by Robert Dean III
1/700 USS Wisconsin BB-64 (Trumpeter)
This is Trumpeter's 1/700 USS Wisconsin (BB-64) Iowa Class Battleship. I built the ship straight out of the box for my grandfather. For operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom he worked as a chemical engineer at a United States Navy Ordnance Facility. He worked on the combustibles and fuels used for the propulsion of nearly all types of ordnance: typically Tomahawk cruise missiles. The missiles he worked on eventually ended up in ships such as the USS Wisconsin, and I do believe he visited the Wisconsin for the sole reason that some of the tomahawks he worked on were sent to the Wisconsin (and he was in town!). I figured this would be a nice addition to his ever growing collection of things: now I have him addicted to collecting some of my work.
I built this straight out of the box because I wanted it to look ok, but I didn't want to go overboard and add photo-etch and other stuff. From nearly all perspectives the model is satisfying (at least to my eye). I still need to add the CIWS guns and the nameplate. I also need to straighten that weather vane near the bow of the ship, and attach the ship itself to the base (along with cleaning up excess weathering I detected during the photo shoot). Other than that, the model is complete. The kit was on discount for $16.00USD at my local hobbyshop so I picked it up for my grandfather. I did add one slight personal modification: there is a small "64" decal on top of turret #1. I am going to add a little rust to the model as well and she will be on her way the next trip down to the house!
In terms of construction the build was easy, and I was shocked that the radar tower went together BETTER than a 1/350 of the same thing! Maybe I am just becoming experienced. The barrels on the turrets took a few attempts to secure (not sure why?). I wanted the helicopters to be elevated higher, however my roommate had pins on hand that I could use and was satisfied with. The water was added by using Liquitex's "Acrylic Gel Medium", and that is a technique I learned about on this site and have applied my own technique to. This is my first completed waterline model, and for what it is it doesn't look too shabby!.
For the history nuts (me!) here is a little bit on the USS Wisconsin:
The USS Wisconsin, paired with her sister the USS Missouri during Operation Desert Storm fired tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq against targets belonging to the regime of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi Army. The USS Wisconsin opened fire on targets within Kuwait with the help of a UAV. The UAV acted as a spotter and allowed the Wisconsin to lock onto targets, including multiple Iraqi warships, convoys and bunkers. She also fired on select shores to divert Iraqi forces to those beaches: confusing them into thinking that an amphibious assault was imminent when it was not. She contributed to the war effort and her action was one of the last times an Iowa class battleship was used in wartime.
