by Robert Apfelzweig
1/350 BB-63 USS Missouri (Tamiya)
This is my addition to the already sizable collection of Tamiya USS Missouri's on this website, completed last fall. I used the Gold Medal Models standard and super photoetch sets, and painted the ship in her original late 1944 camouflage scheme. I also installed Veteran 5" 38.cal. brass gun barrels on the secondary turrets, and modified them so that they all rotate. I had built models of the Iowa class battleships as early as the late 50's and early 60's when Revell first issued their rather crude kits for $1.98 each -- and with their flat bottoms, shortened rudders, badly moulded antiaircraft guns and lack of propellors, these were little more than pushable carpet or bathtub toys. Tamiya has set a considerably higher standard! I should point out that I have had some difficulty getting good photos of my models -- haven't quite mastered my digital camera, had to change venues between natural and artificial light, and often need to rely on Photoshop Elements to brighten up the pictures.
