Launched on 21 October 1978 and commissioned on 18 October 1980, The U.S.S. Arkansas was the 4th ship named after the State of Arkansas and the 4th ship of The Virginia Class of Nuclear Powered Guided Missile Cruisers.

In November 1982, after months of testing and training excersizes off the U.S. east coast, Arkansas saw her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, She arrived on station near Beirut on 6 December, supporting the multinational force ashore in its efforts to keep peace in Lebanon, and occasionally participating in some of the 6th Fleet's freedom-of-navigation maneuvers into the Gulf of Sidra.

In May 1983, after a brief stop in Gibraltar, Arkansas returned to her home port of Norfolk

This will be my usual full hull build, so I drill out the hull for the pedestals, and my new favorite base material Ipe. Ipe is very dense and heavy, creating a very stable base, and with a couple coats of Polyurethane it has a rich brown color. The inside of the hull has two very convenient spots for using the kit base which will save me from Measuring the Hull and doing the math. The replacement flight deck from the flyhawk set fit like a glove, but there was some warping between the upper and lower hull sections. (nothing a couple of small clamps couldn't fix.)
The Hull is painted the usual Oxide Red anti-fouling with Haze Gray sides and Dark Gray weather decks.

(I photographed the hull next to the Arizona for size comparison)
     

Superstructure
Adding the Flyhawk upgrades is a little daunting at first due to the small size and adequate at best instructions, but after a few minutes of comparing the two sets of plans I figured it out. The Flyhaek set contains plenty of doors that can be used to replace existing molded on doors. The incline ladders come from the Kit's PE
Below are a few photo's of progress so far. They assist in showing me areas that need to be addressed like the platform that separated from it's support brackets and a loose railing.
When I got to the aft tower I was surprised to find a full set of handrails for the tower but no platforms in the PE set. The railing are from both the kit PE and the Tom's Railng set

Weapons Systems
At 1/700 these things are tiny. you can fit all of them on the top of a penny

Flyhawk FH710002
USS Virginia CGN-38 class photo etch upgrade

Tom's Modelworks
#753 US Naval Doors
#754 Inclined & Vertical Ladders
#758 Modern 4 & 5 Bar Ship Rails
#759 US Naval Deck Hatches