Converting HobbyBoss' 1/350 SSN-774 to SSN-803 USS Arizona

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

Well, I am ready to paint the hull, but that is not today�s update. Since the last update, I took a look at the sail. I knew from earlier that I would have to enlarge it, but put that on the back burner. I'll show you that work today. But first, let me thank navydavesof, who wrote:

Looking good, John!!! Looking real good! Keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for checking in and posting comments! It is nice to actually see comments from people following the build. One of these days, you'll have to let me know what your real name is!


Let's take a look at what I did since last time.

The Arizona sail is both longer and taller than the standard Virginia Class sail. I don�t know whether this is to take advantage of the ability to house more/larger masts in the sail or for hydrodynamic reasons. The first step is cutting the top of the sail off with a razor saw.

The next step is the vertical cut for the start of lengthening the sail. Almost all of the sail detail will be removed; the access panels on the side seem to be grossly overscale anyway.

A section of .100 x .250 inch styrene strip bridges the forward and aft sections of the sail.

A piece of .100 x .250 inch styrene is then glued to the top of the sail and filed down to conform to the plan of the sail. The gaps between the forward and aft sections of the sail were filled with pieces of .030 inch styrene, cut to about .156 strips. I got a little crazy with height extension piece and broke the trailing edge off. Oh well.

A piece of .040 x .188 inch styrene was then glued to the top of the styrene sail height extension. This will be the crest of the sail and the seam between the extension and the crest piece acts as a reference guide when filing down the curvature on the top of the sail.

After a bit more dressing up, the sail will be pretty much ready for priming after I decide whether I want to install masts.

John

[Nino]

Spectacular work John.
You will be the 1st person on your street to have a BLOCK V.

I had to re-read a few spots but your updates make a great primer for building a New Virginia Class.

Nino.

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

I�ve applied an initial coat of paint on the model and I�ll get to that in a moment. First, I want to thank Nino for his kind comments:

Spectacular work John.
You will be the 1st person on your street to have a BLOCK V.
I had to re-read a few spots but your updates make a great primer for building a New Virginia Class.

Thank you so much for your comments! You're right: I'll be the first one on my block to have a Block V Virginia Class! With regard to your complement about my updates, I really appreciate hearing that. It may be a while before we see a manufacturer produce a Block V, so I am glad to get the positive feedback on my updates. Maybe somebody else will try to build a Block V? Thanks again for following this build thread and posting your comments!

Let's take a look at today's progress.

In a recent visit to the local hobby shop, I found they are now stocking Revell paints under the product line name of �Email Color.� One of those was described as �Tar Black.� I was looking for something that would replicate the dull black on the Virginia Class hulls, so I decided to give it a try even though the product line name is a bit strange.

An all-black hull doesn�t show up well in these photos, but you can get an idea of how the hull looks now.

The Revell paint is an enamel and although the instructions say to use their thinner, I used regular enamel thinner. It doesn�t seem to have done any harm and I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

Of course, it never fails that once I apply the final coat of paint, I find those defects that I missed. I�m going to have to correct some minor blemishes and then apply paint as necessary. Then, I�ll paint the topside non-skid area.

John

[jcmackay]

Hi all,

I touched up the blemish on the hull that I found after the first go-around and applied the final coat of tar black. Here�s a look:

I�ve temporarily posed the sail and rudder in place. I�ll remove them while I paint the non-skid on the deck and re-install them afterwards. I won�t be painting the lower hull black gray: that is the appearance when Special Hull Treatment is installed. This kit doesn�t reflect that status, so I will leave the hull overall tar black.

You can see I prepped the top of the sail to receive the masts as one of the last steps. I�ll add some white to flat black for the non-skid areas so that they stand out. The propulsor is not installed yet: after I painted it, I found a blemish and will have to correct that and repaint.

Next, I�ll paint the non-skid areas, and then install the sail, bow planes, rudder, propulsor, and anhedral planes.

John

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

Since the last time, I've painted the non-skid area topside and installed the sail, bow planes, anhedral planes, and the propulsor. Here's a look:

I mixed up a batch of flat black, flat white, and brown for the non-skid area. I didn't want it to jump out, so I didn't lighten it very much. However, it shows up depending on the light. The propulsor was sprayed with the hull color and the screw was hand-painted brass.

I have some touch-up to do on the hull paint and then I'll install the masts.

Next, I'll be touching up the hull paint, and then painting and installing the masts. The model will be done at that point and I'll move on to building the display case.

John

[jcmackay]

Hi everyone,

After a bit of a break, I've completed this model of the Arizona and I am calling her done. Let's take a look:

All the masts are installed and draft mark decals applied.

Although the Virginia kit comes with a lot of decals including DSRV markings, I only applied the draft marks. At this point, we don't know what markings the Arizona will ultimately carry, so I kept it to a minimum.

Decals were applied and treated with Micro Set, and then the model was sprayed with Tamiya Clear Flat.

The display case is complete and installed. BTW, the combination of the acrylic case and the camera lens creates the optical illusion that the hull is curved.

Ready for delivery to the proud owner! This will be finding its way to a display at a Submarine Veterans hall in Arizona.

Thank you everyone for following the progress on this build and thank you especially to those who posted comments!

John

[CC Clarke]

Nice build John,

I'm getting ready to start a commisioned build of the AZ in 1/72. Using a Block 1 as reference is not going to cut it for me as it has two VLS tubes forward in addition to the four VPM tubes aft. The top of the towed array cover is flat for added deck room to walk, instead of just the VPM as the old ref material available depicted when you started four years ago.

Good ref material (the bane of many submarine builders) is slow in coming since there aren't many Block V builds in progress at EB. Of particular interest is the new vertical passive array being tested on a KB Trident. It might be added to the Block V's, but until we see one high and dry, that's speculative on my part.

CC