Michael Ricci, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Looking to get back into shipbuilding, Michael went to a local hobby shop and was steered toward Tamiya’s 1/350 scale USS New Jersey. “It didn’t take much to convince me to buy the kit,” he says, “although I didn’t realize at the time what kind of a commitment this project would involve.” He added Gold Medal Models photoetched metal, replaced the molded anchor chain with chain from a craft store, and added solder wire for a refueling line. Michael finished with Tamiya acrylic paints, pre-shading the deck with flat black strips followed by tan Vallejo paint. After cutting a solid oak base, he turned brass finials on his lathe to mount the ship. “The model was by far the longest-running project I had undertaken,” he says, “about 4 months.”