TITANIC by Force9 – Trumpeter - 1/200 - PLASTIC - White Star Liner

[Force9]

I decided to start a build log for this project after tinkering around a bit with the kit across the past year or so.  I’ve hesitated because I know that there are many passionate folks out there who scrutinize every aspect of the great ship and can be very strong minded about the myriad details in play.  I will make plain my intention to do justice to Titanic but will likely fall short on complete historic exactitude… Especially considering that the ground is constantly moving as scholars and enthusiasts refine our understanding of the ship’s details.

 

I need to confess up front that I am not a Titanic guy.  The great tragedy and human folly of her demise has always pushed me away from the subject… Just too sad.  Additionally, I need to confess that I have never seen the entire James Cameron movie.  I went with my wife to see it in the theater back in the day, but we left halfway through – literally right after the ship struck the iceberg.  I leaned over to my wife and whispered “spoiler alert – this doesn’t end well, and I couldn’t care less if all the spoiled and selfish main characters go down with the ship.  Let’s get outta here and beat the crowd to the good restaurant nearby”. I’ve never seen the rest of the movie.

 

That is not to say, however, that this project won’t be a labor of Love.  I am building this for my daughter.  She has been fascinated by the Titanic tragedy from a very young age.  At age six she could tell you all about Captain Smith going down with the ship and nurse Jessop and her surviving multiple sinkings, etc. She made me get up in the wee hours on the exact date/time of the 100^th anniversary of her sinking to ring a bell in commemoration. We’ve even toured Margaret Brown’s home in Denver (nobody called her “Molly” in her lifetime).  She is more interested in the human stories than the ship itself but will very much appreciate this representation when it is finally completed.

 

It was always a head scratcher for me that Trumpeter started their new line of 1/200 scale ships with the USS Arizona back in 2012.  It seemed to me that Titanic would’ve made more sense.  It was the 100^th anniversary of her sinking and is clearly a very popular subject as we can see with the explosion of 3^rd party add-ons and doo dads that have proliferated in the marketplace to enhance the model. There is a significant cottage industry that has since formed just around this kit.  I suppose better late than never for the folks at Trumpeter.

 

The workshop out in the garage has been reorganized and made shipshape:

 

 

Hopefully you get some sense for the size of the model.  It is big.

 

I have thrown all the relevant documentation into a binder so that I can have quick access to key references.  Sliding the pages into clear sleeves also allows me to overlay notes with a grease pencil or Sharpie pen.

 

 

 

I will forego the box opening and contents review – folks can find all that in many other logs and online resources. I will however include this quick view of the Trumpeter packaging… All very neat and carefully laid out (as is the case with all their kits that I’ve got in my stash).

 

 

Most modelers will splurge and invest in either the KA Models upgrade set or the one made by Pontos.  Both have their pros and cons, but I have opted for the KA set.  I like the extensive 3D print and resin components and the etched brass is very comprehensive.  Again – I won’t lay out all the contents here… That is easily found in other logs or the KA website.

 

I do have various other add ons including several brass sheets from Woody’s Model Works.  Very nice stuff and highly recommended.  (Neil Woods is in a bit of a hiatus right now as he figures out how to deal with UK VAT requirements).

 

I’m not sure I’ll go down the LED route.  Certainly, Titanic is the perfect model for LED treatment, but it generally isn’t my thing – not sure the extra time/effort will be worthwhile.  Still pondering…

 

A note about online resources.  Ken Marschall has long been a great visualizer of the Titanic, but anyone who is taking this kit seriously will find their way to three key players:

 

Robert Read – Mr. Read has a great catalog of white papers and research material that he has created and maintained on his website Titanic CAD Plans.  He illuminates many fascinating details, resolves conflicts and controversies, and explains many of the inner workings of Titanic’s systems and gear. Terrific resource.

 

Vasilije Ristovic’ – Most Titanic aficionados will know Vasilije’s work.  His digital renderings of Titanic bring the great ship back to life and are breathtaking. His thoughtfully researched images shed light on many unique details and provide a terrific color guide for those of us trying to navigate our paint choices. He also has a very impressive 1/200 Titanic model of his own in progress.

 

Cyril Codus – Mr. Codus is a gifted digital artist who has created some outstanding full-length profiles of Titanic and her sisters. He also has very detailed overhead deck views that highlight the positioning of deck equipment and rigging.  Incredibly useful stuff. You can find samples on his website RMS Titanic Art Work.

