COLLECTORS CORNER

Do you have a special item that brings back memories of the AMERICA WEST POINT OR AUSTRALIS? Big or small let me know what it is, and what memories it brings back. Email

I've been meaning (for months) to take a picture of a one-of-a-kind item I possess. If the attached picture (cropped) appears a bit odd, that's because I had to photograph it at an upwards angle so as not to get any flashback from the glass.

This is the only item I've ever seen that has (to scale) both her short and her taller stacks depicted in a manner in which one can make a direct comparison. Framed, it measures 52 inches long by 16 inches high, and the entire thing is accurate (circa 1940) and also to scale. Each square measures 1/2'' (one inch equals 16 feet).

It was drawn at NNS for use by a yard craftsman to create a mural in one of the buildings there. I understand that the squares were enlarged many times (including what's in each one) and painstakingly transferred to a wall (remember this was long before computers existed to make the job easy). The artist started to do the mural with short stacks, but apparently changed to the taller ones - the short ones are 'bluelines' on the print - as are all the other hull and superstructure lines, but the taller additions are in pencil!

I saw the finished mural when I first went into the shipyard's apprentice school. Done in color, it was about 20 feet long and very impressive. I understand it was completed about the time she first went into service in the summer of 1940. The building has since been demolished, and no one there seems to know if the mural was saved (it was on an interior metal or wood-paneled wall). I've never seen a photograph of the finished work either - too bad.

How did I get it? Well, the fella that did the work had it carelessly rolled up in his locker (you can see some of the results of that treatment). I sought him out (about 1955, as I recall, which was easy - he had signed the mural) to learn more about how the work was done. He showed me the drawing, and when I asked if I could borrow it (to copy), he just gave it to me!

I kept it rolled up (but better protected in a tube) for a number of years, then came to the realization it was a one-of-a-kind artifact that deserved preservation. So I had it flattened, 'dry mounted' and framed - as you see it.

The model is 1/1200 scale, 7.23" long. It's made from scraps of styrene
(white plastic), using a scanned reduction of commercially-available
plans. I used my binder of reference photos, as building. Paint is
Testor's ModelMaster enamel, except for the stern area, where I added
white with a white paint pen. I had to guess at some of the deck colors.

Randy