Digital Navy - USS Arizona - 1/100

Teamski

Member
Wow! Now that is crazy stuff you got going on there. It looks like you got an excellent start on it though. This is going to be fun!!

-Ski
 
Chris.... That sounds like a good idea. Safety scissors, card and a 4-year old. Good distraction.

Ski... You're absolutely right. It's already been a lot of fun, and I haven't gotten to the good part yet. I'm going to Kinkos next week to print out the color parts. That's when the real fun starts.

Rusty... You'll notice the cube in a lot of build threads once you venture around the site more. It's really handy for giving scale to micro assemblies because you can see the measurements on the sides of the cube. To put the cube in with my scale is almost lost in the picture. :mrgreen: However, some of the guys around this site who posses one of these will know immediately the extents of the model that I'm dealing with.
 
Superstructure is coming into focus

Well, a little more progress to show today. The lower half of the hull superstructure is now complete. I have taken a couple shots with the upper half just resting upon it. I'm mounting the two halves together today.

I'm using a series of rubber bands and glue to mount three ribs at a time. This will ensure proper alignment as I go down the length of the model.

Why rubber bands and no weights you might ask? Since the bow and stern taper upward off the floor, weighing is not a realistic solution. With the many slots for the longitudinal struts, I have many binding points in the ribs that I can use adjustable rubber bands in. The rubber bands allow some adjustment too after immediate gluing. I find this method works well.

arizona9ys8.jpg


arizona10ah8.jpg
 

jasco

Member
Once again, it has been a while since I visited this site. WOW! Are you nuts? Good looking start- I'll be watching, since I'm still trying to convert the DN AZ into the USS PA. And you may as well confess...You haven't really explained what you are doing to your wife, have you?
 

Loopy

New Member
Nice!

Please tell us how you convinced your wife ;-), I might just need to use the same excuse.

PS first time I've seen 1/350 ship of that size look small!
 
Jasco... Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I just left my wife in the dark for a while. The cats out of the bag now. A very big cat.

Yeah, I was enjoying your conversion project. Give us an update please.

Loopy... Thanks, there wasn't much convincing. I just did it. :mrgreen: now I have to find wall space for it. I agree. I used to think 1/350 was a "large scale" model. :mrgreen:

More pictures to come tomorrow night.
 
everything is attached very well,,, and it looks true

hehehe
now the real work begins...
i knew if i took a couple of days off i could get you to trouble shoot the build for me...:twisted:

i suppose since the hull bottom is next in line you wil have to decide soon if you will be sealing sanding and painting if you are going to do so...

i think that i am just going to try paper and ink first since there is so much nice detail in the hull work and i dont want to have to recreate it...
besides i would rather wait and see what results you get if you do it

sign1

you da guinea pig now

guinea-pig.jpg


well i figured you needed a super sized one to go with da ship

:thumb:
 
Thanks Hermit. I feel like a big guinea pig.

You know, the hull plate work looks so good on the photos of the one on DN's website, if mine turns out that well... I'll probably not paint. I'm really going to wait and see how it turns out.

Here's some progress photos. I took a shot during the mounting process to show my fancy rubber band trick. Also, now that the two halves are mounted, I'm starting to install the horizontal formers. These are going in very well. The fit up has been amazing thus far. Like a glove.

arizona11hk8.jpg


arizona12ae7.jpg


arizona13vr7.jpg
 

ramcdaniel1

New Member
Wow, it looks like she's coming along nicely! This will be some model when it's done!

I have recently gotten into building 1/144 scale ships. Plastic subs (Seawolf, Kilo, and a 212A) at the moment but it looks like I will be turning to paper models cocidering the lack of plastic kits in this scale. I am mostly interested in modern warships and they do not appear to be easy to find in paper. I especially need them in digital form so I can scale them. Anyone got any ideas? I'm a bit of a newbie to this.

By the way, I live in Maryville.:wave:
 
Thanks for the kind words ramcdaniel1. Yes, its quite an undertaking.