 

For those who can stomach Facebook, there are several terrific resources utilized by the Titanic community:

 

RMS Titanic Model Research and Tech hosted by Zeno Silva and friends.  You’ll find Bob Read, Cyril, and Vasilije all contributing here.

 

Trumpeter TITANIC 1/200^th model ONLY building tips and tricks hosted by Gene Davis.  This is an essential meeting place for the Titanic modeler community with extensive Guides and downloadable files to facilitate enhancement of the kit.  Gene shows remarkable patience and perseverance amongst the wide spectrum of modelers that post on his pages. (Although I’m sure that Gene’s head will explode if one more novice jumps in to ask about three bladed props versus four…)

 

RMS Titanic – 3D Illustrations by Vasilije Ristovic.  This is where Vasilije posts most of his incredible Titanic renderings (and offers images for sale).

 

Visiting the Midwest Model Shop Youtube channel is also recommended.  Ben and his charming wife Nora walk through every stage of their 1/200 Titanic build and give a terrific overview of their process along the way.  It is refreshing to see an experienced modeler identify his own mistakes and show how he goes about correcting for them along the way. Includes terrific episodes about 3^rd party upgrades – in particular the brass sheets from Neil Woods.

 

Regarding more traditional resources I do have a small library of books with lots of photos and tech specs:

 

 

I have not invested in the two-volume set TITANIC – The Ship Magnificent.  I think I have other sources for most of what I would glean from those pages and the investment just seems a bit much for now.  I’ll use those funds to purchase additional upgrades instead.

 

Give me a few days and I’ll start to catch everyone up on my progress to date.

 

Cheers

Evan

 

[Kelp]

Hi Evan,

 

I am really looking forward to having a front seat to watch your progress through this beautiful model.  Yes, it’s a tragedy ship, but with the KA set, you will have the opportunity to put your modeling skills to this test to tackle a challenging model, which will give awesome looking results when completed.  I’m sure your daughter will treasure this model.  What a great gift!

 

All the best with your progress!

 

Don

[Jim Lad]

Evan, don't stress too much about the exact detail.  I've never sailed on a ship where the 'as built' plans exactly matched the fine detail on the ship.  Just follow whatever photographic evidence there is and be happy with that.

 

John

[Force9]

Thanks to all who've viewed my intro to this build.

 

Don - Thanks for grabbing an early seat for this voyage... Hopefully I can figure out enough of the KA kit to do a representative job.  The instructions provided for the upgrade set are a bit thin on detail.

 

John - Aye - I'll not get too caught up in the exactness of detail, but you might be surprised at how deep I'll be willing to go.  But ultimately I only need to please myself!

 

Cheers,

Evan

[Force9]

Let’s discuss the Trumpeter Hull

 

Titanic was a beautiful ship. Her lines were clean and graceful, and she sat on the sea with genuine stature.  I think Trumpeter has done a very reasonable job in reflecting all of that in their one-piece hull.  

 

 

Unfortunately, this kit does suffer from underbody inaccuracies that seem inherent in all of Trumpeter’s 1/200 single molded hulls.  I’m no expert on the injection molding process but it seems to me that it introduces limitations on the types of curves and angles that can be achieved in a plastic kit of this size.  The kit designers had to make some practical compromises… 

 

I suspect that the large scale compels Trumpeter to use one-piece hulls – there’d likely be too much warpage if they tried two-piece half hulls.  The larger size also means that the molding needs to be thicker than scale to minimize warping and waves in the form.  We also see some of the hull plating detail missing on the bottom and underneath the counter because of the same injection molding limitations.

 

 

The hull plating and rivet details are also a bit pronounced, but that is typical in many kits.  Welcome to plastic modeling. 

 

 

With all this in mind, I still think that this hull is a nice effort and is very representative of the great ship.  I can work with it.  I will add plating to the underside (clinker built which adds to the fun) and underneath the stern counter.  I will also try wherever possible to mitigate the overscale thickness of the sides.

 

I have added some internal reinforcement bulkheads that I had ordered a few years ago from the Titanic Honor and Glory website store.  This will eliminate any flex across the long hull span and help keep the lower decks aligned. I might only utilize the vertical bulkheads… The horizontal top pieces may not be needed – especially since they could interfere with the lower deck D Grand stairway in the kit.

