USS Arizona (BB-39)

BB-39 in 1/700 by Dragon (premium edition). Hotel room project while "stuck" in Honolulu for three weeks. Seemed like a fitting subject for a visit to Pearl. 

BB-39 ballasted with 5-minute epoxy as foundation for mounting pedestal. 

First few bits. Premium Edition kit includes turned brass barrels. 

Temporary base is a simple poplar strip with beveled edges and sprayed in gloss black. Pedestal is lamp shade riser. 

Upper-to-lower hull join is ok, but not great. Some filling needed. 

Jig to ensure barrel alignment. Even the plastic barrels come as independent parts which must be assembled just so. Note that BB-38 class main battery guns were mounted on a single slide in each turret, so they were not capable of independent elevation. 

Once the assembly was aligned and immobilized in the jig, it was flooded with thin CA. Jig is .020" polystyrene stock. 

Seeing mis-aligned elements on a build is a pet peeve of mine... 

Securing fore and aft main decks. Quickie seam filling with stretched sprue. 

I'm not going to bother making the seam disappear, I'll just pretend they're expansion joints... 

130426 BB-39 First elements painted after priming. 

130908 BB-39 01 level hand brushed (sand with flecks of grey) 

130919 BB-39 boot topping from WM Black rattlecan. 

130927 BB-39 gets her bottom painted 

130927 BB-39 gets her bottom painted. Note two layers of tape: one strip of clear tape to delineate the width of the boot topping, followed by blue painter's tape. 

130927 BB-39 gets her bottom painted. 

130927 BB-39 with her bottom painted - partial assembly. 

Out for a night on the town with her big sister. (IPMS meeting) 

131008 130927 BB-39 gets a main mast and Battleship Division One markings. 

Replacement for the secondary battery pillboxes. 

Replacement for the secondary battery pillboxes. I had to extent the barrels to their full length, including the breech. 

Installing the replacement 5"/51s. Not much will be visible. 

Basic assembly. Time to upgrade some components. 

Bow shot 

Basic assembly. Time to upgrade some components. 

Basic assembly. Time to upgrade some components. 

BB-39 upgrades: Fwd Aircraft Catapult, A/C crane by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: Fwd Aircraft Catapult, A/C crane by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: Fwd Aircraft Catapult, A/C crane by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: Fwd Aircraft Catapult by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: Aft Aircraft Catapult, A/C crane by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: Fwd Aircraft Catapult by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: 5"/25 (in casemates) 

BB-39 upgrades: Aft Aircraft Handling Crane by GMM 

BB-39 upgrades: Aft Aircraft Handling Crane by GMM 

150311 BB-39 upgrades: Aft Fighting Top from 3D Model Parts. 

150316 BB-39 upgrades: Aft aircraft crane and catapult from GMM. 

150316 BB-39 upgrades: Fwd aircraft catapult from GMM. 

150311 BB-39 upgrades: Aft Fighting Top from 3D Model Parts. 

150311 BB-39 upgrades: Aft Fighting Top from 3D Model Parts. 

150311 BB-39 upgrades: Aft Fighting Top from 3D Model Parts. 

151205 BB-39 upgrades: replacement AA direction station from 3D Model Parts. 

151205 BB-39 upgrades: replacement AA direction station from 3D Model Parts. 

151205 BB-39 upgrades: replacement AA direction station from 3D Model Parts. 

151208 BB-39 upgrades: Fighting tops from 3D Model Parts with PE yardarms by GMM. 

Lucy, Supervisor of Shipbuilding (SupShip). 

BB-39 OS2Us 

BB-39 OS2Us 

BB-39 Fore Fighting Top 

151212 Sneak Attack! 'Zona fell off the railing... 

151212 Sneak Attack! 'Zona fell off the railing...