1/96 Marx The Sea Witch Clipper Ship
Plastic Model Kit, Box Condition: Good
Original issue of the rare and beautiful kit. Measures 33 inches long when assembled as has over 500 parts. Excellent detail throughout. The world's largest toy manufacture, Louis Marx, spared no expense in this early 1950s entry into the growing field of plastic models. The model claims to the first time that anyone could build a museum-quality large ship at home. The claim is correct since the kit pre-dates the Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark. Prior to this model, only wooden kits were available for sailing ship enthusiasts. The wooden models required a great deal time, skill and craftsmanship. A great deal of thought went into the design of this large and complicated kit to make it easier to construct. The most complicated painting areas, the hull and deck were dealt with in an exceptional fashion. The hull was factory assembled and painted. The plastic is black, and the under the waterline is factory painted copper. This paint is in excellent condition. The three main decks were tin lithographed, which means the decks are completely finished with all the detail of wood; boards are of different shades and divided by perfect, thin black lines. These decks are in near mint condition with minimal wear. The rest of the parts are molded in three colors of plastic to further minimize painting. The vacuformed billowing sails are in 'very good' condition and do have some wear. The kit has never been started. The parts are still in the factory bags. Includes the booklet about the Clipper Ships, different rigging materials, decals and more. The instructions are a work of art themselves. They are a very large and well-produced affair with numerous photos of the assembled kit, enlarged drawings, detailing tips and standing/running rigging instructions. A beautiful kit in excellent condition. Another of Marx's rare kits is the large Chris Craft Constellation. It also has fantastic detail but also suffered from an initial high price which resulted in poor sales for both kits. NOTE: some issues of this kit came with crew members; this one does not have them mentioned in the instructions or on the box and does not have them.
This item has been sold.
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