Bought kits for a BBG Kentucky........and now I regret it.

[seadude]

I was finally able to go to my monthly local model club meeting today. After the usual chit-chat and other activities, I recieved a belated December gift certificate to another hobby store in the area.
So I went to the other store hoping to find and buy a 1/35 modern wheeled APC for a future project. No such luck. So after searching the shelves, I came upon a Revell 1/535 USS Missouri battleship and also a Monogram 1/500 USS Chicago ALBANY Class cruiser. I thought to myself: "Great! Now I can build a What If USS Kentucky missile battleship!"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/BBG%20USS%20Kentucky%20model%20project/DSC01141.jpg
I bought the kits with the certificate, took them home and opened them up. Big mistake. I should have remembered long, long ago when I was 13 or 14 how I built the same Missouri kit before and how cheap and crappy the detail looked.
I'd like to do a Kentucky BBG, but with how "simple and basic" the detail looks on both kits, I think the model I build may look instead like one of those simple "desktop" models that defense or industry officials have on their desks.
If anyone has ever bought and built these kits before, then what are my options for photoetch and any other aftermarket accessories? 1/500 to 1/550 is an odd scale range, so I doubt there'd be much, if anything.  
And does anyone have advice and suggestions for what parts to keep/discard from both kits or any scratchbuilding tips? The only reference pic I have to go by is this:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/016625.jpg

[Joe C-P]

http://www.bb62museum.org/images/Models/kentucky_bbg_fore.jpg

http://www.bb62museum.org/images/Models/kentucky_bbg_aft.jpg

Yes, that is those models, along with much sprue and filler.

[seadude]

Anybody know a good way on how I can remove all the molded on 20mm gun detail on the main deck? If I am to build a 1950's era Kentucky missile battleship, then I'm pretty sure 20mm guns weren't in any use during that time. Plus, the molded on guns look like crap.    Here's some pics:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/BBG%20USS%20Kentucky%20model%20project/DSC01159.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/BBG%20USS%20Kentucky%20model%20project/DSC01160.jpg

Also, How many 40mm guns would an IOWA battleship still keep or have removed during the 1950's?

[seadude]

http://www.bb62museum.org/images/Models/kentucky_bbg_fore.jpg

http://www.bb62museum.org/images/Models/kentucky_bbg_aft.jpg

Yes, that is those models, along with much sprue and filler.

Yes, I've seen those pics in an old thread on these forums. Good model, but the Kentucky I build I still want to keep the classic Iowa battleship bridge structure, smokestack funnels, and a few other pieces. The only thing I want to change is the addition of an aft deckhouse for the 2 Talos launchers, radars, and other support gear, etc.

[Joe C-P]

With such a major rebuild there would have been no 40mm, except perhaps a pair of saluting guns, and no 20mm except perhaps a pair near the bow to shoot at mines. (USS NJ had these.)

Taking off the extraneous deck furniture requires careful cutting with a chisel blade. Work slowly and don't try to force anything. Use a straight-edge to rescribe any deck lines that disappear.
Alternately, if you want to keep any deck furniture but want to remove it and replace the deck, cut vertically around it and replace it with sheet plastic, rescribe the lines, clean up the piece you want to re-install, adding details if you want.

For photo-etch there are sets from Tom's Modelworks and Gold Medal Models, with some parts for the Chicago/Columbus, but nothing specific for the Iowa class model. Starfighter Decals make a set for the Albany class, too.