This article was written before the Newest Edition of The MiniCraft Titanic was released. This is for making corrections to any of the PRE-96 versions of the model.
"R . M . S . T I T A N I C"
How to Build the Titanic Correctly
Building the Academy/MiniCraft Model of the RMS Titanic is easier said than done. One of the first steps in making the model a true representation of the vessel is not following the instructions too closely. After you look over the kit you'll notice that the railings supplied are GROSSLY out of scale, there is no way to fix this problem, break down and buy the Loran Perry Gold Medal Fittings kit available for the vessel. The second problem is the mold maker left off several important items on the bow that the vessel had. The third problem is getting the correct colors to paint the model. A complete list of supplies and addresses will be at the bottom of the article.
You need to make a few corrections to the hull before you begin painting. You will have to modify the fore peak area. The large bump on the very leading edge of the bow had a hole in it for a hawser cable. You need to use a Dremel bit to eat away some of the area to make a nice depression representing this hole. You can see this in any of the photos of the vessel or her sister ships. Glue on the port and starboard propeller shaft units F3A&B on the hull, filling any gaps with putty where needed. Glue on the stabilizers F1L & F1R to the hull making sure that you have them on the correct side; they have a bow to each one. Glue the rudder together but not on the model, dry fit it in place, but make sure it fits the hole in the hull, you actually put it on the model last. Starting from the bottom up: the hull color below the water line is Pactra Terra Cotta this color is no longer available. I color matched Testors Burnt Sienna enamel, which is a true match for terra cotta. The flat black on the upper hull can be painted Floquil Engine Black enamel or Floquil PolyScale Flat Black acrylic, both give great results.
The small section of the hull above the black is painted with Testors Flat White as well as all walls sections that require a white color, do not use Floquil Flat White, as it WILL yellow in time. In part 4 of the instructions you are instructed to "paint" a 3/64" gold strip, this is not really possible to do by hand with a paint brush and is too small to mask off to airbrush. I used Gold Bare Metal Foil to replicate this strip.
You'll be able to measure a 3/64" wide stripe, however you must use a NEW #11 blade or the paper will snag at some point and ruin the strip. You put the foil on the model after you have the entire hull painted and let dry for at least 24 hours.
You need to mask off the following areas before painting the deck sections (1) Bridge Roof (2) Hatch & Forecastle Spray shield (3) Base of Funnels 1&2 (4) Library Roof Hatches. All sections of decking were sprayed first with Testors Flat Black, I let this dry and sprayed over these sections with Testors Armor Sand, once dry carefully rub down the sections with fine steel wool to show the raised caulk lines that are visible through the model, in some areas you have to use a (# 11) blade to reach tight sections of the deck rub lightly. The hatch walls are painted with Floquil Rail Brown which is a light red-brown color.
On the section of the roof over the officers quarters the bridge roof is painted flat white, there are no photos or records of this but her sister ship were painted this way. Paint the forehatch and Spray shield flat white also.
The color of the funnels are a bit of a problem, finding "White Star Buff" which was not a real color is impossible and trying to mix a color is just as hard because you have no color reference material except artist conceptions. I've found Humbrols Light Buff #7 is a very close match, however it is a gloss and must be flattened. I mixed one tin of light buff with one tin of Matt Varnish #49 (a dulling agent), Mix ratio is 1 to 1, once mixed this produces a semi-gloss finish which is correct. The two mast are painted Floquil Rail Brown, as well as the inside walls of the fore and aft deck area.
In part 8 & 49 the instructions tell you to paint the cargo hatch covers light grey, this is WRONG all hatch covers were white. All section of the base of the funnels were painted Floquil SP Lettering Grey the two hatch covers on the rear section of the library roof were SP Lettering Gray also. In painting the windows on the model, I used Floquil Rail Brown because it most represents the walnut color in the window frames and is not too dark. First, you have to look for a lot of flash. Make sure that the white paint is dry, using a fine brush paint each window from the back side of the part. I know it tedious but you can do it, it's worth the effort, fill all windows with MicroScale Krystal Klear. If any paint gets on the white, let dry and lightly scrape it off, then touch up with white. The easiest way to paint the parts are while they are attached to the trees, all white parts will need two coats of flat white to get rid of the translucent look. I used at least 1 1/2 bottles of Testors Flat White on the model, this gives you an idea of how much painting you need to do. This rounds out the basic color guide, now lets get to the building.
