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Suggest a kit for my project

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Suggest a kit for my project
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 10:17 PM

Can anyone suggest a good kit to use in my project?  I am planning to build a reproduction of the famous tug "Cheryl Ann" from the 1950's television series "Waterfront".  Here is a link to a photograph of a model produced in 1955, but it's quality as a model is not up to par with what I have in mind.  It may be useful for those wishing to make a suggestion to me to view the image, as it represents the shape of the ship as well as the color scheme very well.  http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/7734/dcp00016hm.jpg

You see, I never have been able to determine what make and model of tug the Cheryl Ann was exactly.  As a result, choosing a good kit as a starting point for my reproduction has been difficult. Scale is not a very big issue, but I had sort of thought of a ratio of about 3/32''=1ft. This would be a good size for display purposes, but it is not a vital issue.

If anyone can suggest a good kit for my purpose, I would be very thankful.  If anyone can identify the make/model of the Cheryl Ann from the picture and knows of a kit, I would appreciate details on that as well.  At the least I need a kit which would not take a great deal of modification to get the look of the tug right.

My elder sister was named after this vessel, and it is my wish to make a present of my completed reproduction to her on the occasion of her 50th birthday in October of next year.

I hope someone can advise me.

 

Thanks,

Elliott

 

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 10:30 PM

Would that all such questions had such easy - and satisfactory - answers! 

The kit you need is the one currently marketed by Revell Germany under the name "Harbour Tug Boat."  It is in fact a reissue of a kit originally produced in 1956.  It made its first appearance under the name Long Beach.  I don't remember much about that TV show, but I think I recall reading elsewhere in this Forum that the tug in the show was a near-sister of the actual Long Beach.  In its original packaging the kit decal sheet included the same device on the stack that's on the model in your photo.

It's an old kit, but in many respects a beauty - loaded with character and detail. The crew figures are especially nice.  The scale is (according to Dr. Thomas Graham's book, Remembering Revell Model Kits) 1/108.  That makes it a little bigger than 3/32"=1' (which is 1/128) - but not much. 

The current issue of the kit is identical to the original except in a couple of minor respects.  For a while Revell sold the kit with an electric motor, and the main deckhouse was held in place by a couple of screws to give access to the batteries.  The current German release omits the motor, but the deckhouse sides have some big, mysterious-looking projecting lugs that used to slip under the heads of the screws.  They can be sliced off in a couple of minutes.  The other change is that the plastic parts, instead of the original light grey, are an alarmingly bright red.  But you'd undoubtedly want to paint every square milimeter of it anyway.

It may be a little hard to find, but a decent hobby shop should be able to order it.  (I found mine on the shelf of the Hungate's chain store here in Greenville, NC.)  It's a nice old kit.  Good luck.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

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