[Daniel_B]

My big project for 2012, something I've been wanting to do for a long while now (but felt like I oughta finish my 1/350 USS Iowa first, which I finally did), is all 4 ships of the Iowa-class in 1/700, spanning WWII to Desert Storm.

First up is the Missouri, circa 1944, to be followed by the '91 Wisconsin, '68 New Jersey, and '52 Iowa, all from Tamiya kits.

After looking at the Missouri in the box, and a few built-up examples online, my impression of it was that the overall hull and superstructure shape is terrific--better than Tamiya's 1/350 Iowas--but that it's lacking a lot of small details... stuff Trumpeter managed to include in their 1/700 NCs and SoDaks while also generally being $5 to $15 cheaper.

Here's what I've collected for it so far:



WEM Iowa-Class Battleship PE
GMM WWII USN Battleship PE
Flyhawk 16"/.50 brass barrels
Master 5"/.38 brass barrels
Niko 40mm mounts
Paper Lab Mk51 directors (still need 1 more set)
Paper Lab 5" practice loaders
L'Arsenal anchor chain

Still need some L'Arsenal deck winches and JAG/Admiralty 5" turrets, and I'm also strongly considering picking up some Paper Lab whaleboats and 36" searchlights, and maybe some Trumpy Kingfishers so I can have 2 on the catapults and a third stowed on the deck.

This post has been edited by Daniel_B: 28 December 2011 - 01:31 AM

[Daniel_B]

My biggest criticism of this kit (so far): the 8 sets of incredibly-inconveniently-placed-for-removing Aztec stairs molded into the superstructure:




Spent the better part of 2 days doing my best to get rid of them. Can't wait to do it all again on the next 3 ships...

The shield around the big 20mm gallery aft of Turret 3 has a section missing out of the middle:



Not sure why, 'cause I can't find any pics that show this gap, and their 1/350 kit doesn't seem to have it. Not gonna claim I know for sure that Tamiya got this wrong and it was never there, but every pic I've seen from '44 and '45 show it as solid all the way across. So I filled it in:

[Daniel_B]

There's one spot where deck meets hull that needs a little touch-up, then I'll be ready to clean it up and throw some paint on it. One order of Ms. 32/22d coming up!



The superstructure with the Aztec stairs removed and the new platforms added for the inclined PE ladders:



The ones on the main deck were pretty easy. The ones on the 01 level were a lot more work to get rid of. I was about 95% successful with it, I think, which in this case is good enough for me.

Not really bothering to document this one step-by-step since it's a pretty straightforward, by-the-book build, with the exception of the aftermarket additions. The next one is where all the fun will begin...

[-Neu-]

Sweet project idea... and it seems as if you're making some quick progress on it too!

[Daniel_B]

-Neu-, on 04 January 2012 - 10:29 AM, said:

Sweet project idea... and it seems as if you're making some quick progress on it too!

Thanks. The kit was a Christmas gift, so this has all been done since then. I'm sure I'll get slowed way down when I get heavily into the PE, but for now it's going pretty fast.

Latest update:

I've wanted to build the Missouri in her Ms. 32/22d pretty much since the first time I saw a pic of it, but always figured I never actually would. Too complicated. Anyway, I decided it was worth a shot:











That was more than a week straight of almost nothing but masking. Even in 1/700, these dazzle camos run through your supply of Tamiya tape in a hurry, don't they?

[Daniel_B]

Been away from the bench for a couple of months, but I've had the chance to get back to this project again recently.

A wash to bring out the deck planking:




Under the port and stbd Mk-37s is an open area, covered with a x-bracing, which of course is chunkily molded in plastic:



WEM includes nice PE parts for this, but unfortunately they sized their set to fit the Fujimi kit, and the pieces are too wide to fit that area on the Tamiya. So I had to use some styrene to widen them a bit (still haven't put the PE on yet):



And I'm working on the Niko 40mms. Here's one with a Tamiya 40 alongside for comparison (saving the Niko splinter shields until they've all been painted):



The Niko ones look fantastic... but to me, they seem a little too big. A bit too tall, and a bit too wide. Maybe 1/680, 1/690 rather than true 1/700. To try to make that a little less noticeable I'm shortening them by taking some extra material off the bottom, but that's just making it take so much longer, 'cause it's really hard to find a way to hold them securely for filing without breaking delicate details off...

[HOLMES]

Daniel,

I don't know how I missed this lovely build..

GOOD work so far...

[Boomstick]

Loving the progress. Any updates? Can't wait for Trumpeter's 1/200 Iowa Class releases!?

[viking73]

Any updates on this build Daniel?

I have some of the 1/700 Trumpeter kits you mentioned but have been a bit overwhelmed by all of the small parts in the boxes to start any of them yet...

-Derek

[Daniel_B]

It's been a couple of months since I've been at the workbench. Warm weather and all. But I did get all the major parts of it out again a couple of nights ago to remind myself where I was at, and what the next few steps are. Hopefully I'll be back to work on it again soon.

Even if it was the middle of January, tho, I think I might've been burned out for a few weeks after finishing all 20 of those 40mm mounts. Like I mentioned, the Niko ones are gorgeous, but just a little too big, IMO, and I decided to shorten them all up a bit. Trying to find a way to hold them so I could file down the underside without breaking any of the delicate resin details was... challenging.