Thanks Rick for the information. It goes right along with the photos I have in my books that were B&W.... Always appreciative of solid information, thanks again... 

1) Rick and Steve, regarding the hand rail, I agree with your assessment and am going to remove it from the Conning Tower. Other than two photos of models and the Eduard instructions, every other reference I have indicates that if there ever was one, it was not there in 1941. Another funny thing I have found is that the area at the front of the Emergency Cabin Platform, the next deck up from the Flag Bridge, is open without any hand rails (?). This means you would be able to walk from the deck directly onto the top of the Conning Tower.

ACTUAL:

2) Eduard also got it wrong regarding the steps at the rear of the Flag Bridge deck as previously mentioned (between it and the funnel).You can see them adjacent to the two rear legs of the Fore Mast. I am loosing my confidence in thier research. I think I have enough spares to make up those stairs on my model. Now I am assuming the ships drawings are correct for these stairs, but I have great difficulty finding any picture with that area detailed. Does anyone have any validation photos?

DRAWINGS:

MY FIX: (more to come on this)

3) The last item I have found that is missing on the kit is a stairway from the main deck on the left front of the superstructure. It is attached directly to the left rear of the Conning Tower and goes to the Flag Bridge deck. Now the fun begins; the 1:200 model shows there to be a platform and a water tight door half way up the stairs. The ship drawing does show some kind of stairway there but does not provide any detail for that area. It is left bare on the model and the Eduard PE indicates a stairway of a different design but does not show a door or platform????

Does anyone have source photos of this area?

Ben 

Well guys I've got a ton of those Tamiya sailors so I'm saving these last couple posts for reference on my next couple builds. My current build just needs white plus some spit shined black shoes so not much to see on it.

Todays theme is CALL THE BALL

k they're a little too bright. There's a coat of clear yellow on it now. Will let that dry and maybe do another tomorrow.

Ben,
Railing: If the platform is one where people would be expected to walk around, it needs a railing.

Uniforms: during the period before the war (and into the war in some cases) duty watchstanders would be in dress uniform, very formal.  They would be on the bridge, and a couple of others visible around the ship. 

All other workers would have the enlisted men in the work uniform you show, although mostly not with rolled-up sleeves like that fellow.  Working uniform for officers and chiefs is khaki shirt and pants, although chiefs may wear that same dark blue/light blue as enlisted men, but with a khaki hat.

Those formal enlisted watchstanders would be in long sleeved blue (winter) or white(summer) with the blue neckerchief as you showed in your art.  A few officers present would be in blue coat and pants or long sleeved white coat and pants (for summer or winter).
Rick

Ben,

The guys may be a little flat but better than PE! And cheeper.

As far as the railing, I don't have a clue brother but maybe you can tell from these photos.

Personally, I'd go with the book and not Eduard in this case.

On another note, the Eduard instructions tell me to add a continious hand rail on top of the Conning Tower (which I did), but I cannot see those hand rails in most photos. Do they belong there in early 1941 or not?

ON

or OFF

In the book I am using, "Battleship Arizona", by Paul Stillwell, it indicates the hand rail should not be there, but Eduards research, references, and instructions indicate they should be there? Can somebody help me on this?

Ben

Steve,

The Tamiya figures are a little flat even though they say 3D. I am not a big fan of the limited poses they offer either, but it is what it is for this build. I think I will use different figures on my bext ship build. There are a couple that I have my eyes on. 

Rick,

I searched numerous images on line and within my book on the Arizona. I only chose this photo for the colors and not any details. I agree that the fine details are way off, but the general colors appear good to me? I am not going even try to add fine details in 1/350. Here are some of my other references. Please let me know if the basic colors are way off! (thanks)...

Ben

Mongoose: The mesh looks good! It was worth the wait, at least from here. 

Ben: Wow! Love how she's coming! And the figures look fantastic! But make sure you get the details right- I'm going to get out my microscope and count their uniform buttons! 

Ben,
Wherever did you find that reference for the uniforms?  I'm not sure what navy it is for, but it is not for USN in the 30s or 40s (or any other time)  Perhaps the Federal German Navy of the 60's?

A few markers are the reference to general officers (USN calls them admirals), the khaki shirt and dress blue jacket with shoulder boards, enlisted white with blue piping, and especially never on the sleeves.  The dress blue jackets have six buttons, not eight, and several uniforms look to have medals way down low.  If worn at all, they would be up near the lapels.

I hope this stuff won't matter on the size of the figures that you are working on.  Sure would like to know where that uniform reference drawing came from.

Rick

Wow, tons of work Ben! How do you like the Tamiya crew? Good catch there with the Eduard miss and the refrence

Moving along, if you recall, I was not satisfied with the art foam board for the water base as it made the water line too high on the sides of the hull. My second attempt is using mat board for picture framing, it is half as thick as the other. So I traced around the base of the hull onto the mat board and then cut it out to allow the hull to sit in it. Along with the thickness of the board, the density of mat is much harder and thinner. This means I could not add the depressions or dimples into the base like I did in the foam. I will have to create the waves in the foil itself and clear resin. Once I got it sized and cut I laid the hull into the recessed area. I am finally satisfied with base height. Here is how it looks with the mat board and foil waves in place (soon to be painted).



