RMS Titanic 1912 by Paul Jarman - FINISHED - Amati - 1/250

[Paul Jarman]

Hull painted and propellers added. The bottom colour is based on the colour used by Peter Davies -Garner  from the modelmakers manual. 

it is RAL 3016 and is Coral Red. I could add a slightly darker red, but this looks quite good. I have started to glaze the smaller port holes with Kristal Klear. Although you can't see it once it is dry. I might add some blue to it and see if it will show up more. But not sure if I want blue port holes. 

just a few areas to touch up and then the upper details to add. 

the yellow strip around the hull is the most frustrating part of this model. Most of it is painted free hand. 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

Hull painted and propellers added. The bottom colour is based on the colour used by Peter Davies -Garner  from the modelmakers manual. 

it is RAL 3016 and is Coral Red. I could add a slightly darker red, but this looks quite good. I have started to glaze the smaller port holes with Kristal Klear. Although you can't see it once it is dry. I might add some blue to it and see if it will show up more. But not sure if I want blue port holes. 

just a few areas to touch up and then the puppet details to add. 

the yellow strip around the hull is the most frustrating part of this model. Most of it is painted free hand. 

 

[Paul Jarman]

Decided on a fairly major change to the hull. Have decided to remove all the port hole  flanges so they look as they should. The two pictures show how much it will change the appearance of the hull. Should look more like the real thing. 

 

[Paul Jarman]

All the flanges removed from one side. Must admit I was a bit apprehensive on how it would look without them. But it looks a lot better. More in keeping with the way the hull should look. 

The line of port holes at the top are filled in with a mix of kristal klear and a blue/grey mix to represent the glass. Once dry it shouldn't look so pronounced. If it doesn't work I can push it out and paint over it. 

As always the photos don't really do it justice. It looks far better looking at it Normally. The hull above the waterline now looks a lot smoother.

Just have do the same on the other side now. Should never have used the flanges in the first place. But we learn from our mistakes in this hobby. And at least it is easy to correct any little mishaps.

I don't plan to use the pedestals that come with the kit to mount it. I will build a slipway for it, which should work better as a display base. 

 

[Paul Jarman]

As I dug out the flanges it caused around 30 of them to remove a bit of the wood from the port hole where they where glued. This has meant I've had to drill them out a bit larger diameter then they should be. 1.5mm instead of 1.2mm. 

It left me with the choice of having them slightly out of scale or striping the paint off above the waterline and filling them in and redrilling them to the correct scale. Which would have been a big ask.

I tried mixing colour with the Kristal Klear but it didn't work out. So I have filled the port holes with straight Kristal Klear. And that has turned out very good and gives the effect of the port holes having glass in them. They look white in the photos, but they are actually clear and look quite good. 

That means l can put up with them being slightly out of scale.

 

[Paul Jarman]

I do like making work for myself with this kit. The more I kept looking at the hull the more I didn't like the port holes being out of scale. Trying to represent glass in the port holes is difficult at this scale. The glass was not level with the hull as I had it. It was receded into the port hole. I might be able to do something with the larger port holes but will leave the small diameter ones open. 

So I made the decision to strip the paint off and fill the holes in. Now that I have returned them to the 1.2mm below and 1.5mm  above scale they look better and as they should be. Just a bit of tidying up and the hull will be completed and I will stop making alterations to it. 

[Paul Jarman]

About to start building the A deck cabin walls. Would have been nice if the instructions had been a bit clearer.

Easy option is to add the coloured card. But I will be using the photo etch from Mini Brass instead. Will take a bit longer to paint in the details of the windows, but will look a lot better.

Rather then cutting out all the walls for the deck I will build this in stages so I don't get in a muddle with so many pieces to add.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

Starting to make a slipway to display the model. I brought a floating shelf which was cheaper than buying a pine board. Bit thick but I can use it either as a shelf or ideally for a display case. I have removed the cutwater strip from the bottom of the hull so the hull will rest flat on the strips rather then cutting a groove into them and hoping it would run level with the bottom of the hull. 

This is more complicated than building the actual model. I figured I would just need to cut out the strips and glue them to the board. Not that simple. Each one has to be the correct size for the hull shape. And each one needs to be central on the board. 

