1/200 USS Arizona (Trumpeter)

[Jaggy]

Hello, 

 

Nick's Arizona Build inspired me to build this ship as well.   I have been at it a few weeks now and have been taking some quick pics along the way which I'll share with you below.   While this is not my first ship it is certainly my most ambitious, and I've never had great results producing "clean" PE work on nautical subjects, so I conscider myself a beginner.   This build is very much in progress so I'd like to ask you all to please jump in with criticism and advice.  Please don't spare my feelings, just call out whatever you see as wrong AND your advice on how to remedy it.  I have a thick skin and I want to improve this with the benefit of your input. That said, here goes:

 

Fresh out of the box and it barely fits on my desk:

 

 

I used styrene strip to add some missing detail:

 

One thing other ship builds has taught me is to plan the base early.   Drilling giant holes in the hull is the last thing you want to do to a finished model.   I've used misc lamp parts and epoxy here:

 

 

Edited January 12, 2017 by Jaggy
Added images

[Jaggy]

Because this ship is such a beast I found my finials were not feeling too secure.  I added a wooden block inside to ensure they stayed put:

 

 

I've decided to go with the much debated blue scheme, my primary color is vallejos grey blue:

 

 

[Jaggy]

Drilling out the portholes was exactly as tedious as others have reported, and like everyone else I was glad I took the time:

 

 

 

I used a router to make my base pretty.   It's walnut wood with tung oil:

 

 

To make room for the nuts that will hold the bolts in place I used a forstner bit:

 

 

 

[Jaggy]

After putting the seams and much sanding I primed the hull.  I found the fit disappointing, though perhaps it's inevitable at this scale.   For primer I used vallejos black, and for the first time.  What a mistake.  This is a terrible primer!  It sprays well, it's not very expensive, but it comes off with Tamiya tape!  I gave it days to cure but it just does not bond well.  I had all sorts of trouble later on when masking the hull because of this horrible stuff.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's my hull color:

 

 

That vertical stripe is no mistake.  I painted several more of these to preshade for the hull red.

 

 

 

 

 

I also painted any bits of deck I thought might be visible under the wooden deck:

 

 

Starting to look pretty ship shaped:

 

 

 

 

[Jaggy]

I used Vallejos hull red, darkened slightly:

 

 

 

I did some preshading on my turrets too, they will have red tops later:

 

 

All this painting meant I had drying time to kill, and so I started working on the funnel:

 

Today, with the benefit of hindsight, I regret not doing the railings here at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jaggy]

I am using Mark 1's deluxe PE kit with wood deck.   Having seen Nicks build, I had to use this.   The fore section of the deck went on just fine, and the upper deck, but aft I had some bubbles.  I squashed them down repeatedly over a few weeks, getting CA glue in there with a needle and making tiny incisions to relieve pressure.  Despite this, it's still not 100% but at this point I'm hoping it's just something I will notice.   (The poor fit is completely invisible to my wife, no matter how much I talk about it!  ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jaggy]

And now the turrets.  Many things went wrong along the way.

 

 

1. You can see the paint chipping off the barrels, thanks Vallejo primer.   I know this happens with other primers, but with Vallejo is happens more.  This paint will fall off if you look at it funny, or just think about bumping it. 

 

2. My first attempt on the blast bags was brush painting with Tamiya acrylics.  I wasn't happy with the color anyhow, but wow do I hate brushing with Tamiya.

 

3. See the uneven stripes on the turret top, that's because Tamiya tape ripped off my Vallejo primer.   

 

Some more ore photos of the turrets, as they were at this time:

 

 

 

 

[Jaggy]

Do you like repetitive tasks?  If so the ship building is for you!  

 

I've avoided late WW2 naval subjects for fear of mass producing all those AA guns.  The Arizona was an old ship by the start of the war, and so its armament reflects an earlier era, happily.   I made a little jig to hold the deck guns as I worked on them.  