My next item of business was getting the little people painted. I believe that if I want to add them within the superstructure I need to do so as part of the build-up and not later. Between 1938 to 1942 the US Navy changed the look of some of their uniforms. Here is one of the references I am using to determine the colors.



After several visits to the paint booth, here are the little men in base coat.







During the build process of the verticals / walls I was trying to add scale realism but found my scratch building stock lacking. I found some PE for various components on the walls that I purchased from Alliance Modelworks. The tiny parts include fire hydrants and extinguishers, wiring, fold up racks, degassing cable, portholes, reels, and other items. I think they will add what I'm looking for. 



Next I started building up some of the subassemblies. In the first photo you can see the range finder platform painted and the deck colored as well. I added the 20' range finder out front, and two Mk19 range finder directors mounted in the left and right wings. The 20" finder is made up of numerous pieces of PE. The Mk19's have PE doors and a lens port added prior to paint. If you look close you can see some of the pre-shading done to the added components. The fore control top is not attached but sitting atop the platform. I will be adding some of my new detail items and people to the platform soon.



My next step is the build-up of the flag bridge platform. It is the first or lowest level of the superstructure. Since modifying it according to the Eduard instructions, I added the signalman platforms and rear communication cable boxes. I then painted the verticals in USN haze gray and the deck in USN deck blue along with some washes for weathering. The Conning Tower and Flag Plotting Room (with some of the painted people within it) were added next. Afterward the saluting guns, signal lights, and PE stairs were attached. Last I added some of the little people in and around the structure and here how it looks.





I was comparing both the kit and Eduard parts to the ships drawings and noticed that the shape of the rear portion of the flag bridge platform is not the same as the ships drawings for 1941(?). Specifically the angles around the rear post of the fore mast and the stairs leading down to the superstructure main deck (see below). It is also missing the storage container behind the plotting room. I guess I got lazy and was relying on the accuracy of the Eduard modifications too much I suppose. Note to self; " always check the accuracy to the source and don't assume anything. So some rework is in order to make the model accurate again.   



Next photos will show the corrected work for the flag bridge deck..... till then thanks for looking and keep building those models.

Ben

PFJN: That is one serious chunk of 3D molding. I looked at a few different 3D printed ships but was turned off on the work needed to fix the stepped walls. Seemed like you did some good work here... keep it up.

Ben

Mongoose: I love the work your doing on the aircraft. I also think the wire mesh inserted into the space for the screens looks perfect, nice idea! I did something like that on both a 1/24 Harrier and a SCUD missile launcher with what I thought was good effect, so my opinion may be biased. 

Ben

Tonight i got all the bridge windows done. Started some detail on the hull that I've been thinking about since April. way back then I tried drilling out the vents on the hull. Tons of work on this extremely thick plastic- about 1/8". Bagged that idea and ordered a ultra fine mesh sieve used for flour. Turned out it took the long way around the world and i just got it last week lol. Tried it out tonight. How does this look in terms of scale?

The putty sounds like a good idea. Please keep on keeping us informed of how it goes. 

I wonder what the size comparison is to the Perry?

Hi,

I've managed to add a couple thin coats of some craft store light grey acrylic paint, and its coming along nicely for now.  

It probably still needs another coat or three, but I want to try and address some of the issues with the "stepping first".

In the past I have tried either smearing a little "balsa filler" over a stepped shape and then coating it with clear airplane dope and let it set before sanding it smooth, or brushing on some Mr Disolved Putty (or some Squadron Putty that I had thinned with either a solvent or maybe clear paint (I can't recall).  As such I may try something similar.  Unfortunately since I'm not sure if I have any Squadron Putty available right now I may try and play around with some Bondo that I have to see if  can thin it enough to brush on.  Usually a coat or two of thinned putty, with sanding in between after it hardens up, has typically done the trick for me, though on some more complex shapes it has sometimes taken more steps.

Anyway, here is an additional image of the FFG(X) long side some other similar ships from my stash.  From top to bottom they are a Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate, a Chinese Navy Type 054A Frigate, the FFG(X) and a Royal Navy Type 45 Air Warfare Destroyer.

It kind of amazed me that the FFG(X) appears to be vcloser in size (in terms of length and beam) to the destroyer than the frigates, though the Type 45 appears to have a deeper hull than the FFG(X).

Pat

Pat. That's pretty awesome. I was wondering how those 3D kits looked. I would imagine they'd have some steps due to the layering process and it doesn't look too bad. I like priming with black for the very reason, it brings out the smallest defects,  plus, once painted, the areas the AB doesn't get to will be shaded anyway. 

Ben: Love the look of that wood deck.

Pat: Quite interesting to see a 3D printed ship. Going to have to watch your build closely

Mongoose: Those screwtops look spectacular. Can't wait to see your figures on deck.

Pat: That's cool! I'm really interested in seeing how you deal with the rough 'stepped' surface. 