 

 

I’ll need to wait until after I drill out the portholes before finalizing the bulkheads into position.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited February 1, 2023 by Force9

[wemattson]

I'm looking forward to following along on this build.  Also, I like the pinewood derby aircraft carrier on your workbench.

[Force9]

Wemattson - Thanks for following along!

 

Sharp eye to notice the pinewood derby carrier on the workbench... Dates back a bunch of years when the kids were young!

 

In the spirit of the current build I'll disclose another Pinewood derby ship:

 

 

RMS Titanic and USS Midway.

 

Both won the Grand Prize for design in their respective tournaments (slow as molasses down the track though!)

 

Cheers

Evan

Edited February 3, 2023 by Force9

[Roger Pellett]

I believe that the stern plating is wrong.  The upper strakes of plating normally do not wrap around to the sternpost.  Instead they twist up to end at the counter.  The ends of this plating are often covered by a decorative moulding that wraps horizontally around the counter.  Plating around the fantail stern is as shown on your model.  The stern lines also appear to be overly full.  Pictures of usual plating arrangement posted below.

[Force9]

Ahoy Roger... Indeed, not only is the out of the box stern plating wrong - most of it is missing entirely.  A victim as I say above of the limitations of plastic injection molding.  There are terrific online resources that show the correct under counter plating for the Titanic and I have already added it all using styrene strips.  I'm a few posts away from catching everyone up on that effort.

 

(Love the work shown in your post!)

 

Stay tuned!

 

Evan

[Force9]

Titanic Decks…

 

For those not familiar with the Titanic I think it’ll be useful to insert a quick overview of the decks/levels of the ship:

 

 

I captured part of the box art and added some quick labels.  (The A deck can also be labelled as the Promenade deck)

 

Some of these decks will get referenced at various points in my build log and this perspective might help folks follow along.

 

Cheers,

Evan

[Force9]

Hull Corrections – Portholes and Doors

 

The relative accuracy of the hull details on the Trumpeter kit are…perplexing.  The starboard side seems to be nearly spot on as far as I can tell from various sources. Maybe one wayward porthole to fill and one small porthole to add. Portholes are in the right place and are the right size for the given deck level.  The doors all appear to be correctly positioned.

 

The port side on the other hand… Hmmm.  

 

I’ve relied on the work of a gentleman named Graham Boyd who posted a terrific set of detailed references on the Trumpeter TITANIC 1/200^th model ONLY building tips and tricks Facebook site hosted by Gene Davis.  

 

I’ve done a cursory comparison of Mr. Boyd’s notes to some of the Titanic profile views available online and almost everything appears to align.  There might be a small discrepancy on the port side superstructure where a door needs to be removed and replaced with a window, but otherwise all good.

 

Here is a sample of Graham’s reference material:

What to keep, what to remove, and proper drill sizes are all called out.  Very useful.

 

There are a lot of errors on the port side - portholes out of place and some mystery doors. You’ll see that I have marked up the kit hull with a black Sharpie pen to indicate portholes that need to be filled and doors that should be removed.

 

The marked portholes are now filled and new portholes will be drilled nearby to more accurately reflect their actual position. 

 

I protected the rivet detail with tape before I sanded the filled portholes smooth.

 

 

The port side has a couple of unneeded doors…  

 

The starboard side of the Titanic had a baggage door on the D deck level that opened into the 3^rd class covered promenade area underneath the forward well deck.  The kit is accurate on that side. However, there shouldn’t be a corresponding door on the port side, but Trumpeter put it there anyway.  No big deal - easily removed.

 

But it isn’t as though the Trumpeter designers just copied and pasted the starboard side details over to the port side resulting in all the errors...  There are clear differences to the two sides that were intentionally made.

 

Here is an example:

 

The Titanic had four narrow doors that opened out from the “Ash Places” – two on each side at the E deck level.  When Titanic was out on the open ocean the spent ash was disposed of using hydraulic ash ejectors.  The ash was shoveled into deck grates near the coal bunkers where it was mixed with seawater and the slurry ejected under pressure 20 or 30 feet away from the ship. While in port, however, this practice was obviously frowned upon…and regulated.  Probably not so much out of environmental concerns, but who’d want 30-foot arcs of sludge raining down on nearby ships or pleasure craft?  Instead, while in port the ash was shoveled into canvas bags and hoisted up to one of the Ash Places to be eventually lowered into a lighter pulled alongside that presumably led to proper disposal ashore.

