I'm throwing my hat in the ring for this campaign. My entry is also Dragon 1/700 Arizona. The parts I will be using:



Besides the basic Arizona kit by Dragon, I'm using Eduard PE (which is actually for the Hobby Boss kit, and I'm not expecting a drop-fit), Lion Roar boat cranes and inclined ladders, Complekt Zip (for the casemate guns - I know their not 100% correct, but you can barely see them), Artwox deck, 3DModelParts printed control tops, guns, and .50 cals (those are all those little orange things), and Alliance Model Works for the catapults, etc. I hope I can do a good job of all this!

After a week or so of on and off work:

Hey Biggs!! Nice to see the old girl show up!! Off to a great start! Looking forward to following along to your progress!!

I guess it's you and me, Todd! This is my third and hopefully final Arizona build. I've got Bismarck, Hood, Queen E (WWl), and Dreadnought waiting fitting-out in drydock!

LOL...that is just fine with me Biggs! Almost like a "Duel Build". It great to see how other folks build! I have yet to build the Biz...one on the list for sure! I do have the HMS Tiger...sister ship to your QE! They have been banging around a Cruiser Campaign which would include them!! Something we both could think about!!

Biggles,

Your Arizona is looking good. Looking forward to watching her develop as you move forward.

Dave

Hi Todd; have you started on Eduard mainmast platforms yet? I assembled them and they look good, but of course they won't fit on Dragon Arizona!

As you can see, the platforms force the legs outwards by about 2mm too much to fit in the holes for the Dragon parts. I could bend the legs inwards to fit the holes, but then it would be plainly visible. Besides going back to the original Dragon parts, do you have any suggestions? Otherwise, that was about 2 days of work wasted!

Hi Biggs,

Let me start by saying that is a fine job on the Main Mast!! Clean and straight!! Well done!

Okay...figuring out what "we" can come up with to correct this unfortunate issue. Well, I am not and expert by all means and before I wanted to respond here I had to look into a couple things.

First was the kit parts. As you probably noticed, the PE and the kit parts do not match up. The PE is slightly larger. Best I can tell at first glance is that the Range Finder Platform (1st on the mast) defines where the supports go since it forms a triangle. So, first suggestion we could do to correct this would be to not use the PE RF platform and use the kit supplied one. This would drive the legs back in and most likely hit their mark.

A decided to take some time a short while ago and look at the plans. I superimposed the DML Main Deck and Superstructure deck section onto the plans.



We knew the kit would not match the plans when scaled together but by lining up the aft support of the main mast, both of the crane support holes lined up fairly close. We can see the front supports don't line up.



The blue dots outlined in red are the original, and the faint yellow the kit. Even though they do not line up there looks to be a way out of this....



I am thinking we could cut off the over-sized over hang where the supports go through the kit deck. (shown in the red lines above). This should cut off the holes popped out of the wood decking nicely. On the actual ship it looks to be that the support come down along side the Potato peeling/vegetable room located on the print. I put a line where the rear wall of the upper deck is actually suppose to be...



The support you have now would hit the yellow dots...or close to. A small scratch built wall on the underside of the superstructure deck would eliminate trying to cut the bottom of the mast support on an angle against the back wall. Only problem you have after all this is making the mast supports you have already installed, longer. Gluing extensions is one way I suppose, or dismantling the mast(which I know you probably do not want to do). I would try gluing extensions first.

For reference purposes...





Sorry about going on with this...kind of how my brain has to work to figure out stuff like this when it comes up!! Now I need to step things up if I am going to catch up to you!!

Let me see if I got this right - Dragon got it wrong by putting locating holes for the forward legs on the boat deck. The legs actually meet the after deck either side of the square-ish structure at the end of the boat deck. I should go back and check my own reference more often! Good thing I didn't glue the boat deck to the main deck yet. With a bit of surgery maybe I can still salvage the situation. Thanks!

In your last posted picture above, it appears that the splinter shield position for the proposed 1.1" quad is actually elevated several feet above the aft deck level, and not flush with the deck. Do you have pics that show if the forward 1.1" positions are similarly placed?

Nice Biggs!! Good Luck my friend!!

I slapped together the underside last night. A bit crude but not seen really and even less after the supports are in.

I did the necessary corrections to the deck and lengthened the mast support legs. Now it looks much better. The orange tops are from 3DModelParts. They are printed and you can see inside through the open windows - not that there is anything inside to see! If your ingeneous enough you could cut off the roof and add detail and figures! The tops don't fit on perfectly because the Eduard parts cause the ends of the legs to spread slightly too far apart. I'll just have to live with it.

Looks great Biggs! Once all the other details come together that will be just fine!! I like the tops! I am ordering the guns I think...maybe tonight! Thought they did a decent looking job on the 25's and 51's! Still on the fence on those .50's...we'll see! Keep up the good work!!

I like your destroyed tram on Armorama. Using those techniques you could build Arizona post Dec 7, '41.

LOL..thanks Biggs! That would make for an interesting build for sure! Might have to pick up another 1/350 HB kit for that one!!

Biggles2,

Looks like your funnel assembly is close to done; may I ask what paint brand/color you're using for BB39? (I'm going to unabashedly imitate that...)

-ah3000mk1

I still have some detailing to do on the funnel platforms. The color on it is just over-spray from painting the funnel top black. The ship will be in US Navy Gray, as she appeared in the first half of 1941, with red recognition turret tops. I am using Tamiya acrylics thinned with their lacquer thinner, and mix my shades until they look appropriate. As in real life, there were slight variations between paint batches, manufacturers, etc., so I'm not concerned about getting "the one and only true shade" of gray. (Gasp...blasphemy!)

Hello;
How did you do the bulkheads for the 5"51 guns?

Bill