Ship Terms Article

The Story of Tarzan\’s Ship Saigon

The immense satisfaction that can come from the building of
model ships not only extends to real ships, but also to
imaginary ships. The ship model Saigon is an excellent example.
It is based on a ship that appears in the pulp fiction serial
that was written by Burroughs. Burroughs wrote many Tarzan
stories in the early part of the 20th Century, and it is one,
that involves a shipwreck, that a ship model Saigon can be based
upon.

In this story, Tarzan has been captured and knocked unconscious
(which is why he can actually be put into a cage). When building
a story ship like the ship model Saigon, it is possible to add
in one’s fancies. This story includes Tarzan actually on deck in
a cage, and so it is possible to portray the cage holding
Tarzan. The ship’s true captain is sick and bedridden, and the
Saigon has been commandeered by a guy named Schmidt, who is the
captor of Tarzan. There is a great deal going on while on the
Saigon (including a menagerie of exotic animals. Little people
and animals can be added to the ship (incidentally, one can
build a model Noah’s Ark using the same idea). Happily, Tarzan
does wake up begin acting normally again, just as a storm is
approaching.

It is better to build the ship model Saigon representing its
state before the storm comes, as the ship is soon wrecked and
stranded on a remote island. But none of this happens before
Tarzan bends the iron bars of his cage and leads the passengers
and crew in a mutiny against the usurper Schmidt. After the
Saigon is left on the shore, it disappears while Tarzan
continues his adventure and the whole lot of castaways is
rescued by another ship that happens along.

It can be just as fun to create a model ship that sparks the
imagination and tells a story of fiction as it can be to build
one that is historically accurate and tells a true tale.
However, with a fictional ship, it is possible to indulge a
little and use the imagination more, as detail is not as
important. And you can tell yourself a story as you work. A ship
model Saigon is just such a project that can remind one of the
adventures of Tarzan and bring the interesting literary heritage
of serials to life.