USS Maryland BB-46
by Paul Helfrich

1/700 USS Maryland BB-46 (Mini-Hobby Models kitbash)

This is the second in my series of kit-bashes of the Mini-Hobby models Arizona kit. In this case, I've converted it to the USS Maryland, BB 46, as she appeared in 1936.

Any Arizona kit can be converted, without too much trouble, to a number of the old battleships that were similar in layout and overall dimensions to the Arizona and her sister, the Pennsylvania. These include the Nevada, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Idaho, New Mexico, Tennessee, California, Colorado, Maryland, and West Virginia. Because all the Arizona kits on the market show the ship as she appeared at Pearl Harbor in 1941, it's easier to do the ships in their pre-war configuration - fewer extra AA guns, radars, and directors to add.

Here are some of the main things I did in this conversion:

1. Hull - the Arizona had an older-style ram bow, the Maryland had a clipper bow. The Maryland (like her Colorado-class sisters, as well as the Tennessees) also had a smooth hull outline. These newer ships (known in their day as the "Big Five") never had hull casemates for their secondary armament, so they lacked the notches in the hull found in the earlier ships, even after their casemate guns had been removed. The last two pictures are "work in progress" shots, showing how I tried to achieve this appearance by adding a new bow and smooth sides to the Arizona kit.
2. Main armament - beginning with the New Mexicos, the main armament turrets took on a more angular shape. I covered the kit turrets with pieces cut from sheet styrene to approximate this appearance. Of course, the Maryland had double 16" gun turrets, as opposed to the triple 14 inchers carried by the Arizona. My 16" guns were fashioned from some old parts from a Monogram Tirpitz in my junk box.
3. Superstructure - outside of the conning tower, the forward superstructure of the Maryland was totally different from the Arizona. I used a few kit parts, but most of the bridge structure is sheet styrene and balsa.
4. Funnels - the Tennessees and Colorados reverted to two smaller funnels, from the single large funnel used in their immediate predecessors. I made mine from styrene tubing.
5. Masts - the Tennessees and Colorados also reverted to cage masts, while the New Yorks, Nevadas, and Pennsylvanias were modernized with huge tripod masts. Cage masts are pretty tough to scratch build in 1/700. Mine are made from an old kitchen strainer. The shape isn't quite right (they should flare a little more at the bottom) but I was pleased with the result nonetheless.

I used no diagrams or plans for this project - just reference photos.

I'm not much of a scratchbuilder, but I had fun with this project.