If you like to build big, then card models are the way to go. You can get a specific model that you like and scan it. You can then reproduce it to whatever scale you want, within reason. Some models lose clarity when reproduced at large scales. However, if you enlarge an already large model, say 1/300 or larger you don't tend to lose much clarity.

This Arizona is printed in 1/250 scale and the lines came out nicely at 1/100.

Modern warships are tricky to find, but you might try a couple of these sites... take a look around and see what you can find.

Maryville you say... Don't you mean "Murraville"??? :mrgreen: I don't have a clue how that got started. :rolleyes:

Cardmodelshop
Paper Model Store
Paper Models by Scale Paper International - Card Models - Kartonmodelle

As for the Arizona... I've completed the hull superstructure. All the struts are in place and the model is square as can be. I'm very pleased with how it looks thus far. The attached pictures show it right side up and upside down so you can see all the formers.

This will be my last update for a few days. I'm now going to do some shopping for the most affordable printer in town to reproduce all my color parts. I've got a local blue print company that my business does a lot of work with. They might give me a break. :twisted:
arizona14ih0.jpg


arizona15kz1.jpg
 
Thanks Barry.

During my down time, I took a few minutes to print out the deck parts in black and white and test fit them to the model. I did this primarily out of bordem :rolleyes: but I also did it to check fit and overall look.

Man, this looks great.

On the color part printing front... Wow, I received quotes from several printers and sheesh is the some expensive stuff. I don't know if I'll be able to afford to build "big" again. My blue print co. is cutting me a "deal" and I'm still paying about $12 US per sheet. Over the 24 sheets I'm coming in at close to $300 US total for the print job. :eek:

That's better than some of the quotes I received. I was averaging somewhere between $5 - $7 per square foot of print. That runs close to or over $500!!! There's got to be a cheaper way. But at this point I will have to cave to my original printer. This project is really adding up. And this doesn't even include the cardstock materials that I will have to laminate to.

arizonatestdeckiu5.jpg
 

barry

Active Member
Blimey Elb at those prices i would be checking to see how long my inkjet would print looks impressive though
 

NYC Irish

Member
HP1220c is dirt cheap and relaible...prints up to 13x19 on heavy stock...real workhorse printer
Check Ebay for new or used....very cheap either way

Just saying....

John John
 
Thanks guys. That's good to know about that printer. I'll need one of those soon. I'll have a future use for it.

On this job in particular though, I think the page size is what's killing me. My pages at 250% zoom are 18" x 26". That's got to be a big part of the cost.
 
We Have Color!!!

I know it's just hull plating, but I can't help but get excited. I've been looking at B/W parts for a few weeks now.

Dazzling. Fit so far seems to be really good. I'm painting the former's edges with my own mixed "hull red" to match the card. If even the slightest gap peeks through, it will match the hull plating.

There is so much detail on DN's Arizona hull, it would be a crime to paint over it.

arizona16pt2.jpg


arizona17ly7.jpg


arizona18yz1.jpg
 

airbob

Member
Wow!!!

eib,
This jumbo Arizona is looking really good!!!:thumb::thumb::thumb:...however, since I build at the other end of the scale....I keep seeing this at 1:400....similar probably to your plastic model in size....however, you are doing a superb job on this massive project....my hat is off to you!!! By the way...I'm from Clarksville:wave:....I went to the Cookville ISPM conferance in May I believe...may go back there next year to represent card modeling...I was the only one there this year:wave::inmew:....they were MOST INTERESTED in the card modeling! ...bob out...
 
Thanks Airbob. Clarksville? It seems Tennessee is becoming a hot-bed for card modelers. :mrgreen:

Yeah, I've heard similar stories. It seems the ISPM is interested in cultivating interest in card modeling.

If I can get this beast done by next Fall, I'm going to take it to Virginia Beach for the Nationals...

That is, if it meets my rigorous standards of excellence. wall1
 
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