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Model shipbuilders know better than anyone: Good projects take time - lots of time. Somehow, Joe Simon, an electrical engineer from Jackson, Wis., balances work, young children, and his hobby to achieve about the same turnaround time as most serious ship modelers. He spent three years and approximately 1,000 hours building up Trumpeters 1/200 scale Sovremenny-class destroyer Type 96 as the Russian missile destroyer Otlichnyy. Fortunately,Joes wife, Amy, is onboard with his shipbuilding. As a matter of fact, you could say it was her idea; Joe got back into modeling about 10 years ago when she bought him Tamiya's 1/350 scale HMS King George V. And it was she who suggested he build the Otlichnyy. ("She thought it looked cool," Joe says.) While Trumpeters kit provides options for several different ships of the Sovremenny class, Joe chose Otlichnyy on the strength of photos from its visit to Norfolk, Va. in 1989.