[Digital Navy] USS Arizona (2002 ver)

USS Arizona 1:250 scale card model Assembly guide 1. General information. The model was designed as a full hull, and divided (for construction reasons) - at the top of the hull bulges. This division line does not correspond to the waterline of the ship, which means that building the ship as a waterline model will require some “surgery” to be performed on the lower part of the hull. The waterline is marked as a dashed line on all bulkheads and longitudal formers. To build a waterline version of the model cut the parts at the dashed line and discard the lower portion. You will also need to print two copies of parts 16A,B,C, and use one set as a waterline and another as a top af the bulges. You will also need to cut all the lower hull plates at the waterline - it is recomended that you glue the plates to the bulkheads first, and then cut away the portion below the waterline. The black waterline band was not printed on the hull plates, but supplied as separate 6mm wide stripes wich have to be glued to the hull. This approach allows us to create a straight waterline, which would be difficult if the waterline was printed directly on the hull plates, which can be slightly misaligned after being glued to the hull. The demarcation line between the gray and red on the hull plates marks the middle of the waterline stripes. Sheets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 shuold be doubled to the thickness of 1mm. This thickness was taken under consideration during the design process and it may impair the fit of the parts if the thickness is different. Annotation L and R in the numbering of parts indicates the left and right side of the ship, looking from the rear part of the ship towards the front.

Assembly sequence 1. Double

all the bulkheads and formers from sheets 1-7 to the thickness of 1mm. Start from gluing together the lower part of the ship framework. Glue together parts 16A, B and C and draw the positions of the bulkheads and formers on the underside. Attach part 16 (the printed side down) to a long enough, and straight, piece of wood or shelf to avoid any warping of the hull, and glue the lower parts of the bulkheads and longitudinal formers to part 16. Figure 1 shows the assembled lower part of the ship framework. At this point add reinforcement parts from sheet 7 between bulkheads to maintain equal distance between them. The reinforcement parts are numbered according to the bulkheads they go between. 2. Turn the just created lower part of the hull framework upside down and glue parts 20A,B,C and 19A,B,C to the top of part 16. Then glue all the rest of the upper hull framework according to figure 2. 3. Glue together deck 23 to 24 and 25 to 26. Cut out all the openings for the gun turrets, mast and anchor chains. Glue the decks to the top of the framework.

4. At this point you should glue “assembly tabs” to the bulkheads and formers where the joints of the hull plating will be. Assembly tabs for the bulkheads are on the sheet 8, cut the rest ( for example for parts 21A and 22A ) from thin paper. 5. Now it is time to cover the hull with hull plating. It is recommended to start from the middle of the ship, let us say from plating 8-9, and work towards the bow and the stern - this way you minimize the possibility of mistakes and gaps in the plating. Pay attention to the fit of the plates to part 16 - the gaps on the bottom of the ship will be covered with the keel and are not important. Figure 3 shows the cross-section of the hull with the plating on. 6. To complete the upper part of the hull plating you have to assemble the “leftovers” of the gun casemates first and glue them to the hull sides before gluing the hull sides to the hull. Fig. 4 shows the casemates assembly using the example of part 42, the rest of the casemates are similar. With the casemates glued to the hull plating, attach the plates to the hull. Parts 19 and 20 provide a guide and gluing surface for the hull sides on the bulges level. Fig 5 shows hull plating of the bow and stern, and some small parts for later reference.

Fig.5 7. Glue the rudder, propellers and shaft supports and attach them to the hull according to Fig.6. Make shafts from a 2mm thick , 40mm long wire. Insert the shafts into parts 29 glued to the hull. Positions where you glue shaft supports to the hull are not marked - glue supports 30 to the ends of the shafts and the hull, keeping the shafts parallel to the keel.

Fig.6

8. With the hull ready, it is time to build the superstructure. Double parts 43 and 45 to 1mm thickness to reinforce them, and to provide enough gluing surface. Cut out a hole for the mast pole in part 43 and holes for the gun barrels in parts 44. Form parts 44 to the proper shape before gluing parts 45 to them. The shape of part 44 is determind by part 45, not by the deck 43. Be careful to glue part 45 to the bottom of part 44, not to the top. With parts 45 and 44 glued together, attach them to the deck 43. Glue the finished assembly of the quarterdeck to the main deck. Refer to Fig.7. Fig.7 9. Asemmble the rear wall of the quarterdeck. Form part 47 according to Fig.8, and glue part 46 to part 47 before gluing both to the hull.