In order to explain the various mistakes that the instructions have, I'll go through each step of the assembly process explaining the problems, almost every step has mistakes.
Follow instruction for part 1-3, you need to sand down the edges of D1 and D2, dry fit the two pieces together because the fit is a bit snug. You can use the base supplied or you can mount your model on a wood base which give this model a bit more beauty. I've covered part 4 already in painting the hull.
Step 5. Mount the deck sections in the model DO NOT apply "LIBERAL CEMENT" along the support section of the hull, you must make sure the entire deck rest at the proper position. Make sure that the bow and stern section is properly seated to the stops. Test this by placing the bow and stern deck in place and see if they are flush with the top of the hull. Use several drops of ACC glue to hold both ends (part D1 & D2) in position. Use liquid cement along the sides of the rest of the deck. Make the rigging threads 20 inches long this give you a bit more to work with when you rig the stays. Omit the piece for the extreme prow of the bow, this part is not needed and will break off under light pressure.
Step 6. Follow along with instruction in part 6 of the instruction booklet.
Step 7. Preassemble, sand down and fill any gaps if needed with putty for the Second Class Entrance, remember to prepaint the windows! Be careful not to glue the walls upside down. Test fit part 26 to the deck, you will need to sand off some of the edges to make a flush fit for the part. Part H6-H7 will not fit flush in the area given because you need to remove the line on the deck to make room for the parts. Fill the two holes on the wall of H6 and H7, cut off pins from J26 because the wall are moved further back along the hull about 1/8" (look at step 8) then glue J26's in place (these are the rear walls of two restaurants). Do not place deck vents on model yet.
Step 8. You may add the bitts and winches to the model now if you want, make sure you place them as shown. The bitts have bad punch out marks, but because of their size it is hard to fill them, do your best making sure to turn mount the bitts so that the viewers won't see the marks. Parts J13 A & B have a hand rail that must be shown, you can paint it with Floquil Rail Brown or you can use a brown colored penciled with a point to rub the top of the rail. I find using the later method give you more control, and looks every bit as good. Notice how part J37A & B are molded in reverse? Don't worry you can't tell from the outside of the model.
Step 9. This step needs a lot of work. First remove all flash along the edges of the Promendenade Deck and test fit the Boat Deck Walls to the deck. Before you mount the Promendenade Deck Walls to the 1st Class Promendenade Deck you must carefully test fit all parts. Dry fit the deck to the side of the hull to make sure that the deck fit over the guides, clean and square these holes. The walls need to be made square at the top and bottom, some edges need to be scrapped so they fit along the bracing. Fill the divots left by the punch out process, a small bit of ACC glue works perfect. Each door on these parts had a port hole, some are there and some are not, drill a hole in each door in the correct location. As before paint the walls white, then the windows Rail Brown, rub the hand rail with the pencil. Dry fit part J7 in the proper place, this will guide you in where to place the walls, the vent grills molded on J7 are painted black. Now, dry fit part C23 in the spot molded, notice how the part has two vertical supports standing in the middle of the windows, this is wrong. To correct this remove these supports, and replace with styrene slightly to the center of the part. Parts C9 are painted white and go on where indicated but are slightly smaller than the guide holes they go in. To mount part J39 to the deck you must lightly sand the front edge of the deck so that the deck fits in the grove of the part, note that the part is not as wide as the deck (another mistake we'll fix later) Part J39 MUST be mounted just as shown, make sure that you split the difference of width with the deck. Following the painting of the inst on part J39, the deck is white along the rear edge.
Step 10. After you have checked the Boat Deck Wall for flash and divots, painted the parts white on both sides, and paint the top of the part rail brown where indicated. In step 12, carefully mount the Boat Deck Walls to the deck, you need to make sure that the walls are even with the front section of the deck, make sure that the walls are vertical. After you glue on the walls, let dry and then you need to paint the under side of the part about 1/2" from the outside edge, because up will see a small piece of the deck hanging over the edge of the upper hull. Add two sets of stairs using the fittings kit.
