Force9

@Roger Pellett
 
Extremely interesting... I was under the impression that Titanic had the sawtooth edges incorporated into the lower frames themselves to allow for the clinker system - in the manner you'd see done with constructing a rowboat etc. Instead, your source shows these tapered wedge-like strips added into the mix as the plates are riveted...?  Would these tapered strips be affixed to the underside of the strakes before riveting?  Or would they first be affixed to the frames? 
 
My next post will clarify my interest...
 
Cheers
Evan

Beautifully meticulous plate work!

There were several systems used to plate iron and steel ships before electric arc welding largely eliminated riveting during WW II.  The most common was the  “in and out” system, not clinker.  For riveting to work, the hull plates had to be solidly backed up.  For longitudinal seams plates could be fayed against their neighbor but the overlapping geometry of transverse seams required a baking strip between the plate and frame.  Without this, the rivets would not draw up tight.  Clinker planking required tapered backing strips, difficult to shape and expensive.  The in and out system allowed the use of cheaper non-tapered backing strips.  The picture below, taken from a 1916 shipbuilding text shows the different plating systems.
 
Roger
 

 

Ships with Frames joggled to fit in and out plating were not unheard of.  I believe that they were mostly seen on smaller vessels, particularly those where weight was a concern.  I doubt if Titanic was weight sensitive.  Passengers are actually a light cargo.  Capacity to haul these is limited by internal volume.  The same is true for the freight that she carried.  A prestige vessel would command high freight rates, not applicable to heavy bulk cargos.
 
I do not know how the backing strips were fitted during construction.
 
Roger
 
 

The Strakes Layout
 
Before proceeding with any of the hull plates I had to lay out some penciled guidelines based largely on the shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom… 
 
As indicated in the previous log, I used the .010 x .250 strips to mark up the mid-section.  The bow and stern areas were laid out next based on an approximation of what the hull expansion plan showed.  Finally, the mid-section layout was connected to the bow and stern layouts with curves that narrowed to meet in the transition sections - while also mirroring the curved edge of the model.  This generally followed the principles in play on the actual ship.  The other standard that I’ll try to adhere to is having no more than two strakes dead end into any other.  You’ll see some areas that look to violate this on my initial pass, but I’ll try to mitigate that when I finalize everything prior to priming.
 
A ”bendable buddy” (my term) flexible drafting ruler came in handy to plot the transition section curves.

In the interest of full disclosure… I did mess up a bit on the entry holes for my future pedestals.  I needed to drill these out before laying down any styrene.  I initially used my drill press to do this.  I drilled using successively larger bits to get the large opening, but the last (and largest) drill bit drifted and left me with an off-center mounting hole.  Rats.  I didn’t realize it until I started laying out the keel plates.  I filled the existing holes and hand drilled the newer versions.  Lesson learned.

The Stern Hull Plates
 
Like the bow, there seemed to be an opportunity to incorporate some of the plating seen on the expansion plan into the stern area of the model.

Building out from the stern most plate already molded on the model, I penciled in some outlines to approximate what can be seen on the hull expansion drawing:

Not exact, but it’ll do for my purpose.
 
A couple days’ worth of modeling time using the same trace, cut, cement process as before left me with a reasonable result.

 

The individual plates will get defined at a later stage.
 
I’m currently working through the mid-section.  More fun on the way.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Aye @yvesvidal...
 
We get spoiled with all of the molded detail.  Those of us who focus on plastic models are cringing at the extra work needed to bring these ship hulls up to the next level... Meanwhile wooden ship modelers think nothing of layering on multiple strips of custom trimmed planking and hundreds of individual copper plates as a matter of normal course...
 
I'm happy to put in some extra effort.  All part of the fun.
 
Cheers
Evan

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...
 
The Keel Plates
 
For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)
 
I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.
 
Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating
 
Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.
 
Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 
In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  
 
This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.
 
I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 
 
 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  
 
No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.
 
Some sample views:


What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.
 
At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bottom Hull Plating
 
The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  
 
Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…
 
As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.
 
I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  
 
I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.
 
Hmmm… Pondering…
 
I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  
 
On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  
 
The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 
 
The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.
 
Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:
 
I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.
 
In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.
 
Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…
 
I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:
 
(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.
 
(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?
 
(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 
 
(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.
 
As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.
 

 
The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.
 
The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.
 
The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.
 
The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.
 
I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Strakes Layout
 
Before proceeding with any of the hull plates I had to lay out some penciled guidelines based largely on the shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom… 
 
As indicated in the previous log, I used the .010 x .250 strips to mark up the mid-section.  The bow and stern areas were laid out next based on an approximation of what the hull expansion plan showed.  Finally, the mid-section layout was connected to the bow and stern layouts with curves that narrowed to meet in the transition sections - while also mirroring the curved edge of the model.  This generally followed the principles in play on the actual ship.  The other standard that I’ll try to adhere to is having no more than two strakes dead end into any other.  You’ll see some areas that look to violate this on my initial pass, but I’ll try to mitigate that when I finalize everything prior to priming.
 
A ”bendable buddy” (my term) flexible drafting ruler came in handy to plot the transition section curves.

