Posted by Bob Read on August 30, 1998 at 18:34:25 in pm3-2-139.apci.net:
Recently there has been discussion on the board regarding the development of a hull for scratchbuilding a Titanic model. There has been some back and forth about scales so I thought I'd put in my two cents.
Gene Upshaw has been produding fine hulls for a number of years and I salute him. If he is even considering manufacturing a hull of the Titanic he would have to decide what his target market is. For the hulls he has produced up to now his target market has been primarily the Radio Controlled ship enthusiasts. As I have read posts on this board, the number of posts regarding R/C has been negligible. Lets face it. This board is primarily targeted at the static modeler. Therefore, a Titanic hull in 1/96 scale would be over 9 feet long.
While this may be ideal for the R/C enthusiast, the average static scale modeler just doesn't have the kind of space to display a 9 ft. model. Also, at 1/96 scale, the time and the cost required to detail the model would be formidable at the very least. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying count the cost before you start. The same considerations apply for a
1:100 scale model.
The 1/350 Minicraft model enjoys wide popularity because the basic kit cost has been kept below $100.
This leaves room to spend money on superdetailing options like photo-etched accesories, fiber optics, etc. At this scale, however, there are only so many details that can be incorporated faithfully to scale.
With the shortcomings in this kit, many of us have yearned for another kit or have decided to scratchbuild. What scale would we prefer?
Speaking for myself, I think the best of all worlds for the most static modelers would be either 1/16" = 1 ft.
(1/192)scale or, if metric, 1:200. These scales would produce a model in the 4 ft. size range. This is big enough to really incorporate details yet small enough to fit into most living spaces for display.
I don't hold out much hope that a major plastic kit manufacturer will develop a Titanic kit like this in the forseeable future. The Titanicmania will have subsided long before they could get a good kit to market. If, however, for a start, an accurate hull at either 1/192 or 1/200 could be produced then I think you would see cottage industries spring up to provide other items for the ship. It would not be any great feat to make Loren Perry's photo-etched items to this scale. I could envision resin kits of cranes, funnels,
window frames, etc., etc., until the scratchbuilding experience would not be much more challenging than what we now have to do to modify the Minicraft kit.
So in a nutshell, I would vote for either 1/192 or 1/200 as the benchmark scale for Titanic the next generation.
Regards,
Bob Read