USS Arizona - 1/350

[DocRob]

19 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Looking so good under a smooth coat of primer. A milestone in the build for sure. Can't wait to see the color coats going on. Please include a few pics of your waterline tool.

Side note: Rob, I also found that sometimes I'll tape off the area I need to use filler to keep it from spreading out way too far and apply it is a few thin layers making sanding easier and less collateral damage. I think the hardest part of filler and sanding is figuring out how to use the right amount of filler and keeping it in a tight space, nice a neat.

Thank you Peter, that's good advice about limiting the filling area with masking. I will go to the primary school of filling soon and will train that process a bit.

Ah, yes, the waterline tool. When I build my first wooden sailing ship, I needed to mark the waterline and developed a high tech tool for doing so, which looked like this 

I decided, I need a better tool for future builds and invested in further advanced technology . This one costed under ten Euros and is made by HobbyZone from Poland.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

13 hours ago, HubertB said:

WOW ! Tell us the truth : it’s not the HB AZ that you photographed in the last pics, is it Rob ?

Thank you Hubert, it would indeed be very interesting to have a second build, only with the base kit to compare. I would have done so, only for fun, if there wouldn't have been the cleanup issue, which is too time consuming for being only a joke. I considered making comparative photos of kit parts, vs. enhanced parts, but found it too frustrating. No I hope to achieve a solid result with the kit on good terms and again have learned a lot of new stuff during the build.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

Arizona looks so impressive under paint.  Well done!

Thank you Gary, paint has still to be applied and I have to choose the colors, another step of head scratching.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Enjoy the beautiful weather and island life. The Arizona will still be there when time allows.

 

[GazzaS]

19 hours ago, DocRob said:

Thank you Gary, paint has still to be applied and I have to choose the colors, another step of head scratching.

Cheers Rob

Gray and anti-fouling red?   Sorry....   I'm being a jerk.

[DocRob]

4 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Gray and anti-fouling red?   Sorry....   I'm being a jerk.

Seems to be not so easy Gary, the USS Arizona had a very bluish tinted grey and there seem to be dozens of theories about the correct one, ranging from nearly deep blue to grey with a tint of blue.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Thank you for posting the two photographs of your high tech tools for marking the waterline. Always the right tool for the job!🔨

 

[GazzaS]

14 hours ago, DocRob said:

Seems to be not so easy Gary, the USS Arizona had a very bluish tinted grey and there seem to be dozens of theories about the correct one, ranging from nearly deep blue to grey with a tint of blue.

Cheers Rob

 

[DocRob]

Thanks Gary, that's about what the Eduard manual states and more or less, what I will use. One difference is with the superstructures above funnel level, which are often described to have been painted white.
I've read some comments from surviving sailors, which are not completely coherent about the coloring. One factor might be, that many things were changed painting wise during an overhaul in October only weeks before the attack. Possibly not all the paintwork was finished by then. 
Be it as it is, I will use the above scheme except for insignia white on the tops.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

After the grey primer, it was time to put some colors onto the Arizona. I started with the stripe around the hull. The hull got a wide spray of flat black around, then I took the measurements from the side view and marked 1mm under the lower border of the strip with my waterline marker tool. I used 3mm Kabuki tape, parallel to the pencil mark for masking the strip.

Afterwards the underwater ship was airbrushed with a mix of about 70% of Tamiya XF7 flat red and the rest with Tamiya XF9 hull red. There is a bit of modulation in the color to break the monotony of this large area.

The underwater ship was masked then, along the top of three gun turrets, which were beforehand painted flat red on the tops for divisional markings.
I read a lot about the coloring above the waterline and concluded with nothing is 100% certain about the hue. I decided to go with a very blue version of grey and looked through my stores, as I didn't want to mix the color, because, I will need it over a longer period of detail painting and corrections. My firs intention was to use Real Colors Intermediate blue, but than I found a jar of Tamiya's XF18 medium blue and liked it a lot. It was exactly the shade of blugrey, I was looking for.

After this application, I went to the upper superstructure, which many claim to have been white, others say light grey. I went with Real Colors Insignia White, but masking the areas off was tedious. I used Panzer Putty, which took away a railing or two and de-tacked Kabuki tape.

After peeling off the masks, The main components put together looked like this.

Now it's time for the wooden decks, but before, I have to decide, If I apply a clear coat and some weathering. I have the tendency to do so, but let's see.

Cheers Rob

[KevinM]

I like the color Rob and once that deck gets laid talk about a highlight!

[DocRob]

16 hours ago, KevinM said:

I like the color Rob and once that deck gets laid talk about a highlight!

Thanks Kevin, there are many things to do until this may be a highlight, but lots have been done and it feels good to lock back and see what I achieved.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

I've been busy over the last days with the USS Arizona. I decided to weather a bit, because no ship ever looks clean and because I wanted to learn weathering on ships.

But first to the decals. Luckily there are not many and that's definitely a pro for ship modeling. These here are the new incarnation of Eduard decals which have to be cut out, because the carrier film is not. After application, they looked like this with silvering and reflecting carrier film.

Eduard claims, the carrier film of these newer decals can be removed, leaving an almost painted on result. Hmm, sounds good, but after peeling off the carrier film very carefully all the decals had stencil lifts .. My underlayer maybe was not perfect, but it was not too shabby either with a coat of gloss GX100 from Mr. Color.

Before I try these again on a larger scale, I would test on some mules. With the carrier film on, they look worse than other decals, quo vadis Eduard?

