I was lucky enough to take a holiday in Australia with my family, visiting my old school friend, Ken Knight. We had a five day visit to Sydney, to visit places such as the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and The National Maritime Museum.

During our visit to the National Maritime Museum, I spotted a ten foot model of the U.S.S. Vermont, BB20, which I found to be quite an unusual piece.

U.S.S. Vermont in harbour

The second Vessel to have the same name of The Vermont (Battleship No 20) was 'laid down' on the 2lst May 1904 at Quince, Massachusetts, by the Fore River Shipping Co. It was launched on the 31st August 1905; sponsored by Miss Jennie Bell, the daughter of Governor Charles J. Bell of Vermont; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 4th. March 1907 with Capt. William P Potter in command.

In December she made final preparations for the cruise of the United States Atlantic Fleet. Nicknamed the 'Great White Fleet' because of the white, sparse colours. The 16 pre-Dreadnought battleships sailed from Hampton Road on the 6th December. President Theodore Roosevelt presided over the departure of the fleet. This was part of a global gesture towards Japan, a growing power on the world stage.

The battleships visited ports in Chile, Peru, Mexico, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, China, and the Mediterranean, before returning to Hampton Road, again passing in review before President Roosevelt on Washington's' birthday 22nd February 1909.

The fleet had covered a distance of 43,344 nautical miles in 14 months. After the launch of H.M.S. Dreadnought all these vessels were deemed obsolete, yet still well armed and attractive ships for their day.

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After contacting Taubmans Plans Service (11, Colledge Drive, #4G, Jersey City, New Jersey, 073005, USA) for information, I received a small scale drawing of about 22" x 12", which I used for the construction. The drawing contained the rib shape and the distances between each of them.

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BUILDING THE HULL

As I have built several large models in the past, I decided to aim for a smaller scale, deciding on 6ft, which would give a scale of 1:84 or 5/32" to the foot. I enlarged the rib profiles on a photocopier and used 11 copies, one for each individual rib, lettered from A to K. These were then glued on to a piece of 1/4" plywood and cut to shape. The next step was to mark from the outside about 1/4" in, and scribe all the way round the rib and then cut out the middle, this reduces the weight in the model. After this I cut out the keel and deck. So placing the deck on my flat working area I proceeded to glue in the ribs and keel, using waterproof PVA glue. Having weighting the elements down, I left it to set for about a week. In this time I was cutting up balsa wood into strips of about 1/4" by 4ft long, ready to start the planking of the hull.

Starting from the keel and working outwards, I began the planking, each plank was glued and nailed into position, working a few planks per evening. It took about two weeks to get up to the straight section of the hull. From here I put in 4ft x 3" sections to either side of the hull. The bow and stern sections I completed in solid block sections to make the model stronger. This was then sanded to shape and I covered the hole thing with a light fibre glass matting and fixed it on with fibre glass resin. Heavier armour plating was added and the whole model was covered in fibre paste and left to set. To achieve a good finish, it was wet and dry sanded. (This takes time and should not be rushed.)

The next step was to cut out shapes for the gun emplacements, a total of 14 of them and all the portholes, 38 per side. These were drilled out and a small piece of brass piping inserted into the hole and glued in position. The four anchor houser holes were cut out and the strengthening plates fixed in position. At the stern I fitted the rudder and the two prop shafts.

I then constructed the Bilge Keels which were made from brass T shaped sections, bent to shape and rounded on each end. Two brass rods were soldered to each and drilled though the hull and fixed into position. Now I gave the hull two coats of paint, one primer one undercoat, then two thin coats of red oxide to finish.

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Plans from Taubmans, New Jersey

View of hull ribs from rear

View of ribs side on showing deck and keel

Gun emplacments and planked hull

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The superstructure, like the deck, is flat so this makes life a lot easier. It looks complicated with all its angles and round sections but was found to be easy because all the rigging, except the ones to the bow and stern, where fastened to this deck. Therefore, the whole of the deck could be lifted off in one piece.

Cutting out the shape of the deck, I raised it to it's height with balsa blocks, gluing them in position with PVA and leaving them to set. I then covered the balsa with fibre paste and sanded to a finish. After this was placed in position I drew round it on the lower deck, giving me a guide as to where to cut out the access hole for motors, batteries, and radio gear.

