# USS Oklahoma under attack - December 7, 1941



## paulhelfrich (May 11, 2009)

This is the 1977 H.G. Watkins kit in 1/350 scale of the USS Oklahoma, BB-37. I built the ship with the idea of showing her under attack by Japanese torpedoes at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Along with the Arizona, the Oklahoma was one of two battleships so badly damaged at Pearl Harbor that they never returned to service, but the Oklahoma is not nearly as well known. I built my model with the 400+ brave sailors in mind who went down with the ship when she capsized. 
























Turning to the model - it had a few issues. The boat deck was too long for the hull and I suspect it may have been a duplicate part from an Arizona kit. The two ships are close, but far from exactly the same. The funnel also seemed to more closely resemble the Arizona's. Also, the boat cranes turned out to be a little taller than they should be.
















I enhanced the model with brass gun barrels, photo etched railings, stretched sprue rigging, and Trumpeter styrene OS 2 Kingfishers. 








The project took me about 9 months to complete - working off and on with several other simultaneous builds.


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## Rainfollower (Oct 6, 2006)

Great water/explosion effect! How did you do that?


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## paulhelfrich (May 11, 2009)

Rainfollower said:


> Great water/explosion effect! How did you do that?


The core of each "explosion" is a styrene rod, surrounded by modeling clay. There's some celluclay added over that, then some ModPodge and paint in various shades of white, seafoam, and green. Final touch was a little bit of cotton fuzz.


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## steve123 (Feb 9, 2009)

That looks great! Excellent work.

After she turned turtle..she looked like a huge whale next to her moorings.

Very nice!

Steve


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## ryoga (Oct 6, 2009)

Wow ... very nice. Thanks for sharing


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## Sgthawker (Apr 20, 2012)

That is an awesome looking explosion. Very Well Done! :thumbsup:


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## surfsup (Apr 19, 2009)

That is a fantastic job you have done Paul.....Cheers mark


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## Ace Airspeed (May 16, 2010)

Amazing work, Paul. :thumbsup:

I love the explosions. They look quite real.


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## Just Plain Al (Sep 7, 1999)

Beautiful work Paul. The ship itself is gorgeous and like everyone has already said, the explosions are spectacular.


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## walsing (Aug 22, 2010)

Cool! I like it!


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Great finish and excellent water effects.


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## Maritain (Jan 16, 2008)

Wow, that is so cool, well done!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Talk about bringing history to life. Superb work!

Sean


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## paulhelfrich (May 11, 2009)

Thanks very much everyone - I appreciate it!


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Wow! Very cool effects! Great build, too!

Excellent idea! Very creative. That is the perfect moment to capture the ship in all its glory as well as the impending doom and excitement of the attack on Pearl Harbor. :thumbsup:


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Outstanding work, I love the explosion effect :thumbsup:


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## Signal30 (Oct 27, 2012)

I watched a tutorial of this technique where he used the same technique but with a projectile firing out of a cannon. Interesting way to see it here.

Tom


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