USS Indiana BB-58 Scratchbuild in 1/96 - 1944

[MartinJQuinn]

Breathtaking work...

[Kiwimedic]

Hello Bill

I have been looking at this very closely.
A superb build indeed
Love the latest on turrets and superstructure.
Ho scale hand grabs? .............. I am of to Dortmund in a week, I will be in the train section.
I like the idea of using a diverse coloured undercoat for checking coverage.
Looking forward to colour.
Most very excellent model.

Regards
Phil.

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello Bill

I have been looking at this very closely.
A superb build indeed
Love the latest on turrets and superstructure.
Ho scale hand grabs? .............. I am of to Dortmund in a week, I will be in the train section.
I like the idea of using a diverse coloured undercoat for checking coverage.
Looking forward to colour.
Most very excellent model.

Regards
Phil.

Thanks for your kind words. I have been watching the progress of your Bismark project very closely, too. An amazing piece of workmanship. Your work in the brass medium is certainly outstanding. Your work, along with Dave Wooleys, and many other fine modelers on this site continue's to inspire me to do better. I don't work much in metal, except for p/e. I like the styrene medium myself. Never the less, your work is perhaps second to none. The way you have done your deck planking makes mine look rather rudimentary. Congradulations on an outstanding replica of a very well known subject. I look forward to seeing more of your work, and to finishing my current project! Best Regards, Bill W.

[joe blow]

Bill,

No slight intended and none taken. Museum models are to a good standard, but the viewers are for the most part "general public." I agree with your statement about the rivet counters. You never see anything done by them. It's easy to criticize a model when you haven't experienced what it takes to produce it. Keep up the good work. Stay young.

Thought I might put in my .02----I believe some of the 'general public' still around are fellows like myself who served on these ships and know every inch of them (at least the smaller ones)--we can critique the best models out there and Bill builds some of the best considering he does not have the unlimited resources of the US Navy who can commission whatever they want for a museum piece regardless of price---I am awaiting his finish of the BB Indiana so he can build my little (but powerful) Coast Guard cutter than served at Normandy in '44---it will be accurate to the nth degree and 'old coasties' who spent time on one of these will be the final arbuiters of his work---cheers

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all Well, a transformation promised, a transformation delivered! Paintwork almost finished on the main areas of BB-58. Still some smaller details to do, as well as the addition of all the AA guns, and yet more details, but things are coming along. The paintwork turned out to be a bit more challenging than I had originally anticipated, and so it goes. Indiana is in MS22. You be the judge.....check out these photos........

Won't be long now........more to come.........Stay tuned!!! I continue on..............

[Cliffy B]

Holy crap it has paint!!!!! SUPERB job sir, SUPERB!!!!

[navydavesof]

You are Bill the Incredible! The colors are beautiful, and the seamlessness of the construction is inspiring. I would think you were building this for Industrial Light and Magic for motion control work on a movie. Watching this build is wonderful, and everytime I log on, I hope to see another post from you, Bill! I look forward to seeing what steps you take next!

[JIM BAUMANN]

Truly inspiring stuff!

I have been waiting for paint-and we got it!

It looks so ... deep--a testament to the detail work--that it looks deep--in a monotone.




BEAUTIFUL

JIM B

[Richard J OMalley]

Impressive

[Dave Wooley]

Bill I have just returned from the Naviga model ship world championships in Dortmund and I can honestly say just picking up on your Indiana that the model you are building would be up there with the best in the world believe me. Or if you don't ask Guido he and Kiwi Medic they where both there . Your Indiana is seriously , seriously good.
Dave Wooley

[Reid]

i don't think there are words in any language to describe what an amazingly well build model that is. Superb scale replica Bill

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all Just wanted to say thanks for all the posts so far. The opinions of you folks out there are my best critique. There are so many good modelers on this site and the world over, that it is sometimes overwhealming! I try to build as accuratly as possible, within a given timeframe as I am not doing these replicas for myself.I wish I was. I really hate the word "model".I prefer "Scale Replicas" instead. Anyway, the Indiana has it's share of faults and mistakes, as I suspect most do.As I have stated before, there IS no perfect model. But some are real close. The amount of accuracy one can obtain is directly related to what research materials are available for any givin subjetct. Dave Wooleys Kiev build is a good example. He has great research materials, and the skills to do dam near anything. Photos and drawings of the South Dakota class BB's are out there, but there really is not an exact drawing of the Indiana. So I have generalized things somewhat. Where there is no info., I call upon "improvisational engineering". To be honest, I had lots of fun building this ship, but it's sure a hell of a lot of work. Don't know if I would do another. Your posts are important to me, as it keeps me inspired. So keep the comments coming, and I'll keep working...........Stay Tuned!! ....................More to come..........

[J. Soca]

im not a critique Bill more like an expectator here but i've been looking at the shots for the last 5 minutes and she is flawless, paint job was masterfullly done


Jose

[TommyL]

Hey Bill,

I see she is done now. (I assume) Looks like I'll have to go through and read the whole build.

TommyL.

[Bill Waldorf]

Hey Bill,

I see she is done now. (I assume) Looks like I'll have to go through and read the whole build.

TommyL.

Nope......A way to go yet.............

[Capit�o Norbert]

i agree Bill when said no model is perfect.
yes, in the construction always we come across in them with something difficult to decide, many times well difficult, but we decide, however we are not machines and an imperfection is normal here or there. the true ships also are imperfect. However we always try to make the best possible and many of the modellers obtain this success here. regarding your model, following since the beginning alone I can say that some stages had been if materialize in a pretty model very and very made well done. this its motivation also motivates us to make better and more selective work. my sincere congratulations for this work of art coming from you.
Norberto

[gtbred]

wish I had your hands, brain,eyesite, skills and whatever else. Bravo Bill!

[Neptune]

Ditto with all the above!
Incredible, I'm speachless! The excellent paint job really did it, it made a unit of the whole ship. I see some guns and details are indeed still missing, but she's already very impressive!

[navydavesof]

I don't care what anyone else says, Bill. You make the best stuff.

[Devin]

Beautiful work, Bill. When I visit my family in Indiana, the only time I go to Indianapolis is to go to the airport, but I think after you get this ship on display I'll have to make a special trip up to see her and Indy.