The Ship Model Forum

[quote="Jeff Sharp"]Thanks for posting these Steve! It is interesting that the decking for the middle level (Battle Lookout Station) is grating and that the three tripod legs are completely enclosed with bulkhead at this level. The plans for Arizona show the exact same thing.
VERY interesting pics![/quote]
Cheers!

[quote="Jeff Sharp"]Thanks for posting these Steve! It is interesting that the decking for the middle level (Battle Lookout Station) is grating and that the three tripod legs are completely enclosed with bulkhead at this level.[/quote]
This brings up a few other obvious conclusions:
1) It was probably colder than Hell up there with only steel grating for decking. Probably no heating system at all (why would they with the open grating?).
2) As such, all that electrical & instrumentation would be exposed to the salt air & moisture - must have been a real problem for mainenance and reliability.
3) Wind and salt spray would have also been a major problem if manned and the windows were open during heavy seas or storms - hearing must have been extremely difficult.

Now I know why I didn't strike for an FT rating!!!!! :doh_1:

Hank

You're very welcome!

The photos come from a Facebook page found by Martin Quinn.

One can easily image with the actual fire control directors installed inside (they are presently missing from Texas' top), the interior of the fighting top was a very busy and crowded place during operations. Given the height and how much it surely swayed in any kind of sea, it's definitely not a place for those who suffer vertigo or motion sickness.

Below are some photos of USS [i]Pennsylvania[/i]'s tops as they appeared in early 1942 for comparison. This is likely very close to how [i]Arizona[/i]'s fighting tops appeared at Pearl Harbor. They are structurally very "busy" with lots of reinforcing straps, window fittings, and festooned with rivets. Notice that the lower levels' strap and rivet pattern differs between the fore top and the main top. The two tops in detail are not identical.
[attachment=4]BB38 1942.03.02 Unititled-315.crop 2.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=3]BB-38 1942.02.26 013865c.crop.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=5]BB38 1942.03.02 Unititled-315.crop fore top.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=6]BB38 1942.03.02 Unititled-318 main top.crop.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]BB38 1942.03.02 Unititled-314.crop.jpg[/attachment]

Below is a photo of [i]Pennsylvania[/i]'s modified fore top, with most of the lowest level's shell cut away. Some of the interior of the upper two levels is visible. The features compare very favorably with those of [i]Texas[/i]' fighting top.

Thanks for posting these Steve! It is interesting that the decking for the middle level (Battle Lookout Station) is grating and that the three tripod legs are completely enclosed with bulkhead at this level. The plans for Arizona show the exact same thing.
VERY interesting pics!

Here are some photos of the interior of USS [i]Texas[/i]' fighting top.

[quote="66misos"]Hi,
probably silly question, but what was inside of the "houses" on the top of the tripods? Does anybody have a photo of their inside, please?[/quote]

66misos -
No photos, but this may help a bit - the following are the 1935 plan drawings of the main mast fire control house on BB-38:
[attachment=0]BB-38 Main Mast FC House 1935_1.JPG[/attachment]

The corresponding drawings for the fore mast FC house are identical. In addition, I don't think these would be any different for BB-39.

Hope this is of some help!

[quote="66misos"]

Seems new-tool 1/350 kit of USS Arizona is behind the horizon [url]https://squadron.com/blog/all-new-tooling-1350-uss-arizona-plastic-kit-coming-soon/[/url]

[/quote]

Note that they had to issue a quasi-retraction in a follow-up newsletter:

[quote]*** Update On 1/350 USS Arizona ***

Announcing exciting new products, building model kits, hanging out with you guys at the model shows... these are fun things for me. What is not so fun is when I have to go back on something I said... and that is the release date being soon with Trumpeter's Arizona kit. Sometimes things get lost in translation and lets just say I jumped the gun on the announcement of Trumpeter's 1/350 Arizona kit. It is still coming... one day. Lets hope sooner than later... especially now that the cat is out of the bag so-to-speak! I will continue to update you as I have more information![/quote]

Hi,
probably silly question, but what was inside of the "houses" on the top of the tripods? Does anybody have a photo of their inside, please?

Seems new-tool 1/350 kit of USS Arizona is behind the horizon [url]https://squadron.com/blog/all-new-tooling-1350-uss-arizona-plastic-kit-coming-soon/[/url]

[img]https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-n12pqvjack/images/stencil/1280w/uploaded_images/arizona-car.jpg?t=1731093784[/img]

Hi Jim,
I have not seen anything that suggests that platform was grated.

