MiniHobby Arizona 1:350 scale WIP

RTimmer wrote:

What's the best kit out there in 1:350 - is it the MiniHobby?

The best injected 1:350 scale Arizona is the one made by Banner,  also sold by Trumpeter, also sold by MiniHobby Models.   They're one and the same.

Geez Alert!  

Way back in 2001, the Wasan Moulding Company of China "reverse engineered" the Revell 1:426 scale Arizona.  They fixed some of that kits problems and intoduced some of their own (turret spacing among them).   Wasan's plastic kit name?  Banner.   They had the first of the kits at the 2001 IPMS Nats in Chicago.  The first kits were air freighted in and were expensive.  Well, Banner [as in the Red Banner on their logo] left some bad tastes in peoples mouths so they reanmed their company Trumpeter.   They reboxed the kit under that label (and different box art).   They also intoduced the pirate arm of the company -- the one that has developed the reputation of copying others work -- MiniHobby Models.   They also reboxed the Arizona under that label too.  

End Geez Alert!

The best 1:350 scale Arizona is probably the ones in resin by Toms Modelworks -- now sold by Iron Shipwright (1921 and 1941).

The best Arizona in any scale is probably the 1:700 scale injected one by Dragon.   Be sure to get the Premium Edition

What's the best kit out there in 1:350 - is it the MiniHobby?

Also, has anyone heard when the 1:200 Arizona will actually be released.

Thanks, Rick 

Your MiniHobby looks nice.  I have heard that...

...may be the best Arizona out there. 

EdGrune wrote:

RedCorvette wrote: 1.  I'm still not 100% convinced about the turret top color issue.  There certainly is documentaton that calls out the new color scheme, but I stil find it curious that there are no definitve photos showing it and none of the survivors or witnesses ever seem to have mentioned it.  The evidence was there.  It was just not recognized for what it was. The California was white/white/white.  You can see the two forward turrets The Pennsylvania was white/white/red.   See the forward turret tops.  This was dismissed for years as sunglint. The Maryland was black/black/blue.   See the dark under the life rafts.  This was dismissed as shadow. The evidence was there.   We just didn't have a document to correlate it with

 Great Pics.

EdGrune wrote:

RedCorvette wrote: 1.  I'm still not 100% convinced about the turret top color issue.  There certainly is documentaton that calls out the new color scheme, but I stil find it curious that there are no definitve photos showing it and none of the survivors or witnesses ever seem to have mentioned it.  The evidence was there.  It was just not recognized for what it was. The California was white/white/white.  You can see the two forward turrets The Pennsylvania was white/white/red.   See the forward turret tops.  This was dismissed for years as sunglint. The Maryland was black/black/blue.   See the dark under the life rafts.  This was dismissed as shadow. The evidence was there.   We just didn't have a document to correlate it with

 Great Pics.

ddp59 wrote:

the arizona's main guns moved as 1 in each turret, not individually. as in later classes.

That's nice to know. The first BB model I've ever had that does it and the real thing

 didn't.

Just my luck. 

Mikeym_us wrote:

Oh and you should have left the auxillary boats off of the deck as apparently they were not there on 12-07-41.

Well, I didn't exactly say the very morning of the attack was what I was representing, even though I did say 12-06, I just meant late fall........

Thanks for the discussion folks, sorry to stir up things, but I'm a dummy when it comes to military modeling in earnest. I've learned a lot from y'all.

First, the Kingfishers are getting redone. Second, although what I gather from the discussion, reaading the links, and dredging up some stuff on the net of my own, there's no hard evidence Arizona was in 5-S 12-07, or slightly before.

But, being the stubborn guy I am, I'm repainting her in the 5-S blue. With red turret tops.

Again, thanks for the info!!

RedCorvette wrote:

1.  I'm still not 100% convinced about the turret top color issue.  There certainly is documentaton that calls out the new color scheme, but I stil find it curious that there are no definitve photos showing it and none of the survivors or witnesses ever seem to have mentioned it.

The evidence was there.  It was just not recognized for what it was.

The California was white/white/white.  You can see the two forward turrets

The Pennsylvania was white/white/red.   See the forward turret tops.  This was dismissed for years as sunglint.

The Maryland was black/black/blue.   See the dark under the life rafts.  This was dismissed as shadow.

The evidence was there.   We just didn't have a document to correlate it with

Tracy White wrote:

Hey Ed; in the future try the NHC picture and not the Navsource ones:

Yeah, I realized that after I hit send - then couldn't locate the Kingfisher photo at USNHC easily

Hey Ed; in the future try the NHC picture and not the Navsource ones:

Your colors look more correct for Arizona between January and APril of 1941, but they're not entirely correct as she was painted in #5 Standard Navy Gray on *ALL* vertical surfaces at that point. She then switched to Measure 1 and remained in Ms 1 until at Least November 1941, after that the whole thing gets messy. Measure one's main color, 5-D Dark Gray is much darker than what you've got painted on the thing.

If you're trying for some form of historical accuracy my recommendation for fixing without going insance would be to extend the gray you used on the majority of the superstructure to the top of the fighting tops so that she's one color, repaint the aircraft tails as mentioend before, and then break off the radar platform (carefully, of course) as she didn't get that until about October 1941 I think. Call it "Jan through April '41" and call it good. You will probably also have to repaint the turret tops, but Admiral Kimmel changed things around in February of '41 and I don't know what it was before (different or the same).

Otherwise, repainting all of that will be an excercise in frustration, and 5-D ain't that nice looking of a color any way.

To my eye, the overall color applied to the hull & superstructure is appropriate for the Arizona up until April 1941 (i.e. US Navy Standard Gray #5).  It is far too light for either 5-D Dark Gray or the supposed 5-S Sea Blue/Mediterranean Blue of December.

As long as you are identifying the red turret tops -- the tail color for the Kingfishers should also be red not blue.  The yellow-wing scheme would be correct for the pre-April color on the ship.

At the time of Pearl Harbor, the embarked Kingfishers had been painted out of the yellow-wing scheme into the early grey

1.  I'm still not 100% convinced about the turret top color issue.  There certainly is documentaton that calls out the new color scheme, but I stil find it curious that there are no definitve photos showing it and none of the survivors or witnesses ever seem to have mentioned it. 

2. As I recall, I don't think the guns on the Arizona could be elevated individually.

Mark 

ps1scw wrote:

Don't forget the red turret tops.

Thanks for the info. Seems there's a discussion going on whether the Arizona got the red tops

before 12-07, although arial pictures from 12-07 do show a contrast on #1, #2, and #4 in shade of grey in the B&W photos. 

I did some research, and according to a story I found in the Honolulu Star

Bulletin, the battlewagons at Pearl weren't dark gray at all in the new MS11 paint scheme!! They were

a dark blue with light gray above the funnels!!

Is there any truth to this? If that's the case, I've got the whole ____ thing wrong.

Here's a link to the story:

http://starbulletin.com/2006/12/07/news/story04.html 

Don't forget the red turret tops.