Building and Detailing The Tamiya 1/350 USS Missouri BB 63 Book Review

By David L. Veres

First issued in the early 1980s, Tamiya’s 1:350-scale USS Missouri remains a credible model, sporting accurate hull, superstructure, shape, and configuration details.

Now Mike Ashey guides modelers, step-by-step, through constructing, improving, finishing, and displaying the kit in Building And Detailing The Tamiya 1/350 Scale Uss Missouri, BB-63 – fourth in his (“Comprehensive Series Scale Model Ship Manual” series.

Along the way, he offers tips and techniques for assembling, filling, and dressing kit parts. He also integrates amazingly detailed photoetch and 3D-printed aftermarket accessories into the process – and scratchbuilds still other items.

How about those incredible Black Cat Models 40mm quad Bofor mounts – and photoetch aircraft catapults?

Ashey notes all necessary tools, adhesives, supplies, and references. And he shows how to paint USS Missouri as it appeared in Tokyo Bay during Imperial Japan’s unconditional surrender, 2 September 1945.

Several hundred clear, color photos illustrate the sequence. And explanatory captions accompany images. The printed manual comes on heavy stock paper – pre-punched for storage in customer-supplied 3-ring “D” binders. Front and back cardstock protect contents. And a PDF version is available.

Pinpointing problems and pitfalls, options and opportunities, Ashey takes a classic kit – and makes it better, effectively turning it into a museum-quality display. Best of all, you can easily apply his helpful building and finishing solutions to other ship-modeling projects.

Recommended!

My sincere thanks to Mike Ashey Publishing for this review copy!