"US pre-Dreadnought Question" Topic

Simply put, were there any significant cosmetic differences within the early BB classes? I have a hankering to build some in 1/700 scale, so things like armor thickness, engines, etc., don't really matter.

Specifically, I'm looking at the Niko kits and they seem to offer only one or two hull numbers for each type, and for the latter case it would be a modification that was applied to all ships in the class, e.g., replacing military masts with cage masts. I ask because I'm more familiar with later classes where there can be noticeable differences between sister ships, requiring different parts for an accurate model.

What time frame are you going to model? Cosmetic changes would occur on earlier designs the later you get in this period.

Check commission dates on the various hulls to choose likely subjests for changes.

There were almost always outward differences between ships of a class, in any era. Sometimes you can find out about them from written descriptions and accounts, but most of the time you have to study period photos. And like StoneMtnMinis points out, updates/upgrades happen to each member of a class at different times, so sometimes you have two or more sisters sailing in company with a mix of previous fit and next fit. It's a deep, esoteric, and persnickety research topic.

Yes, I've been reviewing photos and haven't been able to spot any differences, which surprised me. Even things like the arrangement of portholes, ship's boats, tertiary and quaternary armament , etc. all seem to be identical. The information I've been able to dig up online notes that when there were differences in each class, it was either propulsion (boilers, screws) or armor thickness. Even the modifications and refits all seemed to be applied identically and rapidly! I suppose this isn't so surprising in the classes that comprised only two ships, but even the five and six ship classes seem to be essentially identical.

I do have my eye on some reference books.

I've found that the photographs for the various ships and classes found on Wikipedia to be fairly accurate so you could use those as sources for the differences.

Jim

A copy of "Janes" would be a great reference.

Pick a year.

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