Buffie's Models > Ships

BB-35 Battleship USS Texas
Kit: Scratch built
Scale: 1/350th
After-Market: Tom's Model Works, Gold Medal Models.
Year Built: 1997-1998
Work Performed:
Everyone has their 'Magnum Opus' and this is mine. I had never built a ship model prior to starting this two year effort, and I must say that the key to building a good ship model, be it out of wood, resin or plastic, is to take your time. The thrill of undertaking a project like this for me is the research. At the time there were few books on the Battleship Texas, so I ended up going to the ship three times to take photos (thousands), measurements, and to talk to the volunteers that run the ship. As you can see from the pictures the entire ship (hull, deck, main guns) were built from scratch. The decks were built from plans and stacked on top of each other during assembly. Multiple pieces such vents, 3 and 5 inch guns, and the main turrets were milled from brass or cast using RTV and resin. (Special thanks will always be out there to Matt and Cameron). The 'secret tool' to be able to scratch build a ship model such as this, where symmetry is critical, is to use a commercially available commercial grade cutter. If you go to the "Tips and Miscellaneous" page you can see what one of these commercial grade cutters looks like. You can read about the construction and details in the Fine Scale Modeler Magazine, January 2003 issue, and the Model Ship Journal Magazine, Volume 4, Number 1, 2003