Just picked this one up and thought I’d do a quick ‘in the box’ review’. Squadron has a nice video on their site as well.
WoW this is a really nice kit in an impressive package. The inside liner is a velvet-coated plastic and the manual is actually a hardback book. Many of the the parts are individually packaged and there is basically no flash at all. The railings are fine and the kit has LED lighting for the interior so all the portholes and windows are clear plastic. There are self-adhesive wood decking stickers but I believe Artwox has the wood decks available separately ($44 US). The parts are appropriately colored plastic and the hull is pre-painted as well so you could opt for not doing additional painting at all.
While not an inexpensive kit at $154 US, this looks to be a fun build. I’ll probably spring for the wood decking and do some detail painting as well but other than that it should make a impressive display piece right from the box. The work bench is full at the moment but this kit just broke in line on the build schedule. I’d consider doing a construction blog if there is any interest.
Thanks for posting the review, we really do not do enough of them around here. I for one would be very interested to see what you do with her Sauron. So,please post a WIP.
That is pretty interesting. I think the model is tied to a forthcoming blockbuster disaster movie.
There was some marketing that called it a “Great Lakes” steamer. That got me going for a while doing research, but I couldn’t track down what or where this ship was from. And there are Great Lakes near Taiping…
Manitowoc did build quite a few ships that ended up in China, but this doesn’t seem to be one.
Is there any additional information in the kit?
Those “antique” instructions look cool.
Hey you know that black flocked plastic has a million uses… save some for sure.
There is no historical information in the kit but here’s a quick summary.
From the Meng website:
The steamer Taiping is a type of Great Lakes passenger-freight ship made in the American Manitowoc shipyard. It was launched in 1920 with the weight of 2050 tons. During the WWII, it was used as a short supply ship for U.S. forces and later sold to Taiping Dock Company as scrap iron. On July 14th 1948, it was rented by Shanghai Zhonglian Company for $7000 per month and changed into a passenger ship with the carrying capacity of 508 passengers travelling between Shanghai and Keelung.
From Wiki:
The Taiping was a Chinese steamer that sank after a collision with another vessel en route to Taiwan on January 27, 1949, leading to the deaths of over 1500 passengers and crew combined. The ship was packed to nearly twice capacity with over 1,000 refugees fleeing Communism after the Chinese Civil War, traveling from Shanghai to Keelung. Some estimates put the number of passengers at over 1,500, although the ship was only rated to carry 580 passengers. The ship, which left port on January 26, was sailing at night with lights out due to a curfew when it collided with the smaller Chienyuan cargo boat near the Zhoushan Archipelago. A memorial to the ship and its victims was established at Keelung Harbor naval base. The Taiping, which made multiple journeys before its tragic end, has been compared to the Mayflower for its role in bringing Chinese immigrants to Taiwan. It has also been compared to the Titanic due to its tragic loss of life.
This is a vessel I will definitely save my schekles for ! Now that said , Here’s a point of history no one has written about ! Did you know that in the fifties there were at least four along with some converted former side - wheelers cruising Lake Erie in the fifties still ?
How do I know , Well Gee ! I was there as a child from 5 to 14 and got to ride some of them on a regular basis ! From the good old U.S.A. and Canada . Gotta go ! Mother Nature just blinked our lights .
Well, just ordered the Artwox wood decks so I’ll work on clearing some space on the bench while I wait for that. Couple things I failed to mention: the ship comes with a stand and a PE nameplate. Also, the LEDs are USB powered so you’ll need a USB charger and cable. The hull is about 22" long.
Thinking ahead about a display case, I might use the box cover as a backdrop and integrate a USB port in the case bottom somehow. Hmmmm . . . .
The box art shows the Bund in Shanghai where The Creek meets the Wangpo river. It’s not much changed since I was there in1985, but look the other way and WOW.
The model is 535mm in length, 88mm in width, and 208mm in height and has about 485 pieces plus the deck stickers. Even though it can be assembled without glue I wouldn’t call it a weekend build by any means. Considering the price you’ll want to take your time and get it right, especially the rigging. There is very little to go by in the instructions so some research will be needed and no rigging line is provided.
The Artwox wood decking came in and looks like it will be an improvement over the stickers in the kit. For the USB cable I bought a retractable one for $8 that has a really small wire and took it apart. A regular size cable would be UGGLEE. I probably will fill in the slot in the hull and make another close to one of the stand supports so I can hide the wire better. Here is the decking:
