Well crap and crap.... because of a lack of response I already added the stair assembly given by Eduard. On top of that I also attached the superstructure to the deck. That would make it near impossible to remove my stairs and replace it with stairs and door like in the diagram (sad). 

The same can be said for the mini platform instead of the ring for the gun director. I saw the "platform" on the 1/200 kit and replicated that instead of a ring. If you can find more detailed photos of the ring perhaps I will try to remove the platform and replace it. My concern is destroying the handrail beneath it though...... (sad again).

Ben 

Ben, in reference to your question about the ladderway, platform, and door on the port side of the conning tower casing, halfway between the boat deck and the bridge; see the drawing, the platform is lined in red, and you can see where the two ladders are and the door.

I have officially started working on the North Carolina. Spent a good amount of time on her the last couple days. Man, the 2 piece hull on this thing is a nightmare to get everything lined up! A lot of sanding and cussing. Finally got the upper and lower sections of the hull attached to my satisfaction. 

I also finally got my airbrush set up and started using it on the NC. Pics below will show some of the sanding I have done and some of the painting I have done with the airbrush. 

The lower part of the hull was sanded and corrected as much as I can. Then primed and painted. Spent several hours getting the upper part of the hull lined up and glued into place. I wrapped up today with painting the water line. 

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Brumage, on Flickr

Ben, nice work on the chain correction, that looks proper and the deck apes would be proud.

As for the forward MK-49 mounts; click on my picture above and you can see that the mount, which I've colored yellow, is actually a circular ring structure with some cross bracing where the support legs attached. The director unit would have sat on top of that ring, and in this installation, I don't believe that any splinter protective tub was going to be used. So, I would have looked a lot like the PENNSYLVANIA installation except that the mount ring is the same diameter as the director unit. I'm still searching for a better view of the verticle support legs, but the horizontal brace structure was two parallel beams. I don't know if a ladder had been installed at the time of the attack, but it would have been located between the two brace beams. I hope this all helps.

Thanks HooYah Deep Sea, for me learning both new information and new techniques is a big part of what makes modeling fun for me. If I have real live experts who can provide input to make my model better I'm perfectly OK with that. Based on what you are showing in the photo, I think I got the Mk 49 pedestal just about right, or are you saying they should be rings instead?

In response to your earlier reply, here is a much more accurate representation of the forward anchor assemblies (based on your information and photo).

OLD VERSION:




CORRECTED VERSION:




I have also attached the superstructure to the deck. This view shows one layer of tinted resin added to the display. I plan on doing some hand painting on this layer and at least three more pours. 



Currently I am working on the two rear legs of the foremast tripod and the stairs from the emergency platform to the superstructure wood deck. I also have several ammo bins to add for the 5" AA guns. After that will be the exhaust funnel, more stairs and ladders, then the small boats, storage boxes, main mast, cranes, main guns, aircraft, little people, hand rails, rafts, paravanes, antenna array, rigging, etc., etc. It seems like the fun just never ends! 

Thanks once again for following along and for any and all remarks. 

Ben

Now, back to the subject du jour, ARIZONA. Check out the below posted information.

As for the aft MK-49 mount, it was to be mounted on a pedestal, the top of which is just about even with the top edge of the 1.1" gun tub. It was a 2' diameter pedestal with a 6' diameter platform on top. The picture is of the starboard side installation.

We gray ship riders refer to the white ship riders as "puddle pirates", in reference to the shallower water mission. But don't be fooled by our humor, as we who know better have the absolute highest respect for the United States Coast Guard. When I watched a Coastie small boy going out crossing the Columbia Bar in sea state five to save someone's butt, all I could think was "Those guys (and gals) have got to have big brass ones, cuz that's crazy!"

