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

[lancer525]

Well... It has been a very long time. Too long, in fact.

I've finally gotten to a point where I can neither let this #^&%$@* project go any longer, nor can I just not do something with it. A couple of interstate moves, job changes, family concerns, medical problems, and life in general have gotten in the way of my working at all on this project over the last few years, until recently, I found myself in a place where I came to the conclusion that I just needed to finish it and move on.

If you have read any of the original design thread, you will know that I was loathe to even start this as a project, for fear of getting to a point where I was unable to continue, and thus fail to provide a full ship. Well, that is exactly what came to pass, much to my dismay.

I have now come to a point where I believe I can attempt to rectify this situation.

This model is a Montana-Class Battleship, and is based on a combination of Design Study #8 and Design Study #6 as put forth by the United States Navy Design Bureau between 1938 and 1943. The entire class was finally cancelled in July of 1943. As a result, this is a ship that was never built. The keel was never even laid. This is a good thing, since it creates a lot of leeway in deciding where to put what, as long as I follow the general arrangements that were contemplated for the design.

In case anyone is wondering about the name, I used to wear the blue suit, and many of my friends still do, and through one of them, I dug up a piece of information that rather surprised me. In mid-July 1943, it was decided that since the class was going to be too big to fit through the Panama Canal, a sixth ship should be added to the contract to allow for two battleships in each naval division (Atlantic and Pacific) being in active, combat-ready status, with two ships in refit status. This intention was communicated to the Navy Department, evaluated, forwarded to Congress, deliberated and debated there in committees, and then approved. Owing to the Speed of Government, the Navy received notification of this one day before the entire class was cancelled. The five original ships were to be named thus:

Montana - BB-67
Ohio - BB-68
Maine - BB-69
New Hampshire - BB-70
Louisiana - BB-71

Because the memorandum to build another ship was approved, there would have been a BB-72, but since the entire class was cancelled, that meant it was never named, just numbered. I selected my home state, since there has not been a Battleship named for it since 1920. So, that's where the name came from.

There is, and always has been, considerable speculation, and endless discussions about this class of Battleship, and there are many publicly-available drawings that exist showing multiple configurations. There are also some drawings and design considerations that were not initially released to the public, but in the ensuing seventy years have eventually become publicly available. It takes a bit of digging, knowing how to manipulate search systems, knowing exactly where to look, knowing whom to contact to ask questions, and a huge amount of wading through things you've seen before. So, it has taken a great deal of research to locate and evaluate some of this material.

For a discussion on the how and why of the selection of details for this particular design, and for the construction of the basic hull, please see the thread entitled "Design Study #8" HERE.

One set of specifications I have decided to incorporate into the design of the model, is the main battery armament that was discussed briefly in late 1940 and early 1941, to wit, the use of 18"/47 Mark "A" Naval Rifles. There also was a series of calculations in a design study of the ship done with four-gun 16"/50 turrets. By the time of Design Study #3 in 1939, it was determined that those 18" rifles would be far too heavy to use more than eight of them, in four two-gun turrets.

This was at a time (before WWII) that the Yamato-class was hinted at in some in Naval Intelligence circles, and dismissed by most in other Intelligence agencies, deeming it mythical and too heavy to even be built with the limitations on Japanese industry and engineering abilities. Somewhat racist, but that's the way things were at this time.

The 18" rifles were thoroughly evaluated, two of them were actually built, and one of the two still survives today, on the grounds of the Dahlgren Naval Weapons Testing Facility on the Potomac River.

The thing is still there, visible on Google Earth, at: 38°19'38.01"N, 77° 1'35.09"W. This is the same barrel seen in the first photograph HERE. Note the VW Bug, and the man standing off to one side of the barrel. That will give you an idea of the size of these things.

So, since this is a never-built ship, I can (and did) do pretty much whatever I wanted. So, I designed this model with four, four-gun turrets, and added the additional beam to carry them. I am also incorporating ten 2 x 5"/54 secondary battery emplacements. As I've said in the previous design thread, this ain't your granddaddy's Iowa...

According to my research, the ship would have initially carried three Curtiss Seahawks as recon/spotting planes, so if anyone wants to contribute a simplified 1/200 version of that aircraft to be incorporated in the model, I thank you in advance.

I am going to build to a 1946-50 appearance, with a general nod towards the 1950s refits that most of the Iowa-Class ships underwent. I am also building out of colored cardstock, since I hate to edge-color. Heh! I am not going to design in a great deal of detail, leaving that up to any future modelers who might wish to undertake this behemoth.

I will probably not offer a full kit for this model, simply because I have no confidence in my ability to produce something so complex and requiring so much detail especially in the instructions.

I may consider making parts sheets and some construction notes available, partially because I do not feel comfortable in putting forth a great deal of effort into coming up with instructions and all the little things that go into creating a full kit model. If anyone ever wants seriously to try to build this model, I could put together all the PDF files I generated with the parts, but there won't be much to the instructions. I further expect that anyone who wants to build this ship in the future, will have enough modeling knowledge and skill to be able to figure things out from the basics I have. Anyone who has ever built a naval vessel of any flavour should be able to figure it out as they go along. Detailing and finishing will be up to those individual future builders, who can go as far as they wish to go with it.

I have decided, due to space, complexity, and time constraints, that I will only build the waterline version of this model, because it is, in fact, a behemoth. It is slightly over 58" in length. I do have the parts for the full-hull version, but I cannot and will not guarantee the fit-accuracy of any of the parts, mostly because there are over 2,450 parts drawings on my computer. I have been away from the project for too long, and my memory as to which revisions of which parts are the accurate fit is not as good as I would require it to be for me to make a kit out of this. I have already discovered that some of the parts I thought were the latest revisions did not fit or did not go together, and have thus had to make repairs and alterations to those parts on the fly.

