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RORO ferries?


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I'm normally an airliner bloke but have an urge to build a RORO ferry...

Are there any kits of them, specifically either Viking Line ship called Mariella or Cinderalla or one of the latest P&O ships or one of their Pride Of ships?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Revell do a 1:700 container ship.

http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/2484_1_105594931.html

Deans marine do a nice model of the Old Maersk Anglia but its more designed for RC so not cheap.

http://www.deansmarine.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/10_20/products_id/371

In fact they have some nice kits in the range by the looks of it.

Julien

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I'd like to see the Airfix Free Enterprise II kit again, if the moulds are still useable (Last in the catalogue mid-70s) but I suspect the name association with the later ships (in particular Herald of Free Enterprise) may be enough to prevent that. Can you imagine the publicity if some journalist got the wrong end of the stick and thought they were doing a kit of HoFE?

Edited by Dave Fleming
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I wondered why they released that ship, but Wiki tells me that it featured in a film San Ferry Ann, which appears to have been a "Carry On" style caper. So if I'm anything to go by, this early media tie-in was completely lost on its audience. However, it did have a later life as the Italian ferry Moby Blu.

There was an earlier Free Enterprise, Later Free Enterprise I, which spent later years in Greek waters. And several later ones...I suspect they do not all look the same but don't know.

So there are naming and colour scheme options for Airfix if they wished to re-release it, but I don't foresee a large market.

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There were variations in design, and they got renamed with new paint jobs as TT were absorbed into P&O.

Some interesting vessels out there, but the interest would probably be insufficient to warrant kit production.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pride+of+free+enterprise&client=firefox-a&hs=0y6&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=tbxPU4LiJKbH7Abb94HgCA&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1012&bih=597

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Does this mean that the various Free Enterprises were all the same design - with perhaps other examples build for other users? Or are you just opening a home for unwanted kits?

Designs were different (especially the later 'Spirit' series, although I and II were similar in appearance, II was slightly larger.

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  • 2 years later...

Came across this dusty thread looking for something else...

There are kits of the Japanese Sunflower ferries. Nakamura did one in 1/500, and there's another one in 1/700 which is probably an original Arii tool - both moulds seem to be with Arii/MicroAce, but I have no idea on current availability (HobbyPlaza Japan may give more info).

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Free Enterprise I, II and III were all one-offs. FEIV to FEVII were generally similar to each other, but with minor differences (in FE VII the main mast was stepped further aft, for example). FE VIII was longer forward as, having a greater deadweight tonnage, she needed more buoyancy conferred by the additional volume.

There were four freighters in what was then the Townsend Thoresen fleet: European Clearway, European Enterprise, European Gateway and European Trader. Again each ship was subtly different from her sisters and 'Gateway was lengthened by about 50' amidships before being rammed and sunk by Speedlink Vanguard off Harwich. She was righted, refloated, rebuilt and sold on for futher service in the Mediterranean.

The OFEs were identical as built: Spirit of Free Enterprise was lengthened amidships (just forward of the funnels) by about fifty feet but the work was not carried out on her sisters. Initially the three ships had minor colour scheme differences which made them easier to identify at a distance. Pride Of Free Enterprise went for scrap earlier this year: she was almost 36 years old (FE I made it to 51).

Townsends had four other near-identical ships, Viking Valiant, Viking Vanguard, Viking Viscount and Viking Voyager. Two of them were "jumboised" like FEVI and 'VII, which did nothing for their looks. One of these FEs appears, very briefly, in the background in a scene in The Fourth Protocol as one of the Soviet villains is driving his VW camper van, complete with nuclear weapon components, up Castle Hill out of Dover. Ironically the scene was shot less than 100 yards from Connaught Barrracks.

There are a number of ferry-orientated websites, e.g. Dover Ferry Photos where you can research images of these ships and more.

Many of the later ships, the "European"-class freighters, the OFEs and the VVs were rather slab-sided and might make easier projects for scratch building.

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  • 3 months later...

In the last 15 years I have seen, if memory serves me correctly, only five unbuilt Airfix FE II models for sale on Ebay. I suspect there are still plenty of them in the UK?

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Not a ferry, but the nearest modern ship kit is the Nedlloyd Lines'  'ROUEN' - kit occasionally comes up on ebay, but Kingkit have one at the moment here. Kit is pretty basic, but has potentional. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by clipper
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