USS Arizona

Whilst I am waiting for the parts for my Armidale build to arrive from Oz I thought I would make a start on my next build.

This is the 1:200 kit of the USS Arizona which would appear to be ideal for a bit of plastic magic.

I have a feeling this is going to take awhile as it has taken me a complete afternoon to make 10x 5 pounder guns and 8 lockers.

Its a difficult build for me as I still have shaky hands and the parts are so small and so many [over 1000 parts in plastic and brass]

A couple of photos to show what I am up against.

Your a Brave man mate I think I would just sit and stare at a project like that and get ever more depressed wondering where to start and if I'll expire before finishing it lol

How is your health going to handle the glue odours?
I do 90% of gluing and 100% of painting out in open air otherwise I get a violent headaches & my sinuses start bleeding.

Hi Damien
I normally use Plasweld liquid solvent cement applied with a brush which I find I can handle quite well although they say to use in well ventilated areas.
Its epoxy resin, soldering and spray painting which really affect me, especially the spraying.
I'm hoping I finish it before I expire.

By the way dont open that envelope at the top of the page which is telling you you have a message. I did and my Norton went barmy because it has a Trojan virus.

Hi Richard,

A brave man indeed. That is going to take some building. Thanks for letting me know about that virus. You caught me at a bad time, sorry I did not hang around for a chat..

There is no sign of that envelope on my screen......We will keep an eye out for it.

Barry

I have now made a start on this build.

The first thing to say is that over the last 50 odd years I must have made dozens of construction kits, Airfix to Tamiya and I always thought that Tamiya had the edge over other manufacturers for getting bits to fit properly and quality.

Having now started on this kit I must say that the Chinese have really mastered the art of making kits. The detail and the fit of the parts is incredible.

I have up till now made all the guns, boats and cranes and have started on the masts. These are at the moment in a heap in a box so no photos of these.

This weekend I have fitted the four prop shafts with brass props, four motors [385s] and the rudder.

These parts I obtained from SHG [ www.shgmodels.com ] who were realy helpful and efficient.

Taking my time, this part of the construction was very straight forward.

Have now got to the stage where I can post more photos.

First I assembled the front superstructure and the front and rear mast and the stack, these had to be painted as they were being assembled so that the awkward bits got painted.







Next I painted numerous guns, cranes, boats and bits and pieces.





The next job was to install the electrics. A tray was made for the SLA battery and a shelf was made over the battery and motors for the Esc and Rx.





The next job was to cut an opening in the deck large enough for the battery and motors to be got at and a coaming fixed round the opening.



After this an inverted coaming was stuck on the underside of the next deck so as to make this as waterproof as possible.



Then I came to the bit I hate, fixing the rudder servo and linkage [never seems to be straight forward]

Nice to see the progress Dicky.

And that is some progress indeed. Looking good Dicky.


ken

I have done quite a bit, so what I will do is post photos only and then you can ask as many questions as you like.

Have you slept in the last 35 days Dicky?

Amazing quick build given the sheer amount of sprues in that box not including the rc work. And it looks so good too!!

it sure does!!!

Still a way to go yet chaps.

Must admit I am quite enjoying this build.

The Chinese have really mastered the art of the construction kit, every thing goes together so well and it is really strongly built.

Richard,

You never cease to amaze me. Another great job done....Is she actually going to see any water?

Footski wrote:

Richard,

You never cease to amaze me. Another great job done....Is she actually going to see any water?

Hopefully yes Barry, depends on my health.

So you approve of these Chinese kits ? I also like things that fit together as they should.


ken

This Trumpeter kit is really exceptional Ken.

All finished now though I did not use the brass etchings as they are very frail, which would be fine on a static model but could be badly damaged on a model used for sailing.

I also think the motors I have could be well over the top but might be OK for water skiing. I will need to check with SHG on Monday as they supplied them.

A few more photos.

WOW another magnificent build mate

Thanks Damien

Your welcome Richard I no longer have the fine motor control needed for intricate fiddly bits but I can still dream.

Wow looks like you spent months and years on this but it seems to have been built in a couple of weeks. Its magnificent dicky.