1/350 USS New Jersey Revell Platinum Edition

3rdJerseyman said:
When my little brother was stationed in Bremerton on the Nimitz in the mid-80s, I got to see the Missouri, Iowa, and New Jersey tied up side-by-side. Spectacular. In the history of warfare, you never seem to know what you need until it's too late. Truthfully, I don't think we can even make the rounds for the 16" guns anymore. The New Jersey is in Camden in the Delaware across from Philadelphia due to politics. The South Jersey faction imagined they could revive Camden ( often ranked as the worst city in the country for crime and poverty ) with the NJ, an aquarium, and a concert pavilion. The New Jersey should be in the Hudson across from NYC and the Intrepid CV-11. It would get many, many more visitors and would have looked absolutely spectacular. Oh well, politics. Philadephia is worth a visit for old-ship fans. You can tour the Olympia- the last of her kind and part of The Great White Fleet. You can also tour and eat on the Moshulu right next to her. The NJ is right across the river. Sadly, the magnificent SS United States sits rusting just down river on the PA side. Many plans have been proposed, but no one has been able to restore her (yet?). View attachment 384897
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3rdJersey man, you are spot on about Camden. My first introduction to Camden was when I worked as a newsfilm cameraman for New Jersey PTV. We had a south Jersey crew whose territory included Camden. There was an occasional need for a different crew to shoot a story there. I remember very well that crime was so bad that we learned that traffic lights were merely a suggestion. It was imprudent to stop at them any longer than necessary to avoid an accident. Years later when my wife and I worked at ABC we had to shoot a story in Camden. Having worked for ABC Network in the Midwest, she had no context for driving in Crime City. When I blew through all of the traffic lights Without stopping she was unnerved and wanted to know why? I simply told her… it’s to stay alive in the crime capital of America. We reminisce about that occasionally.
 
HPeterB said:
3rdJersey man, you are spot on about Camden. My first introduction to Camden was when I worked as a newsfilm cameraman for New Jersey PTV. We had a south Jersey crew whose territory included Camden. There was an occasional need for a different crew to shoot a story there. I remember very well that crime was so bad that we learned that traffic lights were merely a suggestion. It was imprudent to stop at them any longer than necessary to avoid an accident. Years later when my wife and I worked at ABC we had to shoot a story in Camden. Having worked for ABC Network in the Midwest, she had no context for driving in Crime City. When I blew through all of the traffic lights Without stopping she was unnerved and wanted to know why? I simply told her… it’s to stay alive in the crime capital of America. We reminisce about that occasionally.
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I'll give you Camden is bad, and I share a similar story regarding the traffic lights but the area of the New Jersey isnt as bad as they have done a lot of work cleaning it up over the years, being that I grew up in Jersey albeit not Camden I'm not as intimidated by the city though I will say there are areas I just plane wouldn't go or bring my family threw the area of the New Jersey and the aquarium are just as safe as NYC or any other major metropolitan area, you just gotta be smart about your surroundings.

There is how ever a benefit of the New Jerseys location and that is the fact it sits in fresh water and not salt. From a preservative stand point the only better thing then a museum ship moored in fresh water is one in dry dock permanently or on land.

As for the politics of how it got there and visitor traffic it receives I can't argue that infact it is a topic shared by the curator of the museum. Would it do better near the NYC intrepid? museum probably with out a doubt tourism in that area is high but as the ships name sake is Jersey and the fact that it's moored practically up the river from where she was built she couldn't be in a better spot, there isn't many State named ships that can be turned into a museum in there home state.

Another benefit to it's location is the US Navys mothballs aren't to far away some of which have been floating storage for parts taken off the ship during it's service life, and the museum has been able to make trips to recover those parts.

The last factor has to do with the ships vicinity to a dry dock that can hold her, Museum ships are supposed to be dry docked once every 20 years the New Jersey is unfortunately going on 30 years since her hull was last out of the water.

There aren't many dry docks that can take a Iowa class battleship, and the process of getting the ship to the dry dock is expensive and extremely risky on top of that it is estimated it would cost in the millions to dry dock the ship and make repairs. So being close to a dry dock saves the museum a lot of money. A current example of this process is the USS texas.
 
