Interestingly, we have a contingent that commutes to the NTXBG battles from Round Rock, just north of Austin.
In Big Gun, transports can be a lot of fun (I drive several), in small/fast gun they have a more limited role from what I understand.
I have a Titanic (maiden voyage was the Texas Cage Match at NABGO this year). The smaller cargo ships are far more manoeuvrable. In fact we have two little 3 island tramps in the club - about 22" long. Very hard to hit and very manoeuvrable. An Abdeil class fast minelayer is another interesting cargo option - very fast, and can be used to run cargo (at least in NTXBG). Or the Kormoran (it can be cargo or commerce raider). The smaller ships are a bit tougher build to get right, of course. However, the Titanic makes me really apprecaite my little 22" Lake Shore and even smaller USS Reluctant (a modified Camano class).
A liberty is a good starter ship, and, in some clubs they are used as loaners for new members. Built right, they can be moderately decent in manoeuvring, but not like a little tramp steamer. However there is a lot more room for error.
As for the cost of entry, yep, guns are expensive, but are pretty much a one-time expense. Say a ship costs $1,200 to build - but has a service life of 10-15 years (most of ours are at least that old, and we have retired precious few). Maintenance each month is negligible. Now compare that $1,200 with entry into other sports (the number of $100-$300 planes you will crash before you learn how to fly, the golf lessons and clubs to learn golf, the tennis lessons and equipment you would take to learn tennis, etc.) and you will see that it is not as bad as yo think.
You might want to start planning for [link=http://www.nabgo.org]NABGO[/link] (the North American Big Gun Open), near Dallas, now. It is usually right around/after July 4th.
As for the sites, many are listed on the NTXBG site. But, to whet you appetite, you might want to visit
[link=http://www.strikemodels.com/]www.strikemodels.com/[/link]
[link=http://battlersconnection.com/]battlersconnection.com/[/link]
and
[link=http://dreadnoughthulls.com]dreadnoughthulls.com[/link]
Cheers,
Wreno
ORIGINAL: Rusty_S85
Yes it does. I was talking about the North Texas group but I am not in north texas, Houston here and I planned on eventually moving out in central texas more towards austin.
But was just wondering if they were still around. I know cost is one of the things that really keeps me from getting involved with the hobby. I was hoping that over time the manufacturing of the armament would become more efficent and the cost would go down.
I still would love to build the Battleship Texas with 5 working turrets and I would figure out a way to design an interuptor to prevent the center turrent from firing in the direction of superstructure.
Aside from that I was told by numerous people I should consider an unarmed ship but as I keep putting forth I dont have the ability to transport huge ships which was the reason I was looking at the Battleship Texas since it would be around 47''. The only unarmed ship I would consider building would be a troop transport version of the Titanic or a hosptial ship version of the Britannic but both of those would be over 70'' in scale which would be way to long to fit in my vehicle.
Its also good to hear that swampworks isnt totally out. Last I heard they went out of business basically. But since its been so many years since ive had a very strong interest in the hobby I will have to track down sites and get caught up on any changes that has been made.