[berth44]

Well, it's as I thought, I just wondered how long it would take,(??) the wife's seen enough of 'das boot', totally pissed off she is, the red flag for the bull has gone up, she's off 'er head she is, absolutely no pleasing her at all with my 'hobby', I need to be cutting trees, painting the house, swabbing the decks,anything but working on my 'obsession!!'(as she describes it!!)Once upon a time it was a hobby she reckons, funny thing is, I think it's still................... a 'hobby??' "Hmmmm??"and really folks, I'm not doing it to annoy her, it's for my pleasure.. "honest!!"..... I would be 'lounging about' watching the telly anyway, bugger all that 'other crap', that's for days off, week ends,(maybe!!) my time is my time when my shift at work is done for the day, it's a struggle for me to do anything else anyway,(old and decrepid I am I am getting!!) but, as she works as well, she doesn't stop when she comes in, crap!, she's all Coronation St and Judge Judy every friggin night!!!
All I'm doing is watching MY programes as per usual, but I'm working on the Arizona while I do so, otherwise it would not be getting built, I've got no 'other place' to build it!
So, with her in such a foul mood, it annoys the crap out of me and makes me loose concentration (I can stll watch my progs over the top of me glasses by the way as I work!!) Unfortunately, this leads me into making mistakes, so what we have is 'a situation', but I'm not stopping the build folks, she can go and get stuffed and stick Coronation St where the sun don't shine,!!! I just think she is totally unreasonable at the moment..and folks wonder why I havn't finished a model???..... but I've made my mind up folks, I will finish this one.."""oh happy days!!!"""
Anyhoo, last night I had actually finished doing what I was doing before she 'started', I was pretty tired and was going to have a break from the build that night , but I decided to finish off the funnel by fixing the etched railings in place, (Oh woe was me!!!) I decided I would be using the smaller '4 railing length' on the fret (as per some searching on line).
So I cuts me a length (after some impossible measuring) to do the job , (there is a 'bigger' version of the 4 railings, they are for round the hull and gun/boat deck) and to finish off my night I was going to spray the completed funnel, but I've left that for this avvo (after I get in for work, it's still day light)..........Dave

[SkyFire]

What is it with women, they expect us, just to accept their hobbies and then just sit around and not do our own hobbies!!!!!!!

[berth44]

Exactly Anthony, glad you got the jist of it!!.......Dave

[berth44]

Not letting 'old moody guts' bother me I did a little more last night, I sprayed the funnel as I said to start off with, fitted a handrail to the turret 3 catapult, then I sprayed that and a couple of other parts while I was at it.
So, before the night was through I put together and glued up the first 4 parts of the forward bridge/mast section. I took time here to get rid of flow lines and naughty joints between parts. To 'fix' an ungainly joint,(s) I don't use filler,(well I do, it depends on how bad it is!) but in this case, I use 'streched sprue' (tip??)
It all depends on the 'joint' that you want to fix, I'll either use a thin bit or a thick bit of the 'stretched sprue' I apply super glue over the joint and into that goes a length of the sprue (dodgy ops, more than likely to stick fingers as well!!) I press it firmly into place with a flat needle file, trim the sprue at it's ends to fit the section that I'm 'fixing', (I may add a little more glue at this stage), it's left for a few mins to set, then I file and sand it down..easy, and it works!!
The part where the 'joint' line was really prominent was on what I think is the armour plated main gun 'post', (directly above and behind no2 turret)it has about 6-8 'slits' for the 'aimers' to see through. (looks like a 'WW2 pillbox')
This is in two parts, the roof is part 1,that has the top part of the 'slits', part 2 is the main body of the post, this also forms the 'bottom' of the 'slit' so there is this unsightly join line that runs the whole way round the post totally waisting the overall look of it, this is in reality a solid mass of armour plating....no visible joins.
The afore mentioned method works a treat in this case, when it's got a coat of paint on it, hopefully, it should look to be 'solid' as per the 'real' one....and that was last night.............Dave

P/S..there were no catty remarks from 'er indoors!!