Next I prepared some of the tiny printed parts for painting, like AA-guns and searchlights, which will be added to the superstructures after the weathering stage.

Like I said above, I gloss coated the model, to have a good base for weathering for which I used Tamiya panel liners, but mainly brown oil colors for the first step. My technique is to apply oils liberally and not to scarce with a larger synthetic brush. Different areas were treated with different mixing ratios of oil color and matte finish whit spirit. After a short period of drying, I spread the colors again with help of a bit of thinner and try to work in the direction of the flow, hull downwards and reduce the amount of oil color accordingly. This time, I used the oil color from one of AK's oil pens, and these oil are of a lesser quality, than my normally used from Abt 502.

This is where I am now, albeit after taking the photos, I knocked back the effect a bit more, a true benefit of oil rendered weathering.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Looking really great Rob.  Your work with the PE is pristine and it shows.

On Eduard's new decals, I heard of people having issues with them.  Not exactly sure if people figured out a foolproof way to remove the carrier film.

[DocRob]

17 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Looking really great Rob.  Your work with the PE is pristine and it shows.

On Eduard's new decals, I heard of people having issues with them.  Not exactly sure if people figured out a foolproof way to remove the carrier film.

Thank you Mike. I removed the carrier film, using a sharp blade to lift a tiny edge and pulled off the rest with pliers, parallel to the decal to reduce the strain on the ink.
I can imagine, it might work on a polished surface, but as I said, before I would try it out on lets say a plane, I would intensely test the process on a mule.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Your paint work and weathering is looking so good, blending all the previous steps together. Here is where all the intense detail and PE is paying off in big dividends. 

I've tested Eduards new decals a while back and for the most part, the results were good but, in a few instances, the actual decal lifted with the clear film. I'm still not sold on the system 100% but I'm going tinkering and trying.

[DocRob]

2 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Your paint work and weathering is looking so good, blending all the previous steps together. Here is where all the intense detail and PE is paying off in big dividends. 

I've tested Eduards new decals a while back and for the most part, the results were good but, in a few instances, the actual decal lifted with the clear film. I'm still not sold on the system 100% but I'm going tinkering and trying.

Thank you Peter, the weathering has a strange habit of showing very different under varying angles of light. On the pictures, it looks heavier than to my eye. I consider another layer of sparse white residues, simulating salt, but have to try it first. It's 1/350 and I don't want to overdo it.

The new Eduard decals on first try have about the same hit and miss ratio, like HGW wet transfers. Looking good, when done, but not reliable enough to have a decent decal job on a newish looking object. The chipping though, looks realistic for worn objects though .

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Excellent decision to go slowly and build up the weathering layers slowly, leaving time in between each weathering session to judge how the effects settle in as they completely dry. less is always more.

I'm right with you on the 'hit and miss' percentage with the new Eduard decals and think hard before using them and for the most part, shy away from them for the major markings so far. Enough can go wrong and adding in another variable is a bit too risky most of the times for me.

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Some great progress Rob. The colours are definitely not what I would have expected. They make for a much more visually distinctive ship. It's interesting to see the new information come to light after all these years. 

[PanzerWomble]

I watch Drachinifel ....I wasn't surprised at the colours 🤣

 

... the silk purse you've made out of a sows ear however is shocking !!! 

[Bomber_County]

Rob, absolutely stunning, took my off it for a second, going to be a winner…….

[DocRob]

On 3/19/2023 at 7:21 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

Some great progress Rob. The colours are definitely not what I would have expected. They make for a much more visually distinctive ship. It's interesting to see the new information come to light after all these years. 

Thank you Carl, the colors look unfamiliar first, but it seems, the late USS Arizona was painted like this, after her grey times. I don't know, if the new paintjob was applied only a few weeks before she sank, it could be. Some sources claim, that the new painting was not even finished then.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

On 3/20/2023 at 11:19 PM, PanzerWomble said:

I watch Drachinifel ....I wasn't surprised at the colours 🤣

 

... the silk purse you've made out of a sows ear however is shocking !!! 

I wouldn't call her a silk purse, PW. I even think, I went a bit too far weathering wise, the new paintjob for USS Arizona may hadn't thoroughly dried, when she was attacked.
Anyway, I wanted to train 1/350 weathering with a bit of rust and some salt residues.
Who or what is Drachinifel, btw?

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

18 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Rob, absolutely stunning, took my off it for a second, going to be a winner…….

Thanks Phil, you can take your eyes off for sometimes again, until this one will be finished. Work, wherever I look, this is a demanding project for sure.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

After the rust oil weathering had dried, I started the next layer, salt residues made with a white naval wash from AK. I applied it on the sides of the hull and only a little in the bow area, which then was blended with white spirit.
Next were the shafts and propellers, which were rubbed with AK's old bronze wax, a perfect fitting tone. The shaft got Uschi van der Rosten's iron pigments rubbed in. Alignment is a little bit off, but I decided to let that be.
On to the wooden decks, which are self adhering. All fitted well, except the delicate bow section, where the wood material was not cut thoroughly, which led to some free handed cutting, with a half glued deck. Despite this, fit was exceptional, with the exception, where PE parts substituted plastic, so no fault by Artwox. Most of the on deck assemblies will be added now, after the deck application, exactly for this reason.
On some spare deck material, I tried a varnish first, but decided against it, as I didn't like the looks. If I weather the decks, it will be done later, with pigments, I guess.

Cheers Rob