New Titanic kit, questions before starting.

sheetz

1. What paint should I use? Enamel or Acrylic? Ive mostly used Enamels but hear some good things about Acrylics. I want to avoid a shine on the paint. I will use mostly flat colors instead of glosses but should I spray a dull coat on top? 

• Up to you! the benefits of acrylic are better drying times and no nasty smells, but you already have experience with enamel, so...! Either way, my one piece of advice would be to try to spray the finish rather than brush wherever possible. A cheap 'hobby' spray brush won't set you back much if you don't want to invest in a proper airbrush: with Titanic you are dealing mainly with blocks of solid colours so the fancy paint effects you can achieve with a decent airbrush are less important. Gloss/dull shouldn't be an issue as you can protect parts with a clear coat. I personally think small-scale ships look odd if they're left glossy.

2. Is the PE in the kit complete garbage or should I use it? I plan to use the upgrades you can order as well. 

• The kit PE gives you railings and not much else. It seems good quality. For Titanic you have a choice of further details from Toms Model Works and Gold Medal Models. Both produce multiple sets which focus on specific areas of the ship. The TMW sets are useful in that you don't have to buy the railings again, so can concentrate on the other details they sell. Bear in mind though that some items such as the etched windows and deckchairs will require a high level of skill/experience to attach effectively- the windows for example are to scale and therefore all the kit's superstructure window holes will require opening-out or closing-in for the etches to fit. The deckchairs, and to a certain extent the benches, aren't so problematic, they are just damn fiddly to handle! If using etched brass worries you I would perhaps suggest you limit your initial purchase to the general detail set( http://www.tomsmodelworks.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_27&products_id=69&osCsid=3636bd5d693302c586e088c0968bd14a) which gives you some important replacements for very poor minicraft plastic parts such as the crane arms, compass platform and skylights. All should be easy to fit. 
• The GMM 'merchant ship' (http://www.goldmm.com/ships/gms350-3M.htm )is reputedly better quality etch, but you will duplicate the railings included in your kit- that said, a spare set of railings is no bad thing if this is your first time using etch. You may then need to buy many of the other GMM Titanic sets to get the parts you need. The GMM davit set certanily looks better than the TMW set for example.
  
  3. Should I prime every piece or only some of the larger or smaller ones? 
• Yes. Paint sticks to primed parts better! You can use rattle-cans and prime most smaller parts when they're still on the sprues. Simple job!
  
  4. Are the decals in the kit sufficient or is there more I should get? if so where from? 
• The decals now included with the minicraft kit were part of the revamp given to the kit on the advice of the Titanic Research Society. They are considered accurate, and I don't think there is anything much missing from them. I'm not aware of any other aftermarket decals available?
  
  5. I have yet to decide if Im adventures enough to light the kit or not. If I end up not lighting it then should I even bother with drilling out the portholes? 
• You can either drill the portholes out and 'glaze' them with 'kristal klear', or you can leave them closed and drop a small drop of gloss varnish in to each recess. In each case, the glazing needs to be done after painting the hull. I would recommend drilling- it doesn't take that long actually!
  
  6. Anyone ever light a kit before? if so whats so whats the best way to do it? 
• I can't comment on lighting as I've never given it thought. There's a lot of discussion about lighting the kit on the Titanic modelling forum at http://titanic-model.com/ The information available on this website is invaluable, and you will find yourself using it all the time. The only problem I found was actually discovering too much information- therefore at the start of your build you need a definitive 'game plan' so you know the scale of the task ahead (i.e. what level of detail and what corrections you are going to incorporate.) The reason for this is twofold

1. Prevents 'mission creep' so you acually finish the model!
2. More importantly, seemingly small decisions later in the build, for example deciding what material you will rig the ship with, will have an impact on how you go about the very earliest stages of the build.

This is just a brief outline of my own personal thoughts on the matter. I'm working on the minicraft Titanic myself- it is my first small scale model (I usually model 1/96+) and I'm still in the early stages. I look forward to seeing your model progress!