 

 

It was at this stage where the kit revealed its greatest flaw: poor engineering.  There's about ten pieces of plastic in one of those guns, and each needs cleanup.  Each has seam lines, and multiple attachment points, and those attachment points are large and very poorly placed.  In fact, I'd guess they are placed without regard to the cleanup process at tall.  As I began working on the smaller assemblies of the kit I marvelled again and again at the disregard Trumpeter shows for the model builder.  I wish this was a Tamiya kit, I'd happily pay double for their quality.   Building a beast like this is a many months long process, I want to enjoy it!

 

 

It was also here that I ran into my first real trouble with PE.  I found the railings on these guns was slightly too large, and so each one had to be bent and cajoled into place, resulting in what you see above.   I wanted crisp 90 degree corners I assure you, but the bottom of the railing has to fit in too small a space, and so I have what you see above.

 

I did manage to straighten things out a little later on:

 

I'm pretty happy with these guns, I just lament that they will be mostly hidden in the final product:

 

 

[Jaggy]

And now for some dry fitting!

 

 

As you can (hopefully) see, I've cleaned up the turrets some, lightening the shade on the blast bags and blending the color on the red tops.   At this stage I've really started to worry about the turret PE, which you will notice is still missing.  I need to install 5 segments of railing, plus ladders, plus some tricky bits on the turret bases still.  I probably should have done all that before I even started with the primer.  Any advice?

 

Eveything on the deck is just dry fit and WIP, but it's fun to set up the bits and see what it's going to look like.

 

 

 

Here I have some progress on deck details, some washes are done and I've picked out the fire hoses etc.   I'm unsure if I will do the brass windows, as Nick did.   I think they look fantastic, but I can't find reference for then not being grey.  Can anyone wade in?

 

 

[EJS]

Primers, primers, primers. Very discouraging when they fail. I think I've tried them all. I have had very little luck with ANY of the acrylic paint primers. I now use exclusively either the white or grey Tamiya  aerosol can primers. Seems the formula for the spray cans is different than the bottle, more like a lacquer base paint. Much of the time I'll decant the paint into a 1/2 oz. bottle, let it sit to off gas the propellant, then spray it with the airbrush. Seems to me the carrier in the paint has enough solvent that it keys to the plastic very well. Even when removing the tape from the waterline masking I very rarely have a paint pull-up. It helps to thoroughly clean the plastic before painting to remove any mold release agent. I wash with mild soap and water, dry, then use Plastic Prep or 90  percent rubbing alcohol to be sure it's clean, especially photo etch brass or stainless and resin parts.

[Jaggy]

Am am almost caught up to the present with the build now.  Below I've just added deck details near the bow, lots of little bits and bobs, each requiring more clean up than one might expect:

 

 

And now with capstans and other bits:

 

 

 

And the same work on the aft end:

 

 

 

Detail:

 

Edited January 12, 2017 by Jaggy
Added images

[Jaggy]

A big step today, I've glued a deck!

 

 

I'm not sure how you do it but I take a strange pride in making my weights as haphazard and precarious as possible for no descernable reason.

 

This brings me up to the present, my next post will be 'new' work.   As I said in the intro, please jump in and tell me how I can be doing this better.  I'm about to start wrestling with the problems I've made myself painting before applying PE, and I think it will be ugly.

[EJS]

I pre bend, then prime and airbrush pe, especially railings, before installing them. Do get occasional chips, but they are easily touched up with a teeny brush.

[Jaggy]

10 minutes ago, EJS said:

Primers, primers, primers. Very discouraging when they fail. I think I've tried them all. I have had very little luck with ANY of the acrylic paint primers. I now use exclusively either the white or grey Tamiya  aerosol can primers. Seems the formula for the spray cans is different than the bottle, more like a lacquer base paint. Much of the time I'll decant the paint into a 1/2 oz. bottle, let it sit to off gas the propellant, then spray it with the airbrush. Seems to me the carrier in the paint has enough solvent that it keys to the plastic very well. Even when removing the tape from the waterline masking I very rarely have a paint pull-up. It helps to thoroughly clean the plastic before painting to remove any mold release agent. I wash with mild soap and water, dry, then use Plastic Prep or 90  percent rubbing alcohol to be sure it's clean, especially photo etch brass or stainless and resin parts.

