US Treaty Cruisers
by John Bange

1/500 US Treaty Cruiser Collection (Revell/Kitbash)

Treaty cruisers, scratchbuilt with some Revell guns and plastic, all in 1/500.

• USS San Francisco CA-38, shown with the new bridge needed after the Third Savo Island battle.
• USS Portland CA-33, as in 1945 with hand made main guns and superstructure. Everyone builds the Indianapolis!
• USS Brooklyn CL-40, as in 1945 with scratch main battery and bridge.
• USS Wichita CA-45 in 1943, with 8" turrets from an old Los Angeles kit and hand made 5"/38 single mounts. The bridge is half wood and half plastic.
• USS Detroit CL-8, while not actually a "treaty cruiser" is shown as she appeared in 1945. I used a twin turret from an old Japanese cruiser kit I had laying around for the main battery. The 3"/50's are from Arizona as are other parts like the mast top and the casemate guns.

All of the hulls are cedar and basswood. All have PE rails, hatches, doors, ladders, and radars from GMM. All lack the accuracy of a master modeler but were a lot of fun to try from pictures.

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