1:2000 Battleships

1:2000 USS Arizona. F-Toys 

1:2000 USS Arizona. F-Toys 

1:2000 USS Arizona. F-Toys 

1:2000 USS Arizona. F-Toys 

1:2000 USS Arizona. F-Toys 

1:2000 USS Arizona, F-Toys. The F-Toys 1:2000 ship kits have decent detailing, and are pre-painted, and snap-together, although I found glue to be a necessity. I remade the mast tops with soldered brass wire, touched up the factory paint, and added a wash and some light weathering. A transparent blue sea base is included with the waterline kits, which I painted, and then added the bow-waves and wake with acrylic gel. The ship itself is 3 1/2" (9cm) long. 

1:2000 HMS Rodney, F-Toys. 

1:2000 HMS Rodney, F-Toys. The detailing of the deck and turret tops is nice and crisp on this kit, but the superstructure detailing is soft, and there is a sinkhole below the bridge on the port side. This is a full-hull, pre-painted snap together kit, but as with the Arizona, I found it necessary to glue some of the parts. I attempted to drill out the barrels of the main guns with a 0.3mm bit, but was successful on only one of the turrets. I rebuilt the mast tops with brass wire, and I touched up the factory paint in a few places, and added a wash and some light weathering. The finished model is 4.25" (11cm) long. 

1:2000 HMS Rodney, F-Toys. 

1:2000 HMS Rodney, F-Toys. 

1:2000 HMS Rodney, F-Toys. 

1:2000 HMS Rodney, F-Toys. 

1:2000 IJN Battleship Hiei, F-Toys. 

1:2000 IJN Battleship Hiei, F-Toys. 

1:2000 IJN Battleship Hiei, F-Toys. 

1:2000 IJN Battleship Hiei, F-Toys. 

1:2000 IJN Battleship Hiei, F-Toys. This is the last, and the worst, of the F-Toy kits for this project. The detail is much softer than on the other two kits, and there were ejection pin marks on a few of the tiny parts. This kit was a full-hull kit, but the upper and lower hull pieces were both warped, and I couldn't get them to stick together without the glue joint popping open. In the end, I decided to build it as a waterline model on a sea base. I cut a base out of MDF the same size as the base that came with USS Arizona.