RMS Titanic by Tom E - Trumpeter - 1:200 - PLASTIC

[Tom E]

 

Morning,

Hope everyone is well. 

Good old-fashioned snowstorm today. A wicked Nor'Eastah!!!!

Self-imposed snow day for this guy, I'm sitting this one out. 

My power was out earlier but has since come back on. 

Calling for 8-12 inches in my area, and 2-3 feet just south of me in Vermont in the Green Mountains. 

 

Coffee in hand and before I head to the shipyard, thought an update is in order.

 

The hull is fully primed, and I let it sit for at least a week before moving onto the white parts of the hull. 

My painting order will be the white first, black, then hull red.

In the pics, you may pick up on some "ponding" of paint. 

The Tamiya rattle cans really level out quite well when dry. 

I apply very small fine layers of paint over the course of two to three days.

Once I figured out to paint one side at a time and not the whole area at once. 

The ponding of paint disappeared.

The white areas where then taped off.

 In my mind, it seems it would be easier to cover white paint with black paint instead of vice versa.  

Nothing fancy as towards the tape job.

I probably over did it. 

It's not perfect, but neither am I. 

Inside and out where taped off. 

I will touch up the white areas inside the hull with an airbrush before I start installing decks. 

Decks are being done off model right now. 

Spring is coming.....correct?

 

Tom E 

 

[Kelp]

Hi Tom,

 

What is your opinion regarding the KA upgrade set?  I see it costs about the same as the model and was wondering if it is worth getting.  Are the photo etch sheets an improvement over the kit photo-etch sheets?  I see having the wood deck and brass masts are a definite improvement.  How about the resin parts, do you need to look closely to see the improvements over the kit plastic parts, or are the improvements obvious?

 

Thanks,

Don

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Ahoy!  'Came across this item of interest on how the Titanic (and other contemporary vessels) were fueled (coaled).  In spite of significant technological developments, this old-school, grimy and laborious job of hand loading thousands of tons of coal still had to be done.  Once fed down the exterior chutes, the coal had to be distributed, then hand stoked 24 hours a day into the massive furnaces ... and the constantly produced ash had to be disposed of.

 

  'Must have been a hot and grueling job down below, and their grog at shifts end was well earned.

 

 

[Kevin]

1 hour ago, Kelp said:

Hi Tom,

 

What is your opinion regarding the KA upgrade set?  I see it costs about the same as the model and was wondering if it is worth getting.  Are the photo etch sheets an improvement over the kit photo-etch sheets?  I see having the wood deck and brass masts are a definite improvement.  How about the resin parts, do you need to look closely to see the improvements over the kit plastic parts, or are the improvements obvious?

 

Thanks,

Don

i loved the KA mk1 set, lots of it, but yet again, the instructions are pants as to where it all goes  but i need more of it to convert mine to Britannic yes the resin bits are much more detailed than the overscale plastic

Edited April 13, 2023 by Kevin

[Tom E]

Evening, 

An update is in order. Overdue in my eyes!

 

Don, 

To answer your question, yes, I'm very pleased that I bought the upgrade set.

I'm using both the kit supplied PE and the MK1 together and it really improves the overall kit. 

You know what you're going to get from Trumpeter, the MK1 just gives it that extra something. 

The resin pieces can be tricky. I did not use the MK1 supplied rudder but have started using other resin parts. 

 

With the white areas taped off, the black paint was next.

I purposely did not tape off what will be the hull red area. I want a coat of black underneath it. 

I did lay small lengths of tape well below where the red paint will start.

Acts like a guide for the black pain. 

Thin light coatings. 

No heavy spray with time to set before the next layer. 

Using Tamiya rattle can flat black.

Photos outside give it a shine. 

Ignore the central propellor.

It has been removed for its separate bronze/copper paint.  

One side was done at a time. Four light coats per side.

In total, it took me a week. Plenty of time drying. 

The Tamiya spray paints really level out quite well. Make big projects like this just a bit easier. 