Small update-

So I ordered a few aftermarket parts,

As the kit stands with the included upgrades they Revell actually brought a significant level of detail to the ship it's self though in my opinion they fell short in a few areas and there are some after market kits to correct this.

The first is the CWIS phalanx guns, the kit included ones lack any real depth or detail and there was no PE improvement included, so I found some resin/PE after market ones made by Veteran Models for around 20 bucks.Screenshot_20230719-210812.png

Secondly the Tomahawk launchers the kit included seriously lack detail, the kit does include a few pieces of PE that improve them alittle as seen in a picture I posted previously but with out the PE the parts are literally flat rectangles, I have found a upgrade kit also by veteran models but haven't pulled the trigger on the purchase yet.Screenshot_20230719-210841.png

The third weapons system that could use a major upgrade is the Harpoon Anti-Ship missile system, this part I think is the worst of the offenders it's literally white undefined tubes, no PE was included to improve this part at all it like Revell made no effort here. So like the tomahawk systems I'm searching for a replacement kit.Screenshot_20230719-211019.png

The last upgrade was the MK13 Sky attack radar system, the Kit provides a bunch of PE to upgrade the part how ever in my opinion it's just not making the grade, and honestly the part is so small I'm have some issues improving on it.

I found a replacement kit for the MK13 Sky attack radar made by a company YAo's studio the parts are high detail 3d printed resin and they were priced at only 15 bucks so I purchased them.Screenshot_20230719-210752.png

So currently I have the radar and the CWIS kits ordered, and i'm looking for reasonably priced tomahawks and harpoon systems. Additionally I'm considering purchasing some USN hatches and water tight doors (PE Kits), the box kit has a few deck hatches but revell I guess didn't care about any of the hatches on the super structure which unfortunately are bland and lacking.

Also up for consideration are Anchors, the kit included a chain but for what ever reason didn't consider an anchor and the standard part isn't a representation of a USN fast battleship Anchor.Screenshot_20230719-211054.png

The last optional upgrade is the

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Hey guys sorry for the delay in progress updates have a lot on my personal plate at the moment, I have made some progress with the USS New Jersey.

For a while I was struggling because I was trying to build the ship in a manner that would make it easy to do in sub sections and keep fragile parts safe until final assembly which created a lot of frustration for me along the way.

I decided to work on the main deck and work up but I've come across some issues.. for what ever reason wether it be revells original instructions pre upgrade or the updated instructions I've found some areas of the build that have left me scratching my head as I can't find any where in the instructions a clear indication of what parts go where.

The main deck in its self has major upgrades and it seems that for what ever reason revells base instructions don't give a clear indication of assembly and the upgrade instructions seem to miss a few things but what ever the case im stumped, I even downloaded the previous version of this kits instructions in case they accidentally cut out the instructions in the upgradePXL_20230815_200357477.jpg
In the picture above you'll see three pegs at the bottom right of the stern gun turret that don't have gray parts on them, these should be windless turning heads for gear handling except idk what part goes there16921305306082007842999555466257.jpg
In the box image there are parts here but I have found anything in the box that looks like these parts16921307400387805599545380701068.jpg
This is the only area in the instructions that covers this area of the ship in the build but it leaves them blank.
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And the upgrade part page leaves this area a mystery as well??? There's also one other place that is missing a part and instructions, the forward starboard base of the super structure or the 01 deck level16921309710322327485195293140624.jpg
Any ideas help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

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did you download the Booklet of General Plans 1984 for the NJ & if so, have you looked at them?
 
Davidp said:
did you download the Booklet of General Plans 1984 for the NJ & if so, have you looked at them?
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I think so I got a set of plans from the Battle Ship NJ Museum but idk what era they are how ever I don't really think it's a issue of understanding what is supposed to be there but more what part is supposed to be there if that makes any sense
 
look at sheet 6 & 7 of the plans as it tells you what is supposed to be there.
 
