I was recently "commissioned", or more truthfully, cajoled into building a scale model of the Titanic for a school in Florida who needs it for a special project in January. My daughter teaches there, hmmm...think that has anything to do with the demand for my services? Anyway, I don't mind as I think it'll be fun and I have built ships in the past. However, the choice of the kit has been left up to me and I'm not familiar with any of the Titanic kits.
So, if any of my fellow modelers has had any experience with Titanics, I sure would appreciate your recommendations. Preferably a kit that won't become a disaster itself. As always, thanks.
To really give you advice, we'll need some more information.....
What sort of "special project"?
To go at the bottom of an Aquarium? Use the Revell 1/570 kit.
To go on display? How much room do they have, and will the model be protected (i.e in a case)?
What age group are the recipients?
In most school scenarios that I can envisage, I find it unlikely that a large model, covered with expensive and fragile PE detail parts is the best solution....
There are three readily available choices for Titanic:
Revell 1/570 scale, about 18 inches LOA.
Revell 1/400 scale, about 26" LOA
Minicraft (ex Entex) 1/350 scale, about 30" LOA
The Revell kit is the smallest, and the least detailed. It is also the least expensive, and will also be the least fragile. (How are you going to get the completed model to Florida from wherever you live?) It can be built out of the box into a decent looking model. I built one OOB, and mounted it on a nice varnished Oak base, as a donation to a school fund-raising auction. It was well received.
The Revell 1/400 scale kit looks nice. I haven't built it yet, but you can check out my in-box review here:
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The Minicraft kit is the biggest, and there are a lot of detail sets for it. It can be built into a stunning model. Bear in mind that the molds were originally Entex, and the kit was later released by Minicraft. About the time of the movie hoopla, Minicraft made some revisions to the molds, correcting some of the inaccuracies of the Entex molds. So, there are old Entex, old Minicraft, and revised Minicraft kits out there. If this is going on display in an elementary school, I don't think I'd want the fragility and expense of PE railign s and other fine detail, though.
Summary: All three are buildable kits. Personally, I would go with one of the two smaller kits, built OOB. I'd choose the size based on the specifics of the project. I think Model Expo carries all three kits at very good prices. Also, now that the movie is old hat, you can find these kits for good prices on E-bay. (There's no reason to pay full retail price for the big Minicraft kit!)
I saw the Minicraft kit today, it had a list of improvements along the sides of the box (overprinted over photos of the various bits), does this indicate it is the revised kit?
Take a look at the Academy 1/600th scale kit. It's the most recent, it's beautifully moulded in a variety of colours, easy to build and it isn't that expensive.
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