Step 11. In rigging the model you are trying to represent 1 1/4" steel cable. I use Coats & Clark Dual Duty for Hand Quilting thread in black, this is extremely strong and it looks like cable, as it should. You can use bees wax to keep the thread from dry rotting, just rub the thread over the piece of wax, this also keeps the small hairs of thread from standing out from the main body. The instruction call for you to cut 22 threads 10" long and two threads 5" long, add at least 3 inches to all measurements, you'll thank me later. I used one small drop of ACC to glue the rigging in place, instead of knotting the 2-8" threads, leave a 1/2 piece lay flat along the underside of the deck where it will not interfere with anything and glue it in place with ACC. You'll notice that the thread is a lot smaller from the holes they go through. Place a very small amount of white glue mixed with dark brown or black paint at the hole where the thread go though from the bottom side, this will dry and fill the hole, just like caulking the real vessel.
Step 12. You need to check all edges for flash, and sand the front edge of the Boat Deck (slightly pointed) so it fits in the grove on part J39. You need to be careful here because if you put too much pressure on the front wall it may break lose from the Promendenade Deck, to help me with this problem, I use a few small drops of ACC glue on the back of J39 to help brace it. On the front of J39, there are two port holes, these are where doors shouls be. You can use you hobby knife to outline where the doors should be, or choose not to, because the size may be out of scale. Make sure you don't glue any threads under the part. The two stairway enclosures are painted white as indicated. Place stairs in these areas and glue with ACC. Hold the completed part of the model up and you will see the sway of the deck. Once dry you need to glue the whole part on the hull of the boat. Carefully turn the model over and use ACC at the spot where the model joins the hull. Use rubber bands to hold this section in position while drying. The two parts never really meet flush, but it does not show unless you look under the deck. You can fill the gaps with a small piece of round stock styrene, this will look like a water pipe which the vessel had in this area, paint this pipe white also if you use one.
Step 13. The first thing I noticed with this set of instructions, is the expansion joint, IT IS NOT GOLD! it is a tarish color of caulking to let the deck flex while the vessel was underway. Do not glue parts G13, G22 or H5 on the model yet (we'll do this in at the finishing steps of assembly). Clean up and glue the Wheel House together as indicated, dry fit the unit to the deck. You will have to sand off a bit of the inner edge of bottom of parts G10 A & B to get a flush fit, once satisfied, glue them in place. All windows are painted brown. The ladder in the walls can be painted black (use a micro tipped felt pen to do this) or sand off the ladder and use the photo etched ones in the kit. Part G28 A & B are the inner walls of the bridge wing, this is where the distress rockets were fired. At part 50 in the instructions they show you a halyard rigged at the base of these walls, this is WRONG, the cable was rigged at a point at the top of the walls on the inside to run up signal flags. On the model drill a small hole in the location general location shown but at the top of the wall, fit a 6" thread through the hole and glue with ACC. Cut off excess and fill the hole from the boat deck side so you can't see the hole. Paint top of wall rail brown.
Step 14. After doing a lot of research on the vessel I found that the air intake screens parts H23, H23 A&B, were painted dark red. I used Floquil Tuscan to represent this color, the body of these parts are painted white. Dry fit part H10, H11 and J34 together checking for fit. Part J29 is the outer wall for the officers quarters, however the mold maker forgot to cut the windows in. To fix this, mark this location of the windows, remove just enough of part H10 so that when you put J29 on wall you see through the windows. Notice J29 will not fit in the corner flush, file off the pin, fill the hole in H10 and sand the corner lightly to make this part fit flush. Dry fit the vent H23A in you may have to trim a little off the roof of the offices quarters to make this fit. You need to make the bridge back walls fit against H10, H11, fill the gap. On the walls of this section you will see small light these are painted Chrome Silver
Step 15. First, in fitting the roof over the Officers Quarters, you will have to trim the corners and sides of the walls with your hobby knife to get the roof edge to fit inside the wall assembly, get this part cut and fitted in before you continue. Cut thread 7" long. Next, do not assemble deck vents or blowers yet, some of the numbers are WRONG. The antenna post is molded in the roof, you are supposed to GLUE the 4 transmit wires to this post, IT CAN'T BE DONE NEATLY, instead drill a small hole in the post and insert a small wire eyelet in the top, paint it silver, (we will fit the rigging through the eye). Assemble the 2 Englehardt collapsible boats together, filling divots. The bottom of the boats are white, but the tops are NOT light gray, these boat as well as the regular life boat has canvas covers, this is the color of really light tan, to get this color you mix 1 part Armor Sand and 5 parts of Flat White. This gives you a very light shade of tan. Whether you trim the roof in brown is up to you, I could find only one photo in any of the many books I have on the vessel. It looked white to me so I opted for a white edge all around. Parts number G9 A&B, G24B, G26 are all return air vents, check for punch marks, fill with ACC or putty, sand the part, and paint white. Paint the grill sections in Tuscan. Following inst. on the skylight assembly the glass dome is left clear.
