This review is from: Revell 1:426 Uss Arizona Battleship (Toy)
I have been building plastic model kits for many years now and I have to say that this model was one of the most interesting and fun to build. All together if I added up all the hours I spent on it, it took me about 24 hours between gluing, painting, and waiting. It comes with 133 nicely detailed pieces and all of them get used. You have to be really careful not to lose anything.
When I first opened the box, the plastic trees which had the pieces attached to them were not sealed in plastic bags. This made them fly around the box during shipping. 11 of the pieces came off and there were several others that were about to fall off. I’m really glad that they didn’t get lost. Also, the tips of the 2 masts got bent and I had to be really careful to bend them back.
Painting all the little pieces definitely took the most time. With some models, you are able to glue several pieces together and paint the whole part at one, but not with this one. I had to paint each piece individually. The instructions list 10 required paint colors, the box lists 7 but in the end I used 4 colors. Flat black, flat white, tan and hull red (flat brown works too instead of hull red). Some listed colors aren’t even in the instructions and other colors, such as gold are used only for the turbines. So… its your call.
Go to Revell website to download the instructions manual. That’s what I did before purchase and it helped me out a lot.
I uploaded 5 pics of the finished model.
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This review is from: Revell 1:426 Uss Arizona Battleship (Toy)
I just recently bought/built this kit of the USS Arizona. I built this kit way back in the 1970’s when I was about 10 or 12 years old. It was enjoyabe then and was fun 30+ years later. I like building the model kits that I built as a kid, if they still exist. Back then, you didn’t pay attention to the molded on detail and fit problems or accuracy, you just were having fun building a model and using your imagination. True, as to the previous re-viewers comments on this kits, detail, accuracy, molding, fit problems, etc. are not up to snuff as compared to todays standard from todays manufacturers. You have to remember that this kit from Revell is over 40+ years old. Back in those days manufacturers were more concerned about getting kits to market. Back then, Revell was what Tamiya is today in the modeling world. So to all those “professional” model builders out there, remember that this is an extremely old kit and you will have problems with a kit that was first released in the 1950s. The instruction sheet is easy to follow and also calls out parts to be painted(if desired)at time of construction. I pre-painted everything before construction and touched up parts/locations after completion. Instruction sheet gives a brief history of this ship, painting suggestions, and decal placement. The kit also comes with 2 bi-plane scout aircraft, thus making this version of the USS ARIZONA roughly late-1930s configuration. The tri-pod masts come in multiple parts, but easy to assemble. The main guns can be made to go up/down, depending on fit; I just glued mine into the position that I wanted. Hull comes in 2 pieces and there may be a fit problem there due to age of kit; had to go “old school” and hold the hull together with rubber bands and a block of wood until the glue dried overnight. Fitting the deck (2 pieces) was another spot where I had some problems (same problem I had when I first built this kit as a kid), but everything went into place. Minor gap where the deck pieces joined together. Small decal sheet with ship name, hull number, and depth numbers as well as a small sheet of signal flags. Comes with its own stands. This kit would be a good beginning kit for a young person just starting out in the modeling hobby. This review is also good for Revell’s USS Missouri model kit. That kit, too, is also 40+ years old and I also built that kit as a youngster and just recently built it again. The USS Missouri kit also has problems with accuracy, fit, detail, etc. do to its age. The main thing about modeling that all the “professionals” seem to forget now a days is to have fun, and relieve stress.
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This review is from: Revell 1:426 Uss Arizona Battleship (Toy)
This model kit consists of over 100 pieces. The design is very good. Nearly all pieces are of reasonable sizes, so it would have been ideal even for beginners.
I say “would have” because the manufacturing quality is horrendous. Deformed pieces are common and feathers are everywhere. Trimming and in fact sculpting become a big part of the construction process, easily doubling the work load than had the quality been at Tamiya level.
Fortunately, the plastic is soft enough to curve with relative ease. There are no thin wires in the kit, so unlike the case with 05038 1/144 U-BOOT TYP VIIC RVL05038, breakage is not a big problem. Fitting large pieces together, however, can be a real struggle. I eventually use a lighter to soften the plastic into the right shape and end up having to buy a second set after ruining the first one. This is obviously not something that young kids should be allowed to attempt.
The documentation is weak and error-prone. The guns are not to scale. The design is of dubious historical accuracy. The main guns cannot maintain their elevations. But the main problem remains the poor manufacturing quality. If one can overlook or overcome this issue, the USS Arizona kit is a great project for novice or intermediate modelers.
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One of the most enjoyable models I’v ever built,
When I first opened the box, the plastic trees which had the pieces attached to them were not sealed in plastic bags. This made them fly around the box during shipping. 11 of the pieces came off and there were several others that were about to fall off. I’m really glad that they didn’t get lost. Also, the tips of the 2 masts got bent and I had to be really careful to bend them back.
Painting all the little pieces definitely took the most time. With some models, you are able to glue several pieces together and paint the whole part at one, but not with this one. I had to paint each piece individually. The instructions list 10 required paint colors, the box lists 7 but in the end I used 4 colors. Flat black, flat white, tan and hull red (flat brown works too instead of hull red). Some listed colors aren’t even in the instructions and other colors, such as gold are used only for the turbines. So… its your call.
Go to Revell website to download the instructions manual. That’s what I did before purchase and it helped me out a lot.
I uploaded 5 pics of the finished model.
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|Model Builder,
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|Poor quality takes away the fun.,
I say “would have” because the manufacturing quality is horrendous. Deformed pieces are common and feathers are everywhere. Trimming and in fact sculpting become a big part of the construction process, easily doubling the work load than had the quality been at Tamiya level.
Fortunately, the plastic is soft enough to curve with relative ease. There are no thin wires in the kit, so unlike the case with 05038 1/144 U-BOOT TYP VIIC RVL05038, breakage is not a big problem. Fitting large pieces together, however, can be a real struggle. I eventually use a lighter to soften the plastic into the right shape and end up having to buy a second set after ruining the first one. This is obviously not something that young kids should be allowed to attempt.
The documentation is weak and error-prone. The guns are not to scale. The design is of dubious historical accuracy. The main guns cannot maintain their elevations. But the main problem remains the poor manufacturing quality. If one can overlook or overcome this issue, the USS Arizona kit is a great project for novice or intermediate modelers.
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