Arizona

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

I have never built a warship before, however I have built alot of armor and aircraft in my day. I’m a bit concerned with the level of detail with a battleship. Also, does anyone have an idea how a Pennslvania class warship would weather during a sortie at sea?

2

Welcome aboard, Amar!
The level of detail on a warship can be whatever you want it to be. If you want to start off simple, try the Revell-Monogram Arizona. If you want to take it to the next level, photo-etched brass details are available which can really enhance it. The Banner/Trumpeter Arizona is more complex but a better quality kit; again you spruce it up with photo-etch brass if you want.

As far as weathering, you can do that to any level you’d like. The possibilities are endless. There are a lot of great people on this forum who are ready to help you with tips and advice. Good luck on your project and enjoy yourself!
Paul

3

[#welcome] amar23

As Paul said detail and weathering is pretty much up to you.
A couple things to look for in weathering are rust and smoke stains (Arizona was oil fired). Rust would be most common below bilge pump outlets, anchors and riveted plates.
I’m sure Jeff or one of the others will be along to give you a little lot more help.

4

Welcome Amar!
In addition to what Derek pointed out, after some time at sea you’ll see a white buildup of salt stain higher up on the ship’s hull, above where normal wave action takes place, but in areas where the crew wouldn’t normally hose down.

If you are building a full hull model then don’t weather below the waterline; waves and weather don’t cause weathering or marine growths to take hold.

All the weathering should be somewhat subtle, but the final effects are of course up to you.
Regards,
Bruce

5

Lots of variables to consider…

First and foremost is what ship, and at what point in her life, do wish to model?

Pre-war USN ships were kept very clean, without the combat, life aboard a ship is basically maintenance and boredom. Pre-war ships were also light grey until mid-1941, so they were susceptible to oil stains and the like.

Wartime ships were predominately dark colors, so extreme weathering is a bit difficult to pull off realistically. Here’s a color shot of Pennsylvania in drydock in 1944.

Obviously, modeling Arizona pre-war is your only real option, but you could convert the Arizona kit into Pennsy. Arizona was wearing a Measure 1 camo pattern when she was at Pearl, but she wasn’t in that scheme for very long before her loss, so her paint wouldn’t have been as weathered as some believe.

Jeff Herne

6

Jeff, i would like to convert a 1/350 Arizona to a pre ww2 Pennsy. what advice could you give me. wing22

7

Depending upon what specific time period you wanted, there’s not much to do to make a pre-war Pennsy from the Arizona kit.

Pennsy was fitted with CXAM radar before AZ, and if I remember correctly, Pennsy didn’t have the additional AA platform on her fighting tops.

I’ll look into it and get you some more info.

Jeff

8

Jeff, thank you very much. wing22

9

Correct Jeff, the between 1939 and 1941, the Penn did not have the AA platform atop the aft tower like the Arizona. The only other signifigant difference is the blast sheilding along the bottom of the superstructure under the bridge and along the catwalks. The Arizona had rounded cut-outs where the Penn had the sheilding cut to match the bulkheads.
REF: Battleships of WWII Historical Reference VOL. 2

Now my question, I want to paint mine as she appeared in a picture dated February 1939. Does anybody have the paint number (WEM or Testors) or formula (I mix acrylics) for the light grey? I aways seem to get it too light or too dark.

regards,
Scott

10

Thanks Scott,

You just saved me a bunch of typing (but I still ended up doing the research).

WEM carries it as Standard Navy Gray…not sure what the number is off hand. If you email John Snyder, just tell him you want the pre-war USN gray. He’ll take care of you.

PS: John’s a good friend of mine, so tell him Jeff sent ya’!

J

11

Thanks Jeff, I know WEM has both the PE sets and the planes (Curtis Biplanes) for my Trump 1/350 kit, so I am already dedicated to an order.

Scott

12

Thanks guys… I appreciate the effort you all gave. I’ll be getting into this deeper after I convince my wife that I NEED another model!