Step 16. One of the first pre-assembly I did was the assembly of the funnels. However you need to mark which funnel goes where, because they are different in size. Once you put them together scratch number 1,2,3,4 inside each funnel so you won't forget. Each funnel has holes where the ladder braces go, these are too big, if you use the photo etched parts fill these holes and sand smooth. Paint as instructed using the Humbrols Light Buff #7 and Flat Black. On each funnel there were three whistle's, you can carefully cut a two additional slightly smaller pieces of styrene to add to each side to represent the correct look, paint them Gold. Each funnel should have 6 holes for the guy wire to support the funnel in place, check each hole and ream out if necessary. Do not glue them on yet.
Step 17. Note how the base of the funnels are gray, use Floquils SP Lettering Gray, don't bother with painting the edge of funnel base #1 white. Between the Skylight and the rear vent there is a steam pipe, it is painted white.
Step 18. Before you assemble any parts to I1 1st. Class Lounge Roof, you need to glue it to the top of the walls. First check fit, notice the ends have a small wall that fits in the model, this MUST be painted white as well as the edge on the deck section, shave off the 4 stairs flush with the deck, we'll replace them with photo etched parts. The compass tower has a very bad gap and is thicker on one side more so than the other. You need to scrape this down, fill the gap and paint. The top edge is Rail Brown. If you line up the outside edges, I don't think anyone will really see the inside because of the binnacle that will fill the inside. You will have to trim the inside legs of the tower so they fit in the hole of the 1st. Class Lounge Roof. Skip the assembly of the deck blowers and vents.
Step 19. We just did it.
Step 20. Assemble parts G18, H13 & H14 together. note the concave shape of the top. After the glue has dried sand down the top lightly, dry fit the roof I7 to the pieces you will have to trim the inside walls a little to make the part fit correctly. The roof is painted SP Lettering Gray Once you are satisfied glue it together, add H23A, bumps are white as well as edge.
Step 21. The roof of this part has a skylight. I don't know if this is correct. Logic indicates that if this is a air shaft to the engines, then why have a window in the part, other than not wanting to show the lower decking? The clear part on the kit is slightly too big you have to sand the top down to make it fit properly. You can replace it with clear acetate it you wish, also you can build a small box to cover the hole from the back side or paint the floor under the house black to show depth. Parts J12 are shown in an upright position, THIS IS WRONG, I have a photo showing the parts standing straight out on a horizontal plain, paint them white and fill small windows with Krystal Clear. In the area between these windows there is a walkway that should have a handrail you can use the fittings kit for this, paint it white. Glue, sand and fill the edges. The skylight attached to this room is actually over the aft staircase not the first class foyer. Paint the base and walls white, assemble and fill the portholes with Krystal Klear, insert the clear dome and paint the ribs to the glass cover white as indicated, don't not glue the skylight on yet.
Step 22. Remember to paint the expansion joint before you place any parts on the model. Fit the rooms on the deck as indicated.
Step 23. Assemble the walls of the Turbine Engine Casing together, paint the windows brown, the lights chrome sliver and the wall vent black. The roof of this part I10 is gray, and has ducts on it, paint them white. G24B vent is painted as instr. Cut a single thread 10 inches long in place of the 2 threads, what they show is WRONG. ACC it to the roof, and glue the roof in place. Do not glue the room on the deck yet. Skip the vents until later.