 

[Paul Jarman]

Slipway done. Could make the cross pieces lighter in colour. But I'm happy with it as it is at present. Displays the model a lot better than on pedestals in my opinion.

Also working on painting and detailing the photo etch parts that will replace the coloured card.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

First coat of paint on photo etch windows. This will improve the look of the model so much better then using the coloured card That comes with the kit.

 

[Paul Jarman]

Replacement photo etch windows completed. 

So much better the the coloured card. Glue the deck in place then onto the funnels.

 

 

[Paul Jarman]

Funnels ready for planking.

 

[Paul Jarman]

Funnels painted and ready for detailing. The representation of White  Star Buff is RAL 1001 which is beige. Which is Peter  Davies- Garner's suggested colour in the model makers manual. I have used a Humbrol  sand undercoat which gives them a slight yellow colour without being too bright a yellow. They look far better when seen with the naked eye. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

The only known colour photo of Olympic. Gives a decent idea of what White Star Buff looked like. 

[Paul Jarman]

Bulwarks held loosely in place and ready to be fitted. The instructions call for the wooden strip that the photo etch parts are glued onto to be painted black or dark blue to show the depth of the port holes. I have found they look better being drilled out. 

Just have to add the  78 columns once they are fitted in place.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

Bulwarks glued in place. I didn't think 80 stages ahead. I usually think at least 10-20 stages ahead knowing there may be problems.Once they where in place there was a gap along the first one above the yellow line. Not much of a gap,but big enough to bug me as I knew it was there. 

A cocktail stick and some very careful filling and it looks OK. 

Just need to do a bit of tidying up and repainting and it should look good. 

Edited September 27, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[dafggg]

Hi there !

Im building the same model as you but without minibrass parts unfortunately it was to late before I have realized that they exist.

Have you finished your model ?

[Paul Jarman]

Hi,

No still working on the hull. Have started adding all the columns along the bullwarks. Probably another year or so before I finish.

Shame you couldn't get the mini brass photo etch, it does improve the model a lot.

What stage are you up to? Could you post some pictures, or even better start a build log. How did you get on with the alterations to the bulk heads?

Paul

 

[Paul Jarman]

Started adding the columns. To say this is a pain in the you know what is an understatement. 14 done around another 70 to do. Luckily one of the planks used later on in the build is the perfect size to get the measurements right. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Paul Jarman

[Charles A E]

On 3/15/2022 at 12:40 PM, Paul Jarman said:

Minibrass

Hello have just found you, I am doing my research on titanic 1/250 (Amati) as I am interested in building this model. The thing about mini brass was very interesting. 

Regards Charles 

[Paul Jarman]

Gymnasium to wheelhouse roof completed and in place. The walls are lined with the Mini Brass photo etch. 

The Grand staircase dome and skylight. The dome is also from Mini Brass. Hard to get a decent photo showing it in place. It looks much better seen with the naked eye. And is a vast improvement on placing a piece of coloured card in the bottom to represent the dome. I did try to glaze it with krystel Clear. But at this scale it doesn't look to good.

Concentrating on the deck structures first before adding any details.I

Next is adding the photo etch to the first class lounge roof.

 

[Paul Jarman]

Starting the first class lounge roof. The photos show the original photo etch that comes with the kit which has very tiny Windows And frames . Which makes it hard to paint the frames. And trying to get a very small amount of paint into the recess to represent the glass would be difficult.

And the Mini Brass replacement. The Mini Brass photo etch is far better than the one supplied with the kit. And has open frames so The background can be painted to represent the glass.The only downside is that Mini Brass don't supply railings. 

The kit supplied photo etch has the railings attached to the walls. I did think about placing the Mini Brass etch over the original ,but it would have meant the wall protruding to much.

But by carefully scouring along the bottom of the frame and then using the photo etch bender and bending the bottom part up and down very carefully I should be able to remove the railings. 

Just makes a lot more work. 

 

Edited January 10 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

All of the main boat deck structures glued in place. I have measured each one and the gaps between based on the full size plans. 

I have then ended up with the change deck house structure at the stern  being 2 cm short. Leaving a smaller area then there should be behind it. Luckily there is only the handrails and two benches that occupy that space. 

I considered stripping all the structures down and restarting, but soon realised that I would still have the same problem. 

