Andy,

I humbly offer this for your consideration and, hopefully, inspiration:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/bb/bb-39/Arizona35-200-ss/index.htm

I had the same idea of converting the Trumpeter Arizona to an earlier time frame. In my case I shot for around 1935. I started the conversion in about 2010 and finished in 2019 when this article was published at “the other website”. (It was not nine years of continuous work by the way, as I put the model aside probably in 2012 and did not return to it until after my retirement in 2018.) All of my work had to be scratch built as I began this project before the rise of 3D printing. The actual superstructure and funnel modifications were made using sheet plastic and were not difficult. I also planked the entire ship using 1/32”x1/32”x1” bass wood strips. Insane I know, but it did solve the problem of the trenches in the boat deck where the gun shields would be. I would recommend obtaining a copy of Stillwell’s book if you don’t already have it. There is an excellent set of plans in the book of the ship c.1935.

Steve Sobieralski
Tampa Bay Ship Model Society