A bit more progress this weekend, mostly on the boats, As the ship will be depicted at anchor the motor boat will be in the water, and one whaler swung out ready to be lowered if needed.

There was no boat rigging provided on the etch so I have devised my own method of manufacturing tackles



a couple of short peiced of 20 thou brass rod pushed into blue tack, and copper carefully wound round it.

The finished results




Nest job will be to finish fitting out the cutter on the chocks, then rest of the main deck railing,at that point she will be ready to fix to the base

Si

Beautiful work guys.

Peter, stunning work.

Simon, I love the work.

Thanks Kenny

Any progress on BB-19? would be great to see some pics

Si

Simon – great work all around. Really like your rigging gig; I will definitively copy it down the road. Detailing is fantastic… look forward to the end product, will be a stunner!

Looks good, Simon.

Almost finished it seems.... one thing I forgot to ask: can the ship be built as a full hull or not?



Harm

Hi Harm,

Yup not far to go now.

The kit does come with a seperate lower hull for full hull option, I did test fit out of curiosity, and it was a seamless fit.

I must admit, with the interesting underwater shape I was tempted to build her full hull, but being a die hard waterline fan and I do love the low hull with tall barbette & tripod top look, menacing! , and waterline shows that off so I stuck with the waterline option

She will be mounted on a sea base.

Si

The Roberts looking really good now thats nearly finished. Looking to seeing everyone elses builds.
After getting back from holiday I finally got to do some more on the Arizona and take some pics. Most parts are now cleaned up and ready for assembly and painting.
Turrets and rear mast are now finished. The guns needed a bit of cleaning up so I would reccomend replacing them with brass ones. They were also very tricky to get lined up correctly and I think one or two barrels are off centre.


One of the big problems with the kit, at least my example, is the mould's not lining up properly. Its most apparant on the upper deck, the top half is offset to the lower. You can see that the wall doesn't line up with the bottom and this is taking some very careful trimming and sanding.


The September issue of FSM has a good article on models of the Bismarck and Arizona, showing both ships as they looked in service and as wrecks. The Arizona is finished in an interesting scheme of light grey with red painted turret tops. The Kingfishers are painted in a colourful pre-war scheme. Anyone know if this is accurate for the time of Pearl Harbour?

What a coincidence... I spent much of my afternoon browsing for info about the Arizona, the Pennsylvania and 1/350 kits of the Arizona.

Today I came across a thread on a message board about the Arizona, which did cite a 1941 order designating a certain scheme for the forward and aft turret tops of both battleships and cruisers, as a reference for their aircraft.

I have the thread bookmarked at work, I'll see if I can dig it up again.

What kit are you building? The 1/350 Banner/Trumpeter/Hobby Boss?

And it looks good so far...



Harm

Hi Harm,
Its the Hobbyboss 1/700 kit. A little basic in some areas but for its low price you cant complain much. I havent seen their 1:350 but I have heard thats at bargain basement price compared to other makes.
As I understand it the exact colour scheme applied to the Arizona at the time of the Pearl Harbour attack is the subject of some controversy. Some say it had red turret tops and others say it didn't and was a darker shade of grey. Personally I do like the light grey and red turrets. I had the idea that it might have been applied as a neutrality marking, but a visual aid for floatplanes also seems plausible. It would be interesting to have a look at that thread.

Good start on the Arizona.

There is a lot of controversy over the colour scheme at the time of her loss, and evidence to back up either a grey or blue/grey scheme, and red or not red turret tops, but nobody has come up with conclusive proof either way.

Go with what ever you think is right, nobody can say you are definitely wrong.

Si

Hi Stephen,

here is the thread I referred to. The relevant post is a little over halfway down (judging by the position of the scroll-bar) in the first page.

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12942

Of course, as with any official order from above, it is always questionable whether it was ever implemented (as intended) by the lower ranks.




Harm

Here is my Trump 1/350 scale USS Arizona completed 2 years ago, its not the best picture, but its the only one I have right now

Enjoy..Craig

Nice Arizona Craig.

More progress on the Roberts. Still working on the Boat rigging, but neatly there, just manropes for the cutter, and swung out whaler, the whaler also needs a painter & a sternrope. The vessel is being depicted with the starboard anchor down so the Port anchor is shown "walked out" of the hawse pipe. The Railings have all been added, and the ship has been secured to the base,

4 brass rods, 2 each side were inserted in holes pre drilled into the hull, these were then used to mark the base, the base drilled, holes flooded with cyno, and cyno run round the rest of the hull and the put into plase,








Si

great progress both of you ! cheers

A little more progress, boats and boat rigging now complete. The motor boat is alongside tyhe gangway with cox'n and two seamen. The topmasts and radar platforms are on. Next job duty watch at the head of the gangway, which will include lifebouy on stand, table and in/out board, plus OOD, duty PO and personel coming off motor boat. Then rigging, radars & a few more coats of clear on the sea,





and finally some of the fujumi figures pained and awaiting fixing

Sorry, a bit over anxious with the return key

try these guys



Si

The cameo at the head of the gangway is nearly done, the in/out board needs a little more work, and something to represent the quatermaster's log on the table, but you have the duty Petty Officer behind the table, an officer just stepped aboard saluting the Ensign, and another exchanging salutes with the OOD.



Si

Very nice work Simon. I like it a lot...Cheers Mark

Thanks Mark.

Very nice job on the figures! The Fujimi figs look a lot nicer than Eduard’s & Tamiya’s ginger-bread flat men.

Thanks James.

The Fujumi figures are quite good, and you get a lot more for your money that you do with the L'Arsenal resin figures, (which I had been using previously, and still throw a few in for variety) and they are easier to handle. (although not as detailed or having the variety of poses).

I would just like to see Dragon put some of their figures out seperately, they, I think are the best of both worlds, and even Fujumi's figures look a little chunky next to Dragon.

Si

I have been unable to make my ribbon design look good. Would any of you be willing to make this campaign's ribbon?

Almost on the last push. rigging has been finished, (including an anchor ball, Ensign aft, and Union Jack on the Jackstaff. Rigging to be painted, a light touch of weathering, radars added and a final topcoat on the sea.



and of course trim the base up

Si

Simon - Looking good! almost there....

I have yet to begin my entry, hope I am able to finish on time!

Thanks James.

She is done, I will post some pics at the weekend, and send a couple in for the gallery.

Si