by Rick E Davis » Sun Oct 11, 2026 5:14 pm
Yes, the USS TOLEDO (CA-133) was one of four BALTIMORES (USS HELENA, MACON, and LOS ANGELES were the others) converted for the REGULUS SSM missiles. My interest in this ship, is because she was named for the city I grew up about 70-miles from, and because of the REGULUS missile installation.
I always found this configuration interesting and found multiple onboard photos of these missiles being loaded, retrieved, and fired in 80-G photos at NARA. But finding overall views of TOLEDO is a bit harder than say LOS ANGELES. I got back from a trip to NARA last week, and after going through some 60 rolls of drawings of TOLEDO and additional photos, I found much of what I was looking for. But, as I sat down and looked at the original drawings and compared them to the Trumpeter PITTSBURG kit, I found several errors in layout. The Trumpeter kit allows me to get a WWII strip down of the WWII era 20-mm and 40-mm guns, and the catapults. But, it will take additional effort to relocate, modify, or replace "STUFF". It doesn't help that Trumpeter's instructions are terrible as are many of the parts are poorly molded. It looks like I will need to start over with a "fresh" PITTSBURG group kit (that I have), unless I want to try cutting and moving stuff already assembled. That's why I asked if there was another 1/700 scale (or 1/350 scale) BALTIMORE kit out there that I could use as the base kit for the conversion that would have fewer errors. I knew that ISW made a BALTIMORE kit at one time, but I was unsure if I could find one since ISW has been purchased by Squadron. The Chinese 3-D printed kits look to be a headache for me to modify as well.
I have yet to make copies of the original REGULUS BALTIMORE cruiser deck plans and the Trumpeter kit layout to match up what needs to be changed. I plan on using the Model Monkey 1950's BALTIMORE bridge that was modified at about the same time as the REGULUS SSM install, which I have yet to order. Model Monkey parts will replace weapons (except for twin 3-in RFG mounts from Black Cat) and fire control equipment. USS TOLEDO was modified at PSNSY in 1956, the drawings of the modifications were called "Project Ram". It appears that all four "Project Ram" modified BALTIMORES, were modified at different Naval Shipyards, so there could be differences based on the where the units were built originally (three different yards) and then modified.
Meanwhile, I remembered an OLD REVELL HELENA kit I had water-lined MANY years ago (20+ years ago) that I gave up on since finding replacement weapons in the oddball 1/481 scale was next to impossible at that time. Anyway, I dug out that kit from the stash and it looks like the deck layout is pretty accurate for that kit!!! But, a lot of "removing" of molded on 20-mm guns, etc, is needed. I'm trying that option now in a dual path (with a lot of carving on the REVELL kit) with Trumpeter's mess. Not happy to again be hunting (and paying for custom work) for 3-D printed weapons in this scale). Model Monkey makes accurate 8-in and 5-in mounts in this scale, with 3-in twin RFG mounts being a problem in 1/481 scale.
Yes, the USS TOLEDO (CA-133) was one of four BALTIMORES (USS HELENA, MACON, and LOS ANGELES were the others) converted for the REGULUS SSM missiles. My interest in this ship, is because she was named for the city I grew up about 70-miles from, and because of the REGULUS missile installation.
I always found this configuration interesting and found multiple onboard photos of these missiles being loaded, retrieved, and fired in 80-G photos at NARA. But finding overall views of TOLEDO is a bit harder than say LOS ANGELES. I got back from a trip to NARA last week, and after going through some 60 rolls of drawings of TOLEDO and additional photos, I found much of what I was looking for. But, as I sat down and looked at the original drawings and compared them to the Trumpeter PITTSBURG kit, I found several errors in layout. The Trumpeter kit allows me to get a WWII strip down of the WWII era 20-mm and 40-mm guns, and the catapults. But, it will take additional effort to relocate, modify, or replace "STUFF". It doesn't help that Trumpeter's instructions are terrible as are many of the parts are poorly molded. It looks like I will need to start over with a "fresh" PITTSBURG group kit (that I have), unless I want to try cutting and moving stuff already assembled. That's why I asked if there was another 1/700 scale (or 1/350 scale) BALTIMORE kit out there that I could use as the base kit for the conversion that would have fewer errors. I knew that ISW made a BALTIMORE kit at one time, but I was unsure if I could find one since ISW has been purchased by Squadron. The Chinese 3-D printed kits look to be a headache for me to modify as well.
I have yet to make copies of the original REGULUS BALTIMORE cruiser deck plans and the Trumpeter kit layout to match up what needs to be changed. I plan on using the Model Monkey 1950's BALTIMORE bridge that was modified at about the same time as the REGULUS SSM install, which I have yet to order. Model Monkey parts will replace weapons (except for twin 3-in RFG mounts from Black Cat) and fire control equipment. USS TOLEDO was modified at PSNSY in 1956, the drawings of the modifications were called "Project Ram". It appears that all four "Project Ram" modified BALTIMORES, were modified at different Naval Shipyards, so there could be differences based on the where the units were built originally (three different yards) and then modified.
Meanwhile, I remembered an OLD REVELL HELENA kit I had water-lined MANY years ago (20+ years ago) that I gave up on since finding replacement weapons in the oddball 1/481 scale was next to impossible at that time. Anyway, I dug out that kit from the stash and it looks like the deck layout is pretty accurate for that kit!!! But, a lot of "removing" of molded on 20-mm guns, etc, is needed. I'm trying that option now in a dual path (with a lot of carving on the REVELL kit) with Trumpeter's mess. Not happy to again be hunting (and paying for custom work) for 3-D printed weapons in this scale). Model Monkey makes accurate 8-in and 5-in mounts in this scale, with 3-in twin RFG mounts being a problem in 1/481 scale.