by Bob Nandell
1/500 USS Maryland BB-46 (Scratchbuild)
My model of the battleship USS Maryland started with a draw-knife and a solid block of cypress wood, with paper templates for the shaping of the hull. The wood deck appearance is layers of varnish over the bare grain of the cypress. Some pieces were swiped from the parts box. Upper works are pine, balsa, toothpick, and broomstick bristle. My goal was to depict Maryland as she appeared photos early 1942 post-Pearl Harbor fit with the aft cage mast stumped but newer secondary armament not yet aboard, giving the ship a relatively 'clean' appearance. Not until I got the funnels glued down did I realize they were of wrong shape however. The fore cage mast was created by twisting together glued broomstick bristle.
