Building a Tamiya Missouri with Super-detailing

[Builder 2010]

Building the Stand Parts

Earlier today I mentioned buying the "standchions" for the base from a lamp store. I read on another website that lampshade extenders make nice standoffs for a dressy base. I spent some time in the shop tonight getting them ready. Here's what one looks like.

Inside the hull I epoxied a stack of plywood. The machined screw on the end is only about 5/8" long and my blocks were way too thick so after drilling the hole I used a Forstner bit to make a flat-bottomed counterbore. I should have used a small pilot hole, then used the forstner and then the clearance hole drill...but I didn't. Therefore, it was hard to center the forstner and the counterbore came out a little off center. I used my Dremel to enlarge the space so the knurled nut would center over the screw. I sanded the bottom of these nuts to give them a rough surface and very sparingly used Gorilla Urethane glue to glue the nut to the block. It's going to be of sight when the decks are in place and needs to stay put. I going to remove the screws soon just in case the Gorilla glue has seeped into the threads. It DOES expand when it cures.

Here's the two stands fitted to the hull. They're nice and straight and are going to look good mounted on a nice plank. The holes are 8" apart on the centerline. I put a small locating hole into the hull to align the blocks when I epoxied them in.

Now to the other end. I bought some 1/4-27 threaded rod also. I actually went back in the lamp store's workshop and hacksawed my own pieces. They all had to be deburred so I chucked them in my mini-lathe and filed the first couple of threads to a nice taper. I put them into the female end of the stands and used a red thread-lock anaerobic adhesvie to prevent them from turning when a nut is put on the other end.



You have to use those knurled nuts because I challenge you to find a 1/4-27 nut in the Home Depot. I left 5/8" exposed which should be enough wood to hold a plastic ship and a 1/8" thick knurled nut.

[Builder 2010]

Back to the Deck Templates

I realized after spending an hour drawing the decking templates that I was drawing the template for the wrong deck. The deck that I'm going to have to trim is the 2nd level superstructure, not the 3rd. So it was back to the digital drawing board. I scaled the photo as closely as I could by measuring an easily identifiable feature on the actual model part (in this case a 5" gun base ring) and using this dimension manipulating the drawing on the screen so the circle measures the same. I got it within .005"...close enough for rock and roll as I used to say in my guitar playing days.



I use CorelDraw, a vector drawing program similar to Adobe Illustrator. While it's mainly an art-oriented program, you can do precision work somewhat akin to CadCam. I measured directly from the model and used the photograph as a general guide. One of the problems is that there is a slight taper to the vertical plastic surfaces (called draft for the non-machinists in the audience) and it's there to enable the parts to be withdrawn from the injection molds. It also creates a slight error if you use the upper surface in the photograph to make the template. The template comes out oversize and doesn't snuggle down on the deck. I measured from the bottom of the walls with the digital caliper to get an accurate measure. After printing the template and cutting it out with scissors, it fits very nicely.

When I get the decking, I will reprint the template on adhesive sheets, stick it onto a piece of 0.020 styrene sheet and cut and file the template to the exact contour. I'll use this plastic template to trim the decking. It should work well, but the walkway at the narrow part is really small and the decking's going to be very fragile.

Today I tried to locate someone who could make me a nice wood base, but no luck so far.

[USSWisconsin]

I wonder if a hardwood shelf panel would work for a base, you could get one of those at a Lowes or Home Depot. A custom cabinet maker would be a good person to ask for a fancy job with a router edge. Could you install the deck in two or three pieces in the fragile area?

[Builder 2010]

I'm heading to Lowes/HD today to talk to them about possibilities. If I can get the center section cut to size, I can cobble something together by installing the decorative edging. I have a good cutoff saw, but not a table saw or router.

Seaming the deck is always a possibility, but each seam is another potential problem. As we discussed before, when it's in a case, the closest you can get to it will be about 5". If you can't see the detail from that point of view, then it doesn't matter if it's there or not (other than the obsession of the builder).

If anyone ever needs these templates I can get them to you at as a PDF in the exact size.

[USSWisconsin]

I'm heading to Lowes/HD today to talk to them about possibilities. If I can get the center section cut to size, I can cobble something together by installing the decorative edging. I have a good cutoff saw, but not a table saw or router.

Seaming the deck is always a possibility, but each seam is another potential problem. As we discussed before, when it's in a case, the closest you can get to it will be about 5". If you can't see the detail from that point of view, then it doesn't matter if it's there or not (other than the obsession of the builder).

If anyone ever needs these templates I can get them to you at as a PDF in the exact size.

Perhaps a piece of movable deck equipment or something could be placed on top of the decking seams to hide them? A PE coil of rope or some small tools?

