Arsenal ship in 1/700

[Nektarios1]

When i wanted to replace the four Iowas in my what-if 2005 USN fleet the arsenal ships were the most obvious choice. They were big ships with lots of firepower and although they didn t have anything like the big guns of the Iowa class they had several VLS cells for Tomahawk and other missiles.
They were ugly ships to my eyes without the grace of the battleships. I ve seen some builds of these ships in the past and decided that i had to use several extra parts in order to try to make these ships a bit more attractive.

The armament of each ship would consist on 512 VLS cells and an 8-inch gun. I wanted to add something more in the form of a medium calibre gun. I had two choices Oto Melara 3-inch gun and the Swedish Bofors 57mm gun. I chose the second because it is now the gun the USN did choose for its newer surface ships. I also added four 25mm bushmasters and four 20 mm guns for close in defence against small craft.

The arsenal ship was supposed to be constructed without radar(s) in order to save cost and manpower relying on other accompanying warships for targeting information and defense. I used several domes that are used for communication.

Among them are:
1) Four USC-42
2) Two SHF domes
3) a dome that is used for drone guidance. (aft of the helicopter landing area-the big one)
4) a dome for BMD(aft of the helicopter landing area- the smaller one)
5) an inmarsat antenna
6) AN/SPQ-9B (atop the mast)
7) a data link for SH-60s.

I also added SLQ-32. Note that space has been reserved for the addition of Nulka launchers.

Some photos of the four ships.

[NARSES2]

Nice neat builds  The helicopter on the final photo gives you an impression of the size of the thing. Never realised they were quite that big.

[Mossie]

Very nice builds!

[Thorvic]

An impressive collection of Arsenal ships, the extra details really do help flesh them out.

Whats the basis of the models are they scratch built or are they based on the old resin kit by Jim Shirley productions ?

Cheers

Geoff

[GTX]

Nice work.

Regards,

Greg

[Nektarios1]

An impressive collection of Arsenal ships, the extra details really do help flesh them out.

Whats the basis of the models are they scratch built or are they based on the old resin kit by Jim Shirley productions ?

Cheers

Geoff

They are based on the old JSP kit but with lots of improvements.

[Joe C-P]

Very nice! 

[Doc Yo]

 Neato!

[Cobra]

Sweet Job they have a 'Thunderbirds' feel to them. Keep up the great Work! :cheers:Dan

[ysi_maniac]

Highest level quality!