One of the most Historic ships of WWII- my rendition of Tamiya's 1/350 Missouri
When I decided to build a model battle ship last year it didn't take to long to decide on a Tamiya version of the Missouri. The fantastic fine detail and super tight fit makes this model a joy to put together. The overall size is 30 inches which gives an airbrush guy like me something to work with.
As with the airplane models I like to do the "war weary" vesion and let some chipped paint and rust show through. Smoke from the stacks and guns have darkened the grey metal , plate joints show up here and there. It's just more fun that way.
Very serious modlers will take me to task on some choices I've made , I'll let you or them figure out which ones, but I claim to be more artist than historian.I will usually make choices that enhance the look if it is not too far afield .
One of the few things i did not like about the Tamiya model was its' display stand. It looked kind of funky for such a noble beast as the Missouri. I decided to go to the woodshop and craft my own. Which is what you see here. Stained mahogony looks better than black plastic I think.
Historically the Missouri was built fairly late in the War and was one of the largest Iowa Class ships. Her main claim to fame is the fact that the declaration that ended WWII was signed on her main forward gun deck and there is a plaque commemorating this today. She served a very long career and fired her guns for the last time in the first Gulf War. She is now moored in Pearl Harbor . She is not an official historical site because of modifications which modernized her and changed her significantly.Also many felt that ships who had been at Pearl during that attack shoud be the only ones thus honored.