After measuring everything it turns out that the fault is with the deck. It is 4 cm smaller in length then the plans suggest creating the 2 cm discrepancy. 

I have decided that rather then strip everything down, I will except it the way it is as it doesn't look to bad.

The pictures show the state of the model at the moment. All the structures have had the Mini Brass PE added. It makes everything look so much better and gives nice smooth walls rather then painting bare wood and adding the kit PE. 

I will now start adding all the various fittings to the decks starting from the bow. 

The handrails,funnels and ships boats will be added last. 

Edited February 2 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

How many times as a modeller, especially building wooden ship models do you get to a stage in the build when you are only a few centimetres out that you have to start again?

I spent the Weekend deciding wether or not I was happy with the end of the deck being a couple of centimetres out. I was not.

Luckily I had glued all the structures onto the deck using a light coating of wood glue. Usually I use CA glue so there is no chance of movement when working around them. This meant they where easy to lift off. 

It also gave me the opportunity to do some tidying up of the edges. There are a few areas on the deck looking a bit iffy, but they will be covered once everything is put back in place. Had I used CA glue I would almost certainly have torn some of the planking off and would have had to strip it down and replank. 

And where I had measured the length of the deck, I had not taken into account the  slight curve at the bow section. Now that I have measured it with nothing in the way, it is the correct length.

Now I just have to go through all the plans and instructions for building all those structures and work out how I ended up with the stern section being out by the amount it was.

Edited February 5 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

All the housings reworked and dry fitted. Which is what I should have done in the first place. And the gap at the stern end as it should be. 

The fault was the PE I added from Mini Brass. It works just fine on the side walls. But I had added 6 pieces to various end walls. The PE is approximately 1mm thick. Doesn't seen much but once removed and the walls sanded down the measurements all fall into place. 

So will use the kit PE for these sections. It's just a couple of Windows and doors.

[Paul Jarman]

Everything glued back in place. It turned out to be a good mistake to make. After checking and double checking the instructions to make sure I had put each part together properly, I found out I had missed the instruction for 4 ladders. Could probably have fitted them once everything was glued in place but it would have been a very tight for to get them right.

I have also painted the decks and structures with a Satin finish rather then clear gloss varnish. Might be me,but it seems to have very slightly darkened the decks.

 

Edited February 12 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

All of the fittings roughly in place on the bow deck. And ready for painting up. A ramekin and rolled out blue tack works well to hold all those tiny parts. And  the photo etch and railings to be painted before fixing in place.

[Paul Jarman]

Starting to add the fittings. 

[Paul Jarman]

Bow deck completed. Handrails installed. The one part of photo etch detail I don't like.. They are so fragile. The piece that is supposed to fill in the very front of the bow has gotten out of shape and is pretty much useless. I will just have to hope there are some leftovers I can use once all the others are added. 

I also don't like the thread that is supplied with the kit. At 0.5mm it may work with the stays on the funnels and bottom half of the masts. But the diameters where different in other areas. So the part with the extremely small hook has been reduced to 0.3mm. I have also added a representation of the drag wires to the anchor crane.And drilled a hole through the top part of the crane to run the thread with The hook on through. This is better than gluing The thread over the top of the crane. The anchors have been added as well. 

Edited March 1 by Paul Jarman

[Paul Jarman]

Forward well deck completed. I decided to have the cranes in their storage position. I have added two of the cranes jib crutches. These where tripods. There where actually three but at this scale the centre one didn't look right. I have also replaced the cotton thread with jewellery makers wire. see bottom picture. Most of the rigging on Titanic was steel wire rope,including the cranes hoist cable. I think it looks more realistic then cotton thread.

The ladders are the replacement photo etch ones  from Mini Brass. They look so much better then the plastic ones.

My plan was to work along the boat deck and finish at the stern with the Poop deck and Aft well deck. But whilst working on the bow section it helped that there was nothing to knock off on the boat deck. This allowed me to use that deck as an arm rest when placing parts. So will do the same when working on the stern section. I will then work along the boat deck as part three of the build. 

How she looks at this stage. Looking a lot like Titanic now.

The photos don't do it justice. They make it look like the bow section is somehow warped. It doesn't look like that when seen normally.

Edited March 13 by Paul Jarman