Academy 1/400 RMS Titanic

S

Stevekir

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Image 1:
Side View.jpg
This is a 1:400 scale, 66cm (2ft 5 inch) plastic kit of the RMS titanic. The story is that when South-South East of Newfoundland she hit an iceberg during her maiden voyage in 1912 from Britain to New York. The ship was designed so that if up to two compartments were flooded the ship would remain afloat for a day or so awaiting rescue. However, the collision made several gouges in the hull spanning many more compartments and the Titanic took only 2 hours and 40 minutes to sink. The RMS Carpathia diverted and took about 4 hours to reach the site. It is also believed that a fire in one of its boiler rooms had weakened the hull. The total capacity of the lifeboats was well below the number on board, it being believed that this “unsinkable ship” would always remain afloat long enough to allow passengers to be ferried at leisure to a rescue ship. The captain gave the famous order “women and children first”. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board, only 710 survived. The sea was alive with 1,514 people, many soon to be described as bodies. A decision was soon made to require all ships to have enough lifeboat capacity for all on board.

This kit is highly detailed with many parts, some as small as a green pea. The hull is in one piece. There are 11 sprues plus the three decks and the stand. Assembly requires a lot of time, nimble fingers and patience. The rigging (and there is a lot of it) is finicky. The kit and its manual are of very good quality. With two exceptions all parts fitted together well and it was safe to follow the manual without fear that an item later should have been installed earlier. Every piece comes already painted or is in white plastic but I chose to airbrush the white plastic items because I don’t like the plasticky colour of naked polystyrene. I also chose to repaint the decks and funnels, the latter being a garishly bright orange. The makers of the original ship used “White Star Buff”. I chose to paint about 30 other tiny items. The hull does not need painting. There is no need for weathering – the poor old girl didn’t even complete her maiden voyage!

Construction starts with the three decks in order of upper and middle, with the lower later. Here are the upper and middle decks glued together (Image 2):
Top two decks.jpg
The bow (front) is to the left. The rigging for the funnels (24 strands!) were then installed. I used EZ line, black, 0.25 mm. This is very fine indeed and installing it is very fiddly. The size chosen looks to me to match the model. At a scale of 400, it equates to 4 inch diameter rope which seems think but what looks right on the mode is the decider. The kit comes with black thread which is much thicker, and instructions are given for pulling softened sprue. The gap in the middle of Image 2 is a sub-assembly (seen separated), as is the square item (which is installed) which is fenced in white and holds the rear funnel. The manual warns to glue the top and middle decks before installing the two sub-assemblies. This is because the sub-assemblies rest on the top of white shaped walls with windows in them which protrude above the upper deck. Once all in this image is complete the lower deck is glued in place. Gluing the decks needs some care because the top and middle decks are glued to other white walls on the deck below them and trial fittings are advised. The middle deck needed some attention (Image 3):
Scraping.jpg
This was to allow its lower surface to fit accurately to the white walls in the lower deck (the first exception mentioned above). The item in the middle is the underside of one of 4 staircases although these cannot be seen after assembly

The next image (4) shows the lower deck being glued. I used Humbrol Polycement (polystyrene dissolved in solvent) for the plastic parts, and fast Super Glue (Loctite Precision) for the rigging because it sets in about 5 seconds:
Clipped up.jpg
Next came the highly detailed fore and after decks not shown here but so far without the masts and their rigging. After trial fitting of all 5 decks on to the hull the instructions say to glue all of them to the hull but I delayed this until the end in case of unforeseen difficulty (none emerged in fact). The edge of the upper deck on the port (left) side next to the front funnel rested slightly above the top edge of the white wall which looked wrong. Therefore I raised the edge of the wall on both sides by adding a narrow strip of polystyrene (image 5):
Added Strip.jpg
This was then re-airbrushed in white to match the rest. To protect the rest of the model from spray I used a sheet of polystyrene as a mask (Image 6):
Painting.jpg
This took some time. This is the second exception.

That is as far as I have got so far and I am having a break of a couple of weeks. Hard work but enjoyable. Its already looking like a very impressive model.
 

Steve Jones

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Steve

A great choice for a build. It looks like it has gone together well. Look forward to seeing another update in a few weeks

Steve
 
S

Stevekir

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Having mounted 16 lifeboats and their winches and ropes, the main part is now finished except for the black tops for the funnels (image 1):
One.jpg

The front (forecastle) deck is now finished. The parts fixed to its deck were finished some weeks ago. Since then I have fitted the mast, rigging and the ladders (image 2):
Two.jpg
Fitting the rigging (as also on the funnels previously) was very fiddly, needing good eyesight, a magnifier (head mounted in my case) and nimble fingers. I used EZline 0.25 mm from Model Scenery Supplies for the rigging. It is stretchy which when stretched while fitting prevents future sagging. This stretching put a small amount of force on the top of the mast which is very thin, curving it a little. No ship on Earth has a curved mast so I adjusted the stretching tension on other wires when attaching them that pulled in the opposite direction.

To attach the rigging I used Super Glue (Loctite Precision) which sets within a couple of seconds provided a very small drop is used. I first threaded the end (or both ends) of a generous length of line through the tiny holes in the deck (the holes were already provided) and secured them underneath temporarily with yellow tape, having pulled the end (or one end) a little to provide enough stretching to make them straight. A tiny drop 1 mm in diameter of glue was put on to the mast using a toothpick. The mid point of the line was then wrapped round. The end (or both ends) were then pulled through the holes to provide a little more stretching and glued (image 3):
Three.jpg
The hull had its black part airbrushed black some time ago (I don’t like the surface sheen of plastic) and the three propellers have now been fitted.