 

These Ash Places and their outer doors were not symmetrical between port and starboard.  Trumpeter got that right.  The doors are in the right spots on either side, but inexplicably they’ve added a third narrow door on the port side that leads to a phantom Ash Place.

 

 

I marked it for removal and put some tape on the hull to minimize the chance of hull damage if my blade slips.

 

 

The remaining doors on the port side hull look to be correctly placed.

 

Obviously most (all?) casual observers seeing my completed model are not gonna know whether the portholes are all correctly located, or any extraneous doors are included, but it gives me satisfaction knowing that a little more effort put things right.  

 

Some additional hull details need to be attended to, but I can’t put off drilling out the portholes forever…

 

Cheers,

Evan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15 by Force9

[Force9]

Drilling Holes

 

Regardless of whether I light the kit or not, I will be drilling out the portholes and inserting fiber optic filament.  Even without lighting the effect will be more realistic and practical for representing the glass.

 

Like many folks, I found my way to the LighthouseLED online store for my filament. I could order by the foot with reasonable shipping costs.  I’ve got 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm diameters to work with…

 

I’m not drilling all those holes with a pin vise… no way. Here is a critical tool that I’ve had in my toolkit for a few years – a small Tamiya battery powered drill designed with plastic in mind:

 

 

I bought mine on a Black Friday sale at a steep discount, but still worth the retail price.  (It comes as a kit for easy assembly) 

 

Regular drills and rotary tools have high RPM that creates too much plastic-melting friction… This drill is just right for the job at hand.

 

 

I’ve added a mini chuck for the micro-drill bits.  You’ll also notice that I’ve cut out a strip of thin card paper and folded it back on itself to create a small spring to protect the hull surface from the front of the spinning chuck if I push all the way through during drilling.

 

I am not concerned with exact scale port holes on my model.  I’m working backwards from the filament diameters to determine what size holes to drill.  For the smallest portholes I will use the 1.0mm filament and I want to drill a hole with a tight fit.  I tested on a piece of scrap styrene and determined that the #62 size micro-drill bit is just the ticket.  Not too loose, not too tight.

 

 

Since the smallest portholes don’t need to have a pre-drilled centering hole, I was able to jump right into it…

 

 

Nice clean holes drilled with no issues.  Took me about 45 minutes to complete each side – making sure to hold the drill at 90 degrees to the hull each time.

 

In addition to the kit portholes, I needed to add a few that were missing or needed to be relocated.  These locations were marked with a green Sharpie pen and some Tamiya tape laid down to help with alignment.

 

 

I used a common push pin to center a starter hole to guide the bit:

 

 

The remaining holes were easily finished off and everything looks good… I’ll proceed to the next largest portholes in my next session.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited February 16, 2023 by Force9

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

Jreat Job you do - thank you very much for this map through this huge kit to get an authentic result. 

No No No No - I am not going to join the Titanic Fran Club.

[Force9]

Drilling More Holes

 

Time to drill the remaining three thousand portholes. (Very slight exaggeration)

 

I had some concern that these might require pre-drilling some smaller centering holes to keep the bit from drifting and creating obvious misaligned ports across the side of the hull. 

 

There is a small industry around 3^rd party guides to serve this need, but it seemed to me that I could fashion some workable guides on my own using stuff I already had laying around.

 

I dug out my miscellaneous assortment of small tubing and went to work making some quick centering guides.

These were whipped together by cutting some short lengths of telescoping tubes – the inner tube aligned to the appropriate porthole size and the outer tubes to sit flush with the hull:

All bound together with a drop or two of CA glue.

 

Not as elegant as what can be purchased from enterprising online hobbyists, but suitable in a pinch.

These guides were slipped over the drill bit and held in place at ninety degrees while drilling.  I didn’t need to drill all the way through the hull – only needed enough of a dimple to guide the larger bit. These worked like a charm.

 

(Maybe once or twice I lost concentration and didn’t hold the guide flush to the hull resulting in a slightly off-center hole, but easily compensated for in the final step).

For the final step, I first did a quick trigger squeeze to set the bit in the centering hole before drilling through the hull.

