by William Bowden
1/350 USS Missouri BB-63 (Tamiya)
I built Tamiya's 1/350th scale Missouri using the Gold Medal Models PE set along with Tamiya and Polly Scale acrylics. The fit was very good, except for the forward deck pieces--there is a very noticeable gap that I was not able to fully hide at all. This ship was my first attempt at just about everything: airbrushing, PE parts, sanding parts, proper masking, rigging, you name it. It was a baptism in fire for me but a necessary one. I chose Measure 22 camouflage because Measure 32 would have been death at the time. I immediately grew hateful of the PS paints because they kept clogging my airbrush. It was one of those poor single action Aztek ones and I have since upgraded to a nice a470. Without bending pliers or a hold 'n' fold the PE parts gave me a horrific headache and didn't come out so hot. I also was using the very poor Zap CA (get Gunze's Mr. Just instead!). I only used about a third of the PE parts on the ship. The rigging was done with some fishing line, but turned out terribly. I will try something else next time. I tried stretched sprue but that didn't work either. The biggest shorcomings were poor a poor paint job and poorly done PE. I made the stand out of a piece sign wood and some dowels, and then stained it and screwed the ship on. I built this ship for my friend Hank's 21st birthday. He is a Navy nut and hopes to command subs after college.