Step 24. Part G19 has a small window, this is badly molded and there's not a lot you can do with it. I have filled it in because it looks a lot better not being there. Glue G19 to G29 A&B, before you put the roof in place, you will have to trim the parts that go in G19 to get a smooth fit, if the roof is in place as they ask, it is impossible. The back of G29A&B has an arched window, but the edges don't line up, fit together and use a drop of ACC to hold tight. The elevator house needs to be filled and sanded but goes together nicely, (finally an easy part to work with)! Hold off placing G7 on the model. The rear vent screens on G19 are Tuscan Red.
Step 25. Now glue the roof I6 to the wall of the First Class Smoking Room, glue the Turbine Engine Casing to the roof. Glue parts G23 in place making sure they face the correct way. Glue the 2nd. Class entrance to the deck as instructed. Now we can go back and add the benches to the model where indicated. The benches were made of oak or pine stained dark with black wrought iron scroll work sides. You can paint them either Rail Brown or Roof Brown for a bit of contrast or another shade if you prefer. You can leave the sides the same color or you can paint them black to represent the wrought iron scroll work. (At the time of this article the fittings kit for the benches were not available).
Step 26. Before you start trying to use the railings in the fittings kit, you need to paint ALL the RAILINGS sections Flat White. You will see the ratlines, crane hooks and ladders these are painted flat black. Other parts include life boat deadeyes and other deadeyes these can be painted flat black, but may look better with the rope portion painted light brown. You have to locate what railings have a wood top rail that must be painted Rail Brown. Look at the tree they are attached to, each part is labeled. You can use the guides for bending the railing, although I don't recommend it. Fit each piece one at a time using the model as the guide. The fitting kit come with some great instructions that are handy. Once you are ready to use the railings following the instructions that came with the kit, use ACC to glue the rails, follow (step 26 through 35 Minicraft instr.) Do not put the railing in place on the Reciprocating Tank Engine Room yet.
Step 27. Now you can see what all this work has brought you, The model should be looking very good by now. In part 38 of the instruction booklet you are instructed to bend and mount the ladder stack to the funnels . This is basally what you need to do, but check the instructions for the fittings kit.
Step 28. After you have put ALL the railing in place for the superstructure, double check to make sure you have not left any piece off. Now comes the really fun part the deck blowers and vents. Look on page 3 of the instruction manual, note that they give you a diagram of the placement of the blowers and vents, want to know why? Because they have the wrong numbers on some of the drawings. The basic thing to remember is the ALL VENTS FACED TO THE REAR OF THE VESSEL, NO MATTER WHICH ONES YOU USE! Start by carefully matching the lettering of the drawing to the tree of parts, confused yet? Remove one blower at a time, don't remove any vents yet. Check all blowers for fit and SHAPE against the pattern on the deck, you will have two spots that are backward and you will have to modify the vents for these. There are two blower assemblies for the roof of the 1st. Class Lounge that are molded too short, look at the underside of the parts (G16 A&B) and add a small piece of styrene to fill the gap so the part will sit flush on the deck. You have to remove a little of the mold line where these vents go so they will sit correctly. Once you are satisfied that you have the right blowers in the correct position, match each one up to the vent listed. Do not paint the inside vent holes red THIS IS WRONG they were painted white, I've seen photos showing this. The blowers should in most cases match the pattern on the deck, you will have two that do not, either you mount the blower facing the correct way or you can turn the blower to match the pattern and you have to notch out a portion of one of the extra vents left over to make the vent face the right way. Once you have completed this step glue all vent to blowers, touch up with paint and glue the assembly to the spot on the deck.
