USS New York LPD-21
OOB build basic construction

ronco 1/350 LPD-21 New York

Out of the box build, with the additions of Trumpeter 1/350 deck equipment set, and MRC 1/350 Marine aircraft set.

I painted the lower hull separate from the upper hull with Vallejo Air acrylics. The only issue I had which has also been reported by other builders was the fit of the lower hull to the upper hull, I had to do it gradually using clamps to set the Tamiya thin cement. Even with this there were minor misalignments which I accepted.

The rest of the build was smooth but I have to admit some of the plastic parts like the flare and chaff dispensers were extremely fiddly to handle and assemble. I also decided not to use the some of the photo etch for similar reasons.

The overall upper hull was painted FS36275 with the flight deck in FS36118 for some variation and contrast. I used Flory Grey to weather the decks and various panels on the sides of the hull, and I added some rust stains using the Vallejo rust sets.

The aircraft CH-46, CH-53 and AH-1Ws were also weathered using flory Gray to provide some contrast and depth. I did the same with the LCAC which was a model in itself. The vehicles were also painted with Vallejo Air in European and Desert camouflage with black pin wash weathering.