Revell Arizona suggestions

I haven't looked at that grand old kit for years, but I think the oval in question may be the remains of the hole for the switch that controlled the electric motor in the motorized version. (The kit first appeared in 1958; the motorized version was issued in 1961. My source is, as usual, Thomas Graham's Remembering Revell Model Kits.) Revell probably modified the original mold for the deck, then modified it again to plug the hole. But the outline of it remained.

Revell did that sort of thing more than once. The latest Revell Germany reissue of the old harbor tug Long Beach is marred by an oval like Wally501 described - plus some big, ugly lugs in the superstructure sides, next to the deck. The lugs originally were locators for a pair of screws in the motorized version; the whole superstructure was removable, for access to the batteries.

Maybe the worst compromise in the name of motorization, though, was what Revell did to its pretty Mississippi Riverboat, the Robert E. Lee. When they motorized that one they not only removed the scale boilers (to make room for the batteries); they also made the hull about twice as deep as the original, more-or-less-to-scale version.

In all these cases the original kits reappeared minus motors later - but evidence of the motors, batteries, switches, and other motorizing components stayed. Too bad. I wonder if the pre-motorized versions (e.g., a Robert E. Lee with the original, shallow hull) are worth more on the collectors' market than the ones with motorization scars.

I assume you're talking about the 1/426 scale (17" long box scale) which is a decent kit, and a PE set will really help. For quick & dirty research, take a look at this card model of Arizona in her December 1941http://www.digitalnavy.com/html/ships.html. It may be paper, but this is a very accurate model.

Of things to fix on Revell's Arizona, my personal pet peave are the secondary guns located on the main deck inside the deck house. In reality, these are open mounts, and NOT casemated turrets.

These two shots show what they should look like. When the guns were stowed, the ports would often be covered by white canvas curtains (or steel shutters in heavy weather) to keep out the weather which would give something of the appearance of Revell's "turrets", however, when the guns are stowed, the barrels are facing fore and aft, parallel to the bulkheads.




Another area where it falls short is the shape of the underwater hull, just in front of the rudder. Revell's model is shows this as being hollowed out which just isn't so. There's also a fairly significant anti-torpedo blister that's missing, although to fix that you have to recreate almost the entire hull.

This shot shows what the stern hull should lok like.


WIth a bit of work, it can be made into a decent Arizona.

Andy

Beautiful model. It's amazing what can be done with paper - in the hands of a skilled, knowledgable modeler.

One other tidbit for Arizona enthusiasts. (You may well know about this already, but if not - everybody with any interest in the ship should.) Back in the 1930s MGM made a movie called "Here Comes the Navy," with James Cagney and Pat O'Brian. The plot is pretty silly, but the photography is fascinating - because much of it was shot on board the Arizona. There's also a memorable sequence inside a 14" turret. Paul Stilwell, author of the book Battleship Arizona, thinks it was filmed on a Hollywood soundstage reconstruction of the turret interior, but it's mighty convincing. And the exterior shots, which also include lots of vintage USN warships and an airship (Mr. Cagney really manages to get around), are great fun.

The movie is interesting for another, almost equally nostalgic reason. The youthuful leading lady (over whom Messrs. Cagney and O'Brian have a brawl) recently made a return to the big screen when she played the old lady in "Titanic."

The movie has shown up at least twice on the Turner Classic Movies cable network. I don't think it's appeared on DVD yet - but if it does I'll be in line to buy a copy.

That paper model blows me away. The care of the research taken for it is amazing. I have Sitllwell's book and a number of other Arizona references, and that card kit seems to be spot on, in so many areas, many of which are pretty esoteric.

As far as I know, Here Comes the Navy, is not even available in VHS, let alone DVD. I was fortunate enough to make a pretty good VHS recording off of a TCM broadcast several years back. On one hand, it is kind of silly and rather predictable, a typical Pat O'Brien/Frank McHugh flick, but it is good fun nonetheless. The Gloria Stuart connection is kind of interesting as well. Her appearance in it certainly lends credence to her Titanic character's flip comment about her being quite a dish back then

Stay away from the 1/720 Revell Arizona. The injection mold for this kit has been shall we say over-injected. I recently built a Revell 1/720 Arizona and it had many problems with fit that I didn't have when I built the kit as a kid. I had to do extensive fixes with puddy and resin and scratch build some fixes. The Dragon 1/700 Arizona is a superior kit.

Wow, the paper model is impressive. I seen the card building models for the railroaders, but they're nothing like that. I was able to get the Stillwell book I've have been hearing about from our local library. The pictures are great and it seems interesting so far. I sill not sure about my deck problem, did I mention the oval is raised as much as nearby hatch cover. I do think I can fix the secondary battery problem. By the way, I have the 1/426 model, I was about to buy the dragon 1/700 the other day but when I went back a couple of days later after reading about the kit ( for its price), it was gone.