Jeff Poindexter had a Texas years ago and before that I remember Gerald Roberts had one at the Chilhowee Ranger station (Smokey Mountain National Park) way back in the early 80's. I don't remember seeing any since then. Some of the MWC guys may have info on the Texas. They had their awards get together on the Texas.
I thought of building one back when I first got in the hobby. It was the first ship I saw as a kid and it got me hooked into naval history. But I am a bad wood worker and shouldn't do wood hulls. At one time I thought the Austrailian guys had a fiberglass hull fo it. It would not be a good ship in the MWC/IRC. It's slow, only has one rudder and will not turn with the slow Axis guys. Big gun might be better as it has lost of main guns.
Where in NJ are you? I live in Morris county. First decide if you want to be axis or allied, other than that you'll probably want to go with a class 4 ship since if you want to battle locally it will probably be fast gun. Also there is a battle up in NY in two weeks that would be good for you to attend if possible so you can get an idea of what the hobby is all about. See some boats in action meet some people that sort of stuff.
Allied ehh Well the British have the best allied class 4 boats, if you move up to class 5 ships you get some good choices of British or US ships. I wouldn't advise building larger than a class 5 as a rookie, you can do it but it just makes you a bigger target and there are more things to worry about. Do you have a preference on nationality? Are you interested in building a wooden hull from a plan set or would you rather buy a fiberglass hull and build off that? Fiberglass hulls are generally easier to begin with but you are more limited in choice of ships. Wooden hulls take more time and effort but you can build any legal ship you can find plans for.
I think a scroll saw and belt sander are the most useful. But it sounds like you know your way around a shop which makes building a hull a lot easier. If you are going to build a hull and an American one I would recommend either a South Carolina or an Arizona.
You should come up to NY. It's a good opportunity to see everything in action. Email me if you need info
Other than possibly Taubmann I don't know where to find good US plans much less Colorado plans, but someone on here probably knows.
"Google" The Maryland Silver Company I know the name sounds wierd, but they sell plans for US Warships that are copied from the National Archieves. A little pricey (but nowhere near NMM pricey) but they are without a doubt, the best plans availible for US Warships. If I had one gripe about some of there plans, it is that they are too detailed, and can appear confusing. But its better to have too much info than not enough.
