The Montana class were designed for the US Navy as a classic
slow battleship counterpart to the Iowa class fast battleships. They would
have had larger, different hulls from the Iowa's, with extra length and
width to accommodate an extra triple 16" turret, heavier armor and a better
anti-torpedo protection system. A lower speed of 27 kts was accepted as
the Montana's were intended for the battle line, whereas the Iowa's were
intended as carrier escorts. They would have displaced 56,000 tons empty
and measured 925' in length. Five Montana's- Montana, Ohio, Maine, New
Hampshire and Louisiana (BB 67-71 respectively) were planned, but all were
canceled in 1943 in favor of more aircraft carriers. Interestingly, their
greater beam would have prevented them from using the Panama Canal, and
a planned set of new 140 ft wide locks was also canceled with the battleships.
Blue Ridge Models has released it's Montana Class Battleships in 700
scale. In addition the Ohio and Maine variants are available too. Since
they share some common parts, I have combined the reviews with the unique
parts shown for each ship.
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| HULL |
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| The hull is cast waterline style with sharp details and
casting. Lots of deck detail is included and the area where the wood planking
should be is relieved to allow for flush mounting of the wood deck shown
below. Door bosses and portholes are cast on the superstructure. Anchorway
is cast clean for the separate chain. Note this version does not have float
plane provisions on the stern and instead has more 20 mm gun placements.
However PE catapults are included if you wish to add them. |
click images
to enlarge |
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| DECK |
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| The deck is a wood like laminate with laser cut planking. The planking
appears scale width and there are cutouts for the deck clutter. Just use
a sharp knife to separate the precut sections. |
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE |
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| The superstructure parts and funnels are nicely done. The former on
thin wafers, with the funnels and director towers separate. |
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| SECONDARY GUNS AND DIRECTORS |
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| The 5"54 cal secondary turrets are well cast with small resin gates
to remove on the front. The main gun directors came out very well |
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| FITTINGS AND FIXTURES |
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| Director tubs, deck winches, paravanes and lots of bits and chocks
are presented here. Having so many small bits may seem tedious, but you
will appreciate them being separate when you apply the deck. |
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| MAIN GUNS TURRETS AND BARRELS |
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| The three versions of this kit have one of the following
turret and main gun sets as indicated below. |
USS MONTANA
BB-67 |
| MAIN GUNS 12 x 16" (Montana only) |
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| The Montana version used four triple 16" turrets. These
are well cast with separate blast bags and nicely done CNC machined brass
barrels. Mounting pins fit nicely into the blast bag holes and the ends
are drilled out for realism. |
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| MAIN GUNS 12 x 18" (OHIO only) |
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| The Ohio version used four triple 18" turrets. These CNC
machines barrels fit nicely into the turret sockets without blast bags.
The barrels are nicely done also with drilled out ends. |
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| MAIN GUNS 8 x 20" (Maine only) |
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| The Maine is set up for the massive 20" guns in twin mounts.
I have to say these look formidable and very imposing. The barrels are
nicely machined with open ends and nicely fitting bases. The turrets have
the gate on the rear to minimize lose of detail when removing. |
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| SECONDARY GUNS BARRELS AND METAL
PARTS |
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| The CNC machined 5" 53 cal barrels are nicely done and are center drilled.
They have nice long mounting pins to facilitate mounting in the turrets.
Brass rod for mast construction and A-Line chain is included for hanging
your anchors. |
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| PHOTOETCH |
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| Fret 1 includes radar's, 20 mm and 40 mm gun details. Boat decks cable
reels, and girder work are all featured on this relief etch brass fret.
Two catapults are also included in case you wish to add them. |
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| Fret 2 includes the railings, funnel walkways and details, cranes and
inclined ladders amount other details. |
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| Fret 3 come from FStar Models and includes the light weight tripod
20 mm gun mounts. These are both single and twin styles with nice relief
etched shields. |
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| Fret 4 also from FStar Models is the 40 mm quad mount gun assemblies. |
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| Fret 5 another FStar fret includes a multitude of open doors and hatches.
These are nicely done and can be mounted open or closed. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions are a 23 page booklet with all kinds of detail views
shown in variety of styles. Plan views and 3D auxiliary views will
help simplify the assembly. I wish more manufacturers would put this much
work into their instructions. |
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BB68 & BB69
Page 16 scans |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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WHIF, what if this ship had been built? It would
have been one massive monster of a ship. Now you can compare it with your
other battleships. Build one or all three and compare the 16" vs 18" vs
20" armaments.
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