Calling all Ocean Liner fans

The bottom line for any of the big boys is $$$$$$$$$$$, and what sells, in the main, is things that go boom or blow other things up. It is what it is.

That said, I do think there would be a market for some of the "classic" liners in either scale, but it will be up to one of the smaller resin companies to step up. I for one would love to do kits of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm just because of their entwined fates, the United States because she was our last and our best, and maybe the France because she was just so darned sexy.

Boarding and inspecting ocean liners/cruise ships was always a favorite part of my job as an agricultural quarantine officer. I am one of the few boarded the QE2 on each coast. When I worked in New York, the first time was when she returned from the Falklands, still not completely civilian. Later, after I transfered I had the chance to see her again. There was also the Rotterdam that I boarded on both coasts. They were the remnants of the old Ocean Liners.

Sometimes I would like to grab one of those models that the travel agents have for display, the old plastic ones, many of the new ones are paper. I too would like to see a newer production of these grand old dames.

Mike T.

Well , your list is close to mine in part. I believe the NORMANDIE tops my list and I would like to see a better model of the PRESIDENT liners and MATSON,S famous pair the MONTEREY and LURLINE. They could also come up with a better model of the CANBERRA/ORIANA sisters. I would also like to see (instead of that overdone TITANIC) maybe a MAURATANIA or OLYMPIC. there you have mine , but , please nothing smaller than 1/350 !!!      tankerbuilder

Well, if you are up to mixing scales in 1/600 from Airfix you will find (on eBay all the time) QE2, QE1, Mauretania, Canberra and France.  In box scale from Revell you can find Oriana, Queen Mary and of course the United States.  Lusitania is available in 1/350, with some scratchbuilding and a lot of extra boats you can make Titanic into Olympic or Britannic.  QE2 is available in 1/450 under various labels, just check eBay from time to time.  Sometimes the Brasil and Argentina show up on eBay too.  WS

Hey Dreadnought ! you want a good chuckle ? Years back when even $2,00 was a lot for a model I got the REVELL "SAVANNAH" nuclear freighter as a gift. Remember her? Well, I did some summer choresand was able to acquire the BRASIL/ARGENTINA . I was so proud of those builds (with tube glue no less!) and a fellow decided to miss the light and drive through our living room at about 2 in the morning . Whatta mess ! I salvaged the two ships from the wreckage and was heartbroken . Do you have any idea how hard it was for a ten (or was I younger? , yeah , younger) boy to build and not mess up a shipmodel with to much glue or paint. When I did those I was at the top of the game around the neighborhood . Well I couldn,t afford new ones as the price had risen to $4.99 each ! I took the undamaged bow from the SAVANNAH and where the contours matched best mated that bow with the ARGENTINA/BRAZIL that was minus everything forward of the deckhouses ! Yep , she was a hybrid alright , but I thought it looked pretty snazzy . Gee , those were the days , does anyone know where besides evil-bay I can find a BRASIL (the spelling is correct both ways in this ship,s history .) Thanks and enjoy this little tidbit courtesy of your one and only  ------   tankerbuilder 

Brasil/Argentina was a great model from Revell.  It had the same wedding cake superstructure as bedeviled the Arizona model but because of the way the windows and portholes were situated it didn't leave quite  the same disfiguring line to deal with.  The accuracy issues for the kit actually were few.  The planking for the wood portions of the deck were so far off that they looked like redwoods laid side by side instead of planks.   The real problem for this model was the mold ejection pin marks which were visable just about everywhere.  The solid rails could be cut off easily and replaced with brass.  Over all I think they would still produce a great result if reissued.  They do tend to go for about $75-125 each on eBay which is a lot to pay for such a kit but its  the only way to get one until they are reissued.  

These ships had long careers and many owners so there is a lot of opportunity to dress them up in different liverys.  Unfortunately there is not much material out there to correctly create the changes they underwent with the different owners.  I had a bunch of these kits at one time with the idea that I would build each one as it appeared under different ownership.  I tried for almost four years to obtain plans, drawings, photos, sketches or anything that would give me a decent idea on making the changes but was unsuccessful.  I gave up and sold them off on eBay.  You would think that material would be available especially from the time the ships were transferred to Holland-America but I even came up a blank from there.  Still I would probably buy one if reissued.   WS

HEY , Dreadnaught52 , KNOW what I like about these older liner kits too?they can be built as different types without much work. I definitely want the REVELL version of the ORIANA/CANBERRA twins . I got ,I believe a POLISH kit, but it lacks a lot of what REVELL did to them.  The kit I have IS a larger scale and doesn,t seem to me to be a really good representation of the CANBERRA/ORIANA as they were when I sailed as crew on one just to get home from AUSTRALIA .(the company I worked for ,Paid us off in a foriegn port ) (against union rules ,but it happens)I sailed back to the states as engineering crew on the ORIANA . Pure luck .        tankerbuilder

I've looked around a lot for information on the ocean liner kits.  The largest scales and biggest selection is in the paper models.  I have seen some truly fantastic models made in paper.  Some modelers use the paper kits as templates for making the kits out of plastic and wood, brave souls, that group.   WS

IIRC the Oriana came with a piece of green foil to put in the pool.

I used to look at the Monterey every day commuting to work. Gone now, and the breakers are starting to cycle the mothball fleet through those same docks.

CaptDag,

  Try do all of the Old Liners models!  Ha ha But, I think, I like to see do first one of NORMANDIE. :)

   Regards, William B.

I'd love to have a full-hulled model of "The Big Ship"...United States. Someone wake me up if she ever shows up.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Revell Germany will re-issue the kits if they see that there is some interest in them.

"Great Passenger Ships fo the World," Vol 5 and Vol 6 by Arnold Kludas have some good pictures of the Brasil and the Argentina in their various incarnations from their introduction in 1957, the 1963 refit (which added a top deck) and their service as the Veendam and Volendam for Holland-America (1971 - 1983, with added decks aft, a cross bar between the stacks, and ship-to-shore tenders).  After 1983 the ships went their separate ways with the Brasil going to American-Hawaiian Cruises as the Liberte, and the Argentia going into the Bermuda market as the Bermuda Star.

The Revell kit depicts the liners as they appeared from 1957 to 1963 and would you would need to do a lot of scratchbuilding to model their other configurations, but have seen some nice conversions of the Glencoe SS France kit into the Norway, so it's doable.  The S.S. France kit is 1:400, not 1:350, but should be close enough to display with 1:350 models.    

I have a apmphet on the Holland American Line's vessels in WWII if anyone is interested. I made a digital copy of it . Just send me a pm and I'll forward it to you.

Mike T.