In the interest of full disclosure… I did mess up a bit on the entry holes for my future pedestals.  I needed to drill these out before laying down any styrene.  I initially used my drill press to do this.  I drilled using successively larger bits to get the large opening, but the last (and largest) drill bit drifted and left me with an off-center mounting hole.  Rats.  I didn’t realize it until I started laying out the keel plates.  I filled the existing holes and hand drilled the newer versions.  Lesson learned.

The Stern Hull Plates
 
Like the bow, there seemed to be an opportunity to incorporate some of the plating seen on the expansion plan into the stern area of the model.

Building out from the stern most plate already molded on the model, I penciled in some outlines to approximate what can be seen on the hull expansion drawing:

Not exact, but it’ll do for my purpose.
 
A couple days’ worth of modeling time using the same trace, cut, cement process as before left me with a reasonable result.

 

The individual plates will get defined at a later stage.
 
I’m currently working through the mid-section.  More fun on the way.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Strakes Layout
 
Before proceeding with any of the hull plates I had to lay out some penciled guidelines based largely on the shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom… 
 
As indicated in the previous log, I used the .010 x .250 strips to mark up the mid-section.  The bow and stern areas were laid out next based on an approximation of what the hull expansion plan showed.  Finally, the mid-section layout was connected to the bow and stern layouts with curves that narrowed to meet in the transition sections - while also mirroring the curved edge of the model.  This generally followed the principles in play on the actual ship.  The other standard that I’ll try to adhere to is having no more than two strakes dead end into any other.  You’ll see some areas that look to violate this on my initial pass, but I’ll try to mitigate that when I finalize everything prior to priming.
 
A ”bendable buddy” (my term) flexible drafting ruler came in handy to plot the transition section curves.

In the interest of full disclosure… I did mess up a bit on the entry holes for my future pedestals.  I needed to drill these out before laying down any styrene.  I initially used my drill press to do this.  I drilled using successively larger bits to get the large opening, but the last (and largest) drill bit drifted and left me with an off-center mounting hole.  Rats.  I didn’t realize it until I started laying out the keel plates.  I filled the existing holes and hand drilled the newer versions.  Lesson learned.

The Stern Hull Plates
 
Like the bow, there seemed to be an opportunity to incorporate some of the plating seen on the expansion plan into the stern area of the model.

Building out from the stern most plate already molded on the model, I penciled in some outlines to approximate what can be seen on the hull expansion drawing:

Not exact, but it’ll do for my purpose.
 
A couple days’ worth of modeling time using the same trace, cut, cement process as before left me with a reasonable result.

 

The individual plates will get defined at a later stage.
 
I’m currently working through the mid-section.  More fun on the way.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Aye @yvesvidal...
 
We get spoiled with all of the molded detail.  Those of us who focus on plastic models are cringing at the extra work needed to bring these ship hulls up to the next level... Meanwhile wooden ship modelers think nothing of layering on multiple strips of custom trimmed planking and hundreds of individual copper plates as a matter of normal course...
 
I'm happy to put in some extra effort.  All part of the fun.
 
Cheers
Evan

The Strakes Layout
 
Before proceeding with any of the hull plates I had to lay out some penciled guidelines based largely on the shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom… 
 
As indicated in the previous log, I used the .010 x .250 strips to mark up the mid-section.  The bow and stern areas were laid out next based on an approximation of what the hull expansion plan showed.  Finally, the mid-section layout was connected to the bow and stern layouts with curves that narrowed to meet in the transition sections - while also mirroring the curved edge of the model.  This generally followed the principles in play on the actual ship.  The other standard that I’ll try to adhere to is having no more than two strakes dead end into any other.  You’ll see some areas that look to violate this on my initial pass, but I’ll try to mitigate that when I finalize everything prior to priming.
 
A ”bendable buddy” (my term) flexible drafting ruler came in handy to plot the transition section curves.

In the interest of full disclosure… I did mess up a bit on the entry holes for my future pedestals.  I needed to drill these out before laying down any styrene.  I initially used my drill press to do this.  I drilled using successively larger bits to get the large opening, but the last (and largest) drill bit drifted and left me with an off-center mounting hole.  Rats.  I didn’t realize it until I started laying out the keel plates.  I filled the existing holes and hand drilled the newer versions.  Lesson learned.

The Stern Hull Plates
 
Like the bow, there seemed to be an opportunity to incorporate some of the plating seen on the expansion plan into the stern area of the model.

Building out from the stern most plate already molded on the model, I penciled in some outlines to approximate what can be seen on the hull expansion drawing:

Not exact, but it’ll do for my purpose.
 
A couple days’ worth of modeling time using the same trace, cut, cement process as before left me with a reasonable result.

 

The individual plates will get defined at a later stage.
 
I’m currently working through the mid-section.  More fun on the way.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Aye @yvesvidal...
 
We get spoiled with all of the molded detail.  Those of us who focus on plastic models are cringing at the extra work needed to bring these ship hulls up to the next level... Meanwhile wooden ship modelers think nothing of layering on multiple strips of custom trimmed planking and hundreds of individual copper plates as a matter of normal course...
 