[berth44]

Putting the bridge parts together to test for fit. I'll add all associated parts, 'cut shape fit' the handrails, then paint it all......Dave

[berth44]

I didn't progress any further than that I'm afraid, infact no handrails, no painting even, I did however do a lot of thinking, well, not as much to tax me brain, thought of lights, LED's, so I thought I'd give them a try, found out that they just blow when not fixed to a resistor!!, and that's only with a 9 volt battery!! The couple I did try with the added resistor were fine, not too bright...do these things get hot???..........Dave

[SkyFire]

Leds don't get hot, even the resistor shouldn't get hot, if it's only driving leds.

What you could do is, have 1 resistor per led, then no heat anywhere, or if there is some heat, it won't be enough to do any damage.

You could try 2 AA or C size batteries, then maybe no resistor at all. Do some testing before installing.

[bluedot0]

Sounds like she is progressing well Dave, I'll have to come and have a look.

The Arizona model at the memorial was away for repair when I was there, the guide said the glass cabinet had been damaged, so I missed out on her, but I can always look at your's........Phil

[bluedot0]

Now the "Mighty Mo" was something else, even though she has been decommissioned, the first thing you notice, naturally, is her enormous size, she is no little ship, then there is the aura of sheer power about her, she is indeed an intimidating piece of gear.

The tour was excellent, firstly around the deck and then we were allowed to roam about by ourselves below deck into designated areas, most impressive, well worth the visit i'll post a piccy or two soon......Phil

[berth44]

Thanks Anthony for that info, I'll give it a go, bit of experimentation will do for me, now where's my "sodder" as the American guy was pronouncing it as as checked out a site on how to install these things (didn't mention getting hot)...The reason I asked is because a few will be closely incased in 'plastic cabins' in the bridge part and the control towers on the main and foremast. I'm thinking that in all 'control' areas, I'm going to have 'red' LED's , cabins will have yellow. I'm going to put some LED's in the hull with only some of the portholes drilled out, don't want it looking like a passenger liner!!...........Dave

[berth44]

Nice to see you post again Phil,I would love to have been at the Memorial, one day when I'm older and more decrepit I might just visit, it's on my bucket list!!
Imagine the model gone,you just would not believe it, but mine is just as good!! All I did last night was fix a railing in place up on the bridge 'rangefinder' deck.
I had a double bed to take apart, take up to the neighbours, bring a replacement for it back down and into spare room 1, put that together, and then put a new 'double ensemble' in spare room 2, then I did the railing...phew!!!..........Dave

[bluedot0]

Well this is interesting.......not only are you a fine shipbuilder, a connoisseur of fine model trains and cars.......but a removalist as well!!!!!

You would enjoy the Memorial, it's a whole new complex, very well set out, with easy access to all areas and your own personal boat out to Arizona's resting place...............Phil

[bluedot0]

Bought a Trumpeter Richelieu in 350 scale, I have an old Heller one that has been cannibalised over the years, so a nice new kit of her will be welcomed.....Phil

[berth44]

Sounds good Phil. I've did a bit of 'super detailing' on the 'bridge range finder' deck, I don't know what I've actually done and whether it's right or not,'cause I aint seen it done on any other Arizona model, but what ever it is, it's there on the 'real thing!!!! I've noticed this on a 'wrecked' photo showing the bridge damage, and tried to find an answer, but I can't, so I've came up with my own version and used a wee bit of the old 'modellers license to boot!!, I've taken a photo anyway pre painting so that the white 'Plasticard' can be noticed.
All the railings on this part are done, I've painted it and it's ready for the 3 range finders to be fitted and 2 LEDs, one red, one yellow. I don't know if it's the Admirals bridge or the Captains, but it does have 'quarters' behind the control area, this will be the yellow LED (with no info, it's hard to identify this and other parts of the ship!)
The range finders should be 'dry' now, sprayed them before lunch, so they are ready to fit, and because I've modified them, they can turn the full circle once glued to their fixtures....Dave

[bluedot0]

Sounds like she's going very well Dave, I'm looking forward to seeing her.

What has the overall construction fit been like, I read part of a review by an american builder and he said it didn't go together too well, but I also got the impression he had bitten off more than he could chew with the kit as well.....Phil