Academy Cutty Sark

I have no idea why Academy chose to issue two kits representing the same ship on such similar scales.  I've never had either of them in my hands, but I have the impression that the older one wasn't bad - certainly better in many respects than lots of sailing ship kits that have been released since.

Some time back we had an interesting discussion of the new kit here in the Forum:  /forums/1066618/ShowPost.aspx .  The discussion started by establishing that the new kit is indeed something other than a reissue of the old one.  Another member linked us to some photos of both of them.  I was struck by the similarity of the newer kit to the old Imai one - which I've long regarded as the best representation of the Cutty Sark in kit form.

Not having actually seen either kit "in the flesh," the comments I made in that earlier thread are the best I can offer.

 

HELLO ! I need to mention here that ANY cutty sark had better  find a home . If the museum in britain can,t raise or otherwise get funding the ship may be broken up!!! I haven,t heard what they are going to do . The ship burned to the waterline in places and being that she had iron frames and wood planking they may decide she,s to expensive to rebuild in todays market . If anyone has newer info please chime in . I firmly believe in the preservation of old ships and that hurt !!   tankerbuilder

tankerbuilder wrote:

HELLO ! I need to mention here that ANY cutty sark had better  find a home . If the museum in britain can,t raise or otherwise get funding the ship may be broken up!!! I haven,t heard what they are going to do . The ship burned to the waterline in places and being that she had iron frames and wood planking they may decide she,s to expensive to rebuild in todays market . If anyone has newer info please chime in . I firmly believe in the preservation of old ships and that hurt !!   tankerbuilder

I think you may be a bit behind the eightball on this one... Check out this thread: /forums/784332/ShowPost.aspx

The fire on board the Cutty Sark was a tragedy, but it turned out not to have been as destructive as it looked initially.  It may, in fact, have worked to the ship's financial advantage, in that it attracted a good deal of public and corporate attention that she otherwise might not have gotten.  The fire hit while she was in the midst of a major conservation/restoration project; many of her components had already been removed.  The project is now back on track, and she's tentatively scheduled to re-open to the public in the summer of 2010.

There's a wealth of interesting information about the restoration project on the ship's website:  http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/index.cfm .  Note for modelers:  that site is also a good place to buy copies of the George Campbell plans of the ship.  They're a near-essential guide for anybody modeling her - and one of the biggest bargains in ship modeling.

I picked up the 1/150 cutty sark and it is a finely molded model ,but I believe it is a little over simplyfied. There are no blocks for the running rigging and the stunsail yards are molded in the outboard position. Would this be an easy correction. I think I would prfer the Revell 1/96 model of Cutty Sark. I might keep her because I got 30% off on the price.

 

Bill