Tintanic ‘docks’ in Umhlanga for March

‘TINTANIC,’ a tin model of the Titanic will be showcased at the Pearls Mall in uMmhlanga for the month of March.

The Tintanic’s name is no mistake, but a testament to the subtleties that make her an original art piece said artist, Gino Hart who has been working on the piece for three years so far.

“She is an artistic version or an artistic piece as opposed to a direct replica. Because of copyright, I have made a few changes such as the name change, the colour of the funnels and various slight differences between the Tintanic and the Titanic to give her originality so that she does stand out among other Titanic models,” said Hart.

In his quest to create an original art piece, Hart said he drew inspiration from his childhood.

“I didn’t want a James Cameron model, I didn’t want a movie set. When other people in other countries look at Tintanic, they should know that she comes out of South Africa. I was taken back to when I was a kid, as town kids in small free state towns, we used to have these wire cares with tin cans for wheels and that’s kind of what I wanted to portray with Tintanic and bring out in the art. I wanted over-sized rivets for instance, to give her a cartoon appearance,” said Hart.

“If you look for a photo from 1912, the aim is not to recreate the that photo 100 percent. Let Tintanic talk to you on her terms,” he said.

“It’s almost as though she was recreated from a survivor’s memory,” he added

Hart said he plans to complete 4000 rooms on the interior of the vessel which will house 1523 unique figurines.

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“Another five years of work lay ahead of us. So far, I have completed 20 figurines. Each one takes about four hours to make. The figurines will represent the death toll
so there will be total perspective. Each figurine will have character with unique hairstyles, clothes and facial expressions,” he said.

The interior of the ship will be available on DVD for viewers to see.

Hart said that The Tintanic scale is 1:29 of the real Titanic and a ‘person’ on the Tintanic would average about 6-7 cm in height.

“Tintanic is the largest privately owned Titanic model in the world. Other Titanic models are owned by studios and companies, whereas Tintanic is mine. She is 8.7 metres in length which makes her a 27 foot Titanic model which is around the size of an average lifeboat on the actual Titianic,” said Hart.

Hart said he has made around 18 prototypes throughout the last 20 years.

“It was a continual trial and error to fin out what would work and what wouldn’t. How big or small we could go,” he said.

“I made my first Titanic replica out of cardboard when I was 14,” he added.

The Tintanic was launched in Villiers, Free State and been on the road for two years, making appearances in Johannesburg, East London, the KZN South Coast and now Umhlanga. Next on her voyage, the Tintanic will visit Richards Bay, Cape Town and then, the world.

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