In truth, I don’t think I needed these centering holes except for the largest porthole sizes.  The bit size would generally match close enough in the small and medium porthole sizes that it didn’t allow for any drift.  

 

For the largest diameter I used the nearest size tubing and filed a beveled edge using a large coarse file. 

This helped to set the outer diameter tightly into the porthole and centered the innermost tube properly… 

Worked perfectly.

 

Next, I needed to attend to the missing portholes on the upper stern counter.  I again used the guidance from Mr. Boyd’s resource to find the proper spacing.  

These measurements were transferred to a length of Tamiya tape and the holes drilled through the template.

Lastly, I noticed that the size of the portholes along the upper stern were a bit undersized based on the reference photo of the Olympic under construction:

Using a larger bit, I drilled out the portholes to accommodate 1.5mm fiber optic filament.  Much improved.

All the portholes are now drilled out and good to go...

 

Up next will be cutting out various doors and hull openings for future enhancements… 

 

Cheers,

Evan

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Force9

[Kelp]

Evan,

You are creating an excellent build log!  The diagrams are really helpful towards explaining the work you are doing.  All the Best with building this model.  I’m looking forward to continuing to see your progress.

 

Don

[Hubac's Historian]

This is a fascinating foil to the type of project I am working on, where there are few reliable primary sources.  Titanic is probably the most written about ship of all time, but this presents a challenge of a different stripe; sifting through all of that source material and deciding where your threshold will be - beyond which, additional modification is not personally worth the effort.

 

I’m certainly no Titanic expert, but I will happily follow along.  You’re off to a wonderful start, Evan, and I like that you have taken-on such a monumental project for your daughter’s enjoyment.

[NavyShooter]

I've taken on the task of getting a Titanic built as well...I'm certain that it will be no-where near what yours is!

 

I'm working with 3D prints, so there's some aspects to that which are challenging, but workable for what I'm building.

 

Intent is that it will be a slightly better than stand-off scale model that will end up in the local pond - I'm about 20% done the printing so far.  Ish.

 

I have about another 3-4 weeks of printing left to go.

 

NS
 

[Force9]

Hello Hubac...  Thanks for looking in on my effort here with the Titanic... Aye, it'll be interesting to make choices as I go along.  Some folks I'm sure will scratch their heads wondering why I go deep on some details, but avoid others altogether.  

 

Ahoy Chief... It does sound like quite the undertaking to construct a Titanic using 3D prints... I guess that is the future eh?  High tech modeling!

 

I appreciate the interest folks are showing... Especially considering that the Titanic is not exactly under-represented in ship modeling forums.  It can seem a tired subject, but there are always new insights to be made and new approaches to try.  I hope everyone stays with this voyage - some customizations are around the corner.

 

Cheers

Evan

 

[Force9]

The Stern Post

 

The Trumpeter kit is lacking some detail around the stern post.  There are plenty of historic photos to guide my modifications…

Adding the curved plating detail requires gathering a few key tools:

 

 

Step 1

The curves were plotted with pencil outlines and etched with a standard hobby knife blade. 

 

Step 2

The hobby knife was also used to notch an edge into the curve to guide the next steps. 

 

Most of the shaping was done with a detail chisel (I have a set from Micro-Mark that comes in handy).  I would peel away small layers of the plastic up to the notched edge of the curve.

 

 

Step 3

Once the initial shape was roughed out, a small file was used to set the final edge and level the surface.  Medium grit flexible files were used to smooth the surface as I went along.

 

Step 4

Now I needed to reflect the same curves on the Starboard side.

I laid down some tape and traced the edge.  The tape was then transferred to a piece of card paper and cut out.  

 

Step 5

This was then positioned on the starboard side and traced with a pencil line to guide the same procedure as before…

I would occasionally refresh my carved edge with a pencil line to help track my progress:

 

Step 6

Finally, I came back with progressively finer flex files to smooth everything down and eliminate any remaining rough surfaces.

 

Step 7

I used thin Evergreen Styrene strips (.010) from my stash and added the rivets by pricking one side with the tip of a pushpin and flipping it over before gluing.  The rivets are laid out in a diagonal pattern using some pencil lines as a guide.  I fashioned some strips a bit longer than needed and cut to size before transferring them to the hull.

