USS Georgia BB-72 – Montana-class Battleship – 1/200

[lancer525]

Originally Posted by hangman

i like it,my government forges ahead quite quickly but unlike you usually in the wrong direction,like the use of nuts,a piece of sheet metal about the size of a cutting mat & bunch of small magnets also works well

I tried magnets once, and they were so powerful that they stuck the parts together so well, that I had to destroy the parts to get the magnets apart...

[lancer525]

Originally Posted by Michael Mash

Fascinating project.
It is always fun to see a ship that was never built brought to life.
Mike

Mike! So good to see you following the thread! I'm glad you're here, for your insights and encouragement. Much appreciated.

[lancer525]

Time for another update.

Made some progress on the design and assembly of the first parts of the main superstructure. I have a much more healthy respect for people who build ships, because this has been a serious learning experience. I had many documents to work from, and because of my past experience having been a draftsman lo those many years ago, I figured I'd be able to work out what the three-dimensional 'look' of the superstructure would be like.

Boy, was I wrong. I probably spent fifty hours or more trying to map out how the decks would fit together, and then when I'd try to build it, nothing worked. I was getting very discouraged, until I received a superb present in the email. I obtained a set of photos from a division within the Naval Historical Center, of the demonstration model that was built in the 1940s, showing here:



Keep in mind that this model was completed after the decision was made to not use the 18" guns in the main battery.

As near as I can tell from my reading of some of the original design documents, and some of the correspondence I've seen, the original intent was to use four 18" guns in each of the four turrets. That was well before they did the calculations on weight, stability, and costs. The idea was somewhat influenced by the Tillman Maximum that was still being discussed in certain circles.

The idea of more equals better was still foremost in the minds of the battleship admirals, so the plan was altered somewhat to go to two 18" guns in three turrets, after it had been determined that even eight guns, (two each in four turrets) would be far too cumbersome, heavy, and would create significant instability issues. Even then, that would only give them six guns to work with. Tests with one of the two 18" gun barrels at Dahlgren demonstrated that 18" armor-piercing shells did not perform significantly better than 16" shells.

The firing tests actually demonstrated definitively that the 18" guns weren't able to recycle as fast as the 16" guns, primarily because the loaders had much more trouble handling the much heavier shells, in addition to requiring more and heavier powder bags in the loading process. The lower firing rate, even when combined with the massive increase in muzzle weight simply could not be acceptable, especially when coupled with the design changes needed to overcome the stability problems, and with the increased weight that would be necessary.

In practice, the 18"/47 never really worked out to the intended plans of the Navy's Bureau of Ordinance, leaving no doubt that the point of diminishing returns was reached with the 16" guns. The idea then evolved into four 16"/47 or four 16"/45 guns, but the weight was simply too much for the ship to be able to reach the speeds that were required. So, the four-gun turrets were abandoned in 1942, and it was decided to go with 3 x 4 - 18"/47" in the final turret design. (By then, the Iowas were well into construction, and close to launch and commissioning.)

Anyway, the photos I received were this same model, but they were taken after it had been updated and "modernized" in the early 1990s. I can share a couple of those images, but I can't publish all of them, because I was asked not to. I can't even really say where I got them, or from whom.

The coolest thing about this model is that it is slightly over 24 FEET long. According to my calculations, that's roughly 1/48 scale. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to actually build a model this big?







If there isn't enough detail here to design a good model of the ship, then I'm the dullest knife on the worktable.

These photos really helped considerably in determining how the decks should go together, and since this is a "Never-built" I had some leeway in how my decks were going to be designed and how they would go together.

So, building on the weather-deck "platform" in the previous post's photos, I have started with the design of the forward and aft superstructures. This is the "uncharted waters" to which I referred in earlier posts, as I had not gotten this far in the previous effort to design this monster.

I thought that the best place would be to start at the beginning, but as always, when attempting something that one has neither the knowledge nor the experience to do, I found quickly on that the beginning wasn't the best place. So, I started where I could, and began with the first layout of the upper structures. Here is the first main weather deck, the bridge pedestal, and the forward stack.





They went together fairly well, but the bridge pedestal gave me some trouble, until I realized that I had combined several parts together that were effectively on two different deck levels.



That made me realize just how easy it would be to put the wrong parts in the wrong places, so I took a step back and decided that the best way to keep myself from going flat nuts, was to color-code everything in the design. And then I started over.







After that epiphany, the forward section of the superstructure began to go much more easily, and with the second build of the first two decks and bridge pedestal, things started to come together.















This is as far as I've gotten this week, with some other bits of life intervening.

Things are starting to feel like good progress is being made, and are now at the point where I can apply some hard-earned experience and knowledge about this design-build process. When I get to a place where something is frustrating me, either due to design problems, build problems, or some other stumbling block, I can go to other parts of the build, and do them in parallel.



I've completed the main radar screen that I posted earlier, (no photo yet!) and begun to cut out the girders for the catapult crane and main cranes. All those damn little triangles... Heh... Photos of the fiddly bits will be coming sometime in the next couple of days, just to mix things up a bit.

As always, comments are welcome. Build technique comments are especially sought, and any snarky criticism will be gleefully ignored.

[hangman]

can't wait to see it finished in pink,purple,green,yellow ect. lol

[SJPONeill]

Great to see that this is coming together for you...I really enjoy your design notes and the history lessons are the icing on the cake...

[Michael Mash]

Your are really making some progress here.
Those are remarkable photos of the 1/48 scale model.
Mike

[mbauer]

Wow, what a project!

Like many others have said, "Welcome Back!".

Great to see you back at it. Will follow with interest.

Mike

[charleswlkr54]

Too bad the Montanas weren't built, a duel between them and the Yamato IJN class would have been interesting.

[PAPER FAN]

Great looking start. The bridge and funnel designs are excellent. You might consider selling the design through a publisher some day.

It seems the Montana's had a weaker AA arrangement than the Iowas. I wonder if they really had been built if the boat deck between the two funnels may have been filled in some additional 40mm AA's.

I agree a gun dual between the Yamato's and even the Iowa's would have been interesting, however all things are not equal in the real world and the US fire control radar likely would have spelled doom for the Japanese ships. If the Yamato's had been American I suspect they, not the Iowa's, would have served into the 90's.

[eibwarrior]

Great bridge structure and funnel Charles. Nice design and concept. I like your 3-d renderings for part design.

I really envy you in this effort. One of the coolest concepts to come to the ship forum in a long while. The customization possibilities are endless. You can outfit the decks and mid-ships with as much or as little AA-arms as you like. Heck, you can even dream up some "never-were" sensors and arrays for the main mast.

As always, I wish you the best in these efforts Charles. Well done.