Step 29. You should have the funnels finished by this time and ready to be placed on the model. You need to put the ladders on the funnels now, you can't wait until later. Place all small vent pipes on the funnels in the correct locations. Glue the funnels to the model and let dry completely. On part 36 of the instr. booklet you have to bend two different set of pipes. These are the extra steam pipes that feed the turbine engine instead of wasting the steam. They are painted part Humbrols Light Buff #7 and part white. You have to bend them before you paint them. You need to be careful as not to break the pipes, lightly score the tops of the pipes to mark where you need to bend at using the diagram on part 36 of the booklet, heat them up by using HOT water this helps them bend without breaking. Place a pair flat pliers at the mark and bend very slowly giving time for the plastic to bend. They have to fit between the railing on the roof of the Officers Mess and then through the railing on the roof of the Reciprocating Room. To do this bend the pipes as shown, place them on the 3rd. funnel and glue into position, You will have to bend the railing to shape then cut out a vertical rail and one section of bottom rail to allow it to fit over the pipes. Don't try to fit the pipes through the railing you will probably bend the railing and learn to curse for the first time. Now that all the funnels are in place with the proper vents and pipes the model should start really taking shape.
Step 30. Carefully separate the rigging threads/cables from each other. Match one cable in each hole of the funnels, being careful not to cross them. Once each funnel has all the proper cables in, gather them together and twist like shown in part 39 of the booklet. The next part takes practice, you need to have the cable show no slack. After twisting them very tightly together, you need to use ACC glue to keep them together (this is why I had you cut longer threads, so you have something to work with). Once you are satisfied cut the cable short by the glue and place inside the funnel as shown. If they have a bit of slack, use a pair of tweezers to put pressure on the threads in the funnel and use a small drop of ACC on a straight pin at the point of the hole where the thread enters the funnel to hold in place. Insert part F2 in the stacks and then J11 and J3 on top. Time to relax and start breathing again.
Step 31. You should be on part 42 of the booklet, notice you did this about 10 steps back? How do they expect the modeler to glue the deck on the hull with all the rigging and small pieces in place?
Step 32. PLEASE NOTE!!! WHEN THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST WRITTEN THE CORRECTIONS TO THE “RMS TITANIC” MOLD WERE NOT DONE, THIS SECTION REFERES TO THE ORIGINAL KITS. Here is where we separate the sailors from the slag. In part 43 in the booklet look at the drawings. Notice anything missing? There are several things wrong with the bow section of the vessel part I4. The following items were not molded in. The forepeak/prow anchor well, the crew skylight and the inspection hatch for the anchor chain. If you have seen James Cameron's "Titanic", several major scenes are played out on the bow of the vessel. Notice the well area that the auxiliary anchor rest in? You need to decide if you want to model this in the bow section, it's not hard. If you can find a copy of the National Geographic edition "How We Found The Titanic" 1985 with the excellent photos and an artist rendition of the vessel as it sits today, you will see the same thing. You need to carefully remove a small section of the deck so that an extra anchor will rest in this area. To get the extra anchor of the correct style, write a short note to MiniCraft Models asking them to send you a duplicate part #A5&A6. You need to send a $3.00 check to cover the postage. P.S. don't be cheap and tell them it's, missing they know better!
If you have decided to cut this hole in the bow, use a #11 blade to SLOWLY mark the area next to the bow bulwark (see drawing). Keep scoring this area until you cut through the deck completely. File and straighten the edges of the cut. Glue a THIN piece of styrene to the bottom of the deck to make a floor for the anchor well, paint the inside of this area white as well as the three stumps at the prow of the bow. Once done lightly sand down the back side of the extra anchor until it's almost flat, paint it black and glue in position, (you could add a small piece of railing on top of the anchor, but lets not be greedy). Drill a small hole in the center protrusion and put in a eyelet for rigging material. Make one thread 30" long, center it through the eyelet and put a simple overhand knot at this point, use a very small amount of glue on the knot (in this scale you should not be able to really see the knots). Make 2 lengths of thread 10" long and put at the corners of the end of the bow. Do not put any threads in the holes by the anchor crane, you have fittings for this part in the GMM kit. Paint the I4 section as indicated. On the top of parts G35 there are two small lights. Notice the molded fixture, paint them chrome silver The side of the bollards were black, tops of all bollards were BRASS capped, paint them brass. I used Testors Metalizer Brass because of the smooth but fine pigments two or three coats will be needed.
