The models which are made to the 1:1250 scale are popular among collectors, simply because they are small and therefore don't take up much room. The small scale though doesn't mean that detail is too compromised although, inevitably, some will be missing.
The sole 1:1250 model I currently own is European Seaway, which I recently bought from Classic Ship Collection in Germany. It wasn't cheap, but their models aren't, at a cool €168 including posting. I am hoping to add to this of course and there is a ship model and ephemera fair coming up in Southsea next month, the South Coast Ship Show on the 16th, which is a good opportunity to be parted from my hard-earned.
One of my other models was made by a friend ten years ago. She made models of the three Townsend Thoresen Spirit-class ships and gave me the one of Herald of Free Enterprise, made of card and glue. The cats have knocked it off a couple of times, meaning the main mast broke off, but it was easy to glue back on.
I also have a Triang Minic Queen Mary, a cheap model which is not bad but lacking detail such as windows, however, it is pretty good for only a few quid.
Here are the rest, cheap resin models of cruise ships. Top to bottom Royal Princess, Aurora, Independence of the Seas, Queen Mary 2, a tiny Celebrity Constellation, the Triang Queen Mary, Vision of the Seas, Oriana and the Herald of FE model.
Hopefully this lot and future purchases will soon be housed in a display case, as soon as I can justify ordering one from Argos. It'll protect them - more so the expensive and more fragile ones, rather than the souvenirs - from dust and the attentions of the cats.
On a completely different note, come on Saints, wipe the collective smug smirk off arrogant plastic Manc faces (Edit - and that's exactly what happened, with a last minute equaliser).
