Just got an email notification this morning. It’s on its way!
https://freetimehobbies.com/1-350-blue-ridge-models-uss-montana-bb-67-battleship-plastic-model-kit/
Nice…Looks to be an enlarged “Iowa”, with another turret aft. Will be a nice project that will keep you busy for a week or two[;)]
There go my plans to scratch it 
I had intended to pick up an Iowa kit, scratch build the hull, then use one of the turrets to make an RTV mold to cast a new one. Probably I’d have to duplicate extra AA guns and such. I like to carve hulls, but that price is about same price as an Iowa kit, so no advantage in scratching it.
Just checked the tracking number. Estimated delivery date?
December 7th.
How ironic is that? 77th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
That would be interesting for me and add to it.
Hope they don’t drop it through the roof ito the stash…[:D]
I’m jealous, Stray! I was thinking of pre-ordering one too. Post some pictures after you get it.
Hey, Don, can you plan a scratch build of a 1/350 angle deck USS Midway from the gulf war? I want a manufacturer to produce one, and you seem to have the magic touch!
Pretty hard to draw a plan from scratch. I can scale them, but need the lines. There is a book at my local library that has plans/lines of the Montana, so it was going to be a simple scan and enlarge. One could assume bow and stern would be same as Iowa class and just expand the mid-section, I suppose. But I assume the kit designers got ahold of lines, so no need to worry about it now. As far as Midway, I would assume lines for that would be available.
Don, the artists rendering and the wooden mockups I’ve seen of Montana strongly suggest a clipper bow as on the old California, BB-44.
I’m hoping so; I always loved that feature on the California.
Hmmm;
Seems that I have heard phrases like that in the past .But U.S.S.Montana ? Why ? where’s she been ? Just kidding .I hope you will show her to us when she gets to you . T.B.
The Very Fire kits of the Montana are definately more akin to modified North Carolina class BB’s, at least in the Fire Control Tower and the funnels. The bow looks more like the Iowa class ships, while the hull dimensions are seem to be wider at the beam than the Iowa class ships. However, I have noticed that the evolution of the Montana plans show a transition of a FC tower and forward funnel arrangement similar to that of the Iowa class. That mean that I will plan a slight modification to my kit!
Bill
It would be interesting to see her in 1968 fit out.
Good news: kit arrived a day early.
Good news: took a few pictures.
Bad news: have to get my post images account back up and then can post pictures. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.
Patience, young ones!
For you superdetailers:
Barrels are not drilled out like on some Trumpeter kits but they are separate from the blast bags which to me means you could buy brass barrels for an Iowa and plug them right in.
All in all, a very nice kit though I was a little surprised the difference in length isn’t that apparent. Must be the scale.
According to Sumrall’s book on the Iowa Class battleships the Montana was to be 7 feet wider at 115 feet making her too wide to go through the Panama Canal locks. Whether that would make her just an enlarged version of an Iowa or differnt hull lines is a good question.
Would be hard to tell the length and width difference in 1/350…'cat’s wiki link shows the Montana’s final design as 34 ft. longer and 13 ft more beam than the Iowa’s
Here’s an article on the Montana from the Navy’s Historical section:
This NavSource article is good, too:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/67.htm
I’ve always thought there was a resemblance to the Iowas, too,
Thanks for showing us the look in the box! I have that on my wish list at Freetime, but I haven’t been ready to drop the hammer just yet.
As for scratchbuilding a Montana, I’ve had it in my head to scratch a 1/1200 model of her, to fit in with my other table-top navy models. Though Alnavco has a white metal Montana, too.
I think it was Wiki that said part of the plan for building the Montana class was building a new fourth lock at the Panama Canal to accommodate them. If I remember right, it would have been somewhere around 1,200 feet long and 300 feet wide(?)
When they got cancelled, so did the plans for a new lock.
Considering the building of the supercarriers in the Navy, seems a bit of a shortsighted decision, doesn’t it?