Will

I'll address the paint issue- acrylics vs enamels.  I have modeling friends of both persuasions.  I prefer enamels myself as I have had paint dry in my airbrush and had a devil of a time cleaning it.

I'd go with what you are familiar with.  Unless the decals are very small, you will want to overcoat with a clear to seal the decals.  And, you cannot apply decals that well over a flat paint.  So one scheme is to paint with gloss, decal, and then clear flat.

But- don't make it too flat.  Unlike naval ships, civil ships were not actually painted flat.  They were painted gloss, but being exposed to the sun and weather 24-7, the paint chalked and weathered fast.  A first class ship like the Titanic would not weather to an extreme- they tried to keep it as clean as practical, so an eggshell (semi matt) would be very appropriate.

An alternative would be to paint with flats, then apply a gloss overcoat just in area where decals go, then overcoat with flat.

As I say, an eggshell semi-matt might be more appropriate than flat (remember, the Titanic was a fairly new ship). One option for a clear overcoat is polyurethane varnish, which is available in a semi-matt.

RMS Titanic was also very new, too.

My Titanic 1 / 400 will have half the building (see photos)

If I'm following Alexandre's Portuguese correctly, he uses brush-painted enamels only.

And, that he values showing off some of the hidden kit details.

If I am still correct, he does not seem to feel a lighting kit is worth the effort.

On that point I have to differ--but, that may be related to my experience of cruise ships afloat, they are immense beacons of light.  Ones detectable well over the horizon (an experience which may have been enhanced by my being on vessels with only battery power or in EMCON).  So. I find a liner model with a well-done lighting kit strikes a chord of memory for me.  But, that is me; others differ.

CapnMac

The paint I use is the "type" enamel (Mini Ink) buy at the drugstore not specific  for modeling

Use only brush -yes ok

Regarding ilumminação, if done badly ups, can partner a Christmas tree !

A.Alexandre

Thanks for the reply guys I decided to drill out the port holes and I finally finished that part, as of now I am looking around for a light source I like that will work for the ship.

Are there any updates to this thread ? How did the project go ? I see it has been a while but I am about to start my centenary 1/400 Titanic model. Need input as to lighting for it.

I am about to buy one of two models; the Centenary 1/400 you mention above or the more common Minecraft 1/350.  Can you tell me please, why you chose the Academy 400?  I'm very curious.  Thanks

The Minicraft kit is considered to be the more "correct" of the two kits. They also just cleaned up the molds so that now every detail is much more crisp and noticable. The 1:400 kit will require you to scratch-build bulkheads that were left out of the original molds.

If you decide on the 1:400 scale kit, look to see if the deluxe version is available. With that you get some PE parts as well as wood decking. I've heard of issues, though, with the adhesive with those decks and humidity, etc can really mess with the finished product.

I hoped to light my 1:350 but thought better of it until I gained some insight into the process. You might need to dive deep into fiber-optics as a way to deliver light to a lot of the more hard to reach areas. Thereis a tutorial on the Titanic-model.com website that gives you a decent idea what will be required to do it right. The biggest problem right from the get-go would be light proofing. You'll need to consider every aspect of your construction when it comes to light leaks.

Another online source to help accurize your build would be The Rivet Counter. It's geared toward the 1:350 kit as to measurements and such, but all of the detail corrections are relevant for any Titanic build.

As for me personally, I like the size and scope of the 1:350 kit. I've been plugging away at mine for a couple of years, working on and off. I don't think you'd be disappointed with the Minicraft kit. I know this is not really the compare/contrast insight you were looking for, I just thought I'd toss my 2¢ in.

I built the Revell 1/570 RMS Titanic years ago and spent nearly a month drilling out all of the port holes. And I also set windows on the upper decks. It was beauty. In a dark room it was fascinating to look at. I forgot to take the battery out when I put it in my display case and the stupid battery leaked or did something else that caused the plastic under it to melt.