Pat that's a good walkaround of the model! I agree, nice macro lens too. The kit looks pretty good overall. Definitely interesting to see. Strange how the steps are in 1 area and not another in a similar orientation. Will have to ask my son's buddy about that as he has a pretty fine 3D printer at home that he does D&D figures with. Which manufacture prints it?

TheMongoose

Pat that looks pretty unique! Sounds like some miscellaneous PE, like rails and doors and such, is in your future lol. You'll have to take a few close ups so we can see what the details look like. The black primer did kinda make it go into a shadow. I can't add anything to your questions unfortunately as I've never worked on some5ing like that but I'm sure someone will pipe in with some help. Keep the updates coming!

Mongoose,

Here are some close ups I took after sanding the model a bit.  Here you can see the lower part of the mast, some radomes, a planar radar face, an electronics warfare device, the decoy launchers and some of the surface to surface missile launchers.  You can also see how the sloped surfaces of the ship that go perpendicular across the ship have "steps" in them due to the printing process but interestingly, the sides of the deckhouse and hull as well as the angled part of the deckhouse with the planar radar face on it don't show "steps". 

Since I had lightly sanded the model prior to taking this image you can also kind of make out the relative roughness of the surfaces where the bits of the surface that were a little higher than their surroundings are now a little lighter colored. 

Nex is a picture of the front of the deckhouse, which is smoother than the back of the deckhouse and doesn't show "steps" so much as just a "crease" or two in the surface that I hope to smooth out.

Next is the aft end of the hangar which looks like it will need a bit of cleaning up.  There are noticeable "steps" in the surface and its kind of hard to make out whee the main hangar door ends and the deckhouse surface begins.

Next is an image of the side of the ship just showing a little better the initial relative roughness of surface.

The pictures actually probably make things look a bit more an issue than it may actually be becuase the surfaces actually feel relatively smooth to the touch, and after another coat or two of primer/sealer and a little more sanding I was able to put an initial coat of light grey on that looks pretty smooth overall.

I will post some more pictures once I get a little further along with the "build"

Pat

PS.  I picked up a simple set of add-on lenses for my phone in the discount bin of a local computer store awhile ago and decided to give the macro lens a try.  Below is a close up of the side of the ship in way of the inflatable boat bay.

It surprisingly came out fairly clear 

Sure Pat, I'll put you down

KUDOS guys!!! 

I missed a lot when I was locked out of the forums and went on vacation/holiday so a big AWESOME WORK all around to make sure I don't miss someone. 

And Bill, great work on the Midway there. Very sharp!!! 

modelcrazy

Excellent Scott! Who makes that PE set?

 

It came with the Acedemy kit.  Its pretty nice, but its like trying to assemble a small spider. 

Pat that looks pretty unique! Sounds like some miscellaneous PE, like rails and doors and such, is in your future lol. You'll have to take a few close ups so we can see what the details look like. The black primer did kinda make it go into a shadow. I can't add anything to your questions unfortunately as I've never worked on some5ing like that but I'm sure someone will pipe in with some help. Keep the updates coming!

Hi,

Can I join this group build.  I recently bought a 1/350 scale waterline FFG(X) off Shapeways and just started priming it tonight.

I feel a little awkward calling it a "build" since so much of it is all printed as 1 piece, but at least there arre some small details like the main gun barels, some small calibre guns, railings, helicopter and helo nets, and rigging that can be addded (in addition to painting and decals/markings).

Since I'm nt aware of an aftermarket sets for some of these details, I think I may steal some of the parts from a low cost model of Trumpeter's USS Freedom that I bought (which seems to be a bit incorrect i some details for that ship).

With regards to my Shapeways purchase, while its nice that alot of the details came pre-printed onto the mai hull, and look relatively accurate.  But I kind of think it may have been better if some of the details were printed separately, to make it easier for you to clean them up, detail them and work around them in some areas.

Overall the print looks really sharp and the texture of the decks "as-is" looks like a reasonable approximation of "non-skid".  However, I think I might need to play around a little with some of the vertical and sloped surfaces to try an smooth them out a bit. 

Additionally as I was priming the model, it looked to me like it might have started to take on just a little bit of warping, with the bow and stern "rising up" just a bit.  Since the print material is acutally very thin, I'm not sure if this may be due to drying or aging of the material over time, and I wonder if I should have primed the hull sooner.  In the end, since the hull is hollow, I ended up priming both the outside and inside of it with Mr Surfcer 1500.

Pat

Excellent Scott! Who makes that PE set?

Nice work on the deck Ben.  

Mongoose, the Hawkweys do look quite fine.

Me, I'm building a flea scale SK3 Air Search Radar.  

Tha Hawkeyes look superb!

It's ASSEMBLY TIME! Finished up all the little painting and weathering today. Final flat coat is on everything. 
The last thing I decided to do was paint the screwtops. The Trumpy marking are generic so I grabbed a pic and printed it on the silhouette. 

Dark Navy sea blue

and finally flat...barely any room here but this round was successful 

I did breal one small piece off on this one though. Easy to redo but geez this thing is awkward to move around.