Recent content by Tim A.

I can't get away with painting this one put together 😆

First bit of Photoetch on the forward mast.

Not sure what happened in the Photoetch department with this kit, but wow. Went to bend some stairs and the treads wouldn't budge. After a closer look I saw the problem. On the left is a stair from this kit. On the right is one from the USS Texas fret. Both are Trumpeter, but there's a big...

Starting to build up the masts. As most know, Trumpeter is not known for their accuracy on the subject or the fit of the parts...at least for the ship kits. However, they can build into nice enough displays with a little work...or a lot of work! This pic is a good example. The oval structure...

Dealing with Trumpeter's weirdness. First up is fixing the turret guns. They sit way high on the mounts. I haven't seen a good reference photo, but I suspect they didn't rest like 3 scale ft of the deck, it just looks dumb. Easy fix is to shave of the bottoms and add a new styrene rod. First...

No. Made it for WIP photos. I think the display base will be the classic two pedestal style. I'm actually building it on a piece of packing foam. Works great as it kind of grips the model so it doesn't slide around. It's the same piece of foam I built the USS Texas on.

Got the hull halves glued up. The bilge keels on. Rudder on. Replacing the gun barrels with the aftermarket ones. Had to rework the stern torpedo tube. Sanding down more exaggerated weld seams on the lower hull. I've left the one's on the armor belt though as looking at photographs they appear...

I thought that in the process of making the portholes round I had made them to large. After looking at the real ones I think I'm within the acceptable diameter. I think Trumpeters are too small.

Saw one of the vendors is Jef, from Steel Pot Studios. It will be cool to meet him.

"Fixed" the elongated portholes best I can without opening up a can of worms for myself. I've also removed the molded ladders as well as the exaggerated raised panel lines on the tumblehome portion of the hull.

Thanks Paul. It gives me some ideas 👍 The portholes on the Tserasivich appear to be half the size of the ones on your Arizona.

Ah! The I pad 😁 (my TV in the workroom) It's on when I'm in there for background noise.

They are supposed to be round. I read that because of the slide mold the portholes are distorted where the tumblehome hull is at it's most severe? Idk. As much as I try to ignore it I can't. Not sure what I need to do to correct it, yet.

("Insert name" Designs) ??

Dry fit of the hull and deck. It looks good. I've decided not to use the aftermarket printed wood deck. The main reason is as thin as it is it still that thick above the hull's sides. I'm not going to get to ticky over details on this build, however theres some things I'll change. One is the...