Scratch Challenge Offered By USS New York

Sounds like a battle slogan and in a lot of ways that is just what the Navy’s newest warship, the USS New York really is. One thing it isn’t yet…A scale model. This is a project ripe for a scratch build or kitbash.

Many of today’s most popular models have grown up out of a tragedy and you can bet somewhere this ship is on the drawing boards for a scale model which will hit hobby shops in the near future.

Until then, have at it.

The new ship has all of the popularity hot buttons to give it wide appeal in both modeler circles and the collector’s venue:

• It commemorates a tragedy, the Sept 11 aerial bombardment of the Trade Center Complex in New York City taking over 2,700 lives.
• Its bow was made from steel from the World Trade Center
• It is a modern San Antonio Class warship designed for both expeditionary warfare missions and special operations against terrorists.
• It has a simple, clean design which should allow easy construction of its model.

The USS New York (LPD 21) has already become a living memorial. It is a fighting monument to the heroes and victims who lost their lives in the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings Sept. 11, 2001.

The thing that makes this ship special is its bow stem that breaks the water first making way for the rest of the vessel. The ship’s bow stem was formed from an I-beam, the last piece of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

Just working on this steel became an emotional high point for men used to a very rough workplace.

"When that steel came in and I laid my hands on a piece of it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. There was something present in the air," Junior Chavers, plant operations manager at Amite Foundry and Machine, said.
If you are contemplating building your own model of the newest LPD, here are the basics:

• Laid down, 10 September 2004, with remnant steel from World Trade Center cast into her bow, at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Avondale Operations, New Orleans, LA.
• Christened, Saturday, 1 March 2008, at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Avondale Operations, New Orleans, LA.
• New York is scheduled for commissioning in 2009 and will be homeported at Norfolk, VA.

Specifications:
Displacement 25,000 t.(fl)
Length 684'
Beam 105'
Draft 23 ft.
Speed 22 kts.
Complement 33 Officers, 411 Enlisted
Troop Accommodations 66 Officers, 625 Enlisted
Flag Staff Accommodations 84
Mission Systems
Vehicles/Cargo (Net): Three Vehicle Decks (2323 sq m)
Two Cargo/Ammo Magazines (708 cu m)
Cargo Fuel, JP-5 (1190 cu m) , MOGAS (38 cu m)
Two LCACs
Medical
Two Operating Rooms
24 Person Hospital Ward
100 Casualty Overflow Capacity:
Aviation Facilities
Hangar - "O" Level, Maintenance Facilities for; One CH-53E, or Two CH-46s, or One MV-22, or Three UH/AH-1s
Landing - Two CH-53s, or Four AH/UH-1s, or Four CH-46s, or Two MV-22s, or One AV-8B Harrier:
Main Propulsion
4 - Medium Speed Turbocharged Marine Diesels
2 - Shafts
2 - Single Reversing Reduction Gears
2 - Inboard Rotating (top) Fixed Pitch Propellers

The new ship incorporates the latest quality of life standards for the embarked sailors and Marines including berths providing enough room for the occupant to sit up. There is also a ship services "mall", a fitness center and a learning resource center and electronic classroom.

End of the Year Update

In New York For Commissioning

Cutaway view of USS New York (LPD 21)

It is also good to have a casting of a similar ship to guide your work whether you resort to casting such a model or use some other technology to build your own.

These are pewter castings of the US San Antonio (LPD-17) from The Technology House, (TTH) in Solon, OH. You can contact them through the company's website They have also produced pewter castings of several other ships pictured on the site.