Titanic Kits? Recommendations?

[JimD]

So over the weekend I made the mistake of taking the wife with me into a hobby store. She spotted a Titanic kit and decided she needs to have one built.

I didn't want to just jump and buy the first one I saw (I believe it was Airfix) without doing some research. Just curious if any of you have experience with any and can point me toward something of a high quality (this one had little paint jars and that makes me think "toy.")

Scale not terribly important...just nothing really small... 1/700 and up probably.

[wbill76]

That depends, are you going to show it sinking? Just kidding...but scale is important in evaluating the different kits out there. Academy has one in both 1/400 and 1/700 that has been issued in various guises over the years as well as an older one in 1/600. Hobby Boss put one out in an odd 1/550 scale, Minicraft has probably the most detailed/involved ones in 1/350 scale. Revell Germany has also put out a couple in 1/700 and 1/570 (the 1/570 has also been boxed as a standard Revell kit, same plastic as far as I know) and Revell put out a 100th Anniversary Edition kit in 1/400.

That should give you a start on trying to figure out which ones to research and then try to lay hands on. Some will likely be more readily available via E-bay than others for example.

Good luck with your quest!

[TRM]

Time to flip the coin!! Bill pretty much covered the spread nicely! Personally if I had to pick, the Miniart Deluxe. A bit more but a fine looking kit and the design is closest from what I have read. They have a cheaper version but I think you would have to pick up a set of AM PE. After that, the Academy is a decent choice! You could make a nice project from doing the Titanic brotha! Check out some of the lighted kits...LOL!!

[JimD]

Thanks, gentlemen. I've done some looking at each of them. Not sure which way to go yet, but there's no hurry. I did find a boxing of the 1/400 Academy with PE and a wooden deck, but it's apparently a "collectors item" now and the cheapest I could find was 200. Figure I could add that to the base kit for less.

The Mini(craft?) Deluxe kit looks nice too. It comes with the railing I guess. Though I was thinking OOB at first now I'm fighting the urge to want to go all out...is there much AM available for the Mini? I've found a bit for the Academy.

[Deleted]

I've just picked up the Revell 1/700 RMS Olympic as a practice piece and after opening I'm now thinking about adding a bit of AM to it.

As its basically their Titanic kit I'd recommend that one in this scale

[TRM]

I think with the MiniCraft there are the two kits in 1/350. Classic and Deluxe. Deluxe only comes with the extra railings otherwise they are the same kit. I did read something about kits that are pre-1996 have a couple areas that need correcting...if you choose....stuff the average person probably does not give two sheeps about...LOL!!

So, if you go after any version and in 1/350 or even the 1/700 range, check out the PE that Tom's Model Works has - www.tomsmodelworks.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Titanic&search_in_description=1&x=0&y=0 as well as GMM (Gold Medal Moadels has to offer - www.goldmm.com/ships/gms3ordr.htm Ladders, stairs and railings are suggested. Deck items would be next on the list followed by the wee people if you wanted to go that route. Tom's has two specific sets that have everything you will need all in one shot. One is about $7 and the other $125. Both pricey but al you would ever need is there. But if railings and a few bobbles is what you are looking for, just cross check between the two for what you like.

Wood decks - start here and then check around to see if you can find stuff cheaper - freetimehobbies.com/1-350-artwox-rms-titanic-wood-deck-for-minicraft/

There are a couple great resources to choose form and get you started...

Rivet Counter Productions - www.rivet-counter.com/ There is a ton of technical stuff here...a lot that you may not need to have or even wan, but fun t look through. The links page is very extensive. Not all of the links work anymore, but several are still active.

titanic-model.com/ - This is one of the best starting points...if you ask me! You can basically find what you need from here!

She is a grand ship to build. Easy to loose scope of what you want to do with it and dig too deep into making things and exact replica and making it an never ending battle or burn yourself out trying to get there. You should be able to build with any of the kits and make a more than spectacular model...more so with the railings and ladders. In the end, its abouthaving some fun and making a model for the wife to lve...right?

[JimD]

Wow. Thanks for taking the time to compile that. I could have Googled but it's nice to get info from someone who's opinion you trust. And I figured you'd be the person to answer my call with all the extra info. Appreciated.

I've got it in my head now that I'll just go all out. I think my MO will stay the same. Would like the most detail I can get...complete accuracy not so important. I wouldn't know, my wife wouldn't know the difference. lol. A gain, thanks. Looking forward to pitying over the links when I'm back at a computer.

[kaytermarram]

I had bought some books of the TITANIC the time the film came out and I would highly recommend to do so. All kits available (I have sorted them out these days to check if I could find one to build the wreck. But this ended up in a complete scratch and that was too much...) are missing details galore and are -in parts- simply wrong. The Best I have found was the deluxe edition of the kit. But I have never given up the plan to do the wreck, that would be a real challenge...

Frank