Be good, 

 

Tom E 

 

 

[Tom E]

Afternoon, 

Continuing on with the paint shop.

 

Started the Hull red area. Using Tamiya rattle cans (Dull Red TS-33).  

This is where the tape job became a bit more precise. 

Just following the kit supplied paint guide. I'll apologize now to the Titanic purists if my paint job isn't spot on.

Purely just a rookie trying to produce something worth looking at. 

Honestly, this is my first tape job on a subject this big.

Constantly have to account for the curve of the hull while maintaining a straight result. 

Thank goodness for reading glasses.  

With a layer of black paint underneath I feel like it improves the red on top. 

Dulls it down, but not?  My goblins...

Still impressed with the Tamiya rattle cans. They even out so well. 

As with the black paint. The red areas were light multiple layers with plenty of cure time between layers. 

One side at a time. Trying to do both sides produced ponding/pooling. So, I slowed the process down. 

Took about 4 layers per side, give or take, for results that pleased my amateur eyes. 

Currently resides in the guest bedroom. 

It laid wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy for at least a week.

Final results forth coming.  

Model on, 

 

Tom E 

 

[Tom E]

Evening, 

Dinner is in the oven. Whole chickens on sale at the market.

A deli style dry rub for the chicken, garlic roasted potatoes as a side. 

Titanic needs an update. 

 

How'd I do?

 

 

Some of the flat PE pieces on the hull lost some paint from the tape job.

Easily touched up. 

I was worried about the white areas and bleed thru.

Not too bad. 

 

Kinda wonky where the red meets the black.

The inner white areas of the hull that meet the deck pieces will get a touch up with the airbrush.

There's PE that goes on those inside areas if memory serves me. 

She's starting to take shape. 

Be good, 

 

Tom E 

 

[JeffT]

Looks great to me. Thats a lot of surface area to paint.

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful job. A very sleek hull.

 

Yves

[Tom E]

Evening, 

Titanic sorely needs an update. Life sure does happen sometimes!!!

 

The hull is pretty much done. Just need to touch up the paint that came off some PE pieces. Masking tape was the culprit.

Really just following the build order from the kit instructions.

The decks will need some scraping to work the wooden decks into place. 

Checking the alignment of everything so far. 

All looks good, I think. But that's thru my amateur eyes, I'm sure others would see more. 

The fit at the bow looks good. 

All decks have PE. The trouble is finding it in the instructions supplied. 

I figured out that there is no order in the PE instructions.

You find the area you're working on. I then tick off each piece number that's been done on the instructions with a pencil.

Plus, its most likely that there are several views of the area your working on, but there spread out over the entirety of the instructions. 

No rhyme no reason. Once you get it figured out, things work a bit better. 

The white patches are just primer. 

I laid those down in areas where I think there might be some peak thru from the plastic underneath.

Rather keep it a white color than plastic grey.

My goblins 

Be good, 

 

Tom E 

 

[Tom E]

Morning, 

Titanic sorely needs an update!    Sorry 

Admittedly, and as explained before, this is kind of my "secondary" build right now. 

I am so tantalizingly close to finishing my Niagara build. 

Whenever I try to work on something else, I feel guilty about "ignoring" Niagara. 

Modeling goblins 

 

Anywho, some work has been done. 

 

With the hull pretty much done. Decks need some attention. 

First, carve up the decks to fit the wooden deck upgrades. 

Tentatively went about removing items per the MK1 instructions. 

Kind of my first large subject where I'm removing material to fit upgrades. 

In the end, I think I did ok. 

No serious injuries to model or fingers. 

The deck fits really well. 

Before I can attach the wooden deck there are PE pieces all over to attach.

Once these pieces are in, the entire deck structure will be painted white.

The deck will cover most and any "peek thru" will be white. 

First time working with wooden decks. 

It really does enhance things. Well worth the investment, so far. 

Once the base structure of the deck is in place, deck furniture would be next.  

Slow and steady tortoise

 

Tom E