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 Post subject: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 2:26 am 
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Well, it’s still December 7th here in the Northwest so thought I’d post this. Since a very young age, I have been fascinated by the USS Utah. As a young lad growing up before the age of the internet, I found information very scant and she began to hold almost mystical allure. Even to this day, she is quite possibly one of these least documented ships, and certainly in her final fit as a AA training ship/Bombing target. So I have set out to finally honor this ship and her 58 crew who are still “at sea”. I have been looking at ISW’s kit of the Utah for sometime, but ISW kits and I have a love-hate relationship. Along comes Model Monkey and Black Cat and things start to swirl in the back of my mind. Well needless to say I finally took the plunge. Much to my surprise, the hull casting is probably the best I have seen from them and the hull will require only superficial clean up. The Utah had a sparse superstructure but most of those parts are decent. Since I’m leaving off most everything else and replacing weapons with 3D parts, this actually may be an enjoyable build. So here is what I’m looking at working with, some other additions may come later but the bulk is here. Looking forward to diving in full steam, have a couple of details to figure out still but excited to start nonetheless.

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 7:57 pm 
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Cool! I'll be following along with interest.

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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:17 pm 
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Hi Matt,
She looks cool as hell already. Can’t wait to see more. Where did you get the cage mast?


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:32 pm 
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Thanks guys!
Jeff Sharp wrote:
Where did you get the cage mast?


Jeff,
What you see in the image is bit of a Frankenstein. The Base and the fighting top are parts of a failed 1921 Arizona 3D print. The section above the bridge is Model Monkey's Colorado Class Foremast. The Fighting top was the same diameter as the cagemast more or less, so this one will not be the final, just there to get a feel for dry fit. Not sure what the final entity will be, but will be some form of 3D printed version. Your unsung hero's of Pearl Harbor builds have been a great inspiration for me wanting to build the Utah. Sure everyone know's the ships of Battleship Row, but most have never heard of the Utah.

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:20 pm 
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Thanks, I figured it was probably a Frankenstein. Have you seen this clip of her?
https://www.criticalpast.com/video/6567 ... aving-ship


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:23 am 
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Jeff,
Yeah that video is pretty cool, unfortunately a little lacking in details but nonetheless cool to see some onboard film. I somewhere in my collection have a Popular Mechanics magazine from I believe 1937, but it’s basically a print version of this film. Probably not going to be before Christmas that I really get going, but I’ll post any progress. Still need to figure out what was in the shed on the port side of the bridge opposite the MK19. Wyoming had a mk33 mounted there and the 5/38’s were aft and port?? But I have no evidence to back that up right now.

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 1:35 am 
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Well the Holidays are behind us now, life can somewhat begin to get back to normal. So onto the Utah!
As stated above the casting on this kit is better than average for an ISW kit, with that being said it's not without it's faults. Here is kind of a photo fly around of the kit parts I will be using. If anyone is interested in seeing other aspects of the kit, drop me a line and I'll do my best to answer any questions.

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Here we see the Port Bow, we see some air bubbles in portholes and some rough spots on the hull. This will require some sanding, filling and some drilling. No big

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Starboard Bow is much the same

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Center amidships from the Port side. Here you can see some of the deck gear with pretty nasty air bubbles. You can almost see it in this image, the top of #2 barbette is not level and required some sanding to allow the turret or platform to sit flat and even.

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The stern was rough in this area, the kit also lacks the noticeable angle of the stern as it goes down to the waterline

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Not sure what these scuttles/bubbles are supposed to represent on this ship. I notice some AM wooden decks for the Arizona have the same arrangement??

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And for the full hull lovers out there, better than usual but much work still required

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The kit turrets, not terrible but a lot of clean up needed

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The superstructure kit parts. Range from fair to needing to be replaced. I am really unsure of the Conning Tower, not sure I buy the shape. Florida and Utah look to possibly have had different shaped ones but this doesn't seem to match either. Will probably scratch one that looks closer to what can be seen on the wreck.

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Photo etch is fairly comprehensive but basic. Will probably beef up with other AM sets.

Well this is what I'm starting with, will need mods as this kit even if casting deficiency free is more geared towards the Big U in her 1932-1940 fit and would require a lot of work on amidships to be able to build the Florida. Some minor but noticeable changes were made when she had her last refit and I will cover those more in a later update with work that I've done.

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:09 pm 
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Is that a full or half cage mast for the forward superstructure?

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"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:13 pm 
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Martin,
It’s a full size one, like what would be used for a main mast. I think it’s ISW’d generic one because I’m pretty sure it’s the same as some of the pre dreadnought BB kits.

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:36 pm 
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Proof that I am working on this and that I am seriously out of practice on doing WIP's :eyes_spinning:

Image

Work done so far-
Removed all molded on case mate shutters as they were all plated over by 8/41
Filled in Aircastle case mates and extended deck to allow for 5/25's and 5/38's. Need to do the deck extenders yet
Built all the Black Cat weapons except for 1- 1.1 and completed both Model Monkey 5/38 turrets.
Did a test paint to get a feel for what I am looking for in the end, so it's a little rough but will be "crisped up"
Did the bulk of the water base, right now it's just a rolling sea, wake will be added once ship is affixed

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 2:34 am 
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Realized that last image was pretty bad, really need o get some good lighting at the workbench.
Image
Image

Here is how the Case Mates looked when I got the kit,
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Here they were after removing shutters and filling in,
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Which matches the prototype much closer.
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Here is water base in progress, was trying some new methods,
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This is what the whole base looks like at the moment, fairly happy with the outcome. Used Vallejo Pacific Water Effects
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More hopefully soon,

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:57 am 
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Neat stuff, love what you are doing! :eyebrows:

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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:27 am 
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Great build so far, keep it up!

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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:00 pm 
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Seriously cool work. Love it!

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"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:01 pm 
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Thanks guys!

I am looking at the 01 deck now and planning out the details. One thing that has me perplexed, why would there be a .50 cal almost up against the director tube? Am I seeing this correctly?

Image

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:22 am 
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Well it was an AA training ship, so I suppose they could have mounts anywhere on the ship.

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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 11:06 am 
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taskforce48 wrote:
One thing that has me perplexed, why would there be a .50 cal almost up against the director tube? Am I seeing this correctly?

Maybe it's just temporarily moved there and not bolted to the deck due to ongoing work?

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"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:33 pm 
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MartinJQuinn wrote:
Maybe it's just temporarily moved there and not bolted to the deck due to ongoing work?

Martin,

I was thinking along those lines and will probably omit it on my build.

Too a little break from physical modeling last night and did a little virtual modeling. Gonna take a whack at doing a 3D printed version of the Conning Tower. I have since found that the kits Conning Tower matches the Florida's which was a odd asymmetrical shape where as all evidence says Utah had a more oval shaped one.

Image

Image

Hopefully more to follow soon.

Matt

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 1:18 am 
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Buy this 3D printer they say.... Be printing parts in minutes they say.... Stunning results they say.....

Know what I say?
:censored_2: :mad_1: :mad_2: :Mad_5: :Mad_6: :bash_2: :deadhorse: :doh_1:

That is all

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In the yards right now:
USS Utah AG-16
On Hold
1/350 USS Portland CA-33 1942
1/350 Trumpeter Texas with a twist


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 Post subject: Re: USS Utah AG-16
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 10:34 pm 
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Which printer did you get?

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