USS Idaho Scale Model

[joe100]

Just finished, USS Idaho as she looked in 1909. She was one of the most pointless battleships ever built by the US Navy, and the last of the pre-dreadnought type battleships. The USN was attempting to recreate the 74 gun 3rd rate ships of the line from the 19th century with what they termed as a third-rate battleship. The main aim was cost-savings but she was outclassed considerably. The battleship arms race passed her by before she was even launched, but the navy commissioned her anyway. Idaho was only in service for a few years before being sold off. Right after Idaho, the USN threw in their lot with all big-gun dreadnoughts and super dreadnoughts.

Our all big-gun battleships USS Michigan and USS South Carolina were far larger with twice the firepower. Had they been equipped with turbines like HMS Dreadnought, and not reciprocating triple-expansion engines, they would have been world-class. Speed was their undoing, they just couldn't keep up in the line of battle. That's fatal in the world of battleships. We learned our lessons and switched to turbines and never looked back.

I thought USS Idaho would make an interesting subject. Not often modeled and since her career was so short with the US Navy, photos of the ship are scarce. Maybe a few dozen exist and for the modeler, this makes things difficult.

My customary scale is 1/700 and the ship itself is just a little over 6in long. The model depicts the ship as she looked above the waterline in 1909. The giant cage mast was a fixture on US Navy battleships until the modern Fast Battleships of the mid 1930s. In these days before radar, you had to be high to see your target and to spot how well you were firing. By WW2, we were firing by radar, but not in 1909. The cage made it almost impossible to take down with shell fire.

The ship itself is made from resin, plastic, brass, and steel. The hull and guns are made by a Czech company and in very limited numbers. The rest of the detail is photo etched brass or scratch built by me. Total time was about a month. And yes, those are dozens of crew members manning their stations and milling around on deck.

USS Idaho BB24 in 1909


Construction






Finished








Stern awning braces