Semper Paratus my friend

Yeah Ben, YooHah knows his stuff. He and a couple others on the site are the premiere ship specialists on the forums. My knowledge of ships (Coast Guard) is more on the electronics side, radars, radios, masts etc. And yes, the Coast Guard is a real service despite what some other branches may say. The deck apes and the snips kept up with the actually running of the ship, I was just along for the ride and kept us in contact with the outside world and off the reef via radar and LORAN, which was the GPS before GPS.

Like YooHah said, don't sweat the small stuff. He is probably one of a very few members of an exclusive club who knows exactly what the Arizona looks like. 99.999999% of the rest of us don't have a clue and must refer to drawings, some of which YooHah had a hand in creating.

On this I do agree with wholeheartly. The Chief Boats will not let "his" ship look bad while docked. As soon a possible the deck apes are crawling all over her to needle gun or over the side in "Boatswain's chairs" (gawd what a noise) to paint, polish the bright work (brass and bronze fittings) and generally keep the Chief's ship, who lets the captain barrow on patrols, in tip top shape, or Ship Shape and in Bristol fashion as the British would say.

BTW, there are several terms used today that began as nautical terms.

The bitter end
Knots I.E. ships speed (calculated by counting the knots tied at intervals in a rope, that had one end secured to a sea anchor and was paid out while the ship was underway)
Son of a gun
Head (toilet)
Rake you from stem to stern
Rise and shine
On board
Go by the board
All hands on deck
Scuttlebutt
Give a wide berth
Batten down the hatches
Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea
In the doldrums
In deep water
High and dry
Sink or swim
Dead in the water
Rock the boat
Shot across the bow
loose cannon
Make waves
Hounky dory
On the right tack (modern: on the right track)
Turn the corner
Bottoms up
Show one's true colors
The cut of your Jib
Scraping the barrel
Keel haul
Close quarters
Learn the ropes
Broad in the beam
As the crow flies
Through thick and thin
Pipe down
Hand over fist
Stem the tide
Keel over
On an even keel
Three sheets to the wind
Under the weather
Above board
I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole (modern: 10 foot pole)
Calm before the storm
Going overboard
Overwhelm (capsizing)
Posh (port out, starboard in) now means rich or well to do.
Square meal
Binge
Taken aback
By and large
Another day, another dollar
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
Cut and run
Groggy
In the offing
Shake a leg

Then there's the obvious ones

Abandon ship
Like ships that pass in the night
Rats deserting a sinking ship
Trim one's sails
Landlubber
Walk the plank
smooth sailing
Weigh anchor

There's more but can't think of any right now. Admittedly not all were from memory and had to look some up.

For All, I did 20 years in the U.S. Navy. During that time, I worked with nearly all of the different operational components of the Pacific Fleet; surface, subs, aviation, specwar, EOD, and was also a National Park Service volunteer and dove on the ARIZONA and UTAH, as well as some other interesting places. I was an engineer for my first eight years and then went diver. I requal'ed as a Surface Warfare Specialist on four different ships / ship types, and was on a carrier, two amphibs, two tenders, and a salvage tug. I've been moored in 14,000 feet of water and did a single ship tow of a battleship (MISSOURI) from Bremerton all the way down to Long Beach. I was "tactical backseat" qualified in jets (TA4-J, A-6, F-14), and have been down to 285' on air and 300' on mixed gas diving.

So, yeah, all in all, I didn't do diddly while I was in, just sat around collecting a paycheck.

Now, Ben, if you are doing the ship in the 5N sea blue, just about everything should be that color. As for the MK49 mounts, they are rings, not platforms.

At the risk of being called mega-anal on the subject, I have yet to see a completely correct ARIZONA. Even the model at the USS Arizona Memorial isn't right; so don't sweat the small stuff.

Hoo Yah Deep Sea, thank you for keeping my build ship shape. Being an Army veteran does not give me the knowledge you possess as a Navy man. You are now my "go-to" guy for any Naval builds...... Thanks! If you don't mind telling me, when and where did you serve?