[Builder 2010]

Any is possible. If the deck is cut carefully enough, the seams would be almost invisible anyway.

[Builder 2010]

Stand Contruction Continues

Found a perfectly sized plank of poplar at Home Depot. It just had to be ripped to size. The fellow did it (against company policy) on the panel saw. I found some interesting rope-shaped molding for the edge (very nautical, don't you think), and bought some 3/16" plexiglass for the enclosure. The wood was free! Laid out the center lines and used a transfer punch to transfer the hole centers on the hull to the plank. This picture shows the boat temporarly to see the fit.
I had to counter bore the holes in the bottom of the plank to give room for the stud to be fastened, but the round, knurled, lamp-nut was very hard to tighten so I turned it into a "spanner nut" by drilling a couple of small holes in the nut so a snap-ring plier can be used to firmly tighten the nut at the end.

Here's the plank with the edging in place. I purposefully mounted the edging low on the sides to provide a lip over which the enclosure can be placed. This made for a part of the edging hanging out of the bottom. I used the belt sander to knock that off. After finishing the bottom will get some felt so it won't scratch the funiture.

Here's some closeups of the edging. I used a nail set on the nail heads and since these pics were taken I used some filler to hid the nails and clean up the corners. I also put a coat of Walnut stain, and this weekend will finish with polyurethane vanish and the stand will be done waiting for the ship.

I cut the plexiglass pieces, but found out that I forgot to buy material for the top so I'll hit HD on the way to the office and get another piece. I've built plexi boxes before, years ago when I was building the Pocher, 1/8th scale classic model cars for collectors. One of my patrons insisted that I give him the model with the plexiglass enclosure so I learned how to build one. In that instance I had the material cut to size at the supplier. In this case, I'm cutting it myself. I do a more detailed thread on this as I progress.

[Builder 2010]

Showcase Finished

Had some quality work time this week and got the showcase completed and got back to work on the model. The Life Color Haze Blue paint was delivered this week so I could get back to painting the parts, and with the stand completed, I was able to start painting the hull. I'll do this in two posts since there's more than five pictures.

I used walnut stain on the poplar and it richened it up a bit. Still doesn't look like walnut, but it was a free piece of wood so "beggars can't be choosers". I used two coat of Minwax Urethane varnish, sanding between coats. It has a decent sheen and looks good enough to hold the model. The "rope" trim on the outside works as I wanted it to.



I cut the plexiglass on the weekend. It was a bear! It was only 0.093", and I bought a good plastic cutter from Home Depot, but it was difficult. I had to scribe each line at least 10 times to engrave it 1/2 way through as was noted on the instructions. You then snap it over an edge. 80% of the time, the snap was perfect. But that was entirely overshadowed by the miserable 20% that didn't snap on the line, but shattered wherever it wanted to. This required grinding the excess with the Dremel and then sanding the edge on my edge sanding board many, many times until my arms got sore. The results were passable. Today I glued the whole deal together. I removed the protective film about a half inch from the edge so I could get the solvent into the joint. I taped the whole thing with masking tape.



Here's another view of the completed case. While it's not perfect, it will do the job and protect the Missouri from dust and spiders. The next time I make one of these, I am going to buy the plexiglass from a dealer who can cut the pieces to size for me. Gluing together was easy. Getting the pieces ready to be glued was not.

[Builder 2010]

Now...Back to the Model

With the completion of the stand and case, with all the holes and fittings for mounting the hull, it was time to get back to building it. I washed the hull with soap and water to remove any mold release and all the finger oils that it had from all the prep work, took it outside and sprayed it hull red (Tamiya spray TS-33). I don't have a spray booth and do laquer spraying outdoors or in the garage whenever possible. My routine for ship hulls is to spray the bottom without masking anything.



Then I mask the red to paint the black boot topping. I make sure the entire bottom is protected.



I spray the black, and again, don't care how far up it goes. It's going to be overpainted by the Navy Blue 5N (Life Color Acrylic).



I then mask the black for the Navy Blue. Again, let it run up into the Haze Gray part. The area around the stern is knife trimmed after the tape is laid down. The tape just doesn't like curving around like that.



I airbrush the Navy Blue. It was still wet in this shot.



I use Tamiya masking tape for the edge work and just some 3M blue stuff for the rest of the masking. I also brush paint the masked edge with clear to help prevent bleed-under. This is something that I've just started doing. Modeling for 59 years and you still learn new stuff every time. That's why it's a great hobby!

In the next post, I show the masking for the Haze Gray and the final painting. Then will be the great unveiling when the tape is pulled off and we see what we've done.

[Builder 2010]

More Haze Gray Stuff...