This is a good model. There are many parts, some tiny, all of which fitted well, and the rigging takes time and patience. I always think a lot of detail improves a model

Next is the final step - the poop deck (rear deck). This also had all its deck parts attached a few weeks ago so the task now is like that for the forecastle deck (above): to fit the mast and a lot of rigging.

To be continued.
 

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S

Stevekir

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I have completed the rear deck:

Stern.jpg

This, like the fore deck, has a lot of rigging to do. (EZ-Line 0.25 mm). I have found that two great advantage of using this line, which is stretchy, is that there is no risk of it sagging if it is stretched a little before fitting; and with a model such as this Titanic, the model can be handled without fear of the multitude of lines collapsing (and in my case after the completed model was dropped on the floor and only two lines needed replacement (!).

Next were the aerial wires (at least I assume they were for wireless which term seems inappropriate here given the mass of aerial wires involved). It's important not to sneeze at this stage.

Wireless wires, layout.jpg
The distance on the paper between the gathered ends of the lines was about 1 cm longer than the distance as that between the masts. This was to cause them to be slightly stretched when installed, to prevent sagging. Surprisingly, the lines did not tangle at all.

For the record here in the build theme, here is the completed model:

DSC03545.jpg

The kit is good. All parts separated with only a very little trimming and fitted without trouble. The many small parts and the rigging lines needed good eyesight, a steady hand and patience. At 2ft 5 inches long it makes a striking feature on its own shelf in my book shelving and has been much admired. Being big is an asset with ship models. The kit comes with a rectangular plinth and "gold" supporting posts and an elaborate title plate. I didn't use those.

I will soon post some glamour pictures in Completed Ships, Boats and submarines.
 

Jim R

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Hi Steve
Looks great to me. I too think that coloured plastic looks just what it is - coloured plastic so good call to paint it. The rigging is nicely done.
Jim
 
T

TitanicSCOTLAND

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Hello, does this one not have the red DANGER signs on it and the red/green detail on one of the decks?
 

boatman

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Hello, does this one not have the red DANGER signs on it and the red/green detail on one of the decks?
HI Chris if i was you have a look at the date of this build as i dont think you will get an answer has i have been on this forum now for nr two yrs an ive never seen this chap on here
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Having mounted 16 lifeboats and their winches and ropes, the main part is now finished except for the black tops for the funnels (image 1):
View attachment 307819

The front (forecastle) deck is now finished. The parts fixed to its deck were finished some weeks ago. Since then I have fitted the mast, rigging and the ladders (image 2):
View attachment 307820
Fitting the rigging (as also on the funnels previously) was very fiddly, needing good eyesight, a magnifier (head mounted in my case) and nimble fingers. I used EZline 0.25 mm from Model Scenery Supplies for the rigging. It is stretchy which when stretched while fitting prevents future sagging. This stretching put a small amount of force on the top of the mast which is very thin, curving it a little. No ship on Earth has a curved mast so I adjusted the stretching tension on other wires when attaching them that pulled in the opposite direction.

To attach the rigging I used Super Glue (Loctite Precision) which sets within a couple of seconds provided a very small drop is used. I first threaded the end (or both ends) of a generous length of line through the tiny holes in the deck (the holes were already provided) and secured them underneath temporarily with yellow tape, having pulled the end (or one end) a little to provide enough stretching to make them straight. A tiny drop 1 mm in diameter of glue was put on to the mast using a toothpick. The mid point of the line was then wrapped round. The end (or both ends) were then pulled through the holes to provide a little more stretching and glued (image 3):
View attachment 307821
The hull had its black part airbrushed black some time ago (I don’t like the surface sheen of plastic) and the three propellers have now been fitted.

This is a good model. There are many parts, some tiny, all of which fitted well, and the rigging takes time and patience. I always think a lot of detail improves a model

Next is the final step - the poop deck (rear deck). This also had all its deck parts attached a few weeks ago so the task now is like that for the forecastle deck (above): to fit the mast and a lot of rigging.

To be continued.
I like the effect of your wood decking. May I ask how you go about this effect. I’ve seen some tutorials on using about three colour shades with plank masking but I’d be interested to hear your method?
Carl
 

boatman

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HI Chris if i was you have a look at the date of this build as i dont think you will get an answer has i have been on this forum now for nr two yrs an ive never seen this chap on here
chris
I like the effect of your wood decking. May I ask how you go about this effect. I’ve seen some tutorials on using about three colour shades with plank masking but I’d be interested to hear your method?
Carl
AN hi Carl again look at my top post an you will get a answer to your question ?
chris b
 

boatman

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Hi Chris, I must be going blind as I’ve read back through and can’t see any reference to the planking painting.
HI again Carl what im reffering to is the date of when this gent put on his post as you have asked him a question hav'nt you as an as i said i have not seen this gent on this site since ive been on here so i dont think you will get an answer
chris
 
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HI again Carl what im reffering to is the date of when this gent put on his post as you have asked him a question hav'nt you as an as i said i have not seen this gent on this site since ive been on here so i dont think you will get an answer
chris
Ah, with you, I’m a bit slow on the uptake.
 
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