1/350 USS Wisconsin BBG-64 Railgun Battleship (Tamiya-scratch)

 
If you're wondering if anything on this model makes sense or if the U.S. Navy ever had or currently has plans for a future battleship remotely like this, I have one word for you: Don't. Don’t try to make sense of it, and Don’t take it too seriously.

Almost everything on this model is not "technically believable". This model is all about creativity, imagination, and having fun. I needed to let my imagination go wild, use up a bunch of spare parts, add in a bunch of scratch building, and create a fantasy what if battleship for future 21st century navy service. I also created this model cause I was reading a lot of comments on websites over the years about people wondering what a future battleship (Particuarly the Iowa class.) might be like modified with all kinds of various new structures and weapon systems if they were still in service. If anybody thinks I based this model on the hybrid battleship that was briefly seen in the 2021 movie "Godzilla vs. Kong",
No, I did not. Initial planning for this model started back in 2018 which is 3 years before the Godzilla vs. Kong movie came out.
In short, this build was all about having fun. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Construction details are as follows:

1. During the early 2000's, the TICONDEROGA cruiser USS Port Royal was painted with an experimental anti-fouling blue coating on her lower hull. I liked the color so much that the hull on my model was painted Vallejo Model Air Color # 71.089 Light Sea Blue.
2. Used the following 1/350 scale Arleigh Burke destroyer parts: Radar mast, Bridge superstructure and smokestack, and a 2nd bridge superstructure piece (minus bridge) that the amidships (between the smokestacks) Naval Strike Missile launchers and VLS launchers sit on.
3. Laser defense system in front of bridge and on aft superstructure made from 1/72 scale Hasegawa LANTIRN Targeting & Navigation pods. Gold colored ball portion elevates up and down.
4. All VLS missile launchers are actually GUNDAM robot missile launchers.
5. Scratch built angled amidships Naval Strike Missile launchers from hexagon rod and spare parts.
6. Added a RIM Standard missile being fired supported on a clear rod with cotton "smoke".
7. Scratch built port (Closed) & starboard (Open) RHIB boat storage areas.
8. Aft angled superstructure scratch built with styrene sheet.
9. Flight deck safety netting is fabric from a craft store.
10. Scratch built four Mk.46 30mm guns (Port & Starboard behind turret #2, and behind turret #3) and the "risers" they sit on from spare model parts.
11. Veteran Models resin aftermarket accessories: SATCOM antennas, 5"/62 side guns, Mk.53 NULKA decoy launchers, Mk.32 torpedo launchers, RIM-116 RAM missile launchers, and Mk.38 25mm chain guns.
12. Main railgun turrets are 3D printed.
13. Main ship hull, superstructure, gun turrets, etc. painted Vallejo # 70.615 US Navy Light Ghost Gray. Horizontal decks painted Vallejo #71.097 Medium Gunship Gray. Flight deck painted Vallejo # 71.048 Engine Gray.
14. Photoetch life rings from Eduard. Photoetch doors/hatches and fire hose racks from Gold Medal Models.
15. Main ship hull is from a TAMIYA 1/350 scale USS New Jersey kit.
16. Ditched the older round Naval Tactical Data System antenna from the TAMIYA USS New Jersey kit and "repurposed" a 1/400 scale antenna mast from a French LA FAYETTE class frigate to use as a newer modern NTDS antenna at the bow.
17. Sonar dome under bow is a miscellaneous spare part.
18. Used 1/700 scale 155mm enclosed gun mounts from a Zumwalt destroyer kit and "repurposed" them as enclosed 30mm gun mounts at the bow in the original positions where WWII 40mm gun mounts used to be. These guns are enclosed to protect them from rough seas crashing over the bow.
19. Scratch built the Mk.59 buoy decoy launchers (8 in 4 pairs of 2. 2 on port side & 2 on starboard) with styrene rod, and the decks they sit on with styrene sheet and spare parts.
20. Bridge windows and portholes colored with .20 mm black ink pen.
 

Gallery updated 6/29/2024

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