So I'm putting the finishing touches on the old Revell 1/426 USS Arizona. I'm building her as she appeared in late 1941, but the kit comes with biplanes on the catapults, which had been replaced by OS2U Kingfishers by then. The catapults look pretty bare without aircraft, but since there's no 1/426 Kinfisher kit that I'm aware of, my only option was scratchbuilding. I downloaded some three-view plans, and scaled them down to roughly the right size, then got busy with some styrene tube, rod, srip, sheet, and wire. I normally build 1/72 aircraft, but this is a bit smaller (wingspan aprox. 25 mm!)
And here she is painted and decaled (those canopy frames were a b!tch!) I used the decals intended for the kit biplanes..there should be smaller insignias on the fuselage, but I'm not going to worry about it. Now I just need to add propeller blades. Of course, the AZ carried two aircraft, but to preserve my sanity (and eyesight) I'm only building one. I'll just say the other is off scouting somewhere.
Cheers!
Steve
