Scale: 1/500
Set includes 3 turrets with separate trunnions. No barrels.
These models represent the triple 8"/55 cal., 250-ton turrets of several heavy cruisers of the US Navy's Portland and Northampton classes, specifically:
- USS Northampton CA-26
- USS Chester CA-27
- USS Lousiville CA-28
- USS Chicago CA-29
- USS Houston CA-30
- USS Augusta CA-31
- USS Portland CA-33
- USS Indianapolis CA-35
These turrets are not suitable for USS New Orleans CA-32 or USS Astoria CA-34. Those ships had 8" turrets of a different shape.
Features:
- overall dimensions precisely scaled from US Navy O.P.1112 (2nd Rev.) "Gun Mount and Turret Catalog" drawings dated 15 January 1945
- accurately shaped armored rangefinder hoods
- four crew access doors and 172 hex-head exterior bolts properly positioned, sized and correctly placed according to photos of the actual turrets
- separate trunnion, slotted for your favorite brass barrels (not included) to allow you to position the guns to any realistic elevation from -5 degrees to +40 degress just like the real turret
© Model Monkey LLC. This 3D-printed product may not be copied or recast.
From Wikipedia: "The 8"/55 caliber gun (spoken "eight-inch-fifty-five-caliber") formed the main battery of United States Navy heavy cruisers and two early aircraft carriers. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun barrel had an internal diameter of 8 inches (203 mm), and the barrel was 55 calibers long (barrel length is 8 inch × 55 = 440 inches or 11 meters).
"Mark 9: These built-up guns weighed about 30 tons including a liner, tube, jacket, and five hoops. A down-swing Welin breech block was closed by compressed air from the gas ejector system. Loading with two silk bags each containing 45-pounds (20 kg) of smokeless powder gave a 260-pound (120 kg) projectile a velocity of 2800 feet per second (850 m/s). Range was 31,860 yd (29,130 m) at the maximum elevation of 41 degrees.
"Mark 14: These guns were similar to Mark 9, with the same shell weight and maximum range, with a smaller chamber and rifling twist increased from 1 in 35 to 1 in 25 in a chromium-plated bore."