Before I started to build up the forward bridge, I thought it would be better to cut out the parts for the gun mountings and make their platforms. I did this by making them out of plastic piping and plastic card. The next job was to put in the bottom half of the mast, because it goes through the deck above, which is the flying bridge. The mast was turned on the lathe, out of a broom handle, to a slight taper from bottom to top. On this deck is a wheelhouse and radio room. I built this in what is referred to as 'museum style'. This is solid sides with painted windows, the doors are thin plastic card, painted and lined to form planks in the doors and a planked roof to match the decking.

From this level there is one flight of stairs up to the flying bridge, but only a few steps. On either side of the chartroom there is a set of stairs about 9ft in length, going to the flying bridge. These I bought from 'Plastistruct' at my local model shop. At the same level but at the far end of this deck is a second rear facing bridge, slightly similar in shape. This bridge is only one level. Here you will find an observation room, built in the same manner as the forward wheelhouse, with a second flying bridge, that is also planked.

The cowl vents were made in sections. The top section I purchased from Raddle Wharf in Ellesmere Port. The vent tubes are brass cut to size. The base is made using a suitable sized porthole. The turning mechanism was also made of brass. When the pieces were made, I used red paint for the inside of the cowl vent and a tan for the outside.

The three funnels were made from 1 1/4" plastic waste pipe. I added three bands to make them look like joined sections and then the steam pipes were added. The bonnets on the top were made from brass tube with a rim of fibreglass filler paste, sanded to a bevel shape and then lowered into the top. The ladders are made from staples, each drilled and put into place. I painted all three funnels tan, with black tops.

The previous stages complete, I began building the observation platforms on the next level of the masts. Stabilising cables come from each mast and connect to the funnels. On the forward mast there are three cables, where as the rear mast has only two. Both have cross trees near to the top.

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For that period, The Vermont was a well armed ship. It had two main gun batteries, each with two 12" guns, one forward and one aft. The heavy secondary armaments consisted of four turrets; two either side, containing two 8" guns in each. These guns turned outwards from the side at deck level. Also twelve 7", 45 calibre guns, also turned outwards from the hull sides.

I started building the two main turrets by cutting some plastic card to the shape of the base of the gun. Next I glued a block of balsawood to the base and sanded it to shape. After this the sleeves for the gun barrels were cut out and a piece of copper piping was glued in place. Three domes and hatches were made for each turret and glued in position. Finally, a shaft for the rotation of the gun was fitted. The gun barrels were made using fibreglass filler and turned on a lathe to achieve a tapered barrel. They were the filled to the turret body, painted and varnished.

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These consisted of twenty 3".50 calibre and twelve 3lb Single action guns. These were below deck level, six on either side, three facing forward, and three facing aft.

HEAVY A/A

These consisted of six 1lb automatic single action guns.

LIGHT A/A

Two .30 machineguns

TORPEDOES

Four 21" submerged.

Planking is one of the main things that can let a model down. A few years ago, some fellow modellers and I were invited to Jim Woods home, a well-known, award winning model builder. We where given some very useful hints on model making. Jim has a unique way of constructing the planking sections of his models. Being such a successful method, I have adopted this style myself. As with all models of this size, great quantities of materials are needed. Not least for the deck planking. This will result, as you may guess, in spending all your pocket money and free time!

While at Ellesmere Port Model Boat Convention, I purchased 400ft of 'Obechi' timber from 'JoTika', one of the traders at the show. The next thing I purchased was a sheet of 1/32" plywood, 6ft in length and 12" wide. This was to be the base for the timber decks, as they were to be removable, for ease of painting. This makes life a lot easier in the years to come. After all, not all models are built for glass cases, and sailing can often cause the need for minor repairs.

Firstly, I marked the centreline on the plywood, the inside of the hull line and the forward bridge. This gave the finishing edge. Rolling out a length of black electrical tape sticky side up, I placed ten planks; edge on, on top of this, pressing down gently. The tape was trimmed to the length of each piece, then turned over and rubbed to ensure that it was secured.

The next stage was to run a scalpel blade between each plank, giving the effect of the deck corking. Starting from the centre line and working either side, I planked the bow deck, followed by the stern deck, the bridge deck and the flying bridge. I used waterproof PVA glue, and weighted down the planks until dry. Finally, each section was sanded and given two coats of satin polyurethane varnish, with a light sanding between coats

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Main Deck Planking

Bridge Deck Planking

Stern flying Deck Planking

Main Superstructure