I looked everywhere on-line but have never seen this photo before, where does it come from? Sure wish I had this during the build. I also see that the hawes pipes are painted in a lighter shade of gray (not black as on my build).  I see more rework on the near horizon:

- repaint the hawes pipe openings

- remove the rust from the chain and flash plate

- paint chain black

- paint the flash plate deck blue, dark gray, or leave black (?)

I have plenty of chain for three chain stoppers and two eyes for each anchor chain. Forgive me though, but given the scale of this build, I will not even try to make the pelican hook assembly (smile). Instead, I will run each chain stop from a two eye to each anchor chain.

Thanks again for the wonderful photo too. This is a great example of sharing knowledge between modelers to ensure accuracy. Believe it or not, I enjoy making my models as authentic as possible. Your honest critique is valued and appreciated. With all the corrections and updates already done to the kit, I want this to be correct as well.

v/r,

Ben

Ben,  sorry to rain (actually just a little dribble) on your parade but .  .  . the first drawing you posted is for a civilian ship. The U.S. Navy doesn't do it that way, not that it will change what you've done on your model, because that looks great.

With the anchor pulled all the way into its housed position, chain stoppers are attached. Usually two are used per chain run. The Canoe Club does not use riding chocks and pawls. On the stopper, one end is anchored to the deck, and on the other end is what is called a 'pelican hook'. It is the pelican hook that engages the chain as it actually folds over the top of the chain and then a long link hooks the holding bar and the whole thing is secured by small line.

Though I personally love your weathering of the chain, no Boatswain's Mate worth his salt would permit the chain to be rusty and would have his guys (Deck Department, First Division) paint that chain. Correct color - black.

In this picture of ARIZONA in drydock, you can see that three stoppers are used on each chain.

I'm here, any time, for any Navy questions you may have.

And now it is time to have fun with the ships anchor assembly. Being somebody who never served a day in the navy, some of the terminology had me at a disadvantage. Be honest, how many of you know what a Capstan, Wildcat, Windlass, Hawspipe, Pawl, Riding Chock, Bitter End Ring, Spillpipe, or Devils Claw are? These are just some of the parts I needed to understand to ensure I made an accurate anchor chain assembly for my USS Arizona. 

I feel it is easier to show you the parts than try to explain them:





The kit only had a mild relief of the metal anchor flash plates (chain guide) molded into the deck with a half molded thin representation of a chain and a Windlass with not much more detail. The models Hawse Pipe (area where the anchor chain feeds from atop the flash plates to the outer hull) and chain tail pipes were without detail. The kit did not have any representation of the chain stoppers or Devils Claws either.

What is a Devils Claw you ask? The devils claw or chain stopper holds the load of the anchor and chain when at anchor, taking the load off the windlass, and the Devils Claw is for tensioning the anchor chain when the anchor is stowed, preventing it from moving when under way. Normally the Devils Claw or Chain Stoppers are attached to a chain link on one end and to a Two Eye that is part of the flash plate on the other. 

Regarding the terminology of the Windlass, Wildcat, or Gypsy heads; A Wildcat is the part of the Capstain assembly used to engage individual links of chain, the Windlass is the vertical type of pully used with the Wildcat to guide the chain through the chain tail pipe or spill pipe then into the chain locker of the ship, the Gypsy Head is the horizontal equivalent to the Windlass. Both a Windlass and Gypsy Head have a Wildcat, totally clear now... right? This model only has a basic Windlass and a half molded supporting gypsy winch. 

I have to bring up the Bitter End as I thought it was neat. It appears that the term "to the bitter end" really originated as Naval terminology. The end of the chain down in the chain locker is called the Bitter End. It is normally permanently attached to the ships bulkhead. So deploying a ships chain to the bitter end is using all of the chain, cool finding right? 

To fix all of these issues on the model Eduard provided many of the parts in PE, 29 individual parts actually. Prior to adding any of the parts, the Eduard instructions had me remove the chain relief; drill out and shape the holes for the Hawes pipes and chain tail pipe; remove the partial relief of the Pawl; and drill the holes for the two front Hawse pipes including through the front of the ship. 