Step 33. Here is some trivia for you, in the movie one shot show a crew skylight on the correct side, in one shot it's on the other side, and in one shot it's not there at all. This was caused by using the negative in reverse called "shot flopping" so they would not have to build both sides of the vessel. To make the crew skylight, because of it's small size, all you have to do is cut a piece of styrene to shape giving it a slight angled appearance. Look back at the NATGEO article pictures, look between the anchor guides and notice the inspection hatch. Cut a small square piece of thin styrene and glue in position between the channels, paint it black. Do NOT ADD parts G15 to the deck yet, they break very easily. After all parts are dry, glue the bow deck in place using rubber bands to hold in position. Please make sure you push the bow all the way forward, it has a habit of "walking" to the rear of the boat.
Step 34. In part 44 of the booklet, part J14 is the front wall to the second class rooms. I've researched all photos I have but still can't figure out what the "bumps" are, they could be porthole windows or vents holes paint part J14 as indicated. This wall had a stairway and a gate to keep people from falling down the stairs, Using a small piece of railing from the kit, paint and fit a small piece across the opening. Place J14 in position, making sure you don't glue the rigging thread behind the part. Install the bitts now if you have not done so already.
Step 35. The cranes are the next major project. These parts are very close to the real thing but need a bit of work to make them better. Carefully remove all large & small crane pieces G1A,G2A,G1B,G2B from the sprue tree. Dry fit them together, notice how the base of the "gear housing" part on them keeps the other side from meeting up flush? Take you hobby knife and scrape the bottom of the "gear housing" part down a little work slowly and test fit each one often, they will come together after a little work. You will need to remove the guide pins from the parts so the side will glue together without any problem. Glue the sides together carefully and let dry completely. Now, lightly scrape the top of crane decking to make them flush. Putty the housing if necessary and let dry. Paint the top of the crane housing and operator stand SP Lettering Grey. Remove the crane booms from the sprue tree cleaning all flash and seams line from each part. The end of each boom should be round in appearance because it is a pulley wheel. Notice that there are two smaller booms for the two small cargo cranes, don't mix these up with the others. Paint all booms white. The crane rigging plan they show is WRONG. The wire cable did not come from the sides as shown, it came from the middle. The wire on the side of the crane was the cable to help keep cargo in place on the pallet. If you put a single thread on each crane it will look a lot better. Drill a small hole through the top of the gear housing at a diagonal angle. Drill a hole through the end of the crane pulley wheel, start with a very small drill bit. Work your way up to the same size as the hole in the top of the gear housing. When you rig the thread through the holes you need to leave room for the photo etched hook. Do this by the followings method. First, using the same thread as the funnels, put thread through the top of gear housing and glue in place. Push the thread through the pulley wheel. Cut the crane hooks from the fittings kit and push thought the bottom of pulley hole while holding the thread to one side tightly, glue the hook in place. use a SHARP #11 blade cut the thread off. Repeat for all cranes. Don't glue the cranes to model yet.
Step 36. You should be at part 45 of the booklet. The mistakes that I've found in this part is two fold. We can fix one with easily, one we can't. First, the rigging thread is in the wrong hole. Look at the topside picture of the deck and notice where you are told to place part H16, see the hole just in front of it, that is where they want you to put the thread, but if you do the back stay cable will rub on the vent. You need to swap them to each others hole. Cut the thread 20 inches long. I don't know what the small square houses are on the deck but they are not slanted as shown. Add thin styrene to the underside to straighten the angle, sand and paint. The docking bridge could have been painted grey or a deck color, I have no idea, since it raised off the deck it will better grey, the supports are not round as shown. Check at your local hobby store for small square brass tubing, glue a brass rod in the center of the square with ACC and cut the round part off the deck and replace with brass. The docking bridge controls are out of scale but I really can't find a replacement, these are better than nothing I guess. Glue the outer supports to the underside of the control bridge and glue the assembly in position.
Step 37. Glue all bitts and bollards in place, and glue deck to hull, pushing it against the read of the vessel, it has a habit to "walking" forward, use rubber bands to hold in place. Paint the tops of bollards brass. Step 36. Now add the railing to the bow and stern as well as the stairways to the model using ACC to glue in place.
