[Darwin]

Time to come out of the closet. Ryan contacted me a few weeks ago about taking on the Texas as a design project. Since then it has been like one of those tunes that, once it imbeds in one's brain, just won't go away. So, although it looks as if it is really going to push the envelope of my design ability (the Colorado is only the first model that I can really claim as a "from scratch" design attempt vs a re-engineer of an existing kit...and was greatly aided by existance of a BS Profile Morskie booklet of the Colorado), I'm going to jump into the big leagues with this project. My thoughts of the moment are to put as much detail into the beast as is within my own humble micromodelling building ability. Between my copy of the warship pictorial on the Texas, the Utube "Texas tour" videos, and the HNSA blueprint file on the Texas, I have enough to get started, but am needing a lot of assistance from you guys who have been dreaming about this project. One thing that I will very much need is a ton of still images of the details of the ship...anyone reading this who has photos of the Texas, I would really, really appreciate if you would send me an electronic file of them....pm me for the email address to get them to me. And, if anyone is planning on visiting the Texas in the near future, please take along your trusty digital camera and fresh SD card and do a 'walk-around' type photo shoot of the nooks and crannies and small details of the accessible areas of the ship (and, maybe if Ryan can sweet-talk the powers that be, even some of the inaccessible areas....at least of the command deck level of the island). My most immediate need is photos of the small structures on the main deck area where the 5/51 guns were moved to and of the exterior bulkheads of the main structures so I can get an idea of porthole (in some cases, windows) and hatch locations, annotated with location info if not obviously identifiable. Longer term need is photos of the compartment interiors, at least of the main deck level of the island, and maybe even of the next level down. There is a method to my madness....Chris has been a bad influence on me regarding some of the project aspects I'm considering. Along with the 1:200 model of the full ship, I'm thinking that a 1:87 companion model of the island command level (and maybe of that portion of the next level down) would be possible....and maybe even of some of the upper levels. A 1:35 scale model of the conning tower interior isn't out of the question given enough detail photos. And, really going for pie in the sky, a walk-around type tour book is also a possible product from this humble little task. So, if you do contribute documentation images, publication permission would be greatly appreciated, just in case dreams come true.

Now, with respect to the crass financial aspects. This task has all the appearance being of the "chicken heart that ate Detroit" nature, and is going to take a big portion of my life away for a significant length of time. The design blog thread is liable to overtake Koolik's Big Boy thread for size and duration. So, I intend reserving rights for commercial distribution of any paper model kits that may emerge at project's end, but will grant the USS Texas restoration project unlimited and unconditional (but not exclusive) permission to use any and all intellectual properties that may result. Hopefully, this little project will stay in the realm of fun hobby and not that of "frikkin' job."