Situated in the quayside of Abercorn Basin in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter stands a striking public artwork: Titanic Kit, colloquially known as the Airfix Titanic Kit. What you see is a monumental, see‑through bronze and steel sculpture measuring about 13.5–14 m tall and 4 m wide, echoing the frame of a model kit sprue—those plastic outlines holding parts before assembly. Suspended within the frame are recognizable Titanic parts—funnels, propellers, hull segments—as if awaiting assembly. By day it's a sculptural skeleton; by night, illuminated in blue and white phosphorescent light, it evokes ship searchlights, casting an industrial-mythic silhouette.
It was created by English artist Tony Stallard and unveiled in 2009, Titanic Kit was Belfast’s first major public art piece in the regenerated Titanic Quarter. Designed to honour Belfast’s shipbuilding legacy, it pays homage to Harland & Wolff and the craftsmen behind the real Titanic. The model‑kit form recalls childhood nostalgia while symbolising the “spirit of creation”—the momentous work that took place here . Significantly the sculpture was built in collaboration with Harland & Wolff—the very shipyard that launched Titanic—and engineered carefully through mock-ups and bronze-casting stages, the sculpture cost around £200,000.
Titanic Kit is more than a sculpture—it’s a conversation starter, combining playful model-kit aesthetics with powerful local history. It reminds us of Belfast’s pivotal role in constructing one of the most iconic ships ever built, and invites us to reflect on craftsmanship, innovation—and how pieces of the past continue to shape a city's identity today.
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