They say the economy is just fine…but they keep laying off people. A month or so ago Microsoft layed off 9000 people. This past summer My school district did not renew contracts for anyone with less than 3 years in the district. I feel for you. Hope you can find a better job soon.
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Rory, so sorry for the loss of your job. The school district that I retired from is going to be laying off over 70 people in 2026. Your progress on the Texas is looking very good. Modeling is a great hobby for getting your mind off of things. Good luck with everything.
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Hi Rory, sorry to hear you have been let go, good luck in your job hunting. I will be following along. on the Texas build. I have the kit in my stash.
All the best.
Cheers 
Si
1 step forward, 1 step back. I had looked at photos and updates on her progress and it looked like they were going to leave the deck bare. So I have painted her deck in tan, preparing for a wash.
However this was released 2 days ago…
Battleship Texas Restoration Update — Deck Painting Begins! | Drone Footage (Dec 9, 2025)
They are painting her deck in Deck Blue 20-B after all so now I will need to go back and repaint her deck. This may actually make it easier for me since I will be able to paint the darker colour with the hairy stick instead of it having to mask off a tan deck.
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Have been following Texas for a while now,: she’s looking might fine… the restorers are doing a good job…
This weeks progress. I applied my black to the hull and the massive plate lines were still showing up. So back to sanding I went. I have hopefully gotten them all knocked back.
You can see just how much more needed to be sanded.
I also worked on some of the superstructure since this will definitely be painted in sub-assemblies.
I had to dig into my spares for a ladder for the funnel as one isn’t included in the kit PE. I am using that most versatile of resources to get some details…World of Warships! Luckily I have USS Texas in my port and she is very detailed. I will be using that for my rigging guide later.
Lastly my Tub O’ Superstructure 
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The black is back down on the hull and I am pretty happy with the result.
I also achieved what I wanted which was to leave just the faintest impression of plating. If you look at the ship directly side on it looks pretty smooth.
But if you angle it a bit to the light is reflecting you can still see the plate lines. I know they are still massively overscale but they are honestly pretty invisible most of the time.
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MUCH better hull plating!
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Looks great Rory… I don’t know what it is with Trumpeter and their, ahem, “plating”… 
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Great job Rory, sorting the out the plating.
Cheers, Si
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Bit more work done on Texas over the last few days. Main focus was on the turrets which were a bit finicky with the turned barrels but overall came out looking good. Also worked on some superstructure bits and added some of the main deck gubbins such as the mushroom vents and anchor chains.
Here she is dry fitted. Starting to look like a real ship now.
The next question I need to answer is how hard to lean into the museum ship aspect. Because one of the main things I have noticed is that Texas lacks the aircraft catapult on the #3 turret. I went back and looked at old pics of her when at her previous mooring and she didn’t have the catapult then either.
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Rory, I say lean into it and embrace! Here are some ideas:
The most striking aspect of a museum ship is, in my opinion, the presence of civilian visitors.
On my Massachusetts build there are lots of people on board - even women and children! These unexpected, non-uniformed characters in bright clothing really help sell the museum ship narrative.
Other clues would be non-military flag display such as the fully dressed ship with two U.S. national flags, and the waterline painted much lower than in service since the museum ship rides higher with no fuel, ammunition or other stores aboard.
In the case of the Texas there is the additional clue of that all-black underwater hull!
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The majority of my subassemblies are built from their plastic parts. Now I need to start adding the PE.
First up is some railing. I am pretty happy with how this came out since it had some fun curves to do. Not the worst but curves are always a pain.
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True that, Rory… if you can get your hands on a PE bending set it could help…
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UMM USA has reasonable priced rollers that can help.
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The ones on the site look good. May have to invest in one of those at some point.
For now I have my trusty mandrels. Got them cheap at Michael’s a few years ago and they work pretty well.
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Did more PE work today. Mostly straight runs but a few more curves and fiddly bits.
Float baskets added to the forward barbette. I am enjoying the railing. Its nice and chunky so takes a bit of a beating and is forgiving of mistakes when bend in the wrong areas.
Railings and baskets added to the first deck level.
Topmast - Top
Topmast - Bottom. This was fiddly, trying to line these all up and get them to stay in place.
More bridge superstructure.
Still quite a bit of PE to add to these areas before I can get some paint down. However I am getting there.
Will be taking a break next week since I will be travelling for Christmas.
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Nice update 