Step 38. Now we get to start rigging. Locate the two masts and dry fit them to the model. You will probably have to ream out the hole in the deck to make them fit through. Step back and look at the model and make sure of the following things; both the foremast and mainmast are slanted slightly and that the foremast is facing the correct way. Paint the crows-nest and glue to the foremast, paint the bell brass, and the light white is chrome silver. The rigging plan the instructions have is wrong. Look at the drawings in part 47 and 59 and see were the stays go on the foremast and mainmast, In part 59 they show rigging tied to the railing and bitts, this is WRONG. In the scale that we've built there is no way you can get as many threads on the mast and have it still look good. You are going to rig the stays just like they did on the real vessel. Instead of trying to tie knots on each stay, you need to drill holes in the mast to let you pass the thread through. This will keep you from breaking the mast and having to tie knots. On both the fore and mainmast mark a very small mark on the mast with your hobby knife where the forestays and backstays go. Using a super small drill bit, and ONLY A PINVISE DRILL one hole for each stay. The backstays can pass through the same whole for each level. See drawing 47 to get an idea. Starting from the bottom up, pull each thread through the mast hold light pressure and glue with a small drop ACC. The forestays work on the same principal. The flag halyards for the liner were tied to a small eyebolt mounted in the railing, we can't duplicate, you can glue to railing if you really want to. Rig only one thread to these type of halyards.
Step 39. Antennas are probably one of the hardest parts of this kit to do because the way you have to rig them. The top of the mast is too tiny to drill without breaking or bending. First, after you have mounted and rigged your mast with the stays, carefully measure the distance between the two, it is always a little different than part 58 of the instructions. DO NOT GLUE THE SHORT AERIALS ON THE MAIN WIRES. Stop and think for a moment, would the wires be the same size, and how did they attached them. The two C25 pieces of the kit may be wrong, you could use a flat bar also like the "SS Olympic" did. Here is how we are going to rig the wireless antennas. Cut the lengths of thread allowing you enough to work with. Leave one longer than the others to serve as the main stay. Holding the thread tight between two fingers use the other hand to pinch the thread and friction rub the kinks out, if you don't know what I'm talking about ask a seamstress. I tape the threads to piece of balsa wood and hang alligator clamps on the bottom of the each, leaving to hang for 24 hours to pull the thread straight. You can tape to table if you want but you WILL end up with twisting wires. Find and carefully remove the seam lines, (each part has a guide mark on them to help you know where to lay the wires) and lightly sand down one side of both C25 parts. Paint them black, being careful to keep the flat side straight. Then using a small drill, put four (4) holes in each piece in the right space. Thread one end of the rigging through the bar and glue with ACC. Re-hang threads to get any kinks out 10 min. should do. Carefully lay the assembly on your table and rig the other side. Once finished it should look and hang very good. Now, select a smaller diameter thread than what you've been using (black), cut four threads to 7 inches long, find a very small sewing needle, and carefully thread the new rigging thought the main transmit wires. Carefully attach to mast. With one thread at a time fish it through the eyebolt in the top of post in roof of Officers Quarters. WHEW!!!
Step 40. TO THE LIFEBOATS-->, You may have painted the tops and side already, if not do this now as I've instructed, don't forget to clean out the two small holes in each boat. Glue the lifeboat davits to the deck in the right locations, place two Englehardt colap. boats in position. Carefully dot each end on both sides of every boat with a SMALL dot of GLOSS red paint (it does not run or spread) this is the red "White Star, House Flag" a sewing needle will work great. Mount the boats to the lifts and carefully use the fitting kit parts to replicate the pulley assembly. I had a bit of a problem with mine because of the size, I wish and hope that GMM adds a little bit more length to at least one side so you can place it correctly. Glue with ACC.
Step 40. Attach your decals by your favorite method. Stand back and call all your friends to let them know you've finally ARE FINISHED. Keep the celebration low, and no one can bring any ICE!
I had a great time writing this article for other modelers, and if after you have read it and have any questions, comments or complaints, let me know All the information and correction of mistakes you've just read has been done by me over the last 15 years and 28 TITANICS ago. See you in New York, Bon voyage.