I just started this kit about 4 days ago. I dropped off the last 2 or 3 days of my 1/96 Alabama & will get back & finish it quickly. I just wanted an easy kit to build & these Monogram molded Imai kits are really beautiful. My masking went super nice & I had practicly no touch up after pulling the tape.
I am still working on the deck finish & it does look better now. The Imai kit did not come with the rear Poop deck so I scratch built one & it does look good. The kit is really just a rehashed Constitution. I have that too & will build the pair.
I am showing the 9" piece of 1x2 pine that I epoxy into the hull to screw the pedestals into. I just use a small block plane & shape it to a fair fit of the hull.
My paint is mostly Tamiya acrylic. The hull is flat black, the yellow stripe on the gun ports is flat yellow with some red until it is more orange. The inside bulwarks are med. green & blue mixed. I never measure a color, I just pour until it looks right. The hull is Tamiya Copper & will take a nice green wash. It is not done yet.
I did glue the hull together after I drilled all the eyebolts & glued them in. I also put the 1x2 in & put the deck in & rear top deck on to see it & it does look great. Here are my first pictures.
I didn’t mention that I cut some HO plastic windows down for the topp windows in the rear. I also put a curve in the rear deck. A pain , but worth it. I showed the bottom of the rear deck to get the curve on the deck.
GM, I got my ration of scotch. I generally need it after a rigging stint. What is a killick. I am not a sailor, my dad was a Marine in WW1 , my brother was the family sailor in WW2 & I slid into the AF after they stopped fighting WW2. I thought that we had stopped fighting for a while, but no such luck.
Gene my friend or is it “Pops” your a model building machine. I think Mary encourages your building passion, just to get a break ! It is looking great already, looking forward to seeing it on my next visit.
Mr. Morrison has again taught me another Naval term “Killick” I am going to have to start keeping a log book of terminologies.
I was not familiar with the Aubrey Maturin series. Looked it up and seen “Master and Commander” Is this the same Master and Commander as the movie ? If so I would sure like to see the rest of the series made into movies.
I found out it was and there is whispers from Russell Crowe that a follow-up maybe in the works. I am looking into buying the whole series. Again Mr. Morrison has pointed me in a good direction, I thank you sir… Dale
Scott, While this is one of the nicest kits made, it is just a rehash of the Constitution, it doesn’t have the poop deck & I scratch built it. I wanted it too & was disapointed when I saw it wasn’t there.
I used HO styrene strips , 4x4 for the posts & 6x6 for the top & bottom of the rail & 2x8 for the top rail & grooved sheet to match the deck planks. I still have leftover material from my model railroad days when I did a ton of scratchbuilding.
You are welcome. Or at least chase them all down in libraries.
The movie draws from a number of books, but certainly it leaves room for more editions.
Gene, the Imai models are really well made, without exception so far as I know. Some in earlier editions had lithographed metal decks, not so great, but their models are well worth chasing down.
GM, I have at least 5 of the Monogram /Imai molded kits & they are still really nice. Monogram kept most everything the same. They are still marked Imai molds.
I’m late. (Grabbing last seat in balcony.) I see you are well underway. That is a nicely molded kit. Great job on the “poop deck”. Only the Revell 1/96 kit has this raised Quarter Deck. IMAI/Monogram did not as you found out.
I took your suggestion for the 560 glue. I used it almost exclusively on my last kit. It does not take that long to set up and it holds real well and I can relocate a part without making a mess.Thanks.
Jim, The nice thing about is when it sets up it is like steel & waterproof. You can wipe anything off & it hasn’t hurt the finish. I have neen using it forever & have 3 old bottles sitting upside down & keep using them .I havent bought any in ages. It holds on paint to paint better than anything. AC r CA will not hold on paint. Nether wll plastic glue that I know of…
Get some Monogram 1/120 kits. Super.
Scott, I have it all glued together & have been sanding & painting guns & carriages & gun ports all day. Got the carriages too pink. Will redo them. I couldn’t believe the Connies were faded pink. I was last on her in 1950. I was Air Force then.
The most egregious problem with the Revell 1/96 kit of the USS United States centered on the quarter galleries. The actual ship had a more traditional arrangement than depicted in that model, and looked much like that of a typical two-decker. However, once the roundhouse was removed in a later refit, her galleries resembled those of the Constitution.
There is a really nice artist’s depiction of her galleries with the roundhouse in the Osprey-series book American Heavy Frigates. I will be happy to send you a copy of that illustration. It also depicts her in her “as designed and built” configuration without raised bulwarks fore and aft.
Bill, thank you I would like to have that picture. I can’t find anything on the United States. That’s why I built my rear deck like I did from the Revell picture of it. I really liked that rear raised deck, but you mean it wasn’t real? What did the roundhouse look like? Can you email the picture to me?
I just wanted a break from finishing the Alabama, but the 2 of them really look good together. This little Imai/ Monogram kit is as nice as a pure Imai, maybe nearly. It really goes together easy & very little flash. Even my tapeing on things goes a lot smoothr with nearly no runs. I always put a cote of gloss lacquer on before I paint the final. I used to do that all the time, but lately forgot & Don Stauffer reminded me to do it again.
What was it like to go in a submarine? I have always wondered. I don’t think either Mary or I would be good sub people. She hated going on the one that sits still over in Chalestown. Flying with a parachute was fine, that didn’t bother me. I always wanted to jump out.
That raised rear deck was indeed built into the ship. It was called a roundhouse. The issue with the Revell version is that the quarter galleries and the transom look nothing like those on the USS United States. All Revell did was to add the roundhouse and an additional platform to the galleries, and made up the transom. The rest of the kit is the Constitution. By the way, the Revell version has been re-released. I am considering getting it as a surgical project.
I sent the picture this morning. I also sent a seperate mailing showing contemporary drawings of the ship, the quarter galleries, and the transom. The roundhouse is clear in these drawings.
your a model building machine. I think Mary encourages your building passion, just to get a break ! It is looking great already, looking forward to seeing it on my next visit.