Ask An Expert- Battleships

[blidgepump]

Most Expensive model ever built of and Iowa Class-BB ???

Per the WNY, Bldg # 76 " Gibbs & Cox, a major engineering firm, designed the Iowa-Class battleships including the Missouri. After the war the company spent 70,000 man hours building this model which it sold to the department fo the Navy. The model is probably one of the finest examples of the ship model-maker's art owned by the Navy."

Scale 1/4" : 1 - ft

The Model is so large that macro photography is the only means to view the Missouri as it is kept under glass. The experts will need to address the configuration, but I assume this is how the Missouri appeared at the end of WWII.

[USSWisconsin]

I'll bet you are correct on that, but it is possible a private collector has one even more expensive... (I doubt it)

[Dreadnought]

Beautiful model of Mo.:)

[blidgepump]

This model is better ??

I'll bet you are correct on that, but it is possible a private collector has one even more expensive... (I doubt it)

I will have to compare the WNY model to the model on display in Jefferson City. Maybe my memory fails me, but I seem to recall that the model on display in Missouri's State Capital is a "brass plated" model used for fluid dynamic testing?

Maybe there is someone reading this thread that can add background to models created for wave / drag testing......

[RustyBattleship]

NAVELEX did build some brass models of an Iowa class Battleship. But only from the waterline up and without much detail. Their purpose was to test the frequency patterns of various antennas to see what would be the best place to put them to have the least interference from the ship's own structure.

[blidgepump]

Des Moinse Iowa has one, too.....

NAELEX did build some brass models of an Iowa class Battleship. But only from the waterline up and without much detail. Their purpose was to test the frequency patterns of various antennas to see what would be the best place to put them to have the least interference from the ship's own structure.

There is a model of the Iowa on Display in the rotunda in Des Moines.
I need to check my photo files and see if I have a picture.....
Both models of BB-61 & BB-63 are keel up built with massive detail completed in a metal. I would love to have one, but the house just isn't that big!! 1/4 - inch scale makes for a fairly large display....

[USSWisconsin]

There is a model of the Iowa on Display in the rotunda in Des Moines.
I need to check my photo files and see if I have a picture.....
Both models of BB-61 & BB-63 are keel up built with massive detail completed in a metal. I would love to have one, but the house just isn't that big!! 1/4 - inch scale makes for a fairly large display....

They had some very large scale models at House on the Rock (a museum like attraction in south western Wisconsin), they were about 12 - 15' long - but they weren't very detailed compared to the Gibbs & Cox model

[RustyBattleship]

Ummm, nice looking model. But the model builder must have had a parts supply problem and had to mount a twin 5"/38 for the aft battery instead of a triple 16"/50 turret. Too bad as it's a very nice looking model.

[USSWisconsin]

Ummm, nice looking model. But the model builder must have had a parts supply problem and had to mount a twin 5"/38 for the aft battery instead of a triple 16"/50 turret. Too bad as it's a very nice looking model.

they even used an H44 secondary turret

[blidgepump]

Stern View of the WNY model BB-63

They had some very large scale models at House on the Rock (a museum like attraction in south western Wisconsin), they were about 12 - 15' long - but they weren't very detailed compared to the Gibbs & Cox model

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A stern view of the Gibbs & Cox BB-63 Model...

[Builder 2010]

The G & C model was in the Smithsonian during the 70s. That's when I saw it. It was later moved to the Museum at Anapolis (I may be wrong about the latter fact). But I swear I saw it on the back of a flat bed being moved somewhere in the 80s. It was about 20 ft. long. The only thing wrong with the model is that it was painted entirely haze gray. Every gun and fitting is a model all by itself, but it's a shame they didn't paint it more accurately. The WWII version was never monochormatic.

I have a Missouri question for which I need the answer for the build that I'm doing (being described in detail at Modeler's Corner). What were the pressurized gas bottles that were on the cabin sides on the 2nd deck, AND what color would they have been painted?

[Dreadnought]

Either Oxygen (Green) or Acetylene (Grey).

[Builder 2010]

Thanks!

[Gun Grape]

The Oxygen bottles are the tall ones. Acetylene the short ones.

Depending on the ship, And IAW Ships 2, They were painted the same color as the bulkhead. Unlike modern bottles, no need to color code them. Thats why they were different sizes.

I have seen them in bulkhead colors with the caps painted Green/Grey

[Dreadnought]

A Portside shot of Missouri before the close of WWII. If you look to the right of the second 5"/38 mount (Mt 54) the gun itself you can see them along the bulkhead on the 02 level.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/016341c.jpg