The rivet reinforcement and the zinc strips were all done using this method.

After the first round of primer, I’ll come back and fill/smooth to finalize the surface before painting.  That’ll be a bit further along in my build.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited March 28, 2023 by Force9

[DavidG]

Hello Evan,

thanks for setting up this log. As I started to work on this kit myself, I came across a lot of resources all over the internet - but it was still missing the 'traditional build log' format which I like to follow the most.

You a put a lot of research to your model, which I'm sure will result a magnificent model.

Looking to your reference picture of the stern post, the kit is pretty rough where the shaft exits the hull. Maybe some epoxy putty could help to build up the shaft, and make the tranisiton less direct - something I may try when the time comes.

best,

David

[Tsm209]

Very nice on the small details. Just be aware, the zinc anodes on the rudder are different than originally thought. Here is a drawing.

(Drawing courtesy of Robert Read)

[Force9]

Hello @DavidG...

 

I agree with your view on build log formatting... I don't think Facebook and other similar forums lend themselves to laying out a log.  The MSW type of environment is best since everything is laid out in one place and others can easily follow the progression and improve on my approach (and mistakes).  It allows everyone to see a cohesive narrative and get context on the WHAT, WHY, HOW questions that inform my build.

 

I also agree with your comment about the propeller shaft near the stern frame.  It is much too stubby compared to the actual ship version... However this is one of those areas where I think I'll shy away from trying to make any improvement... It seems to me that the core problem is that the hull is too thick in this area.  Rather than widen the shaft so that it can extend more into the hull, I'd need to first thin out the edge of the hull.  That is too big of a job for me to take on - with a big risk of damaging the model in an unrecoverable manner.  I'll be interested to see your result if you do make an attempt to improve the shaft...

 

Folks will notice as I go along that most of the "improvements" that I attempt will have a reasonable fall back in case I screw up.  The carving of the curved plating at the stern, for example, was minimal risk.  If I had screwed that up, I'd have come back and shaped a thin sheet of styrene to glue over the top so that I could move on.

 

I'm still pondering the risk/reward for reshaping the bow hawse hole as another example.  It might not be worth it if I have a misshaped blob on the bow if I mess it up.  And I'm not sure it is worth the effort to cut everything away and insert a 3D print replacement with all the shaping and putty that would still be needed.

 

All decisions that make ship modeling so much fun.

 

Thanks for popping in to follow along.

 

Cheers

Evan

Edited April 5, 2023 by Force9

[DavidG]

13 hours ago, Force9 said:

I'm still pondering the risk/reward for reshaping the bow hawse hole as another example.  It might not be worth it if I have a misshaped blob on the bow if I mess it up.  And I'm not sure it is worth the effort to cut everything away and insert a 3D print replacement with all the shaping and putty that would still be needed.

I had the same thoughts re the hawse pipe. I don't consider the option of buying printed parts, but as it is depicted on the kit just hurts my eye,. 

I plan to build it up with putty, and show it covered. Here is a rough mock-up using only blue-tac, but this is the way I'm going for.

I'm doing bottom plating for a while now, and move to other parts when finished with this.

[Force9]

Under Counter Plating

 

As mentioned before… The Trumpeter Titanic does not have the plating under the stern counter.  

 

There is a terrific PE brass solution provided by Mini-Brass that will produce an excellent result (as evidenced by many build logs out in the ether), but I didn’t go that route.  It seemed to me that using PE would make those plates stand out as elements not belonging to the rest of the hull.  Essentially, I worried that the brass plating with the overlapping seams might be TOO accurate.

 

I chose instead to scratch build the plating using styrene strips and sheets so that I could blend everything with the existing kit.

 

This scratch building was actually the very first thing I did on the kit after I first bought it a few years ago… I wanted to see what I could make of this area before I invested any time elsewhere.

 

There are plenty of online resources and photos to help guide my efforts. 

This view of the Olympic prior to launch gives a good sense of what is needed.  As Roger pointed out earlier – The kit is very far from reality.  The Olympic class ships do, however, look very different in their under-counter plating than what Roger showed on his model.  Specifically, these ships have “centerline plates” (Robert Read’s term) that provide strength across the theoretical midline and anchor the additional outboard strakes.  These are solid plates with no midline seams.

 

Centerline Plates

 

I marked off the innermost plate with tape and transferred the pattern to a strip of styrene.

