I’ve always had a soft spot for this ship. Some part of me feels some sort of connection to the ship and it’s story. I see the pics of the aftermath of her death and it hurts. I see pics of the memorial and I feel sad.
But a week into what was supposed to be a simple OOB build with the only addition being Toms PE and I feel another kind of hurt. The more I look into the kit the more I find wrong. The more I research the more I find that needs to be corrected to make the kit some sort of “version” of the once proud vessel. And my once two week expected build is turning into months. I can see it now.
But I digress. I am determined to do BB-39 proud and make this kit acceptable. That’s my goal at least. And here is the result after a week of sickness and work.
I’m open to suggestions and comments. Please be rather kind though. I’m an aircraft modeler and this is my first ship. Thanks for looking.
Here we have the stern hull. Working on eliminating the battery powered features so the funky hull bulges for the motor shafts had to go.
Here we have the casemate. Major work correcting wrong this and that here.
And finally the fantail. Removal of bits and ladders here in prep for PE and scratch built bits.
Already I can see I’m going to have to buy the Gold Metal PE. The Toms PE does not include any of the hatches or water tight doors.
And many thanks to someone here before me, Charles Landrum. I’m using his build as a guide while I wait for my own copy of Battleship Arizona by Paul Stillwell.
As far as suggestions, you could definitel ydo a lot worse than to follow Charles Landrum’s build article http://www.rollmodels.net/nworkbench/onlinebuild/arizona/arizona1.php published on RollModels’ website. His is a first rate build. Pay particular attention to the waterline height, which 99% of other Banner Arizona builds seem to have messed up as well as the 5" secondary guns contained in the deck house. Contrary to modeling mythology, those guns are not actually contained in cylindrical turrets but are actually open open mounts. Before you getting too far into your build, you’ll need to pick a time period for your Arizona. After its major 1929-31 refit, it did undergo a number of minor refit’s during the '30s. When you get Battleship Arizona, spend a lot of time going through the photos, and reading the captions and the dates the photos were taken. You have quite an undertaking ahead of you. Good luck!
Updates to this build. I’m still at it as one can see in the pics. Somedays I want to box it up and stick it on a shelf but most of the time I enjoy it. Open to suggestions and comments.
My Arizona hull has been on the shelf for four years, at least you are moving forward on what looks like a great build. I am a member of the Nimitz Foundation and every time I walk past the model of the Arizona (which is historically incorrect) here at the National Museum of the Pacific War, I get inspired to take mine down and finish it. Keep up the great work, I’ll be watching your progress with interest.
I have one quick question. Who makes the photo-etch for the mast top enclosures? I knew there was a set out there but I couldn’t remember who made it, I need one pretty bad for my Arizona.
I’m intending (some time in the future) to build the old Revell 1/420 kit as the Arizona in its 1930s configuration. However I doubt it’ll look anything like as good as yours, especially since I probably won’t be using any aftermarket PE parts (have to make do with scratchbuilding + spares box oddments).
Looking great man, now all i need is some motavation to do mine all ive got done are the catapults and cranes and i put it up on the shelf been there ever since i just cant seem to find an excuss to finish her. And again she looks great.And your right toms dosent come with all the good stuff mabe ill get the GMM set for myself.
Ships boats finally on the way. I decided to put them on because the ship would have looked to bare without them.
Does anyone know where I can get drawings or diagrams of the rigging? I really want to add it but have no info. I never did get the book “Battleship Arizona”.
Those boats look amazing for 1/350! How much of them is original kit parts and how much is aftermarket? (never seen the 1/350 Arizona kit so I’m not sure)
The work on your Arizona looks great so far. How is the Banner kit? I did the old odd-ball scale Revell kit year ago and it was a real tough kit to work with. Is this one better?
Look forward to seeing more pictures as you complete it.
Chad, I’ve never built any other ship kit so I really don’t have anything to compare to. I’ve read that the Banner kit is kind of poor though. My biggest beef with the kit is the way out of scale port holes and having all the decks split right down the middle of the port holes. The same fix takes care of both problems. The kit lacks a lot of detail that really makes the finished model look bare unless it’s added. My own sanity hinged on stopping adding detail and just finishing the silly thing. I’ve added and changed enough to make me happy and that’s all it’s getting.
I’ve also been on the look out for Arizona rigging diagrams, without a whole lot of success. The Stillwell book does have a side view (several actually of each time the ship was altered), which is very helpful, but does not include a top view. I haven’t looked through all the pages of the build whose link was posted earlier in this thread, but that might be a good place to look. If I come across any good drawings or photos, I’ll let you know.
I am very impressed with the work on your model. This is my favorite model. I have a question for you. Are the decks painted or are they modeled in wood? Did you remove all detail that came with deck of ship for pe. Could you please give me info on doing this, as I was thinking of doing wooden decks? Thank You Hank SUPPORT THE TROOPS
