--Originally Posted 10/17/13--

Just like their state namesakes, USS Texas and USS Arizona were close - not right "next to" each other (like USS Nevada - and we'll get to her), but pretty darn close. That is the indication of the following graphic-overlay analyses, involving the Revell Arizona as well as three other, similarly-accessible kits:


Click on Image to EnlargeWhat I did was, scale a drawing of Texas - its plan-view - to fit the beam of each of these readily-available molds. If, like Arizona, they had a prominent blister/armor belt, that dimension was used - otherwise the (maximum) width of the decks were used. Note each overlay has not simply been centered on the subject mold, shifted forward or aft, to the position of maximum "net" agreement. And they are by no means all "created equal": Arizona and Iron Duke match best a little further forward, Royal Sovereign definitely right aft and Warspite (more or less) amidships, especially around the casemate guns.

The following kitbash options are thus indicated:

- From Revell ARIZONA => 15.1" LOA, 1:456 scale TEXAS
- From Revell (ex-FROG) ROYAL SOVEREIGN => 13.1" LOA, 1:524 scale TEXAS
- From Airfix IRON DUKE => 11.4" LOA, 1:605 scale TEXAS
- From Airfix WARSPITE => 10.5" LOA, 1:654 scale TEXAS


Note from the above that virtuall all wind up with a Texas smaller than (Revell's nominal 1:426) scale of the Arizona kit - pretty much spanning the range between 450- to 650-scales. The Revell Arizona kitbash would itself be just a hair (1.3%) smaller than 450-scale, while the next-biggest - using the Revell Royal Sovereign - would be slightly (4.8%) smaller than 1:500.

These two kitbash ideas are demonstrated in more detail by the following "graphic dry-fits" for them:


Click on Image for FULL-RESNote both are depicted in "5 (easy) pieces" - each with three sections (blue-gray) leftover - though for Arizona it appears the cut-patterns (though I retried this twice now) could still be made simpler, as achieved for Royal Sovereign. Complexity arises because of course we are not simply blanketing the deck - which, after all could be done far simpler with clear, "v"-groove plasticard - but seeking to reposition as many as possible of the major features (turret barbettes, superstructure decks, hull sides and blisters/armor, etc.) as correct for Texas.

That said, the indicated over-extensions (green), particularly for Arizona, are not as bad as they may appear, being in areas where the hull-sides can easily be angled/bent inward, once the excess deck-edge has been trimmed away. Likewise, each scheme leaves a significant gap (pink) amidships, roughly abaft Texas' fifth turret, there - however this flush deck section would be even easier to construct out of plasticard or even the leftover sections.

The above is particularly true for the option using Royal Sovereign - yielding you a Texas which, at 524-scale would be a near-perfect compatriot to your Revell Iowa, Lindberg DE and -Essex, and within 5% of your Renwal North Carolina - even "close enough" to your Revell Yorktown-class ("Battle of Midway" - though by rights, alongside Texas it should be a late-war Enterprise) carrier. The Arizona kitbash, for its part, will be near-perfectly compatible with the classic 1:450 Hasegawas - Iowas, Yamatos, Vanguard and (best of all) Akagi - and just slightly (5.2%) larger than your Revell Helena/Baltimore cruiser. Plus, within 7% (smaller) of your already-built Revell Arizona.

Or - even better - a Revell late-war Pennsylvania (and we'll get to her, too)...


Cheers,

- Matty