Reissue: NS Savannah

I built it back in (or about) 1959, when it was initially released. (My source for the date, as usual, is Dr. Graham's Remembering Revell Model Kits.) Since I was nine years old at the time, my recollections of it are highly questionable. I think I built it at least once more, but I'm not sure.

I do remember one feature: the removable deck section that exposed the nuclear reactor. Even at that time my level of perception was sufficient to figure out that something didn't look right there. The "reactor," as I recall, sat in the middle of a huge, otherwise empty space that stretched clear across the ship.

It seems like the kit also had a molded representation of the wate in the swimming pool on one of the afterdecks - but didn't have the really cool blue pressure-sensitive aluminum foil "water" that had been such a terrific feature of the Revell S.S. Brasil and Argentina.

One thing about Savannah kits has always puzzled me a little. There were at least three of them. (The ship was a financial bust, but she got quite a bit of publicity.) The biggest, by ITC, got reissued a few years back by Glencoe. The Revell one, according to Dr. Graham's book, was/is on 1/380 scale. Then there was another one from, of all companies, Adams - which, to my knowledge, never did any other ship models.

I suppose it's possible that the Adams kit was identical to the Revell one, but I doubt it. There was a connection between Revell and Adams; the same guy sculpted both companies' military figures, and a couple of Revell soldiers turned up in Adams military vehicle kits. Revell also sold the molds for its wonderful little Western horse-drawn vehicles to Adams. But to my knowledge those little wagons were the only Revell kits that appeared, intact, under the Adams label. (In one case the two issued kits of the same subject on the same scale: the Hawk missile launcher and its attendant mobile radar station. But the Revell and Adams Hawks were different kits. So were the two companies' 105 mm howitzers. Those two kits represented different weapons, and were manned by different figures.)

My recollection is that the Adams and Revell Savannah kits came in similar-sized boxes. I'd be curious to know whether the contents were identical.

I got a look at the real ship some years back in Charleston, where she was moored at Patriot's Point near the Yorktown. I have a vague recollection of having read that she isn't there any more, but I've forgotten what the story about that development was.

Well, I assembled the Glencoe Savannah some time back. Good fit, but sparse on the detail and the portholes to me seemed too big. I didn't put in the reactor if I recall.

This is the Glencoe one:



I'm not sure what the Revell one is like but the above pic is posted for comparison by someone who knows both kits.

The model in the picture is the ITC/Glencoe kit..... The superstructure is completely wrong amongst other things and for some reason ITC tooled it up to have a wood deck. I have the original issues in both the remote controlled/powered version and the more common static issue. I have to say though, seeing this picture the kit builds up a whole lot better than I would have expected having examined the parts. The Revell kit is far superior.. all these years later I still find it to be one of the best ship kits off all time as it would be difficult to tool up a better kit of this ship now more than 45 years after it's initial release. I was always amazed that it even included the hull plate weld lines! However I think the roof of the bridge is incorrect. The Adams issue was also available by Snap... same box art and they seem to be dated at almost exactly the same time. I built this one when it was issued (with the same box art) by UPC in the early 70's and eventually Life-Like issued it with a very poor box painting (not that the Adams painting was anything to brag about) and by that time I was a little better at building and thus did a new build of it. I always wanted the Revell one but it was not available probably form the 60's until the 80's. in the 70's is when I built every ship kit I could find and only knew about the Revell issue becuase I saw it on the side of an old Revell box. The Adams/Snap/UPC/Life-Like kit was not bad by any means. Far as I know it was accurate but it was quite a bit smaller than the Revell issue and thus not as detailed. Since you can get the Revell issue... it has been issued many times in the past 15 years. Don't waste your time even thinking of the others, the Revell Savannah is probably the best commercial ship kit ever. The realk ship was on display in Charleston but is now in the reserve fleet layup at Ft. Eustis in Virginia. Because of her nuclear reactor she can not be scrapped, at least that is the story surrounding her. Being such a beautiful ship of such revolutionary design she should not be scrapped anyway. The Savannah stands in stark contrast to the boxy ships of today, ironically she still looks more modern too....

NS Savannah is located at the James River facility in Virginia.

The design of the Savannah made loading and unloading cargo difficult. The curved hull made a long distance between the pier and the deck.

Very interesting indeed! I'm glad to have the Adams/Revell connection sorted out. Apparently their Savannahs were completely different kits.

Dr. Graham's book, Remembering Revell Model Kits, says the Revell version was only issued twice: the original in 1959 and a reissue (in the "Passport to Pleasure" series) in 1962. (The reissued version, according to the book, appeared in two different boxes, but with the same number.) The data in the book, however, only goes through the 1970s. It's possible the kit was reissued after that - though I can't recall having seen it recently.

On the basis of Aquitania's comments I guess I'll have to track one down. In my neck of the woods Revell Germany kits aren't exactly easy to find, but it sounds like this one would be worth the chase.

The Savannah has been reissued by Revell of Germany. THe kit number is 05235. The box shows a copyright of 2005 and that the kit was produced this year. If you want to track one down you might want to go to Revell of Germany's web page at http://www.revell.de.

i want to build a savanah, but does anyone think that it would be suitable for R/C?