USS Maine, a premium model

USS Maine was purely the product of American naval design, and was built at a U.S. Naval Yard. By contrast, her contemporary, USS TEXAS, was a product of a design competition, based on an English design, and constructed by a naval contractor. In fact, USS Maine is the largest vessel to be actually built in a U.S. Navy Yard. For that reason, the USS MAINE was a showpiece for the United States Navy and was given many ceremonial tasks.

On December 15, 1897, when USS MAINE was heading south toward Florida. At about 9:30 PM on February 15, two separate explosions shattered her. Sinking rapidly, she brought down with her two hundred and fifty-two sailors. Ammunition continued to explode after the blast.

The Navy claimed that the ship was sunk by a mine which ignited the forward magazines. Regardless of the reality of the situation, the loss of the USS MAINE had turned American popular opinion strongly in favor of war with Spain. President McKinley finally decided to militarily intervene in Cuba to end the ongoing unrest and "liberate" Cuba from Spanish rule.

Many momentos of the USS MAINE still exist. The mainmast is in Arlington National Cemetery, just outside of Washington DC, and her foremast is near the seawall at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. One of her bow anchors is located in Reading, Pennsylvania's City Park at the first block of North 11th Street. Her capstan rests in the Battery in Charleston, South Carolina, and her bow scroll is in Bangor, Maine.

This primarily wood, accurate USS Maine model was built from official plans. It has beautiful teak deck, not the cheap pale yellow Gemilina. Don't be fooled by advertising gimmicks such as "true museum quality", "the very best" from mediocre model makers out there. Look closely to see how wrong they are. The hull is terrible. Colors are wrong. No bridge deck details. Railings are massive oversized. The boats are particularly hard to make and many are omitted or made them casually. There're more but it's senseless to list them all here.

27" long x 12.5" tall x 8" wide (1/144 scale) $2,990 shipping and insurance in the contiguous USA included, other places: $300 flat rate.

39" long (1/100 scale) $3,950 shipping and insurance in the contiguous USA included, other places: $400 flat rate.

This USS Maine model is built per commission only. We require only a small deposit to start the process to start the process $500

The remaining balance won't be due until the model is completed, in maximum six months.

"The ship looks great, as we expected. The packing was terrific. Further, there was
no damage whatsoever on the outside of the box. It appears FexEx did a good job
getting the box to us. Thank you for your response and getting the ship to us in a timely manner! L.Wells"

Check out our beautiful Spanish American warship models here: USS Oregon and USS Olympia.