Great entry Jay! Not the best kit of the Arizona, but I don't know if a "good" kit exists, truly.

As you research, you will find that her color is often a topic of hot debate, mainly due to the fact that the ship may have been in transition still to the latest Navy direction at the time. It may well be best to paint her (Measure 1) overall gray 5-D (prior to '42) verticals (except for 5L above the funnel) and 20B horizontals (think steel decks), save for the teak deck which is natural wood (only the carriers wore the mahogany, iirc), and the number 1, 2, and 4 turret tops which were supposedly red. Some suppose that they may have been in the process of painting her 5N over the 5D, from the waterline up, but mileage will very on such theories.

If you want to really go down the rabbit hole:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12942

This forum, in general, is a fantastic resource if you have the time to really scour through it:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/index.php
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/index.php

Great choice Jay! I am sure you are going to make this rough gem shine in all the right places. I will definitely follow this build!

Really looking forward to this amazing kit, Jay @ssgt

Thanks for all your help and advice Andrew @pb_legend Iwill check out these links you’ve given me when I have the time.

I may end up painting like it’s shown on the box’s photographs... but I also like the blue with the red topped gun turrets. I found some 1950 Life magazine photos of the wreck, while parts of it where still above water, they were painted dark blue.

Good luck with this one, good pick by the way for this GB!

To celebrate Friday, when I got home from work this evening , I sprayed the deck pieces with Tamiya TS-68 Wooden Deck Tan paint.
Then I filled a paint roller tray with warm water, added a dash of dish soap , and a pinch of Tamiya XF-68 NATO Brown to make a wash and I gave my newly painted deck a wash in that brown solution. I am pleased with the results.

In the photograph the piece in the center had not yet been given the brown wash. Revell would have that center piece painted a dark blue, as if it were a steel deck. It’s moulded with out any wood planking. From what I’ve seen on the internet, that area was wood. I’m going to hand paint all the details in the deck. I need to get some good pointy brushes for that chore.

I’m glad to have made a little headway on this project. I hope to get some more work on it done this weekend.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

@ssgt - having been on USN ships with wooden decks, they were a very light tan after they have been scrubbed and salt water soaked and such over many years, as Arizona's deck would have been. I'd use a buff color.