 

This was cut and glued into position.

The same piece was replicated for both port and starboard.  I then filled the midline seam with Tamiya putty so that it will disappear when primed.

Similar procedure as I worked outward for the next plates.  I would slightly overlap the styrene and cut them square.

I was careful to use the existing kit molded plates to blend into the new styrene pieces as I expanded the plating. After crafting on one side, I’d trace the plate using Tamiya tape to replicate the same piece on the other side.

  

Spaces to fill were also traced with tape and transferred to styrene strips to form the next plates.

Joints were sanded even to blend with the kit…

Finally, I added .010 x .030 strips to represent the butt laps between strakes.  I thought this would match closer to the kit versions. Overlapping the styrene strakes (as in actual practice) seemed to me to be out of scale no matter how hard I tried to make them look like the Trumpeter versions.

 

You’ll notice two things:

 

1.     The depth of the plates/strakes varies to reflect what is shown in the historic photo.

2.     I screwed up.

 

Yup.  I got so caught up in the flow of building out the strakes and balancing them against each other and blending in with the kit plating that I neglected to include one of the strakes!  To make the correct plating pattern, I’ll likely need to undo everything I’ve done.  The spacing would need to be reset starting with the critical first centerline plate near the hole for the stern post.

(Note that I’ve also added the .010x.030 strips to the upper counter to represent that plating.)

 

At this point I’m in a holding pattern… The result isn’t terrible, and the error won’t be apparent to any but the most ardent Titanic fans.  I may try to get away with it unless it gnaws at me enough to eventually force my hand.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited May 8, 2023 by Force9

[Force9]

The Rudder

 

The Olympic class liners had serious chunks of metal for rudders…

 

The Titanic's rudder was nearly 79 feet tall, more than 15 feet at the widest point and weighed in at around 100 tons. It was controlled using two steering engines (one backup) connected via tillers to the rudder quadrant.

 

Some have argued that Titanic’s rudder was far too small for the job and contributed to her inability to avoid disaster.  Others claim otherwise... They say that the math works out well and the rudder surface area was only slightly undersized in relation to the waterline length and other factors that naval architects consider these days when sizing a rudder. They point out that Titanic likely turned at least two degrees in the very brief interval between "Hard a Starboard!!!!" and contact.  Pretty good considering her overall length and Titanic’s relative speed at the time of sighting the berg. It is also relevant that the Olympic had a long career and was thought to be very maneuverable by her multiple captains.  The rudder was probably very serviceable and not a significant factor in the collision.

 

Here is a historic photo of the rudder showing human scale.  Note the large bolts on the flanges that hold the five large panels together.

In this view by photographer Robert John Welch, we see that the bolts are now encased in cement (note the lighter color on the outer edges) to streamline the water flow over the rudder surface.

 

So how does the Trumpeter version hold up to the historic record?  Not great.  The shape is too wide across the entire form, the bolt flanges are much too thin, and the rudder stops and other details are missing.  Not to mention the out of scale thickness of the entire piece and the lack of any dimension on the rudder pintles.

 

I first considered modifying the kit rudder to improve the shape and add the missing details.  I assembled the necessary tools and marked a pencil line to refine the shape and went to work.

 

The shape was easily improved, but at this point I thought it didn’t make sense to proceed since the piece was just too thick for the scale.  Why bother?

 

So on to the KA resin version.  This rudder was much improved in terms of shape and detail, but mine was a bit warped and needed a bath in warm water to get it (mostly) straightened.

But alas… Inexplicably the KA rudder pintles don’t align with the gudgeons on the kit and the rudder stock at the top doesn’t extend far enough to reach into the hull.  Ugh. 

I’d need to extend the KA rudder stock and relocate the gudgeons on the kit.  And I'm a bit worried about future warping since the piece is so thin (but likely accurate to scale).

 

Hmmm… I have a varied collection of styrene strips and sheets built up over years of plastic modeling.  How about I try my hand at a scratch-built rudder?  I can control all the details, make sure it fits cleanly to the kit, and make it a bit thicker than the KA version, but not as thick as the Trumpeter one.

 

And it’ll be fun.

 

Onward.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited May 17, 2023 by Force9

[Force9]

The Rudder Continued…

 

Let’s make a scratch-built rudder for the Trumpeter 1/200 Titanic.

