Banner's USS Arizona.
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.