[url=https://postimg.cc/3d580TJQ][img]https://i.postimg.cc/dtDLXsb3/Screen-Shot-2024-11-16-at-9-03-25-PM.png[/img][/url]

[url=https://postimg.cc/56BxwR6Y][img]https://i.postimg.cc/pX7ptNvZ/Screen-Shot-2024-11-16-at-9-03-52-PM.png[/img][/url]

@JeffSharp
Great pic! Any idea about what type material the small futtock platform just below the control top was made of? I cannot find it in plans and have seen a photo (somewhere!?) which appears to me that the platform is a grating, basically. I'd like to know if it's just my eyes playing tricks or if it WAS a grating. Thanks!

Here is a nice detailed look at Arizona's Mainmast levels in 1935. Yes, it is colorized but shows some great detail of the different deck levels. The camera was positioned on the Superstructure's Range Finder Platform and is looking aft over the smokestack at the Mainmast. On the far right of this shot is the Searchlight that was positioned at the rear of the Rangefinder Platform. The black objects in the middle of this shot are all the different vents and the whistle on top of the smokestack.
[url=https://postimg.cc/3dCjfLnd][img]https://i.postimg.cc/8Pxy59vB/Screen-Shot-2024-10-13-at-11-55-39-AM.png[/img][/url]

The blue dot on this next photo indicates where the camera was positioned.
[url=https://postimg.cc/Z0FFwbbr][img]https://i.postimg.cc/QNv4xCvn/Screen-Shot-2024-10-18-at-5-10-24-PM.png[/img][/url]

[quote="MartinJQuinn"]Discussed here: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12942&start=1980#p744178[/quote]

Doh, thanks Martin. I should've guessed this was already discussed. The Photobucket water marks make it hard to see some parts, but based on the photos it looks like Arizona's followed the contours the whole way. An interesting detail for a Pennsylvania build, though.

[quote="ArizonaBB39"]I was looking at the pictures of Pennsylvania from February 1942 and noticed something about the way her degaussing cables were run and was curious if Arizona's could have been the same? They run along the deck edge spillways, but I noticed at the casemates, except for the forward most, they actually go out over the edge on trays, instead of following the contour of the deck. Other than the addition of the 20mm guns and their associated platforms and the move of the aft 1.1" gun and tub up to boat deck level Pennsylvania is basically in the same configuration as she was at Pearl Harbor, right?[/quote]

Discussed here: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12942&start=1980#p744178

I was looking at the pictures of Pennsylvania from February 1942 and noticed something about the way her degaussing cables were run and was curious if Arizona's could have been the same? They run along the deck edge spillways, but I noticed at the casemates, except for the forward most, they actually go out over the edge on trays, instead of following the contour of the deck. Other than the addition of the 20mm guns and their associated platforms and the move of the aft 1.1" gun and tub up to boat deck level Pennsylvania is basically in the same configuration as she was at Pearl Harbor, right?

[attachment=2]Screenshot 2024-08-14 155312.png[/attachment]

[attachment=1]Screenshot 2024-08-14 155232.png[/attachment]

[attachment=0]Screenshot 2024-08-14 160600.png[/attachment]

Here is a rare look inside of USS Arizona's range finder that was high up on the superstructure over looking the two forward turrets. This is a colorized shot looking into the backside of the range finder. You can see the french style doors are open on the back exposing the chairs the crew sat in to man the range finder. This would be a cool little detail to add to a 1/200 kit.

[url=https://postimg.cc/5HdR7BMB][img]https://i.postimg.cc/43mR3PLS/Screen-Shot-2024-08-02-at-9-42-55-PM.png[/img][/url]

correcting the stern would be more of a challenge then lowering those guns into the hull.
BB-39 USS Arizona Technical Drawings (1930) https://archive.org/details/bb39ga1930/mode/2up
BB-39 USS Arizona Booklet of General Plans (1928) https://archive.org/details/bb39bogp1928/page/n1/mode/2up

My goodness, just realized the modernization moved the 5”/51 guns up one deck. Moving them back down is beyond my skills right now. So I’ll build it probably as a 1930’s instead of the 1941 arrangement. I’ll definitely build one out in the 1916 as built arrangement when I feel more comfortable. ☹️

no problem. once you are ready, you should post your build in "Works in Progress" at this link. http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewforum.php?f=59

Ok I see the outlines now. Thanks

Oldmodeller2024

the bulges are there but not completely there but does show the bulges outline. as you are doing the model as when the ship became commissioned then she did not have the bulges.