kit review USS Missouri (or any Iowa class) 1/350 by Joy Yard

[CDW]

There's really only one reason I won't buy this kit right now; if ordered, it might get here by Thanksgiving (November). I don't see any vendors on the USA mainland that offer it.

As for poor instructions and errors; nothing new. Happens with almost every kit and consistently with Pontos update sets. 

That being said, I would completely agree with your assessment, this is not a kit for beginners.

[mtaylor]

I think that anyone reading this and giving thought to buying the model will ultimately appreciate your honesty. 

[Arild Moland]

As Harley has mentioned, we've been sharing thoughts privately on it. I agree with most of what he says, especially on the quality of the instructions. Now, I've never built a wood model in "modern times", and my only experience in the field was a couple of Billing Boats efforts in my teens (I'm pushing 50 now), but I have built plastic models for the past 15+ years, and I've come to regard instructions from most model companies as guide lines, not gospel. Joy Yard also follow a long tradition of giving you very scarce paint instructions, but as far as I can tell, the one sheet you get is at least quite accurate rather than pure fantasy (which isn't at all uncommon for armour subjects for instance).

 

I still think this kit is great however, for these reasons:

1. It is this company's first effort and the use of slide moulds is impressive
2. The kit is designed for the PE that comes with it, eliminating the need to shave off plastic detail to be replaced
3. You really do not need aftermarket to get a great level of detail (even other kits I've seen with an abundance of PE, leaves out important stuff like the railing along the full hull for some reason)
4. Given point 3, I think it is great value for money. The comparable Pontos upgrades easily cost as much or more than this kit cost me, delivered.

However, the marketing of the kit could easily lead one to think this will be an easy kit to build. Joy Yard makes a point out of the use of slide moulds to save the modeller time. Well, time saved to spend on mounting minute parts of PE, I suppose. You will need to love working with PE, solving instructions riddles, and have a set of very fine tipped tweezers to get through this project.

 

Now, would I recommend this kit to a friend? Now, that depends very much on the friend.

 

My take on the kit is based on building up the hull and having started on the superstructure and guns. The rest of my impression of the kit is based on the same as any other in-box review. Also bear in mind that my previous ship modelling effort in modern times, was an aborted attempt to upgrade Tamiyas 1979 Yamato to a decent standard, at which I failed, mostly because I started it way too early after rebooting the hobby, and being overly ambitious (you've all heard that one before!). So I guess I'm easy to impress

 

Arild

[German_cl]

Hi all!
I got to be honest.... after seeing this post a few days ago i decided to sign up in this forum and get me one of those Joy-Yard USS Missouri kits (together with a VeryFire 1/350 USS Montana).... Im eager to see the progress on your builds!

 

Kind regards

German

[IsaacC]

I pulled the trigger on this kit. It's now Jan-2021 so it's more readily available. I purchased mine off of eBay from a reputable seller. It was the best price in the end. I've found it available on eBay and AliExpress for the best prices. It's also available from Amazon but at a significantly higher price. It's the same as usual. Ordering from China will get you the best price. And, ordering from a North American source you'll have to pay the shipping premium.

 

I'm not sure about the wooden deck upgrade kit. Joy Yard printed it on a wide and heavy grained wood so that the deck will end up having a way out of scale grain pattern. I have a mind to purchase balsa veneer and make my own deck. Though, I have yet to figure out how to draw Teak's grain pattern on planks that are 0.75 mm wide to begin with, not to even mention the black caulking between planks, in scale.

 

As for value, I think this kit is less expensive over all. Buying a kit like from Very Fire is cheaper but by the time you add all the PE upgrade kits, you're paying far more than for the Joy Yard kit which comes with 12 big PE sheets and brass everything.

 

As for the manual and kit itself, I agree, they point me in the right direction. I'll build according to authoritative sources and modify parts as necessary.

 

I just ordered "Battleship Missouri, An Illustrated History," by Paul Stillwell. Also, on Harley's recommendation, I picked up TopDrawings' USS Missouri drawings package. TopDrawings is a series published by Kagero Publishing, a Polish publisher. They have another series entitled, "Super Drawings in 3D," but the USS Missouri book of this series is not buyable for money nor love. I just received back an email from them, enquiring about a reprint. They say they just reprinted it and it sold out immediately.