If we are looking at the same plans?Screenshot_20230815-183053.png
That particular spot on the deck as well as the other two are vents, however this still doesn't help me figure out what Spru and part number is supposed to go there or if I need to fabricate one.
On another note I see there are some hatches not on the model that I think I'm gonna add on both sides of the turret.
 
FMFDoc82 said:
Hello everyone, this will be my first build log here and mostly my first build log anywhere so hopefully as I move along threw the build I'll get better at sharing the good stuff with you all.

The Kit is the Revell Platinum Edition 1/350 USS New Jersey post 1982 era
The cool thing about this kit is it comes with tons of upgrades built into the kit it's self. Wooden deck, turned brass barrels, and PE. Revell really stepped up it's game with this kit unfortunately since I already started I don't have a nice layout of all the parts and pieces to show you guys.

One downfall to the kit is the instructions, like any out of the box kit in which you add upgrades you have your base instructions and your or instructions an the base instructions were not designed when the PE and upgrades where added to the kit so you have to work from three separate instructions books, which over all aren't the worst PE instructions I've come across but aren't the best either.

The Kit parts them selves seem to be pretty good quality not much flash or mold/injection lines and marks. And they dry fit well enough with only some minor clean up and seam work at the joints.

As a US Navy sailor a generation to late to enjoy the Iowa class battleships I never got a chance to see true surface warfare but these battleships always were the most spectacular pieces of naval engineering I've ever laid eyes upon. The USS New Jersey now rests after 4 commisionings and decommissionings as a museum ship just 30 minutes from my house, over the years I've visited her several times and even had a chance to stay aboard her for a few days as a kid. Recently I applied to be a volunteer at the museum ship to help with restoration projects how ever I have to find the time to actually get down to her and put in the work.

The New Jersey has severed in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, The Cold War, Lebanon, and the beginning of Desert Storm and between each conflict received several updates and refits, the final state she was transformed to is the state she remains and also the state in which this model kit reflects. Prior to her decommissioning she could hold her own in speed strength and reach with our most modern US fleet which is pretty amazing for a ship launched in 1943.

Personally I believe our modern navy is lacking in our surface Warfare department, ever since the naval aircraft and guided missiles came into the picture there has been at least in my opinion a miss guided belief that ship to ship combat is a thing of the past an while it may be partially true we also haven't fought a country with a modern/equivalent navy in a few decades so we wouldn't truly know but a sailor can dream, if there was ever a bucket list item it would be seeing a 16" gun broad side firing.
Tonight I worked on a small section of the super structure that had some PE I figured I'd do this build in sub sections and give my self a chance to learn PE building in small amounts so not to get over whelmed and fat finger the parts like I have in previous builds
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Hallo @FMFDoc82
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Birthday-Cake
 
HPeterB said:
3rdJersey man, you are spot on about Camden. My first introduction to Camden was when I worked as a newsfilm cameraman for New Jersey PTV. We had a south Jersey crew whose territory included Camden. There was an occasional need for a different crew to shoot a story there. I remember very well that crime was so bad that we learned that traffic lights were merely a suggestion. It was imprudent to stop at them any longer than necessary to avoid an accident. Years later when my wife and I worked at ABC we had to shoot a story in Camden. Having worked for ABC Network in the Midwest, she had no context for driving in Crime City. When I blew through all of the traffic lights Without stopping she was unnerved and wanted to know why? I simply told her… it’s to stay alive in the crime capital of America. We reminisce about that occasionally.
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It's sad because it was a great place once. Walt Whitman's home town. The home of Campbell's Soup, the home of RCA Victor. It had great public buildings. Libraries, schools, churches, but the population changed. I think they lost about 2/3rds of their citizens since the 50s. When you go to a concert there- very nice pavillion with great view across the Delaware, they have cops on every corner guarding the suburbanites as they come and go. They just moved the NJ down river to a drydock for restoration and hull cleaning. I didn't get there, but the videos and pictures were spectacular. Good luck with the model. I have two nephews who are recent Academy graduates and my brother gave 26 years active and reserve. We sure do need a bigger Navy.
 
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