I'm happy to put in some extra effort.  All part of the fun.
 
Cheers
Evan

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...
 
The Keel Plates
 
For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)
 
I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.
 
Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating
 
Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.
 
Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 
In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  
 
This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.
 
I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 
 
 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  
 
No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.
 
Some sample views:


What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.
 
At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...
 
The Keel Plates
 
For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)
 
I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.
 
Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating
 
Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.
 
Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 
In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  
 
This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.
 
I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 
 
 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  
 
No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.
 
Some sample views:


What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.
 
At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...
 
The Keel Plates
 
For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)
 
I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.
 
Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating
 
Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.
 
Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 
In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  
 
This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.
 
I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 
 
 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  
 
No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.
 
Some sample views:


What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.
 
At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...
 
The Keel Plates
 
For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)
 
I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.
 
Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating
 
Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.
 
Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 
In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  
 
This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.
 
I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 
 
 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  
 
No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.
 
Some sample views:


What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.
 
At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...
 
The Keel Plates
 
For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)
 
I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.
 
Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating
 
Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.
 
Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 
In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  
 
This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.
 
I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 
 
 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  
 
No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.
 
Some sample views:


What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.
 
At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.
 
Cheers,
Evan

All done! 8 months! Phew!  This was the most first 1:196 wood kit and was the most PE I've dealt with.  Just to remind everyone... this is a model of a Sumner Class DD FRAM II on which I spent the first 5-1/2 year of my naval career.

The Bottom Hull Plating
 
The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  
 
Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…
 
As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.
 
I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  
 
I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.
 
Hmmm… Pondering…
 
I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  
 
On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  
 
The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 
 
The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.
 
Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:
 
I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.
 
In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.
 
Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…
 
I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:
 
(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.
 
(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?
 
(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 
 
(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.
 
As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.
 

 
The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.
 
The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.
 
The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.
 
The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.
 
I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bottom Hull Plating
 
The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  
 
Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…
 
As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.
 
I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  
 
I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.
 
Hmmm… Pondering…
 
I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  
 
On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  
 
The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 
 
The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.
 
Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:
 
I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.
 
In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.
 
Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…
 
I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:
 
(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.
 
(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?
 
(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 
 
(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.
 
As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.
 

 
The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.
 
The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.
 
The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.
 
The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.
 
I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bottom Hull Plating
 
The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  
 
Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…
 
As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.
 
I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  
 
I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.
 
Hmmm… Pondering…
 
I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  
 
On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  
 
The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 
 
The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.
 
Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:
 
I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.
 
In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.
 
Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…
 
I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:
 
(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.
 
(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?
 
(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 
 
(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.
 
As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.
 

 
The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.
 
The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.
 
The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.
 
The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.
 
I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bottom Hull Plating
 
The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  
 
Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…
 
As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.
 
I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  
 
I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.
 
Hmmm… Pondering…
 
I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  
 
On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  
 
The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 
 
The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.
 
Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:
 
I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.
 
In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.
 
Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…
 
I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:
 
(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.
 
(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?
 
(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 
 
(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.
 
As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.
 

 
The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.
 
The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.
 
The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.
 
The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.
 
I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.
 
Cheers,
Evan

The Bottom Hull Plating
 
The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  
 
Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…
 
As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.
 
I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  
 
I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.
 
Hmmm… Pondering…
 
I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  
 
On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  
 
The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 
 
The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.
 
Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:
 
I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.
 
In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.
 
Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…
 
I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:
 
(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.
 
(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?
 
(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 
 
(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.
 
As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.
 

 
The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.
 
The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.
 
The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.
 
The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.
 
I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.
 
Cheers,
Evan

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow American modelers... Happy Ungrateful Treasonous Traitors Day to all my Brit friends...
 
Hull Openings
 
In addition to the portholes, I will need to cut a few more openings into the hull.  
 
First is the Condenser Discharge opening...This goes into the gap in the line of small holes near the waterline above the intakes.
 
The kit provides small grills to represent the lower intake openings.  I also cut an opening for these… I don’t like the look of pasting these directly on the hull.  I want them recessed
 
I used one of the photo-etch pieces for a template and cut out the small openings.  I then lined these with .010 x .080 Evergreen to create a narrow ridge to seat the PE.  I’ll come back after painting the hull and put a black interior box behind these to give some sense of depth.
 

You'll also notice some openings for doors... I'll be showing glimpses into the interior at various points in the build.  For the hull I'll open views into the 1st class entrance lobbies (P/S) and the 2nd and 3rd class entrance lobbies.  I've also opened up the D deck baggage door that leads into the 3rd class covered promenade.  I'll have views into that area through the baggage door and the open forward Well deck hatches above.
 
After cutting the opening, I rounded the inner corners slightly before final filing to square everything up:

 
Bow Detail
 
I've also cleaned up the bow hawse a bit more and added the narrow strips that helped to keep the anchors from catching on the lip of the plating as they were raised back up to the anchor hawse...

I peeled away a bit of the plate overlap detail to make sure everything laid down smooth...
 

This mostly catches everyone up to where I am at the build.
 
Bottom plating up next.
 
Cheers,
Evan