Once prepared I added the deck and a new anchor chain flash plate. The Eduard mega pack also provided a scale anchor chain. Following the Eduard instructions I added everything back with the exception of the Hawse Covers and Devils Claw (chain stopper). 

Image of a chain with chain stoppers the the two eyes


According to the Eduard instructions each chain has two chain stoppers (represented by the small "V" chain over the main anchor chain). From what I can find in photos, the Arizona usually had one per chain like the photo above. Likewise, in the photos I could find, the Hawse Pipe Pipe openings did not have covers on her deck either. Perhaps they were added later?. Other than the chain stoppers, here is my reworked anchor chain assembly. The brass pieces are the two eye connectors for the Devils Claw or Chain Stoppers. They will be painted when the stoppers are added. The chain was dry brushed using rust color paint and the flash plate was colored with Tamiya weathering pastels to simulate rust.





Till next time....

Ben

Work?,... what is work? Is that were you are a humble minion, are a boss, have a boss, get bossed, and get paid for it? I thought when I retired that I would be able to kick back and fully enjoy my hobbies (or do nothing) and get paid for it. Now my spouse is the CEO and I'm the minion. Happy wife.... happy life.

Back to modeling, I was researching more on the clear acrylic resin over foil and found that many people have done so with good results (thanks Steve). I've also seen methods to tint or color the resin which is poured in layers not to exceed 1/8 inch. They make concentrated color tints for acrylic resins so any color could be possible. One issue with mixing tint or color into the resin is the creation of bubbles which can be hard to remove from the resin, depending on the thickness of your resin. Steve mentioned the use of a vacuum device to remove them. 

As Steve and others have indicated, it is also possible to use acrylic paints to paint over the resin after it dries (versus tinting). I'm sure you can even use both the painting and tinting methods together for a wonderful effect.

One trait when pouring liquid resin is that it likes to settle in the deeper contours of your relief and leave very little product on the peaks. Depending on what your trying to achieve, this can be good or bad. Most applications of liquid resin tend to lay very flat, like smooth, calm water. 

One nice effect of pouring colored resin over foil is the mirrored depth effect. It is my expectation that in order to gain the depth you desire, I will need to pour at least 2-3 layers, but the results should be really nice; just look at the aircraft Steve posted in the previous messages (WOW!). That is what I will be attempting on my foil. 

The first thing I did was seal the base or area you want to hold the liquid resin. I am using a picture frame from my local HL. They normally come with a hard fiber board removable backing. You cannot rely on the fasteners on the back of the frame to hold the resin. I sealed the backing using Locktite GO-2 all purpose clear gel adheasive. It performs like super glue or CA cement but is thick and dries absolutely crystel clear. In my experience it will seal a gap up to 1/8 inch easily. This is the cement I used on my wood deck as well. It does not discolor the deck; can be applied or spread by brush; is self leveling, and gives you 5 minutes to adjust it before starting its cure / tack time. It is fully dry in less than a couple hours.

I used the Locktite to cement the foil to the picture mat board and the mat board to the inside of the frame. To ensure the frames integrity I also placed a continious bead of the Locktite around the edge (between the frame and the foil). After all, I did not want my resin to seap under the mat board and foil.

Instructions for the resin have you carefully pour the resin in the center of the area and spread it out slowly using a craft stick (like a popsickle stick, toungue depressors, paint stir sticks, etc). If any part of your display is lower than everywhere else, that is where is will gather or settle. The tint will appear darker the thicker it is applied. For this base I chose to purchase a pre-tinted resin made by JTT & Partners. They are a common supplier for scale railroaders. I really liked the blue/green hue of the tint. You can find it at most hobby stores. My final layer will be a straight clear.

Enough said, here is my first pour. As you can see, the foil is not perfectly flat and balanced. That will disappear over the next couple pours.