Here's the last coat (#4) on the hull which is that little section of Haze Gray where the hull lines heads north of the deck sheer. I also finished airbrushing all the rest of the components on their sprues. I am still not sure about how well the PE is going to go on with paint on both the plastic and the PE, but it's a color right out of the bottom so touchup painting is a given. I will probably scrape the paint off the mating surfaces. You must do that when gluing plastic to plastic since the glue will not penetrate the paint film.







I really like the way that open door on the front of the citadel looks. I'm glad I took the time to open it up. I will do it in some other places also. I find that the Life Color paint is very accurate and cleans up well with no odor, but it seems to be very delicate and is easily scratched off. Solvent-based paints seem to hold up a little better, as do the Tamiya alcohol-based acrylics.

[Builder 2010]

Hull Painting Completed!

Pulled all that tape off after the gray dried. I gave it a little push by holding the hull near a space heater I have in the workshop. There were no paint bleeds, but I did have a couple of manageable problems.





First, I initially used some Tamiya Clear flat brush paint to seal the tape edges. The talc (or whatever dulling agent they use) left a residue right at the tape line so there's some very fine white edges where the red and black meet. I touched it up in the more glaring locations with some flat black (the same mix that was used to airbrush). The second problem was more annoying.

I used 3M blue 1.5" tape to bulk mask the areas after doing the fine masking with the Tamiya tape. The Tamiya tape was wonderful. The 3M tape, on the other hand, left gooey, sticky tape residue all over the place. I used other pieces of tape to pull off the residue which worked, but it took me about 1/2 hour to clean it up, and it meant handling the model much more than I wanted to. Normally, you'd use Goo Gone to remove tape residue, but on a freshly painted work of art, it would have taken the paint off too. I'm not going to use it anymore, and will spend the extra money for the wider Tamiya tape.

Here's the model staged in the showcase. It looks nice in there!

[USSWisconsin]

You need a tiny scale model of Rusty standing on the prop shaft


Seriously - beautiful workmanship Myles! :), I enjoy seeing it going together as much as I will enjoy seeing it finished.

[Builder 2010]

Thanks! As always! I've thought of the same thing. You just have no idea how massive these things are until you see that picture. I'm happy how the hull came out, and it's amazing how much different the Navy Blue is on this model than it was on the one I did 26 years ago. It wasn't available as a mixed color then, and the instructions gave a mixing formula. It's very blue. This one is very gray. And when you look at color pictures from era, this color is much closer to the original than the blue on the old model. It's encouraging because I'm going to be putting lots of hours of work into this and it should be close to prototypical.

I also heard from the guy at ScaleDecks and we're a couple of weeks away from getting the decking.

[Builder 2010]

Back to PE

Before I got started today, I didn't like the bulge in the boot topping towards the aft on the Starboard side. It showed up in the pictures I posted, so I decided to fix it. I remasked the area to make the line more parallel and brush painted the navy blue. While you can see that a fix has been made, when the hull is flat sprayed and in the case, it won't be as noticeable as the non-parallel boot topping. I also trimed up the haze gray as it passes right around the bow. The mask was not accurate. That fix was just a bit of hand painting and it's not visible.

I got back to the superstructure. I started putting the bulkhead sides on the superstructure cabins. This is a detail that I was looking forward to and I was not disappointed. Without slide molds, it is impossible to mold details sideways into pieces that need to be pulled vertically out of the injection mold. So Tamiya left the ship's sides basically plain plastic. Some of the new molded kits from the likes of Trumpeter are using slide molds for some specific features like gun barrels that have holes in them, but this kit was minted in the mid-80s.

The details include portholes and their covers, WT doors-both closed and open, and other various details. I took it a step further by drilling out the portholes with an appropriately sized drill with a pin vise. I also tried a different technique for the open doors instead of drilling and carving out the interior. I simply painted the surface underneath the door flat black before gluing the PE. These look pretty good. I will then do an alcohol was to bring out some more definition on these etched pieces later in the construction. Much of this detail is not easily visible since there are overhanging AA decks that put the bulkhead sides in shadow, but I'll know they're there (and so will my readers).

Little doors were also added to the bases of the 5" gun houses. I'm getting better at putting these parts on, but I'm still not perfect.







I was worried about painting the PE before handling them, but using the vineger etching and a solvent-based primer before the acrylic has worked well. The paint is not only sticking, but it's making it easier to use the CA to glue the PE to the model. I will also make handling those very fine railings easier.

[robtmelvin]

Builder, I really like your idea of painting the areas underneath the open hatches flat black prior to attaching the PE. In smaller builds, such as a DD, I have always drilled and carved out the plastic, but in a build the size of an Iowa Class BB (or the U.S.S. North Carolina I'm currently working on), this would be a long and laborious process. Really like the look you got with that and I'm definitely going to try it on North Carolina, as well as my own Missouri when I around to her. Good thinking.

Bob