USS Guam CB-02
by Paul Helfrich

1/1200 USS Guam CB-02 (Superior)

The Superior line of pewter models were developed from the Comet/Authenticast line of WWII era 1/1200 scale recongition models. They are improved from the originals, but still a bit crude in detail. However, they are fun to paint and offer subjects not available in plastic.

I painted their USS Alaska kit as the USS Guam, CB 2. The USS Guam was the second and last Alaska class battlecruiser to be commissioned. These ships, bearing a marked resemblance to the German Scharnhorst and Gneisenau battleships, were laid down to counter a threat from Japanese commerce-raiding cruisers that never actually materialized. Big (over 800' long), requiring large crews, and therefore expensive to operate, they were laid up shortly after the war and scrapped in the early 1960s.

Although were true "white elephants" as soon as the war was over, there is one thing you can say for them - they were among the prettiest ships ever to serve in the US Navy, with a lean, elegant sillouhette.