by Richard Wonderly
1/700 USS Washington BB-56 (Aoshima)
This is the Aoshima 1/700 scale waterline model of the USS Washington BB-56. It's of fairly recent manufacture, but the molds are probably older as it's not quite up the the standards of some of their more recent stuff, nor is it nearly as detailed as the new Trumpeter releases.
This is built straight out of the box with the only additions being some railing and replacement of the Mk37 directors radar and the masthead radar plastic pieces with some other metal mesh I had available. And I added propellers to the floatplanes from scraps of railing pieces. The rigging is entirely 0.006" brass wire.
Although the Washington wore a measure 12 scheme during her service in the North Atlantic in 1943 and possiby in 1942, this kit's antiaircraft fit was more representative of 1944. After the refit at the end of 1943 she was painted in measure 22 and wore that for the rest the war, so I painted her in that scheme.
Of all the US Navy battleships that were saved and preserved as memorials, it's a shame this wasn't saved. She was the only US Navy battleship to go toe-to-toe with a Japanese battleship, at night and at close range, and come out on top. Her night engagement on November 14, 1942 was about as even a match as occured between battleships in the Pacific in WW 2.
