Carrera Revell RMS Titanic – Technik (00458) 1:400

[Mike]

RMS Titanic – Technik (00458)

1:400 Carrera Revell

 

 

There can’t be many people that haven’t heard of the appalling and unnecessary loss of life that happened when the Titanic’s maiden voyage route intersected with an iceberg, causing huge rips down the ship’s side and overwhelming the safety measures that led many to believe that she was unsinkable.  At the end of the day on 14th April 1912 she hit the iceberg and began taking on water.  Less than three hours later she broke up and slipped beneath the surface with many of the passengers still aboard, and many more forced to jump into the almost freezing water.  Over 1,500 souls were lost that day thanks to the hubris of the designers, but many lessons were learned from this tragedy that are still applicable today, and many lives have subsequently been saved as a result.

 

The 1997 blockbuster release of the film The Titanic brought the story to the public consciousness again in the 1980s after the wreck had been found over 13 miles from her expected location.  She was found lying upright and in two major parts, both of which had hit the sea bed at a considerable speed, buckling the underside.  She has since been thoroughly inspected, and some of the knowledge gleaned from those expeditions was incorporated into the fictionalised plot of the James Cameron helmed film. Which itself has become part of modern vernacular, with phrases such as “paint me like one of your French girls” raising the occasional titter.

 

 

The Kit

This kit is a rebox of a 1998 tooling that has been inside a few boxes over the years, and is bundled with a collection of electronics and LEDs to turn it into the Technik boxing that we see today.  The electronics include runs of LED strip, some individual lights for the masts and navigation lights, plus a custom board, speakers and battery box that produces the sound of the vessel leaving port, including the noises of the crowds wishing them well, and the ship itself.  It arrives in a large box that is substantially longer than the hull, with space for the additional electronics at one end.  The tooling has seen some action and is over 20 years old now, but time has been relatively kind to it, and there is plenty of detail included, which should make for a fine model of what is probably the most well-known seagoing vessel the world has ever known.  Inside the box are two long black hull halves, two small black sprues of braces for the hull, and six sprues in white styrene.  The electronics consist of three lengths of LED strip plus three individual lights, a speaker and circuit board, all of which have a length of wire to link them together.  The battery box connects to the board with a locking connector, and takes four AA batteries with a switch on the opposite side to the door.  A roll of cotton for rigging, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet complete the package.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the stand, which has four sides and two decals with the name in gold on a black background.  This is probably in order to rest the hull safely during the build, rather than having it rolling around on your workbench.  The two hull halves are next, and have a small 5mm x 2mm hole cut straddling the keel line to permit the wiring to the battery box to exit below.  One length of LED strip is installed in the bottom of the starboard hull using tape, so it would be wise to paint the interior with black (especially the white parts) to avoid light leaks down the line.  Another run of LEDs is run along the port side, and the speaker is glued to the bottom using “Special Glue” or CA as we’ll call it.  The cables and the circuit board are secured with tape, and an example wiring diagram shows where the wiring should go, although I should imagine tape will perish over time, so give consideration to using other methods to secure the electronics more permanently.  The hull is then joined together using three H-shaped braces that slot into sockets on the insides of the hull, taking care to ensure that the wiring leading to the battery box is pushed through the hole in the keel first.  Strakes are added to the sides of the hull during the process, and another strip of LEDs are added to the circuit board ready for use inside the superstructure.  After a allowing the glue to cure, the port and starboard screw fairings are glued onto their raised position, the three screws are fitted along with the rudder, which could only deflect the flow meaningfully from the centreline screw.  Incidentally, insufficient rudder authority is considered one of the factors that led to her hitting the iceberg in the first place, thanks to her enormous turning circle.  There’s a lot of masking and painting of the hull to do next, as well as adding the two anchors at the bow.

 

The majority of the main deck is moulded as a single part, and it is first laced up with a number of pieces of rigging from underneath, which is later tied up at the other end as the build progresses.  The deck is covered with moulded-in planking, which will look good under a sympathetic coat of paint and a wash, preferably before you add the rigging wires.  At the rear (I know, aft) a bulkhead is fixed to the deck and an insert is placed on top after being painted and rigged accordingly, then the deck is fixed in place after feeding the wiring for the lights through and taping it down.  More superstructure and deck fixtures are added to both ends of the ship, with painting call-outs along the way, with another length of pre-rigged and painted deck filling the bow section, which also has all the usual equipment such as davits and vents either moulded-in or added along the way.  No, there’s no Rose and Jack – you’ll have to source those folks yourself.  More superstructure is fitted around the stern with an auxiliary bridge and flag pole plus the obligatory rigging work.  A pair of cranes and railings are next, and the railing part is bent to shape by dipping it in boiling water then holding it to shape while it cools, unless you have extra arms and can run it under cold water to freeze it in shape.  Walkways, cranes, railings and the individual lights are threaded through the assemblies as we go, taking care to hide them well as you go along.

 

The next deck has a number of interior parts that need removing to allow the light to dissipate, and the deck should be painted before the deck walls are added around the ledges that hold them in the correct places.  More railings are glued in, then the deck is applied to the model, remembering to thread the navigation lights through and cut off a couple of un-needed location turrets from the underside before you get out the glue.  More cranes are added, and another deck is prepped by removing parts marked out in red before detailing them with walls, vents and rigging, and some life boats.  Lookouts and smaller sections of superstructure are added atop the larger sections, with some more rigging added here and there, all of which give you a length to cut the thread to, in order to help you conserve your supplies.  More railings are fitted, and some adjustments will be needed by removing some tabs on the undersides.  There are four funnels, each one made from two halves plus an inspection ladder up the front, and each one has rigging line woven through holes and secures to the deck before the tops are fixed in place.  Take care to put the correct funnel in the right position, as they were subtly different from each other.  With the upper deck in position, the bridge front can be fixed in place and the two navigation lights can be located in each side with super glue.  More lifeboats are fitted down the sides of the upper decks, each boat having a length of rigging thread between the boats and their launching arms.  The forward mast has a pair of ladder supports to its sides, and the remaining LED navigation light is attached in position on the bracket up the mast, with care taken to minimise the visibility of the wiring.

 

The rigging thread bobbin isn’t pictured here, but it is used to great effect throughout the build, and at the end a large number of lines are woven to and between the main masts, as shown on the accompanying diagrams, with stabilising lengths attached between the first and second funnels.  There are three forward to aft lines, and there are spacers on the sprues to be added front and rear, with a single attachment point to each mast.

 

 

Markings

There was only one voyage before she went to a watery grave, so there was only one set of markings.  By the time you have the rigging in place, the majority of the painting will have been completed too, so adding the gold pinstripe and name plates plus flags are the only decal jobs to do, but you’ll need to take care to get them straight and level.

 

 

Decals are by Zanetti, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

The Titanic will stay in the mind of people all over the world for the foreseeable future, and it’s good to see the Revell kit back with a new hi-tech twist.  There are a lot of modelling hours to be had inside this monstrous box.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online.

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[bootneck]

A good review Mike and it is interesting how plastic kits still continue to evolve, firstly with photo-etch; then 3D printed additions and now complete with lights and electronics.   All good news for the plastic kit modeller.

 

cheers,
Mike