This was then positioned on the starboard side and traced with a pencil line to guide the same procedure as before… And that's it for the moment. I hope you have enjoyed the challenge I have on the workbench this month. I think I've been at work on this for about 4-5 weeks now (Furlough is brilliant) I laid down some tape and traced the edge. The tape was then transferred to a piece of card paper and cut out.

I did have to refer to the other plastic pieces that would be around these and adjusted their final placement. Unfortunately, this kit does suffer from underbody inaccuracies that seem inherent in all of Trumpeter’s 1/200 single molded hulls. I’m no expert on the injection molding process but it seems to me that it introduces limitations on the types of curves and angles that can be achieved in a plastic kit of this size. The kit designers had to make some practical compromises… That is not to say, however, that this project won’t be a labor of Love. I am building this for my daughter. She has been fascinated by the Titanic tragedy from a very young age. At age six she could tell you all about Captain Smith going down with the ship and nurse Jessop and her surviving multiple sinkings, etc. She made me get up in the wee hours on the exact date/time of the 100 th anniversary of her sinking to ring a bell in commemoration. We’ve even toured Margaret Brown’s home in Denver (nobody called her “Molly” in her lifetime). She is more interested in the human stories than the ship itself but will very much appreciate this representation when it is finally completed. Regular drills and rotary tools have high RPM that creates too much plastic-melting friction… This drill is just right for the job at hand. So, is this the perfect Titanic kit? Nope, it’s not, it’s got its share of problems such as some overscale and oversimplified details, but it goes together well. And of course, if you want to bring it to a new level, you can always get some aftermarket accessories.

KA Models | No. MD-20020 | 1:200

This helped to set the outer diameter tightly into the porthole and centered the innermost tube properly… I plan to do both promenades, the Cafe Parisian, a couple of the dining areas and possible the entrance areas around the fore and aft staircases. The talented digital artist Vasilije Ristovic’ also shows this type of rudder anode in his stunning 3D illustration: Nice clean holes drilled with no issues. Took me about 45 minutes to complete each side – making sure to hold the drill at 90 degrees to the hull each time. For those who can stomach Facebook, there are several terrific resources utilized by the Titanic community:

But it isn’t as though the Trumpeter designers just copied and pasted the starboard side details over to the port side resulting in all the errors... There are clear differences to the two sides that were intentionally made. I’m not drilling all those holes with a pin vise… no way. Here is a critical tool that I’ve had in my toolkit for a few years – a small Tamiya battery powered drill designed with plastic in mind: In addition to the kit portholes, I needed to add a few that were missing or needed to be relocated. These locations were marked with a green Sharpie pen and some Tamiya tape laid down to help with alignment. Drilling out the portholes alone on this hull will take some time (I intend to light the hull, as well as embellish the included LED kit for the superstructure). So on to the KA resin version. This rudder was much improved in terms of shape and detail, but mine was a bit warped and needed a bath in warm water to get it (mostly) straightened.RMS Titanic Model Research and Tech hosted by Zeno Silva and friends. You’ll find Bob Read, Cyril, and Vasilije all contributing here. The Guild is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to “Advance Ship Modeling Through Research”. We provide support to our members in their efforts to raise the quality of their model ships.

Titanic was a beautiful ship. Her lines were clean and graceful, and she sat on the sea with genuine stature. I think Trumpeter has done a very reasonable job in reflecting all of that in their one-piece hull. Obviously most (all?) casual observers seeing my completed model are not gonna know whether the portholes are all correctly located, or any extraneous doors are included, but it gives me satisfaction knowing that a little more effort put things right.At this point I’m in a holding pattern… The result isn’t terrible, and the error won’t be apparent to any but the most ardent Titanic fans. I may try to get away with it unless it gnaws at me enough to eventually force my hand. The rudder outline was snipped using scissors to get a rough outline that was refined with a hobby knife and smoothed using a coarse flex file. Assembling the promenade sides not the way trumpeter suggest so as to ensure figures and lighting can be added successfully Despite the fact they will be largely invisible once the ship is complete, I am determined to try and represent at least some of the interior areas. My first attempt has been on the port side Private Promenade. Rather than just print out a drawing or photo of the area, I decided to try and replicate, as best as my skills would allow, using Evergreen plastics. Regarding more traditional resources I do have a small library of books with lots of photos and tech specs:

Lastly, I noticed that the size of the portholes along the upper stern were a bit undersized based on the reference photo of the Olympic under construction: Using small diameter lengths of rod, I created as closely as the scale would permit, the wooden divisions, doors and window frames. Most of the shaping was done with a detail chisel (I have a set from Micro-Mark that comes in handy). I would peel away small layers of the plastic up to the notched edge of the curve.If you choose to use Trumpeters recommended Cocoa Brown, don't because it is too brown. I added a 50% bright red mix and got it right the second time unlike the below first attempt.