Much more to come on this to include a possible different method of applying white caps or sea foam. I also have another update for the forward deck and anchor area that I will post separately.

Finally something totally different and just for fun, a post of a ship I built nearly 20 years ago (before all the crazy PE stuff), I believe most of you will know what she is.

Ben

I hear ya Scott, I'm very busy working for the next several months

Mongoose, you did a fine job on the Big E.  Congrats

Ben, I never knew that old kit can be turned into a master build.  Keep up the great work and photo documentation.  I may have mentioned it, but that kit was the first kit I ever did PE on, just the rails, catapults, and other simple stuff, but all the compound curves on the decks were quite a baptisim.

I have done nothing for the past few weeks on my models.  Too much going on outside to be inside.

Scott

Pat,

Don't think I've seen a printed ship in that scale.  That's kind of cool.

Mongoose,

Congrats!  The Enterprise looks fantastic!

Ben,

The work your doing on ARIZONA is amazing.  Looking forward to more.

You shouldn't have any problems painting over the resin. They make a die for resin but I used enemel to color my resin and it worked just fine. the issue with mixing any color is the creation of bubbles. I didn't know it at the time but you can make your own vaccum chamber, fairly inexpensively which would pull out the bubbles prior to pouring. There should be enough time from mixing, vaccumming and pouring before it sets up.

Looking excellent drums! I haven't tried the foil method yet so unfortunately can't help,out there :-(

Hi everyone, little baby steps for me this time....

- While in the The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in January 1941, the USS Arizona continued its modifications. One of the items added was the "birdbath" MG platform on the top of the main mast. Another thing added was the small round platforms for the Mk 49 gun directors. The actual directors were not installed but the platforms were added to the Emergeny Cabin Platform of the superstructure (thanks Hoo Yah for bringing that to my attention). The kit and all of my PE details from Eduard and Tom's did not provide them so I made them. It was easy punching out two round disks from plastic sheet and modifying a couple extra pieces of PE to replicate the bracing; here is the results:

While working on the small stuff, I began mounting the small boats onto the jigs that hold them on the deck. I also started adding the small items to the main and upper decks, items like the water proof doors, reels, vents, some stairs, etc. Here is where I'm at so far:

My next step is starting the work in the front anchor areas (windlass, chain, stays, locker, etc.).

I will also begin work on the water.

- I was wondering if I have to use etching primer on the foil to have the paint stick or will the resin water do the same thing?

- After it dries can I paint over it without any reaction to the foil or resin?

- Also what is best used to tint the resin (for making various layers of sea blue)?

HELP ANYONE....

Ben

Interesting dilemma Pat. My 1st thought would be keep it consistent on any 1 side. If you have to do PE on the back hangar bay then strip all the doors to be consistent. I don't think everything on a side needs to be Pe but all similar pieces would. Of course it'll be an eyeball thing so you won't really know till you do the 1st one. For what it's worth there's a thought :#)

Its great to see how everyone is progressing.  My ship is going kind of slowly right now, but I did get a chance to mix up some thinned putty/Bondo Spot Glaze and coat the areas where you could see "stepping" of the layers.  Hopefully I can try and sand the surfaces out tommorrow and finish touching the surfaces up.  

One area I am not sure of how I am going to proceed on yet involves the few doors present on the ship.  On the ship they are just shown as raised rectangles, which is fine for me.  But since some are on the areas where I have had to add putty I'm not sure if it would be easier to sand them off and hten re-add some new doors made from Styrene strips or if I should consider buying some Photo Etch doors.  My fear is that if I add photo etch doors in some locations, I should probably replace all the existing doors to match .

I'll have to think it over for awhile.

Pat

Mongoose: That's friggin' amazing. Thanks for the new photos- it's a lot easier to see the crewman doing the E=M/C2 on the deck! 

Ben: Wow, oh wow. That's just amazing too- all the extra work you're putting in there. And the results look fantastic! 

