1/700 USS Texas

[Quincy]

Nice scratchbuilding Jeff!!






Bob Pink.

[Jeff Sharp]

Man! Do I ever miss 1/350 kits!! Believe it or not but that white dot on my finger is the Range Clock.

[Jeff Sharp]

As I wait for PE to come in to finish off the Main Mast I started to detail the turrets. As I was researching the Kingfisher floatplanes I realized that I got the position of Texas wrong within BatDiv 5. I learned that she was not the 1st ship of BatDiv 5 in July/Aug 1941. She switched positions with New York in November of 1940 which means that her last turret was not red but blue when she wore this camouflage scheme. So I repainted the last turret top to true blue to indicate the 3rd ship within BatDiv 5.
I also started working on the catapult on turret three. The catapult that came with the kit is a joke and I did not use it at all. Instead I used one that I had left over from my stash of photo etch. I also will not be using the planes from the kit. They simply look horrible. You can see in the picture where you have to glue them together. Why did they make it two pieces? So I will be getting some aftermarket planes as well. The price tag on this kit is rising!!

[PetrolGator]

Looking awesome... hell of a job on that range clock!

[ArizonaBB39]

Excellent work!

[MartinJQuinn]

Really "Sharp" work Jeff!

[Jeff Sharp]

I finally got the photoetch for the birdbath on the mainmast. After completing that, I started working on the Kingfisher floatplanes and the midship defense tower.

Here is a comparison of the kit's representation of the defense tower with the actual one. The large white rectangle on the back of the tower is a movie projector screen. As you can see, the kit's tower has many flaws and my frustration level with this kit is on the rise again!!

I do not want to completely scratch build a new one so I will try to improve this one as much as possible starting with reshaping the projector screen and adding detail under the upper windows.

I'm REALLY bummed how bad this kit is. I was expecting much more.

[ArizonaBB39]

As bad as the kit seems to be, you're doing an excellent job Jeff. Keep it up!

[Brian K.]

Super work, now tell us how you did the range clock!!!!! You've done wonders with this kit.

[Jeff Sharp]

Super work, now tell us how you did the range clock!!!!! You've done wonders with this kit.

Hi Brian,
The range clock is a simple trick. I googled an image of a range clock, printed it and reduced it to scale and cut it out.

[LE BOSCO]

Jeff

The most important thing is to have fun your work and very pleasant to the eye
do not demobilize
regards
Nicolas

[Jeff Sharp]

Did some work on the defense tower.
First I filed away the angled sides so that the underside of the tower is exposed. Then I sanded off the molded on windows.


Then I created new windows from 1/350 PE ladder stock and reconstructed the top round portion of the tower and the projector screen.


Now it's a little closer to the actual one.


Next on the list is the boat cranes. This is another thing from the kit I will not be using. I will be scratch building and using aftermarket PE for this as well.

[MartinJQuinn]

I'm REALLY bummed how bad this kit is. I was expecting much more.

In fairness, it's an older kit that was re-released.

You are doing a great job on her. Keep up the good work.

[Jeff Sharp]

I'm REALLY bummed how bad this kit is. I was expecting much more.

In fairness, it's an older kit that was re-released.

You are doing a great job on her. Keep up the good work.

Personally I don't think that the age of the kit should have any bearing on the accuracy. I have a bunch of old kits that are very accurate. If a kit is re-tooled and re-released then it should be more accurate than when first released. If this version is more accurate than the original then I feel bad for whoever bought the original. Heck, I feel sorry for whoever buys this version. Myself included.

[Jeff Sharp]

I'm in a major rut with this kit. It's been a long time since I've done anything on it. I was hoping that LCP released a version of her by now. No such luck. Everytime I sit down at my desk to work on something, there IT is, staring me down!
So, I'm trying to motivate myself to finish her. I've been experimenting with a couple different sea bases lately. Here she is sitting on one to help get me motivated.

[PetrolGator]

OH! THIS build!

I was wondering what happened to it.

FWIW, I love what you've done with the kit. Your build is most certainly being watched.

[Hallis]

Texas is my home state and, consequently, my favorite ship (go figure? lol) I'm glad to see you thinking about getting back on it.

But i'm a little sad to hear about the lack of quality in the kit. Is the issue more because of it getting in the way of your backdating and otherwise would have worked out better in 1942 trim?

[Jeff Sharp]

Is the issue more because of it getting in the way of your backdating and otherwise would have worked out better in 1942 trim?

Hi Shane, unfortunately even as a 1942 version this kit is not worth the price tag that it commands unless you are prepared for a ton of aftermaket and scratch building to make it look somewhat correct.

Here's a couple picks of my first attempt at the superstructure. Already with major changes to the flag bridge, navigation bridge, and pilot house. The kit has them sitting on top of eachother, stacked up like blocks. The navigation bridge and pilot house "floated" above the flag bridge on the real ship.
I also had to completely reshape all three levels to how they appeared in 1941. I'm not quite happy with how they turned out. I may give it another go.

[MartinJQuinn]

I don't know, Jeff. All things considered, she looks pretty good. I say plow ahead and finish her.

[Jeff Sharp]

I say plow ahead and finish her.

Okay, plowing away. Did a little bit of work on the forward fighting top. I removed the molded on windows and replaced them with 1/350 ladder stock. Then I built the bird bath atop the fighting top out of styrene and photo etch splinter shielding..