 

I've recently switched to Mr Surfacer 1500 black with about 50% thinner and thus far it's been trouble free, though I think I'm destroying brain cells rapidly breathing the stuff!

[Jaggy]

There's one particular bit of PE I'm really worried about.  I'm not sure of the name of the part, but on the elevated turrets there are these rings about the base, with very fiddily vertical supports.  This image is a crop of a detail photo from Nicks build, to show the bit:

 

 

I'm not sure if I should try to assemble this, paint it, and then install it or assemble it in place and then repaint everything.  I fear I will need the turret base to ensure I get it set straight, and if I install it post paint I'll maybe scrape off existing paint fitting it, especially given my weak primer.  

Edited January 12, 2017 by Jaggy
Fighting iOS autocorrect

[stevej60]

What a magnificent beast,superb work so far i'm looking forward to more!

[bbudde]

I'm in here. Always liked those old batlewaggon's. Looking good so far.

[GrantGoodale]

The best primer that I have used is Floquil but you can't get that anymore. Tamiya is good but your best buy, value for money, is the Canadian Tire automotive primer in the white label rattle can.

 

[Thom216]

She's coming along beautifully! That first pic with the freshly painted gray is actually quite captivating.

[Clogged]

Love the airbrush work.  Looking very good and big!

 

[Sinx]

Really nice progress - this is already on my to do list but I have a Flower Class that comes first.

Martin

[gregg136]

It's really coming together, It's always been a kit I've wanted to take a swing at, however I'd probably find myself sleeping out in the streets in the box it came in. 

[beefy66]

Great work with all the different details 

 

beefy

[Jockster]

Lovely build so far. Ship building is better approached as a series of smaller models that come together at the end. Each turret, funnel, deckhouse etc. as an individual kit, photo etched before painting. 

Plan the photoetch ahead as some of the little tags that mount parts to the fret form good mounting pins if you drill tiny holes in the model.

You had problems with getting the deck to stick? What was the surface of the kit deck like? Was it covered with Matt paint over spray? A coat of gloss paint or varnish is a good primer to stick the wooden deck to. Also when you stick future decks down, keep the backing film and tape that on top of the new wood deck to keep it clean and act as a tailor made paint mask.

Hope this helps. Great build nonetheless!

[Jaggy]

@Jockster Wow thanks for the feedback

 

I failed to conscider the surface I was putting the deck onto.  I did clean it, once, before the primer but then, yes, I did spray a matt grey blue on some deck details and made its texture irregular.   When the deck didn't want to go down nicely, I assumed the deck was at fault and perhaps not sized quite right (you know, because the problem can't be me of course!).  

 

I generally do take the subassemblies approach, or at least want to, but was motivated to paint all the big pieces at once so their colour would be the same tone.   I was worried that if I painted each on a different day then the amount of primer darkening the paint, or possibly even the paint itself, might be inconsistent.  As the build has progressed I've become increasingly aware that this concern was unfounded and tha it lead me to some bad choices in build order.  The other factor that pushed me in this direction was a desire I started with to use a different paint for horizontal surfaces.  At one point I thought I'd be that, and it would have meant that most PE would have been painted elsewhere, or by hand, and so  I thought there was no reason to delay the grey blue paint.  If you study the image of the funnel you may notice the horizontal grey shade is different.  It's very hard to see, so much so, that I decided not to bother after that.  Something I should have tested elsewhere first I now realize.  (I hope that this does not sound defensive, I'm just explaining the sequence of mistakes that lead me here.  I entirely appreciate your comments.)

 

I've never thought of using the PE sprue nubs as anchors and I can't wait to start doing so, it will make a number of things easier!  

 

Thanks again, much appreciated!