1/200 Arizona finally DONE!

[aaube]

Somewhere on this forum, someone posted a picture of either Admiral Halsey's or Nimitz barge. It was overall dark blue and I think the top was white, it's been awhile since I have seen it. One of the barges could have been dedicated to the XO and the fourth a spare or a senior DIV O. I painted mine black and the other three grey, all with white tops. Your boats look great and will certainly add a bit of life and a sense of activity to the model. Heck, you could even have one of them rescuing an errant air crew member who fell off the Kingfisher!

It was me but i dont remember where and when...
Anyway, here's the youtube link again;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKzNFG1U2Hs

Regards,

Alain

[Mgunns]

I painted mine black and the other three grey, all with white tops.

I'm pretty positive that the light gray gigs all had light gray tops, not white. I always thought as well that the tops were all white but there are quite a few photos that show them as light gray.
I like these two photos dated Sept. '39. The first is the fleet's officers gigs all coming to shore. Notice the two different Admiral barges, one with white top and one with black. I wonder why the difference.
The second is two of Maryland's gigs tied up to her.

Hi Jeff: Thanks for posting the great pics of all of these boats. I built all of the boats last fall and painted the tops white and put all the little PE pieces on them. Had I known then I would have painted them light grey, as they are they are a real light faded grey; so faded one would almost think they were white.

[Jeff Sharp]

Don't fret about the white tops. I have a bunch of finished kits with the same white top mistake. Detailing the ships boats has always been my least favorite thing to do on kits. So in-between each boat that I'm working on I have been adding more detail to the bow of the ship. I am currently adding the paravane lines. I love the crisscross pattern the paravane chains do on the deck. It's a cool little feature.

[ModelMonkey]

That looks really good.

[Mgunns]

Hi Jeff:

It certainly is a busy focsl and it certainly adds interest to that area of the model. Are you going to populate the decks and boats with figures?

[Jeff Sharp]

Adding a little detail to the port side of the hull. I added two Franklin life buoys. I believe these were still red at this time. Also added a slop chute on the port side. This was an odd place to have this thing. USS Texas had hers at the very stern of the ship which seems like a more logical placement. I wonder why this was not done on all ships.


As I was researching the placement of the life buoys, I discovered this little cool feature. For some reason Arizona had two vents (not sure if they were air or smoke vents) extending out of the side of the stern on both sides.
Before her modernization, these vents came through a port hole as seen in this picture.


I believe that during her '36 refit is when that particular port hole was plated over and the exit hole for the vents was put at the highest possible point just below deck level. You can see the elbow of the vent in this picture.


Here is the vent in place.


And my version of that vent.

[Mgunns]

HI Jeff:

Nice update and the added detail adds a nice touch too. I like what you are doing with the boats and booms. This is going to add that sense of business to the display. Looking forward to the next update.

[tegunn]

Looking really sweet Jeff. I like the boats!

[Jeff Sharp]

Thanks. I have always liked the look of all the booms out with all the ropes and lines extending out away from the ship.



I'm proceeding very cautiously with this step. I have to dig out the wood to get the boats into the water. Some very nerve racking moments right now.

[Mgunns]

You did good there Jeff. The boats look natural in the "water".

[tegunn]

A lot of non-ship modelers don't realize this can be the most stressful point in a model that's mounted...kind of like messing up a canopy on an airplane model you've put in many many hours for. Carving into the sea base pretty gutsy!

[Jeff Sharp]

Jumping back to this '41 bow shot that shows the absence of the anchor plate leading up to the Port side "nostril" for lack of a better term.


Back when I was modifying the anchor plate on the kit, I debated with myself on whether or not to leave this section off. For some reason, I decided to leave it on.

Now, after coming across a film of Arizona during 1937 or 1938, I am convinced now more than ever that this portion of the plate was permanently removed sometime in the late '30's.

Here is a link to the film. Just go the 6:00 minute mark on the film.
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675 ... lks_Hawaii

So, looks like more surgery is in store for my anchor plate!

[BB62vet]

Jeff,

I'm following your build - simply AWESOME!!! In comment to your pic/film shot ref. of the anchor plates, I notice that just above and left of your blue arrow is what appears to be a hatch coaming - if that's what it was, that could be the reason the plating was taken up. Can't discerne this from the b/w photo as it's too far away.

Picking up these details is a never ending task for all of us. Drives me crazy!

Hank

[Jeff Sharp]

Hi Hank,
I believe that is the large hook shaped chock on the deck. It was there also when the plates were there.
I have no idea what the purpose of this chock was.

[BB62vet]

Jeff,

It's also on PENNSY. This is a real puzzler!

Hank

[tegunn]

Jeff, how is the first photo dated 1941? This photo might be from your next movie reference time era, which seems spot on for '36-38. The derrick crane is post 1935, and the aircraft appear to be the Vought 03U's. The engines don't seem long enough for SOC's which came on about 1939 and the wings seem to be swept back more than an SOC.

[tegunn]

Jeff, I might have answered my question after looking at the 1st photo. It appears to be possibly 1/'41 era photo, possibly immediately after her Puget Sound refit. She sports the degaussing cables and yet is still in the light grey camouflage..

[Jeff Sharp]

Yes, the degaussing cables are a dead give away for the '41 shot. The '41 shot is part of the film I discussed way back on the first page and referenced a great deal through out this entire build.

I'll be surprised if many people building their Arizona kit makes all the modifications necessary to the anchor plate, including eliminating this portion of the plate, but if you want it to be accurate for 1941 then it is necessary.

The surgery on my plate is complete and I must say that it simply looks odd, but true to how it really was.

[tegunn]

Excellent work, doctor!
Yes, I'll be doing this mod as well! When it's totally removed it's kinda obvious.. I haven't fastened a lot of the big stuff down yet, so the odds of me doing a Homer Simpson on my model is greatly reduced at this point.

[Jeff Sharp]

Couple of test shots of the ships boats in place. Still have to rig 3 of the 4 booms and get 2 more birds on the deck.