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DISNEY NAUTILUS


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Airfix were going to produce a smallish injection moulded kit back in the 80's. I saw their test shot at a trade fair back in those days. Unfortunately they pulled the plug on the project.

With the recent interest in pseudo Victorian era 'Steampunk' kits coming onto the market, it may be a good time for one of the big players to negotiate something with Disney. Something that scales out at about 18 inches long long would be nice....Not too big or small.

I believe that Moebus have produced a Nautilus kit that looks the part for the era but naturally has to look different to the Disney version for copyright reasons.

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I'm surprised someone didn't produce that back in the 50's/60's after that movie was so popular. Back then, copyrights weren't such an issue as today! Speaking of which, since anyone would have that problem today, you probably won't see a Disney Nautilus kit, unless it's got a hefty price tag. The ride is closed at the park, the movie is long out of circulation/popularity, and they don't have a need to "publicize" it, which means no need to merchandize it either.

 

Steampunk is cool, and the best shot, but like you said, would need alteration to get an authentic Disney version.

 

GIl :smiley16:

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I have seen some of the resins here in the UK.......Don't have a wallet thick enough, unfortunately.

There is an old American Scale Modeling magazine dating from the 60's that I have with an article and drawings running over 2 issues. The magazine quality was poor, being printed on news sheet paper.

Maybe a scratch build might be the answer as the disney version of the vessel is quite angular.

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  • 4 years later...

Joplin FX, out of somewhere in West Texas, did a non-authorized knock-off of the Disney 20K Nautilus.  The hull shape was there,  but the rakers were separate and the ends of the teeth were rife with bubbles.    Solid resin,  no interior.  Difficult to impossible to light up the distingtive 'eyes'.  After several years of attempts to fix the teeth it moved from the shelf of doom to File-13.

A few years back Hallmark made an authorized Christmas ornament of the Disney Nautilus.   It lights up with onboard batteries.   It looks good with other submarine models on the shelf

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  • 2 years later...

I have recently discovered a card model of the Disney Nautilus that can be downloaded free of charge from the web along with many other card models of Disney subjects from their own site.

Could be copied off and used for templates for a scratch build in plastic perhaps?

I wonder if Disney would ever remake 20,000 Leagues using up to date CGI? Cannot see it happening though.

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I do hope that Disney never tries to remake 20,000 Leagues. They would rewrite it and cast it to be barely recognizable. And not for the better.

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Probably right Carlos. Interesting concept now that Disney has the Star Wars rights.

Ahh!  I can see it now. 

The Nautilus going on its merry way on the surface in the 1800's and and a Star Destroyer coming out of hyper drive and  hovering above it. Brian Blessed cast as an OTT Captain Nemo, Brad Pitt as his heroic second in command,  Kiera Knightly and Katherine Zeta Jones cast as feisty women rescued from a lifeboat, Harrison Ford as an Indiana Jonesish Professor Arronax, Morgan Freeman as his co professor and Bruce Willis as Ned Land.

The Nautilus being dragged up in a tractor beam into the Star Destroyer with Daniel Craig and Angelina Jolie cast as the Destroyer's ruthless commanders.

  Couldn't get better, could it?  LOL

Edited by noelsmith
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Yeah, I wanna see and hear Bruce Wills sing “whale of a tale”... 😆

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Digging through my photos to update my new desktop, came across this of the Hallmark Disney Christmas Ornament from a few years back ...

HallmarkDisneyNautilus_2.thumb.jpg.9a90d1acdfae54d5e878431ac42bf6cf.jpg

That's a USofA dime for scale.  The Nautilus doesn't look out of place among other 1:350 sub models on the shelf

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Maybe a scratch build will be the way to go. I have plans and a lot of the surfaces are flat pieces when you look at it. The ram segments would be the most difficult parts to make.

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Masterpiece Models make two resin kits, one 31" long (77th scale) and one 16" one.

https://masterpiecemodels.com/product/20k-submarine/

https://masterpiecemodels.com/product/16-inch-long-20k-submarine-the-nautilus/

I picked the bigger one up at Nats a few years ago.  No interior but otherwise looks pretty nice.

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Phil, I had a look at Masterpiece Models website. Was pleasantly surprised to find that besides the Nautilus kits they make the H G Wells time machine from the movie starring Rod Taylor, and also, more surprisingly the Liberator and other vessels from the BBC Blake's 7 series.

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  • 3 years later...

Heard or read somewhere that Disney have been considering a remake of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Took the time to read Jules Verne's novel recently and considering when he wrote the story it still is a great read.

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That looks interesting James.

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