Yes Ben, some very time consuming stuff. I geting less and less likely to build the Arizona as she was and just go with the destroyed version a month after the attack. There's just too much to fix. Easer to break.

Also I'm going to get back on the Akagi after I complete the Apache on the bench. I have less than a year now to get'er done.

Thanks Hoo Ya for pointing that out. it was At this time I got all the previous corrections done except the Mk 49 platforms attached to the Emergency Cabin Platform. Neither Eduard, Tom's Model Works, or the kit provided those platforms so they will be made from scratch. I do not anticipate any major issue getting them on there.

Until then, here is another incremental update...

1) removed old braces on rear 1.1 AA tubs (they were out of scale) and replaced it with the .015" precision solder. Lightly sanded the round facing of the solder flat the replicate the rectangular bracing (hard to see). Painted tub and tub platform then attached to lower aft deck.

(Here are the large braces, now removed)


(New braces) Note the water tight deck doors open


2) Painted all 5" AA gun splinter shields and attached them to the superstructure deck.



3) Created stairs from main deck located at the left rear of the conning tower. It goes from the main deck up to the Emergency platform. Painted and attached it to the Conning Tower base.

4) Folded several PE ammo containers that locate under the new stairs, in front of the Conning Tower base, and the starboard side of the tower base. Painted and attached them to the deck.

5) Added the forward 1.1 AA gun tubs to the deck with a couple people.

6) Attached two of the previously built 5" /25 AA guns in the forward positions. And yes, I will need to do some minor touch-up but nothing major.



6) Folded four water tight deck doors, painted and added to the superstructure deck. I wanted to show them open so the stairs could be seen upon close inspection. This means I also had to add the support strut for the doors (thin guitar wire from spares).

7) painted the details that were added to the sides of the superstructure (fire hoses, wire conduit, doors, etc. 



It may not sound like much, but it was very time consuming. I am happy to be this far along today.

Till next time.

Ben

Ben, that pic that I attached previously was taken in January, 1941, in Bremerton. As you can see, it has the 1.1" tubs and the MK 49 support mounts on the superstructure. Not visible behind the aft 1.1" tub would be the aft MK 49 pedestal.

Thank you John, Steve, and Mongoose...... That soldering almost drove me crazy. I can only imagine what it would be like replacing all of the fine details on the Akagi aircraft and bracing. All in all, that is some fine work you have gave either completed or got going on.

Hoo Yah Deep Sea: I agree with the elivated aft gun tubs. I am going to remove my previous work and rework the support braces. If your refering to the small circle platforms on the front of the Emergency Cabin Platform for the Mk 19 Directors which were never mounted, I am researching to determine if they were added on the Arizona prior to June 2014 (?).

As for the doors, mine is indeed going to be docked or anchored. I am still determining if I want to delopy one or two little boats as well.

Thanks for your help on authenticating an accurate build. I am fixing many items from the kit, but I'm sure that some things will be missed. She will not be a "perfect" replica, but she will be really close to authentic.

Ben  

Excelent Ben, the solder looks great 

Chris, no problem. I'll cahnge it out.

Ben, Also remember that there are a lot of discrepancies in the 1/350 scale kits that have been addressed in the 1/200. But there are still discrepancies that should be fixed. All of the hatches should be closed under normal circumstances unless you are going to put her 'in port'.  Also, it has been determined that the support structure for the aft 1.1" tubs is square rather than round. And, don't forget the pedestal for the director for those 1.1" guns.

Ben that's awesome! Actually I think your solder solution probably looks better because it has more depth to it. Kudos that level of patience. Oh and by the way..."After some time, I came up with a solution. Use the old wood deck that was pre-cut for the old shields as a guide to shape the new ones (brilliant!)." BUY THAT MAN A GUINESS 

Ben: 112 pieces of solder??? That is some real dedication. 

Mongoose: That carrier looks friggin spectacular. Just curious though, what is up with the deck under the figures in pic 2? Is it some sort of adhesive strip?