I am rather worried about building this model, mostly because I am going into some uncharted waters here, having not ever designed something so complex. I am, and will be concerned about remaining motivated to see the majority of the superstructure through, since the major parts of it have never been unfolded, cut, or assembled before. I have spent several hundred-odd hours designing the superstructure, and have now decided to freeze the design before I make it so complex that no one will ever want to build it. Ken West and Billy Leliveld notwithstanding.

I deeply and gratefully appreciate the patience of all who followed the original design-study thread, and hope that I don't end up disappointing anyone with the lack of "completeness" that most of you are used to with the Wilhelmshaven, GPM, Digital Navy, or Maly Modelarz kits. I also don't have the modeling skill that some of you have (Doris, EIBWarrior, APA168, Zathros, Jim Krauzlis, Carl Golden Bear, Billy Leliveld, and many others... If I haven't named you, I'm sorry. I know you're out there...) but I do enjoy building. I have discovered something about myself during this process... I like designing too. The interface between the theoretical fit on my computer, and the actual fit from my cutting paper into giblets is where I get myself into trouble...

Any and all suggestions, evaluations, suggestions, build technique contributions, or general ideas will be gladly received, and all criticism of the configuration of the design will be disdainfully ignored.

Now, on with the build...





First things first. I had to go in and separate the frames and longerons into only those parts that would be applicable to the above-waterline ship I intend to build. This was easy, since I designed the frames to go together with stringers at the waterline, and so it was just a matter of cutting the frames and longerons at the waterline.

Of course, what should have been very simple turned into a colossal amount of trouble, since I could not find many of the aft frames that were redesigned when one of my early beta-builders ran into a fit issue with the skins around the stern. I could not find either the PDF files or the GIFs I made them from, so I ended up having to redo the frames and stringers for everything aft of Frame 21. This caused some issues with the skins, but I didn't know that until much later in the second beta build.

Here are the longerons for the hull build.



Doesn't really look like much, but it's the start of a very big ship.



Here are the frames and deck baseplates added in.













For reference, the table on which the skeleton is sitting is 7 feet long.

As those of you who have built ships, especially fairly modern warships know, there are hundreds of fiddly bits and details that have to be planned for, and built, (all those damn little tiny AA guns!) and fitted into parts of the ship that haven't been designed, cut out, or built yet, so I am going into some uncharted waters with the design of the superstructure and weatherdecks. Please bear with me. I feel like I am literally making it up as I go along. The test builds I have done so far really do feel that way.

I will try to make weekly updates, or at least updates when I have some new construction to show and share. Life gets in the way sometimes, as I am sure all of you know, and so I won't make any promises or guarantees. I'll just go with it and see how the thing finally ends up. If anyone is interested, I can post pictures of the parts files in future updates.

One thing I will share, is that there will be a design-to-ready parts tutorial coming in the near future. I have devised a pretty easy method of creating a 3D part, unfolding it, and going almost directly from the unfolded parts to a printable PDF or editable GIF. I have one or two of the steps to work out in better detail, so stay tuned...

[SJPONeill]

Welcome back!! Great to see this design up and running again! I always wondered what had happened with it and this is a thread that I will follow with interest...

[mire-chan]

Wow, it is gonna be a monster. Awesome, good to hear you are back with this new project. I will definitely follow this thread.

[Darwin]

Good to see you back, and going again on your coulda-been monster.

[herky]

thats a great looking ship.

[Oldenburger67]

Hello Lancer,

good to see you again !!!
The Montana class is a great project and i'am happy that you've decided to continue with this ship.
The Montana is an absolute must !!
I wanted to do it myself, but it's quite a little bit to ambitous for me ;-)))

i remember the pictures of your earlier posts, and it looked already very impressing. I remember also the pictures of the quadruple Turret.
You have mentioned, that your model will be a synthesis of two design stages. I have to admit, that only know the popular depictions in the literature and in the web, as for e.g. Battleship Photo Index BB-71 LOUISIANA.
Do we have to imagine your future Model that way?
Do you have already pictures of your design ?

Much questions i know ;-)) sorry for this, but it 's quite facinating.

Maybe one remark, you `ve mentioned that you have parts for a full hull as well as for waterline modell. Especially since this modell is a very personel project of you i would recommend to you to do it as a full hull modell, since it always looks much more impressive. I remember your older post, the pictures of your full hull looked already very promising ! And in matter of size and space, your model would be just 5 or 6 cm higher than a waterline model !

One other thing, what material do you use for the frames?
For a model of this size i would use 2 mm cardboard to get the necessary stability, maybe i would also design it with three keels, to avoid torsion.
Sorry i don 't want to sound like a teacher, and i know it's not very pleasant for the fingers to cut through thick cardboard ;-)))

Just allow me one last question, when will it be available at e-card models?

I wish you much luck, much enthusiasm and much leisure !!!

So Lancer i wish you and your loved ones happy eastern.

Much greetings from oldenburg in germany

Thomas

[CMDRTED]

Wow! will be lurking and watching with interest. As for the seahawk, if this is for your own build use one of the JSC seahawks that come with the indianapolis and some of the us ships that carried them. if you have an aim to sell this then it has to be a self designed affair, unless of course you get a release from them.

[Hiob]

I would love to try to make that ship, it's going to be very interesting! Do you ever intend on making it below the waterline? Or maybe you have the blueprints, I could use those instead? Would be great
Can't wait for updates on your build!

Best regards,
Adam

[hangman]

i like it.i have a boxfull of unfinished full hull models,i'll be sticking to waterline until my skills improve

[Don Boose]

Major project!

Looks good so far.

Don