USS Arizona

Started by Jay Mitchell · 127 · 2 years ago · Battleship, Pearl Harbor, Revell, USS Arizona
  • Profile Photo
    capt. R said 3 years ago:

    Great finish! Will you make some weathering?

  • Profile Photo
    Bob Torres said 3 years ago:

    Nice addition Jay @ssgt, it amazes me on adding a few pieces of stretch spue can help improve or just adds to the look of a build.

  • Profile Photo
    Jay Mitchell said 3 years ago:

    I don’t think I will, @lis, getting some wires strung on it will suck out the last bit of creativity, enthusiasm, and motivation I have left for this project. One of my coworkers often says to me “ you got a lotta quit in you, you know that?” The Arizona had been painted just a few months before the Japanese destroyed it, so I’m thinkin’ it still probably looked pretty nice on the morning of the 7th of December.

    Thank you, Bob @v1pro…. I think just that little bit of scratch building improved the model… made it look a little more like it did at the time of the attack.

  • Profile Photo
    Jay Mitchell said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Work on the battleship Arizona, has stopped. I thought I’d post a couple of photos of it . It still needs the rigging put on it. The kit aircraft are biplanes ( called Seagulls , I think), at the time of the attack , Kingfisher monoplane float planes were in use . There are aftermarket Kingfishers in this scale available , they are $20 for three. I’m probably not going to buy those. I may display the ship without aircraft on the catapults. I’d like to think I’ll eventually put the finishing touches on this ship, but I’m not sure when my enthusiasm for the project will return.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  • Profile Photo
    capt. R said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    I think display ship without floatplane is OK.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Looking great so far, my friend @ssgt! It is OK to take a break for a while - breaks are essential. Most probably your enthusiasm will re-emerge after awhile...which is what I hope for, I would love to see this beauty done! Surely, I am not the only one...

  • Profile Photo
    Jay Mitchell said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Thank you Spiros @fiveten & Lis @lis...
    I hope I’ll get back in the mood to do some work on models. After 1/2 a century ... sometimes it’s hard to stay enthused. I did enjoy the three 1/32 aircraft I built in 2021.

  • Profile Photo
    Morne Meyer said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Fantastic work Jay. Well done!

  • Profile Photo
    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Already looks great at this stage, Jay @ssgt
    You will definitely find the mood to finish the last bits.

  • Profile Photo
    Jay Mitchell said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Thank you Morné @mornem & John @johnb… I appreciate your kind comments. For as old as it is, I think it turned out pretty well.
    I think I’ll try to stick to Tamiya & Hasegawa airplanes for awhile though. Ive had enough of these old kits for now.

  • Profile Photo
    Bob Torres said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Nice work Jay @ssgt, so far it looks great. Taking a break is good, it lets everything reset and one day the final touches will get done. To me it looks pretty nice the way it is right now.

  • Profile Photo
    Jay Mitchell said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Hi Bob @v1pro…. Thank you.. I appreciate your comments. I’m happy with it the way it is too. I had envisioned it with the American flag and a signal flags ….One of these days….

  • Profile Photo
    Jay Mitchell said 2 years, 11 months ago:


    Today I added the anchors, the floatplane on the aft catapult , and touched up the paint a bit. Then added the flag on the stern of the ship. I’m going to say it’s finished. I didn’t follow thru and add the rigging to it as I had initially planned.

    After building two ships in a row ( see my Akizuki build on the “Empire of Japan” group build) I’m looking forward to getting back to working on aircraft models.


    I took the Liberty to add some photographs of my almost 20 year old Monogram SBD Dauntless dive bomber. It fits in with the subject matter this group is interested in.


  • Profile Photo
    capt. R said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Your Battleship is absolutely great! You made good work. I'm glad that you take part in GB! Mabye next project will be P-40? 🙂

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Congratulations, my friend @ssgt!
    Your Arizona turned out really wonderful!
    Love the photo with the SBD.
    Well done!