BBL Moreno

[Joe C-P]

First the model:











The story:

In 1927, the Argentinian Navy sent their battleship Rivadavia to the United States for modernization. However, once in drydock, it was found she'd not been kept up well, to the point the engines needed complete replacement, and the weapons were dangerous to fire. After some long discussions and negotiations, Argentina decided to purchase two new battleships to replace their old ships.

With the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, though, the US had agreed not to build any capital ships. Therefore the US and Argentina had to negotiate further with Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan regarding the construction of these ships. After initial protests by Japan and France, eventually it was allowed for the US to build two new ships of the same size as the existing ships, subject to the other limitation of the treaty.

It was found to be impossible to replicate the gunnery of the original ships on the same displacement while bringing the ship up to modern engineering and protection requirements. Therefore, the designers turned to a recent proposal for "light displacement battleships".

The final design came out with six 14"/50cal rifles in two turrets, one forward and one aft. 16" were considered, but the design could only accommodate two twins. Three twin 14" turrets were also considered; however, two triples shortened the armored length of the ship, which allowed better protection. Secondary armament was six 5"/51, four 3" AA guns, and four machine guns.

The two new battleships took the same names as those they replaced, and the Argentinian government vowed to take better care of their new ships.

After the battle of Montevideo, Argentina decided it was time to update their ships. As the US was not yet involved in the expanding war, they took on the task of updating them. It was found the Argentine's had better maintained these ships, so instead of needing to fix them, the shipyard began upgrading them.

They were still being rebuilt on December 7th, when the US was thrust into full combat with Japan, and shortly thereafter Germany and Italy. Since the requirements of the USN took precedence over those of a foreign navy, the two Argentine ships were rushed until they could be gotten out of drydock under their own power. Work on them continued, slowly, until late 1942, when Moreno was handed back, followed a month later by Rivadavia.


A close-up of the aircraft, for which I need a story:




The inspiration, from an actual article published in the proceedings of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers:



And for comparison, the model next to the hull of the 1/700 Fujimi USS Missouri:



I built this as practice for future scratchbuild projects. It has a wooden hull I carved based on the above plans, the superstructure and secondary guns are from a Fujimi New Jersey I rebuilt as HMS Temeraire, the main guns and some details are from a USS Arizona I'm going to use to build a "Tillman" USN super-battleship, and the remaining details are leftover bits from multiple models and detail sets. The aircraft is a Japanese "Dave" floatplane minus its upper wing.

One question: which looks better - the white background or the dark grey?

[Brian da Basher]

I really like all the detail you put inot this model, Joe! Your paintwork is very nice and that little spotter seaplane totally adds to it! The backstory was very believable too.

I like the darker background...reminds me more of the sea.'

Excellent work!

Brian da Basher

[sotoolslinger]

Wow, too cool. I'll need to steal that design for the Republic of Texas Navy.

[noxioux]

The darker background is much better.

Very interesting story and model.  Especially when compared against the Missouri.

[ysi_maniac]

Broading our horizons
Nice model and idea

[sequoiaranger]

This is a nice "pocket battleship" or maybe a "coast-defense monitor" (like the Scandinavian Navies had around WW II) on steriods! Kinda like a "modern" upgrade of my "Rhode Island" class small, escort battleships (at: http://www.combinedfleet.com/furashita/rhodei_f.htm )

Interesting that this is more or less a "brown-water", or littoral, battleship, thus the name "Moreno" (brown in Spanish)!

[pyro-manic]

Very cool! Sauragnmon will like this one. I would possibly move the secondary turrets closer together - the main battery will have better fire arcs then. You could stow the boats next to that stump mast/funnel at the rear of the superstructure.


I like this a lot.

[BlackOps]

I hate that I don't know much about navy subjects. I know it looks cool, and not like anything I've seen before, but when it comes to specifics you could fool me pretty easy. I do however like what I see 

[Joe C-P]

Thanks everybody!    It was a fun build; I've another similar project in the pipeline.

Does anyone have ideas for a name and history of the airplane she carries? I'm open to suggestions, and if I can find a model of a "Dave" floatplane I might even build it. It does not have to be an American design.

JoeP

[sequoiaranger]

Not to be too critical, but the wing of this "monoplane" is a bit wimpy. That is, the "Dave" was a bi-plane and had TWO such wings in order to give it the appropriate lift. Just a suggestion, but if you can find a more substantial wing for it, it would improve the "reality" of it! Otherwise, just use the biplane configuration!

The Japanese used biplane floatplanes aboard ship throughout WWII--they were not meant to be anything more than scouts, fall-of-shot spotters, and rescue craft, so they don't need to be fast, heavy lifters, or state-of-the-art aircraft. In fact, a lightweight biplane would probably be better (more lift--easier to catapult and get airborne quickly) for a ship-borne aircraft.

I'm pretty sure Hasegawa made a 1/72 scale model of the E8N "Dave" floatplane, but I never owned one.

[Joe C-P]

I do have the upper wing, so I can add it back. I've also come to think that overall gray is a trifle boring, so this would be a good excuse to kick up the paint job with some Argentinian white and light blue. 

Thanks for the idea!