Jaws is one of the most iconic movies ever and started the summer blockbuster trend. I remember watching it in the theater with my mom 50 years ago. Besides the actors and Bruce the shark, one of the iconic things in the movie is the Orca, Quint’s boat. There were actually two of these. The first was an actual functioning boat bought by production designer Joe Alves and was a lobster boat called the Warlock. It was heavily modified and painted to become the Orca. The second Orca was a sinking version used for the final scene in the movie. Enough history, Agora Models has issued a 1/16^th scale version of the Orca as a 50^th anniversary version. Agora uses a business model where you can buy the entire kit, a Collectors Edition which comes with extras or you can buy them monthly over 1 or 2 years period.

Agora does not make small models and you can see that with the IPMS reviews of the T-800 Terminator here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/t-800-terminator-part-1

And the SAS Willys Jeep here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/jeep-willys-sas-pack-1

As with Agora Models, the Orca will have lights and sound once complete and is thoroughly accurate and researched. Speaking with Agora, they contacted all the relevant people involved and had access to the movie drawings and pictures to recreate the Orca inside and out. In this part of the review, we will cover packs one through three.

Pack One covers the building of the helm station, the searchlight and the rest of the flying bridge (which is the top part where Hooper drove the boat). The first part of the construction covers the assembly of the lighting test jig and a specialized Orca screwdriver. The test jig is hooked up to a cell phone charger and has allows you to verify that all the lights are working prior to and during installation. It is used in many steps so make sure it is local and convenient. Assembly proceeds with the helm station with the throttle, the main instrument cluster and the dashboard and main top of the boat. There are different size screws in attaching parts, they are bagged and labeled so monitor this during all construction. I left the ships wheel loose - more on that later. There are four pieces of loose wire and these are bent into shape to run from the bottom to the instruments like on the reel boat and that completes the helm assembly.

The searchlight is next and this is lit so you check the bulb and then assemble the light and attach it to the top of the flying bridge. You will also check the side navigation lamps and assemble them into position on the sides which are then added to the helm and screwed to the base. While doing this, you will label the wires with wire tags and this is important as these numbers match the circuit boards. The circuit board on the top is added to the front of the helm and the wire plugged into their sockets which match the wire labeling. The side navigation lights are color coded so watch the left and right sides. The directions are wonderful so take your time and read them carefully. The remainder of Pack One finishes the initial assembly of the helm and flying bridge.

Pack Two has a lot of parts that will be used later like the bottom hull metal reinforcements (used with Pack Nine), the front hull parts and others. In this pack we will assemble the transom and Orca letters, the instrument panel dials, add more detail to the helm as well as build the life buoys and other details. Follow directions and tis goes quickly. You also add the shark jaws to the front of the flying bridge. This is attached later. One big thing to note is that the Orca lettering has an orientation. I did not glue these in place yet. The reason, as I stated above is that the kit is way too clean - if you want it that way, assemble as is but watching the movie, Quint was not a spiffy housekeeper and things are dirty, worn and well-used. I left things loose to weather them

Pack Three goes through the main cabin walls and floor assembly with more lighting. All the doors inside and out move and beautiful sets of brass hinges. For the top hatch, part 8-B, make sure the orientation is such that it sits even with the top of the front - it will fit both ways which I found out and quickly corrected. There are small “brass” parts for the door handles and the like and these are injection molded, so I removed the seams which messed up the finish, but I will add that to the weathering/painting section. All the big parts are screwed into each other for a very secure, tight fit.

Pack Three continues with installation of the window panels and these come protected on both sides with film. They are crystal clear and we can address that later as Quint was not a window washer type. On the rear wall of the cabin are also two lights which are checked in our jig and then have the wires run down. The port light also ha a connector with it which supplies the top with the power and light as the helm slots into it. Pay attention to wire labeling again to make life easier later. The next parts construct the side walls and then screw it all together. I left everything separate at this point to age and weather.

The last part of this pack constructs the roof of the main cabin and the hanging light and the running of the wires to the top circuit board. These are tested and labeled also and the labels correspond to the numbers on the circuit board. The last step is to add the front of the helm (with the shark jaws and enclose the circuit board. You can then test fit the helm to the main cabin aligning the circuit plugs and the fit is perfect. I used tape to hold things in place while I checked.

Next will be packs Four to Six and a separate on weathering the Orca. Many thanks to all the wonderful people at Agora for their efforts and diligence to bring models that are spectacular and well researched to modelers everywhere.