by Roger Torgeson
1/350 USS Alaska CB-1 (Classic Warships)
My 1/350 Alaska build was a 2005/6 winter and spring project that took the better part of 5 months using a Classic Warships kit I've had in my kit stash since at least 1997. After hunting down as many photos as I could and purchasing a set of Alaska drawings from The Floating Drydock I started the build. The Actual build was straight foreword with only minor fit problems except when it came to mating the upper and lower hull, I had to cut the bottom hull into three parts and removing small amounts on both ends to get a good fit. Once that was accomplished a lot of time went into making not only the upper and lower hull seam disappear but also the other two seams from the cuts. I did replace all the smaller weapons with L'Arsenal 40mm parts and modified the Tamiya Missouri 20mm parts. A number of other Missouri parts were used as well as I found it easier to replace the white metal castings then cleaning them up. Steve Wiper at the time I purchased the kit told me it was the most complex PE he had ever included in one of his kits and I have to agree with him, a lot of time was spent checking PE against the photos and drawings to not only assure the correct location but also to determine what some of the PE part should look like once folded. I took full advantage of two builds I had seen and for once been smart enough to print out a years before, one by Keith Bender and the other by John Sheridan, both saved me plenty of times from making mistakes. I was given a large photo (18 X 24 inches) that was put to good use when it came time to paint the camouflage as I noticed a number of areas on official design sheet that did not match the photo, a couple of them not until I had the area already painted dull black. Over all it was a enjoyable build of a unique ship but one I would never would recommend to anyone without a fair amount of experience working with resin.
Why is it I never see all the dust until after I've take the photos?
