Trumpeter 1/200 USS Arizona - My History with this kit.
When quite young I saw the film 'Tora, Tora, Tora' in cinema, which initiated a long interest in the attack on Pearl Harbour, history resultant from that attack and, in particular, the life and fate of USS Arizona. As a service member, I had the pleasure of visiting Pearl on a number of occasions and tagged on visits to the Arizona whenever possible.
In 2012, after returning from such a visit, I conducted a regular trip to the local hobby store and was in awe to see the newly released Trumpeter 1/200 USS Arizona model taking pride of place. Needless to say that bad boy came home with me. I'd never built anything on that scale, and was still a 'build-from-kit', 'paint-by-hand' modeller.
Let's just say that, despite best intentions, I was very unhappy progressing this build; especially once I discovered after-market wooden decks and this amazing new PE thing. Not to mention the model was just 'big' and beyond my skills as a brush painter. Long story short, I shelved this build, saved my pennies, and purchased a second kit, along with a wooden decking kit and a bunch of PE additions. Also gathered a bunch of reference materials and researched the ship prior to even opening the box. Oh, also home schooled myself on air brushing; a skill I had no idea I couldn't live without.
This build went quite well, albeit slowly, as my retirement, relocation and, of course, COVID, all impacted my build timeline. I created a build log on the SoS forum and updated as things progressed. Overall, I was happy with my Arizona Redux, and was probably about 75% complete when, one night, my cat decided to conduct a nocturnal raid on the hobby room. He basically wrecked the aft tripod mast and surrounds to a point which I assessed as unrecoverable. Very saddened by this event, I moved onto other builds but just couldn't let the Arizona go.
So, here we are. It's early 2025 and I've just acquired my 3rd 1/200 Arizona kit. This log will hopefully see the build through to successful completion and proud display within my home.
When quite young I saw the film 'Tora, Tora, Tora' in cinema, which initiated a long interest in the attack on Pearl Harbour, history resultant from that attack and, in particular, the life and fate of USS Arizona. As a service member, I had the pleasure of visiting Pearl on a number of occasions and tagged on visits to the Arizona whenever possible.
In 2012, after returning from such a visit, I conducted a regular trip to the local hobby store and was in awe to see the newly released Trumpeter 1/200 USS Arizona model taking pride of place. Needless to say that bad boy came home with me. I'd never built anything on that scale, and was still a 'build-from-kit', 'paint-by-hand' modeller.
Let's just say that, despite best intentions, I was very unhappy progressing this build; especially once I discovered after-market wooden decks and this amazing new PE thing. Not to mention the model was just 'big' and beyond my skills as a brush painter. Long story short, I shelved this build, saved my pennies, and purchased a second kit, along with a wooden decking kit and a bunch of PE additions. Also gathered a bunch of reference materials and researched the ship prior to even opening the box. Oh, also home schooled myself on air brushing; a skill I had no idea I couldn't live without.
This build went quite well, albeit slowly, as my retirement, relocation and, of course, COVID, all impacted my build timeline. I created a build log on the SoS forum and updated as things progressed. Overall, I was happy with my Arizona Redux, and was probably about 75% complete when, one night, my cat decided to conduct a nocturnal raid on the hobby room. He basically wrecked the aft tripod mast and surrounds to a point which I assessed as unrecoverable. Very saddened by this event, I moved onto other builds but just couldn't let the Arizona go.
So, here we are. It's early 2025 and I've just acquired my 3rd 1/200 Arizona kit. This log will hopefully see the build through to successful completion and proud display within my home.
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