A more accurate CSS Alabama would be nice, it was a very attractive ship I think. I had thought the Kearsarge was supposed to be very accurate, but a later fit than the one she had fighting the Alabama. It is inaccurate? Personally I’d love to see a French or Spanish first-rate like l’Orient, l’Ocean, Santisima Trinidad, Santa Ana or San Jose. Or how about the French-built Admiral Kornilov?
I’m shocked, shocked to find that daydreaming is going on here! (with apologies to the character Captain Renault as played by Claude Rains) but I must admit, you guys are my kind of day dreamers.
Miike S.
Arrest the usual suspects? [whstl]
Daydreaming ?
I think it must be the filler putty fumes…
Out of curiosity, does anyone know how well the Revell Re-issue Kearsarge and Alabama kits did on the market?
The kits seemed to fly off the shelves as soon as they hit the stores.
With regard to the 1/96th scale Revell Kearsage and Alabama kits
also the 1/96th scale Cutty Sark and Thermopylae/PedroNunes kits.
Hulls are correct for Kearsarge and the Cutty Sark. However, I think that the same hull mouldings have been used to take shortcuts to make the other model kits, only because their sizes are roughly similar. The real ships lines are on record for anyone to see.
The CSS Alabama kit actually bears little resemblance to the actual ship. You are correct that the basic hull from the USS Kearsarge was used for the Alabama kit. The actual Alabama had very raked masts while the kit’s are vertical. The cannons are incorrect as well, and are in the wrong places. If you were to examine a deck plan of the real ship and compare it to the kit, you would also find that much of the kit’s deck furniture is incorrect and badly placed.
Many of the same issues plague the Thermopylae/Pedro Nunes kits as well. It’s a shame; these ships deserve to have detailed models made, as do many other sailing ships.
Bill
I can think of a few that I’d like to see…
The Bluenose and Gertrude L. Thebaud, Baltimore Clippers, the mighty J-Boats of the early America’s Cup,
The German Seeadler of WWI fame…
We can only hope.
Ray
Re popping hulls from the wrong ships to try to simulate another by changing some deck details to cheapskate is simply deception. This is taking advantage of buyers trust that what they are getting is a true scale model when they build their kit. Also re popping an ancient kit that has been out of circulation for years and printing ‘new’ on the box is also an insidious practice. I guess that it will stop only if anybody takes the trouble to complain to make an official complaint to a trading standards authority who have the clout to take them to task.
As far as new 1/96th scale kits go, I would like to see the Gloucester Schooner ELSIE, HMS Warrior and Brunel’s Great Britain kitted. Viability as kits…That’a another thing!
You are paraphrasing John Tilley when he called such practises fraudulent. No other business could get away with it. In the case of the Alabama and the Thermopylae/Pedro Nunes, plans were readily available and should have been used in designing the kits. I believe Revell cheated its customers when they released these kits.
I find it interesting that, when Lindberg released its 1/72 Japanese submarine, the rage and outcry rang throughout the modeling world about its gross inaccuracies; nobody bats an eye when Revell releases or re-releases the Beagle, Alabama, Thermopylae, etc.
Oh, Great Modeling Gods in the sky, please give us new and accurate sailing ship kits!
Bill
which HMS Bounty Warshipguy? the HMS Bounty from the 1950’s Marlon Brando Mutiny on the Bounty or the 1970’s Mel Gibson Mutiny on the Bounty? I hear the Bounty from Mel Gibson’s Mutiny on the Bounty was more accurate.
What I meant was simply that it seems that Revell has been focusing most of their sailing ship efforts on replicas either currently in existence or soon to be in existence. A replica of HMAV Bounty exists; Revell has a model kit of that ship. Charles Morgan (the original) exists, the Revell has a model of that ship. A replica of Batavia has been built, Revell has a model of that ship.
I applaud their efforts! Any NEW sailing ship kits are most welcome!
Bill
I’d like to know how the 1930s movie Mutiny on the Bounty compares to the other movie versions.
I have a photo copy of an old set of blueprints ( for a contest ) of the ship produced for the Clark Gable movie.
What source has surviving information about the actual ship so I can compare with my blueprints?
maybe the Royal navy has some idea.
My library is in storage, but I believe Anatomy of the Ship volume on Bounty covers some of the differences in the last two ships built/used for MotB movies.
Not that I can leaf through my copy and summarize them, sadly.
I was unaware a book had been issued about the HMS Bounty…
I have the Anatomy of the Ship publication on the USS Constitution but the dust jacket did not list HMS Bounty.
I will check on-line for further information.
Hopefully, recent budget cutbacks didn’t prompt the Admiralty to toss out their archives.
I believe CapnMac82 is referring to this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Armed-Transport-Bounty-Anatomy-Ship/dp/0851778933
1943Mike
I have the “Anatomy of the Ship” book on Bounty, and it is by far the best source I’ve seen. It’s based on the two Admiralty drafts made when it was purchased. There is some info on the last two hollywood ships, but it isn’t really specific about all the differences, and doesn’t mention the 1930s version. Also don’t forget that Bligh made changes both before leaving and during the voyage.
Thanks for the info on that book on HMS Bounty ! [:D]
The problem with those re-releases is that they are the same tired old kits that most of us already have in our collections! I will not keep buying HMS Victory over and over again just to boost their sales numbers. I want something new! Thanks to Revell, we seem to get a new sailing ship every now and then. Given that Revell seems to be making model kits of the several museum replicas around the world, I cannot wait to see what happens when the Dutch finish their rebuild of De Zeven Provencien. Perhaps Revell will make a kit of that!
Bill
I agree in terms of display space. Would be great to have a 1/196 Guerriere, Java, Cyane, & Levant to display alongside the Constitution. Maybe even do a reasonably-sized diorama.
Back to 1/96 scale (and going in a completely different direction subject-wise), I’d like to see models of contemporary America’s Cup yachts, especially some of the classic 12 meter boats.
Mark