 

[Edit] I was hoping to find 1/350 brass screws for the Missouri and then repaint them bronze, but I can't find anything, unlike the after-market for 1/200 Missouri stuff.

 

Isaac.

Edited January 13, 2021 by IsaacC

[mtaylor]

Isaac,

Consider basswood instead of balsa for the decking.  Balsa is just too soft and fuzzy for this.

[IsaacC]

3 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Isaac,

Consider basswood instead of balsa for the decking.  Balsa is just too soft and fuzzy for this.

Yeah, right. I was primarily thinking about the tightest grain so I could impose my own grain. But, I was also thinking that balsa was going to be a nightmare to sand, as you say. Thanks.

[Arild Moland]

I never considered a wood deck for this, as the deck should be painted anyway. Good luck on your project, Isaac. I've put it on hold for a little while. Need to recharge my PE mojo

[mtdoramike]

If you are going to use a wood to make your own, why are you concerned with grain pattern? With that scale, you would never even see any wood grain. So I would get small box wood or similar clear wood planks and plank it. 

[Landlubber Mike]

You might be able to find generic stick on decking material that is pre-printed with deck planks.  I've picked up a few for my 1/700 models, my guess is they have it for 1/350 as well.  Seems easier to cut out the deck planking you want, rather than try to build it up from scratch and add the planking lines.

[RGL]

Stick on deck full stop. These decks were holy stoned to death anyways so there was no grain. I suggest you scrape the internal ledge down so the deck sits below the gunnels and not above. The pre chewed decals are ok if left alone but if you want to weather them you could paint them and weather afterwards using stains or washes to bring out the individual planks. Doing your own deck in this scale would be a nightmare unless you are very good then happy to learn!  

[Tigerdvr]

This is my 98.75% completed Joy-Yard 1/350 USS Missouri. She is shown in early 1945 venue.

I'm finishing some main deck railing work, paint touch up, and a matt clear coat and she will be ready

for her seascape base. It was definitely a challenge for me and I learned a lot. 

I was tempted to walk away from her and did take a ten day period of abstention but the challenge remained.

I spent an inordinate amount of time working through the instruction puzzle. The good amount of supplementary

material I had accumulated was a great help. 

I have the framework for her seascape ready to finish and she will be complete.

[ERS Rich]

Handsome ship, thanks for posting….

[Arild Moland]

Good to see that you prevailed, Harley! I'll get mine back on the bench again eventually, but numerous other projects have snuck in as they are wont to do...

[Tigerdvr]

My Joy-Yard 1/350 Missouri is complete. She was a challenge and the instructions caused some stress occasionally. I learned a lot. Experience can be a tough task master.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get this pic to display horizontally but it just wouldn't work!!

 

Cheers, Harley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Egilman]

14 hours ago, Tigerdvr said:

I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get this pic to display horizontally but it just wouldn't work!!

There you go Harley.... Beautiful Model!!!

 

Love the water setting.... She's at Home....

[Tigerdvr]

1 hour ago, Egilman said:

There you go Harley.... Beautiful Model!!!

 

Love the water setting.... She's at Home....

Okay show off, how did you correct it? 

Thanks for the help and the comment.

Cheers, Harley 

[CDW]

Excellent! You did a magnificent job on her, Harley. 

[Tigerdvr]

10 minutes ago, CDW said:

Excellent! You did a magnificent job on her, Harley. 

Thanks CDW, appreciate the thought.

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, Tigerdvr said:

how did you correct it? 

It's easy to do on a windows machine, open it in viewer, (Windows native) hit the rotate button, and close it... 

 Nice job on the ship.... looks like it belongs in a museum...

[Ponto]

 

Great job Harley. I've just started my Missouri and hope that I can at least come close to your results. The kit will demand patience and a lot of planning. Just a quick question regarding the sequence and positioning of the main deck photo etch stanchions. I just cannot see anything about the proper sequence from bow to stern and vice versa  in the supplied manual.

 

JP

[Arild Moland]

I don't think this has been linked to before in here, so here's a link to the corrected instructions for this kit. They will not solve all the riddles and confusion involved with figuring out where all the bits and bobs go, but they're certainly an improvement over the printed one. And it actually mention the stanchions.

 

http://cdn055.yun-img.com/static/upload/yard/news/20200409131527_58533.pdf

 

Arild