USS West Virginia

USS West Virginia (BB-48)

This Colorado class battleship, called with affection "Wee-Vee", had an extraordinary life story. 
The ship was launched in 1921, but the truly inspiring story starts at Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. After a fierce resistance against the Japanese attackers, hit by 7 torpedoes and 2 bombs, Wee-Vee sank in the shallow waters in the Battleship Row. She managed to protect and rescue most of her crew, only 106 sailors from the total of almost 1400 have lost their lives. A few of these 106 sailors have lived for weeks in the sunken ship until they run out of breathable air. 
Months later, the ship was roughly repaired while still underwater and re-floated! Completely repaired and modernized, USS West Virginia led the American attack line in the last battleship versus battleship battle in history, in the battle of Surigao Strait. Later on, Wee-Vee was a key factor in the battles of Mindoro, Lingayen Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Finally, Wee-Vee joined the battleship USS Missouri in the Tokyo Golf when Japan surrendered! Two battleships facing the knelled, defeated Japanese imperium - what a story of resilience, technological wonders, renewal and final victory through its cycle of death and rebirth in flames.

I used the original 1921 design, equipment and paint scheme and I have tried to replicate this ship as close as possible at scale 1:250.
Complete model available as Step file to download - for private use only!

The model was fit with basic RC capabilities - power and steering.  The printed model is very stable, responsive and maneuverable in water, it is a really functional RC model - if interested please watch the 3 minutes video demonstration below. 
 

I put a bit more work into this project. The sailors believe their ships have souls or spirits, and, as the legends never die, I felt inspired and somehow pushed to finish this project!