Academy 1/720 scale RMS Titanic

Kit: No. 14401
Scale: 1/720
Manufacturer: Academy Plastic Model Co., distributed by Model Rectifier Corp., 80 Newfield Ave., P.O. Box 6312, Edison NJ 08837, www.modelrectifier.com
Price: $19
Comments: Injection-molded, 166 parts, rigging thread, decals
Pros: Important subject, one-piece hull
Cons: Abundant flash, some parts warped or incompletely molded, accuracy problems with hull

Open Academy's recently reissued kit of the White Star Lines' most infamous ocean liner and you'll find several individually bagged parts trees molded in tan, black, and white styrene. A four-page instruction sheet, two-piece display stand, rigging thread, and decals are also included. Examination of the one-piece hull shows that at one point in its career, the kit included an electric motor.

The four-page instruction sheet is nicely done, although some of the jam-packed exploded-view assembly diagrams are small and difficult to read. Painting instructions are included with each step, and the box-top painting is a good guide, too. Outside the kit, I referred to a copy of Dr. Robert Ballard's The Discovery of the Titanic for parts-placement and accuracy questions as I worked.

Breaking from the instructions, I started by painting the hull and waterline. When it was dry, I used some nuts and bolts from the hardware store to secure it to the two-piece display stand, making it easier to handle during assembly.

The flat deck sections were relatively warp-free, but a frustrating amount of flash was present on many of the parts. The multipiece cabin and wheelhouse assemblies required a lot of cleanup before they'd go together squarely. Some parts, including the face of the bridge (part No. B15), were warped and incompletely molded.

Titanic's decks were covered with details, and the kit includes a remarkable number of them for the scale. Much of my assembly time went into cleaning up and installing dozens of tiny ventilators, capstans, and the ship's eight cargo cranes. A few of the parts, such as the railings and antenna rigging, looked too heavy for a model in this scale, so I left them off.

From the waterline up, the kit builds into a decent-looking replica of the doomed liner. Remnants of the now-absent motorization system cause some accuracy problems, though. The three propellers are far too thick, and more importantly, the two outboard screws should mount farther aft on much-longer fairings. It's a disappointing shortcoming, particularly on one of the kit's focal points, and remedying the situation would require extensive scratchbuilding.

All in all, the finished model is a more-or-less convincing replica of the full-size ship. I spent a couple of weeks' worth of evenings assembling my Titanic, but most of that time went into cleaning flash and mold-separation lines from its tiny parts.

- Matthew Usher