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 water-
line, 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 plat-
forms 53, 54, 59, 63, 65, 68 and 69 ( holes for the mast legs, ladders, director columns and sup-
ports). 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 sup-
porting 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 ( 60-
70lb). 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 construc-
tion 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.