This kit has been a sheer joy to build. After about 10 days, I've completed the base and hull, the fore and aft decks (including turrets) and have begun work on the main superstructure.

The instructions are good without too much going on in each step. I previously tried building Merit's Yorktown and was utterly frustrated by all the pieces needing assembly in each step, not to mention all of the tiny photo-etch parts.

BB-62 comes with some photo-etch parts, seemingly enough to lend some finer detail without becoming nerve-wracking. I am considering getting some aftermarket PE rails, as the kit comes with no rails.

One word of caution: Be very careful with the decals. I messed up the heli-pad markings and now have to wait upwards of three months for Tamiya to send replacement decals.

Bottom line: This kit has plenty of detail and assembles with ease, leaving more time to concentrate on painting. Plus you get to see your rewards take shape quickly-- certainly much faster than this storied ship took to rise above the ship yards at Camden, N.J.

Took a while but got it right.

The part sheets are labeled and easy to remove & glue to ship. I'm still working on putting it together.

The 1:350 scale replication is excellent. Would strongly recommend a tweezers, magnifying lighted glass when assembling. Tamiya includes excellent schematics for assembly as well as suggesting tips for assembly. I would recommend this model to any serious model maker.

Its a great model, biggest ship model I own and takes time and patience to put it together, but so worth it in the end.
I bought it because I went on the BB-62 Iowa CLass Battleship in Camden New Jersey this month and really wanted a model 1/350 scale of it because Iowa Class battleships are just simply amazing, will buy the remaining 3 Iowa class battleship models as I visit them.I own smaller scale 1/700 models of all 4 of Iowa class battleships and many other ships, this is my first 1/350 and I had fun with it