USS Oregon BB3

Built in the last decade of the 18th century, the USS Oregon was one of three Indiana-class battleships.
Her sister ships were the USS Indiana (BB 1) and the USS Massachusetts (BB 2). Officially classified as
sea-going coast-line battleships, they were the backbone of the young US Navy during the Spanish-
American war of 1898. The Oregon proved her seaworthiness during an epic, 74-day cruise from San
Francisco to Florida.

Data:
displacement - 11688 standard tons 4- 13” main guns
length - 351’2” 8 - 8” guns
beam - 69’3” 4 - 6” guns
20 - 6pounder guns
6 - 1pounder guns

Assembly instruction

The model was designed in scale 1:250. Three color schemes are available on the CD - “buff”, “white”
and war-time gray. Sheets 1,2,4,5,6 and 14 are common to all versions. Sheet 13 is designed to be
printed on thin paper and some of the parts on this sheet are repeated on other sheets. Sheets 1 and 2
should be reinforced with cardboard to a total thickness of 1mm. Parts on other sheets with * next to the
number also are to be reinforced to 1mm of total thickness. Parts with ** next to the number are to be
reinforced with one additional layer of cardstock ( not nececcerilly to 1mm).
Consrtruction of the model begins with the hull frame - Fig. 1 shows the part layout. It’s important to
keep the hull
straight and free of
any warping.
Attach waterline-
parts 1a,b to a
straight, plain
surface, complete
the assembly of the
above waterline
part of the hull,
including main
deck (16a,b), and
then procede to the
underwater part of the hull. Glue strips 4c-15c to corresponding bulkheads and procede with hull plating.
Form each segment of the plating carefully before assembly. Segments of the plating should extend past
the waterline to allow attachment of the hull sides.
 Fig.2 shows assembly of the propeller shafts, propel-
lers and the rudder. Note the shape of segment 14-15.

Fig.3 illustrates assembly of the hull

sides, upper (shelter) deck and 6” gun
casemates. Parts 35b,c act as “glueing”
tabs for the shelter deck superstructure.
Remember to install 6” gun pedestals
(36b) and breaches (36a) before attaching
the shelter deck to the main deck.
Fig. 4 - shelter deck equipment. Parts 54d,
53d, 57b, 58b and 59e are “rails” for the
subsequent installation of the quarterdeck
bulwarks.

Note that parts 48, 44, 37 and 38 will support the “flying bridge” and, as such, are of the same height and
should have their roofs on the same level. Also note the unusual shape of the vents (51), and that there
are three “left” and three “right” vents. See Fig.5 for vent intake shape.
Fig. 6 illustrate the layaout of the inside walls of the quarterdeck bulwarks. Parts 53e and 59d are stands
for the gunners maning 6pounder guns. On a real ship these could be folded when not in use. At this
point, barbettes of the 8” gun turrets should be assembled as they end up squeezed between bulwark
walls.

Installation of the boats’ supporting brackets (60, 61, 62, 63 and 64) is shown on Fig.7. Note that on this
drawing, “wings” of parts 53 and 54 are not yet wrapped around supports 62 and 63.
Fig.8 illustrates assembly of the gun turret. Al-
though part numbers refer to the main gun turret,
the assembly scheme and sequence is identical for
all four 8” gun turrets as well. Cylinder 78d, with
gun barrels installed, should not be glued to parts
78b or 78c. The trick is to trap it inside the turret so
it can still rotate, providing nice elevation move-
ment to the guns. Take care when glueing cylinder
77d and its top 77c to the bottom of part 78b - it
has to be perfectly centered so the top, rotating part
of the turret sits properly on its stationary barbette.

Flying bridge assembly is shown in

Fig.9. As the thickness of the bridge
deck is not explicitly stated, an addi-
tional sheet of card stock can be sand-
wiched between parts 50 and 50a to
achieve proper stiffness of the deck.
 Funnels, military mast and its platforms are illustrated in
Fig.10 and 11. Note that two ventilators (52) located just
after the charthouse face towards the stern.

Assemble ship cranes according to Fig.13.

Mount cranes on top of part 53 and 54.
 Placement of miscella-
neous equipment on the
rear part of the superstruc-
ture is shown in Fig.12.

Arrangement of parts on the ship’s bow is shown in Fig.15 Anchors (92) should be
painted black after assembly. Note the small ventilators (78h,g) on top of the main
gun turret. Fig.14 illustrates the assembly of the stern and bow cabestans.
Location of the stern deck equipment is illustrated in Fig.16

Fig.17 and 18 illustrate assembly of the ladders and ship boats. Use the pictures of the model included
on the CD for boats placement. Sheet 6 containes patterns for the ship top mast and boat davits. Make
those parts from paper clip wire and install as shown on pictures.

DIGITAL NAVY 2001

R C Roman Detyna 2001