ITC USS. Oregon 1898 1/236

Ahoy sailors
                     Here is another collection I had for years on end since 1957. Before I get to the construction of the kit I would like to give you great fellas a little history behind this relic.... The USS OREGON was the second of the Indiana class battleship dubbed the Bulldog of the great white fleet.........during the Spanish American war the Oregon was ordered to steam to cuba and block off the Spanish fleet, After the war which only lasted less then three months the Oregon was in service up to 1925 then it was considered obsolete and the Oregon was purchased from the navy as object sentementle piece when the second world war came Presedent Roosevelt re- commissioned the OREGON  as ammunition stowage facility under the HULK 1X-22 After the war she was sold as scrap to japan, When being towed to the scrap yard for razor blades she took on water and sunk off the sea of japan.

                                                                        The model


                          Okay fellas heres the straight dope on the kit the Kit came out in 1957 as another gimmick model back in those days kits like this and a great deal of them being manufactured were considered gimmick models this what sold the kitsback in those days most of you great fellas remember them back then........... The kit came with a electric motor that operated two screws the rudder ran on a cam type mechenisym that set any course for the rudder using the cam type settings. almost the same as the old lindberg blue Devil destroyer........ the kit was more toy like then being a scale model back then scale wasn,t the issue it was getting it out to the sea of your choosing Here is when the story gets interesting there wa a small pond out back of my house it was suppose to be a fresh water run off from pumping out water froim the ground to build a marina , The water was deep as 12 feet in some places and others anckle deep My younger brother got at one end of the pond and I got on the other and we sailed the OREGON back an fourth some how it took on water and sank at the deepest part of the pond................. When she went down I was pretty well down heaerted and I mumbled to myself oh well I will buy another.......... I joined the Navy right after 7 years later I remembered going back to the pond out back of my house the pond was all dried up I only hoped that I will recover it back unless someone got to it before I did............ T here it was under a rock pretty well busted up I couldn,t believe it I picked her up and took hee home and placed it in a box knowing someday I will restore it to its natural state....... When I got out of the Navy I opened up the box to start the restoration work on my OREGON the constructions started by gutting out the electric motor removing all parts and scratch building the rest of the parts in advance to construct when the ship is ready for painting............... all of the pieces that were left on the model were removed and the new ones were placed, the hull was painted decks cleaned primed and painted then I added the parts the main super structure was removed also the hurricane deck to. The hurricane deck was scratched in the ships bats were all carved from pine wood primed and painted............It took me 9 months to re build a pilke of junk into a good model I am happy I got my OREGON back. Here she is fellas.

                                                                              Franklyn :cheers:

That is amazing! This ship looks awesome and I'm at a loss of words! It's great to get something back after so long. The attention to detail is mind blowing and it makes a perfect coffee table conversation starter. Keep up the great work as this one is! Love your work! 8)

Franklyn, this looks great.

Down in the Waterfront Park in Portland (along the Willamette River), we have the top mast from this ship. It is in a memorial in the park.

What a story and what a memory. Super nice work.

Great story Franklin. It's amazing you were able to recover her and restore her to glory.