CUTTY SARK 1:96 Revell re-issued

This Forum has carried several posts about the reissue of the Revell Cutty Sark during the past couple of months, and, as I understand it, several folks have ordered it through American online dealers. It does not appear on the Revell-Monogram website (i.e., Revell of the U.S.). I don't think it's on the Revell Germany site either, but it's been some time since I've checked that one. I suspect the kit is coming from the German branch, but I'm not sure. Those members who've actually ordered it - have any of you received the kit yet?

I am still waiting for my cutty Sark.  I had it sent to the High School where I work and what they did not tell anyone is that they would not accept UPS shipments for a while.  I am hoping that I can get it this week.  When I emailed RM Customer Service, it sounded like it was issued from the US.  The picture of the box looks like a RM US issue not ROG.

John Tilley, If you go to this web site  http://ipmsdeutschland.de/FirstLook/Hersteller_News/Revell_News_2007.html  and scroll down to the Marine Section, they have listed the Viking boat as a reissue from ROG.

Jim

Very interesting indeed! If this "new" Revell Viking ship is in fact a reissue of the one from 1977 (original number: H-326, according to Dr. Graham's book), its reappearance will be good news for ship modelers. That kit was a good, accurate reproduction of the Gokstad Ship, the larger of the two most famous surviving Norse vessels. (Actually, according to Dr. Graham, the Revell designers worked from a replica of the Gokstad Ship that crossed the Atlantic - late in the 19th century, if I remember correctly - and currently is on display in Chicago. But as I remember it, it certainly counts as a scale model of the Gokstad Ship.) It would, I think, be of interest to quite a range of ship modelers. I'd buy one because the lines of the real ship are exquisite, and the kit offers lots of possibilities in terms of painting, detailing, etc. It also would make a terrific newcomer's kit - and there aren't many of those around.

I will, however, reserve my ecstatic reaction until I actually see the kit. Revell Germany has reissued quite a few Heller kits, and even a few ancient Aurora ones. The several Heller "Viking ships," starting with the "Drakkar Oseberg," are hideous travesties of the real thing. (The first issue supposedly was a scale model of the Oseberg Ship, but its proportions and details are distorted almost beyond recognition. The designers apparently worked from photographs, without reference to any plans or measurements.) And we certainly don't need to see that poor old, early-1950s Aurora "Viking ship" again. (It was a great kit for elementary school kids, like me at the time, but in no way does it qualify as a scale model of a Norse vessel.)

Another item on the list that caught my eye is the "Airbus Vienna Philharmonic." I assume it has decals that either represent an aircraft the orchestra uses on tour, or one that's simply painted in a commemorative scheme of some sort. In either case, I'll look for it. One of my other big interests is "classical" music; it's not often that music and model airplanes overlap.

I got response from Revell USA and they invited me to send the serie number of this kit in order to send me the missing part. Who can tell me that serie number?

 Thanks, Max.

Sounds like Revell's customer service desk is being manned by people who haven't been with the company long. In the good ol' days anybody who worked for Revell would have been able to figure out what the Cutty Sark kit was.

I imagine what they mean by "serie number" is what's usually referred to as the kit number, or box number. The only reliable source I know of for such things is Dr. Thomas Graham's fine book, "Remembering Revell Model Kits." Its appendix contains the numbers for all Revell kits produced prior to 1980. I think the Cutty Sark kit got re-released at least once after that date - perhaps with a different number. But I don't think the parts inside the boxes changed.

There are a couple of partial exceptions. The original kit, released in 1959, had no sails, and didn't include studding sail yards. The first version with sails, H-395 (1966), had studding sail yards. That same year Revell issued a Cutty Sark without sails in another box (H-394). I'm not sure whether it had the studding sail yards or not. I believe all subsequent releases had the sails and studding sail yards. Also, the very first issue contained a couple of gears that linked the steering wheel to the rudder. Apparently that mechanism didn't work well; by the time my parents bought me my first Cutty Sark, sometime in the very early sixties, the gears had been deleted.

Here are the numbers from Dr. Graham's book: H-364 (1959), H-394 (1966), H-395 (1966), H-399 (1974), H-393 (1978). (The last one listed was the "Museum Classics" version, which featured a wood base, brass-plated mounting pedestals, and sails sprayed with a strange flocking substance that supposedly made them look more like cloth. It didn't.)

Unless the Revell people insist on a post-1980 number, the information you need should be in there somewhere. Good luck.

I have ordered the Revell Cutty Sark 1/96th reissue from Great Models. I have been informed that it shipped on the 29th of december . As soon as it arrives I will post the new series number here.

Julian

From what I have seen the new number is 85-0325.  I am hoping that my copy will be in my hands on Monday.  Some brilliant administrator at my high school decided to hold all UPS deliveries until then.  With 2 weeks of UPS deliveries coming in at 1 time we will need a warehouse to store them until they are sorted.  This is the sort of lack of common sense that I have seen in the new administration.

Jlsimon1 and other soon-to-be new Cutty Sark owners. It would be helpful for all of use if you take pictures of the kit as you open the box, and then display each peice. I am sure we are all looking for diferences! Thank you.

  My local hobby shop got one of these in this past week. They should be available everywhere.

I finally got the Cutty Sark.  The biggest difference is that the Instructions are now a 35 page booklet.  The Instruction booklet is nice with the illustrations larger than before.  The rigging instructions are now a part of the booklet, and not seperate as they used to be.  The rest of the kit looks the same as the other issuings.

It has 2 colors of plastic, cream and brown, with the hull parts the only ones in black.  I have seen no flash and the moldings look crisp.  In fact there it is a much better issue that the earlier versions that I have.  It is very well packed with a sturdy box.  The bagsof the brown and cream parts (the entire ship other than the hull) are taped to the bottom of the box and the bracing cardboard.  So, no sliding around and no broken parts.  The 2 parts of the hull are also braced at each end.  It has rigging thread, chains and decals.  the flags are on the decal sheet this time.  It also has the infamous plastic sails and ratlie/shroud assembly.  The bags of the main parts say Made in China, while the plastic figures say made in Poland.

I am doing this from work and have not had time to take pictures.  I will try to get some tomorrow.  Hope that all of this rambling makes sense and helps.

Jim

Hope they haven't raped the rigging instructions like they did with the Kearsarge.........

How is the thread they included ? soft and pliable or the usual "year 2000 " porcupine spine Revell standard ? Oh yes, please post the series number so Papillon can order his spares.

Julian (and no, mine hasn't crossed the "pond" yet).

The Kit number is 85-0325. The rigging thread looks to be the synthetic type of the last seveal years. They did a good job of just transferring the older instruction images to the new book/booklet style. I will be comparing them to the 1959 set of instructions that I have and will try to see what kinds of differences, if any. Like in my last post, the quality of my sample looks very good. No flash or broken parts. Jim