Each vessel was produced with a series of progressive innovations, which contributed to the pre�World War I arms race. The twelve vessels constituted the US Navy's main battle line in the interwar period, while many of the ten earlier dreadnoughts were scrapped or relegated to secondary duties. Restrictions under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty limited total numbers and size of battleships and had required some under construction to be cancelled, so it was not until the onset of World War II that new battleships were constructed. On December 7, 1941, eight were at Pearl Harbor, one at Bremerton, Washington, and three were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet.�
As a child, seeing Tora, Tora, Tora in the movie theaters (along with having several uncles who served during the war) hooked me on the history of WWII, with an obvious interest in the story of Pearl Harbor. This branched into a broader interest in both ships and scale modeling. Many a day I'd ride my bike to our local branch public library, pull a history book off the shelves and read it, then select several more to check out when I was done.
I have a collection of standard-type battleship models, most started, yet unfinished, languishing on the �shelf of doom�. These include 1/350 resin models of Arizona (Toms Modelworks), Oklahoma (IronShipwright), California (BlueWater Navy) and West Virginia (Yankee Modelworks), as well as a 1/700 Dragon Arizona. Each time I started one, I fully intended to finish it, but got sidetracked or disinterested for different reasons � much of the time due to frustration with having the lack of skill needed to finish them to the standard (no pun intended) I desired.
Some of these models having been kicking around for years and years. I bought the Toms Modelworks Arizona from THE original Tom, back when it was a first released. The postal stamp on the Oklahoma box dates from 2006. The California (in the original blue BWN box with its 2 piece upper hull) and West Virginia are probably just as old, and I think the Dragon Arizona dates to its initial release.
Now that some more pressing projects and commissions are finally finished, the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, coupled with the release of so many 3D printed upgrades for these models, has rekindled my interest in working on these. My interest has also been stoked by Dan Kaplan�s trio of Big 5 battleship builds, in part from the ongoing discussions we've had regarding the ships themselves, but also because his fine work.
I haven�t done a WIP progress thread in a long time, but thought that perhaps I�d try and do one now, in part to motivate myself, and also in part to show off these fabulous 3D printed parts to others.
Most recently, I�ve been focusing on the 1/700 Dragon Arizona and the 1/350 ISW Oklahoma, with a little more attention being paid lately to poor old Okie, the forgotten victim of Pearl Harbor.
After going through the trouble of adding it, it's staying. Anyway once I had the Kraken Hobbies superstructure, funnel and birdbath in my hands, I knew it was only a matter of time before I returned to Oklahoma. That time is now. 
Glad to see the these beauties coming to life!
