monster Mo)
Next project: Definitely NOT another big ship!!

I just experienced that problem myself (a good advice, don't expose the deck to direct sunlight without extra fixture) and I used contact glue at the edges, with the adhesive still on. It doesn't peel since, but I can not yet vouch for how durable the bond is now.

When you used this technique, were you able to manipulate the deck to perfection? The reason i ask is because after screwing my first attempt at this boat up (the old boat makes for a great test dumby ), i realized how hard that deck is too install, much like the earlier warnings in this thread, but i digress. My plan was to spray soapy water down. I tried a sample piece on the old model and it worked really well but over time i predict the adhesive losing some of its momentum. Will the gel give me a similar affect for movement and manipulation?

Two things, first, HOLY DETAIL! That ship looks great, love the ribs on the raft!

Second, did you notice any bubbling in the middle of the deck and how long will that glue give me to work out issues before drying?

Thanks for the compliments, you can find the topic page about the deck here: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=166458&start=140. Placing this deck is actually quite easy, because there is nothing extending above it and it's aligned cleanly along the plastic deck edge. What is a little more complicated is where to apply the extra glue so it does not passes from under the edge. Not that it can't be removed, but it attacks the paint already applied on the elevators. First I flattened it out where there was too much, to avoid bubbling. If you think the deck does need to be moved around before fixing it, it's better to apply the glue only to the sides that curl up at the edges. I found it hard to even remove small pieces thet had been glued, but you should have a few minutes.

It took about six hours or so to assemble and paint this guy (drying time not counted). First thing, i know the top of the cannon bulkhead is supposed to be painted......but i can’t bring myself to do it. I like the look a lot. I know i know...not accurate. I have a few items left before she is all wrapped up. Keep in mind, i am only using the PE supplied with the kit. No big detail kit for me (need more practice!!!)