Upon receiving this kit in the mail, I looked over the artwork on the box top to see which paint scheme I thought would be cool to do. I noticed a camouflaged scheme that had a blue pattern. Immediately, I questioned the blue color. I checked the instructions and yes, there it was – sky blue color callouts. The other thing that I noticed, aside from the standard Dragon instruction, was there were nice decals, 23 grey sprues, 2 clear sprues, a PE fret, and 2 bags of magic tracks. The instructions show quite a few sprues with the majority of unused parts (which I included pictures of). I was still wondering a few days later which scheme to do. I was really intrigued by the sky blue scheme. At this point, I decided to post on Hyper scale about its validity. Tom Cockle, one of the technical consultants for this kit, shot me a reply saying no, it was a fake, and added this kit was missing a sprue C. Upon this, I contacted Dragon care and finally got my part around New Years.

History

The USS Texas was commissioned 12 March 1914. The USS Texas served in both World Wars and many other conflicts during her service in the United States Navy. Her first call to action was immediately following her commissioning, when she was stationed of the coast of Vera Cruz, Mexico as a show of force.

During World War I, the USS Texas’ main duty was convoy escort. In 1919, there was even a movie shot on the Texas starring Chester Conklin. In 1925, the USS Texas was brought in for modernization. This was completed in 1926. After this time and up to the beginning of World War II, the Texas spent time operating in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Background

The absolute latest in American manned fighter aircraft, Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II is slated to replace aging F-16, F-18, and AV-8B aircraft in the lightweight fighter attack role in the US Air Force and US Navy in the next several years. The land-based F-35A will replace the F-16, the vertical-takeoff F-35B will assume the Harrier's role, and the carrier variant F-35C will take over for the F/A-18. Several other nations, including the United Kingdom, are expected to purchase variants of the F-35 for their air arms. This fifth-generation fighter employs many advanced features, including low-observable (stealth) technology, to ensure its effectiveness in the 21st Century combat environment.

MiniArt is a Ukraine company that was established in 2001 and released their first kit in 2003. They have released many of these diorama series kits over the years.

Upon opening the box, you will find several vacuum formed sheets that make up the base and the structures, with a couple sprues of injection molded parts and sheet of posters. This has been the norm for MiniArt in their “Diorama Series” kits.

This was the first vacuum formed kit that I have ever worked on, so there was a learning curve for me. If you have never worked with a vacuum formed kit, this is a great starter kit for you to practice on. MiniArt also provides step by step instructions on how to assemble their kits at https://miniart-models.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/36050_instr.pdf

The set consists of two photo etch sheets, both unpainted brass. You get parts to add details to the main gear areas of the engine nacelles. These consist of new ribs and frames. Also included are details to enhance the already very detailed engines. There are parts to detail the inside of the engine cowling access doors and engine cooling doors. You also get framing detail for these access hatches.

The instructions are quite adequate in explaining bending and placing the details. They also tell you what you have to remove on the existing parts so they will fit.

The down side of these beautiful detail sets is that once the plane is completed, it is hard to see all the work you have done. But I know they are there and if you look real real close you can see them.

HIGHLY recommended. One should have experience working with photo etch and using ACC glues or epoxy.