Titanic enthusiast Steve Hide, from Southampton, England, had his entire back tattooed with the faithful moment the iconic ship sank into the Atlantic, in April of 1912.

45-year-old Steve has always been interested in the history of the Titanic, and since he’s also a big fan of tattoos, he figured a full-back ink-job of the Titanic sinking would be a great way of remembering it. Work on the stunning piece began five years ago, in a tattoo parlor in Eastbourne, and since then Steve spent around 40 hours in various tattoo shops getting his back inked. When he first got the idea, in 2006, he wanted to have it done for the 100th anniversary, and used books and pictures of the Titanic sinking in order to have a realistic replica tattooed on his back.

Steve Hide thinks many people saw his idea as crazy, including his family, but he’s always been passionate about the Titanic and didn’t let anyone talk him out of having the unique homage inked into his back. Now his wife Vivienne says he becomes a celebrity whenever they go to the beach, as people flock to have their picture taken with the tattoo. She says she’s grown to like it over the years and now that it’s complete, it looks like a masterpiece, a real work of art.

It’s not every day that you see unique tattoos like this sinking Titanic scene, but after seeing a Twilight-themed fullback tattoo and Mr. Avatar’s tribute to Neytiri, nothing surprises me anymore.

via Daily Echo