10. Tower bridge and foremast. Form and glue forward mast legs - 96 and 97 - and director support columns 100. Print sheet 18 on thin paper ( regular copy paper works well ) - this will make rolling tight cylinders much easier than trying to do it with cardstock. All parts on sheet 18 are to be tightly rolled. The central leg of the foremast has to rest on the main deck - 24 - protruding through quarterdeck 43 trough the hole where part 49 will go. This design assures proper alignment of the tower bridge, as all the parts have to be fitted on the mast. Double to the thickness of 1mm, and cut out all the neccesary holes in the bridge platforms 53, 54, 59, 63, 65, 68 and 69 ( holes for the mast legs, ladders, director columns and supports). Glue the walls of each deckhouse around its roof ( for example part 49 around part 49a) and railings around platforms before attaching the parts to the bridge. Fig. 9 and 10 show the part arrangement - to clarify the drawings, platform railings have been omitted. Install the supporting legs of the tripod mast after you complete the assembly of the bridge up to the machine gun plat-

form 69. Of course, you can prepare the mast legs and check, as you go along, if the holes for the legs in the platforms line up . It is important that you install ladders leading from one platform to another each time you add a new platform to the bridge. Fig.11 and 12 show the ladder construction and arrangement. There are also small parts which you may install as you go along with the bridge construction. These are small search lights 182 and saluting guns 186 on platform 53. Install the supporting legs of mast 97. Glue together the fighting top (parts 84, 85, 86) and glue it to the top of the mast. Glue all the platform supports according to the Fig. 13.The gray portions of the railings should be painted gray inside, but leave the white, canvas covered portions of the railing white inside. Also paint gray the not printed sides of the wind deflector 63e and 63d. Before starting with the funnel glue the long ladders from platform 53 to the deck. Ladders go paralell to the supporting legs of the mast. Refer to other drawings, showing the tower bridge, to install small parts - there are also numbers printed in the part locations.

11.Fig.14 shows the funnel construction.The parts of the framework should be doubled to the thickness of 1mm. The seam on parts 70 and 71 goes on the front of the funnel. White bands on those parts indicate the location of parts 78a, part 79 goes on top of them. Glue parts 78b on both sides of the funnel centered to part 78. Roll part 71a into a tight tube and glue to the back of the funnel (not shown on Fig.14 ).Glue the ready funnel to the deck behind the tower. 12. Fig.15 shows the main mast with the search light and director platforms. As with the bridge tower, glue platforms to the main leg of the mast 98 first (use a slow-drying glue so you can reposition the parts if needed ), and then install supporting legs 99. 13. Build ship cranes according to Fig.16. You can easily make the cranes rotatable by rolling a piece of paper so it fits tightly into part 138, gluing this piece to part 139 and inserting it into part 138. 14. Assembly all the parts which go between the

main mast and the X main gun turret. Fig 17 shows the arrangement of the parts. It also shows the catapult on the roof of the X turret for later reference. 15. Assemble antiaircraft guns according to Fig.18. Use 0.5mm, 18mm long wire to create gun barrels, and paint them gray. Install shields 157-161 as shown in Fig.19.

16. Main gun turrets. Double parts 101, 102, 103 and 104 to the thickness of 1mm. Using these parts glue the turret framework as in the first drawing of Fig.20 - colored portions of the parts should face the front of the turret. Form parts 105 and 106 and glue them to the framework. Turret sides should completely cover part 101. Parts 105 and 106 have tabs to connect turret face and back plates, but you may want to remove them to create “sharper” point joints. Carefully cut out gun slots in the face plate 107, and glue thr plate to the turret. Glue plate 108 to the back of the turret. Glue together parts 113 and 114 and glue the turret to part 113. Assemble rangefinders according to Fig.20. Double parts 109 to create some thickness, paint edges gray and glue the parts to the turret, remembering that there are left and right parts 109. Fig.20 shows the cross-section of the barbete for turret B and X, barbetes for turret A and Y are similar. Double parts 115 and 116, cut away dashed circles, and glue these parts into parts 117, 118 and 119 formed into cylinders. Assemble cylinders 121 - you have to do it for each turret individually so that the cylinders fit tightly into holes in parts 115 ( turrets B and X) and in the main deck (turrets A and Y). Glue the cylinders to parts 114. Glue barbetes to the deck and insert turrets - they should rotate easily. 17. Ship boats. Assemble ship boats using Fig.21 and 22 as a guide. Fig.26 shows boat mounts and other small parts on the quarterdeck - stack boats onto one another on the mounts and motor boats on mounts 155 between the main mast and X turret - use photos of the model as a guide.

18. Fig.23 and 24 show small details - winches and gun directors. 19. Observation plane. Fig.25 shows the construction of the Kingfisher floatplane. It may be useful to print parts of the plane on a paper that is a little bit thinner than the rest of the model ( 6070lb). This will make forming the plane fuselage easier. There are two color schemes of the plane choose one and build two or three planes and place them on the catapult - one or two on the X turret roof and one on the rear catapult.

20. Long yardarms were an important feature of the Arizona. These cannot be made out of paper - build them using a 1mm wire and thin thread and paint them light gray. Fig 27. shows the yardarm construction. You will find small white circles on the back of part 84. These mark locations of the wires for the yardarms.

21. These instructions do not describe the construction and placement of all the parts - use the photos of the model to determine the placement of other parts - ventilators, bollards, anti-mine paravanes, boat davits, reels and booms. Make rigging from thread according to the photos. Protect the finished model with a layer of flat clear laquer.

Instruction update If you build the waterline version of the model refer to the drawing below, which shows construction of the hull frame using sheets 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A. This approach simplifies construction of the ship hull - there is no need for the“surgery” mentioned in paragraph 1. Double all parts on sheets 1A...5A to 1mm. Use waterline stripes from sheet 26 for the hull plating below parts 19.