 

I started with a sheet of .030 thick styrene.  This is not so thin that it’ll warp, and not too far off from scale.  It is also easily cut with common paper scissors.

 

Step 1

I traced the general outline on the sheet using my previously modified Trumpeter rudder as a template.  This provides a good shape while allowing exact alignment of the pintles to fit the kit.

Step 2

 

I cut out the gaps between the pintle positions and did some initial test fitting:

Step 3

The rudder outline was snipped using scissors to get a rough outline that was refined with a hobby knife and smoothed using a coarse flex file.

 

Step 4

Before adding the bolt flanges, I cemented some half round strip to the pintles to give them a cylindrical shape…

 

I used .080 No. 242 half round Evergreen that was filed a bit thinner to better match the scale before cementing.  I affixed a single length and used a chunk of styrene to press against the rudder edge for tight alignment of the half round strip.  After a few minutes I came back and snipped between the pintles to remove the excess.  Worked one side at a time.  These will later get filed flush on the ends as I fitted them to the kit.

 

Step 5

Now to attend to the bolt flanges.

I needed to find a method that would produce consistent wedge shapes for all the needed elements.  I determined that strips of .020 x.060 could be stacked in the approximate shape and glued side by side to some scrap sheet (only glued down at the ends) to allow me to file them all at the same angle to shape the flanges.

I needed ten for the job, but I made them in two batches of 7 each to get some extras just in case.  The thick chunk of styrene in the picture was used to press against each stack during gluing to make sure everything stayed aligned.

 

Step 6

Once dry, I came back and filed the wedges at a consistent angle and then cut them free from the sheet.  They didn’t need to have a perfectly smooth slope – just enough to represent the wedges.

 

I carefully separated them with the hobby knife blade:

Step 7

Next, I flipped over each of the newly made wedges so that the factory smooth side was on top and cemented them to the rudder with plenty of overhang:

These were carefully positioned in relation to the pintles according to the historic photo references.  Note that the last flange is set slightly BELOW the last pintle.  The overhangs were trimmed to fit and the whole process repeated for the other side.

 

Additionally, small styrene rod was used for the bolt heads on the pintles.

Step 8

I added the zinc anodes based on what appears in most of the historic photos. These were .010 x.030 strips that were pricked with a push pin to represent the small bolts and flipped over and cemented in place.

 

As @Tsm209 noted in an earlier post, there are discrepancies in how some folks think the rudder anodes should be represented.  Robert Read shows a “double-wide” version rather than what is seen in most historic Titanic photos.  It may be that Mr. Read has access to other photos and/or documentation that he used to source his drawings.

 

The talented digital artist Vasilije Ristovic’ also shows this type of rudder anode in his stunning 3D illustration:

(Image from Mr. Ristovic’s terrific Facebook page )

 

I chose to stick with what I could see on the historic Titanic rudder photos that are most referenced in online searches.

 

Step 9

I added the rudder stock to the top of the rudder using Evergreen .080 rod (No. 212).  The stock was made long enough to easily extend into the hull.

Step 10

Adding the details

The Titanic had stops mounted on two of the pintles to limit the maximum rudder angle to 40 degrees on hard turns.  Small snips of .020 x .040 styrene were added for these.  There is also a small piece of .010 x.020 strip on the outer edge for a future hasp (?) ring that mounts here.  I’ll add that just before priming/painting since it’ll be fragile.

Also included are the small stops mounted on the kit where the rudder pintles would meet the hull.  I should also note that the small hole under the counter was drilled wider to accommodate the new rudder stock diameter.

 

Some sample views from aft to show the overall effect:

Not quite up to the level of a 3D printed version, but it was fun to build and likely cost me less than $5 US in materials that I already (mostly) had on hand.  (I did need to purchase the half round and smaller rod for the pintle detail.)

 

Thanks again to those who’ve been following along.

 

Bow Hawse up next.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited May 18, 2023 by Force9

[Kelp]

Evan,  

 

You have done a fantastic job on the rudder.  The scratch build was well worth doing.

Thanks for sharing your construction process.

Don

[Force9]

Thank you Don!  

 

I really appreciate your continued interest in my build.

 

Cheers!

Evan

[Hubac's Historian]

I very much agree with Don.  These little scratch projects are so much fun, and you have captured so much extra detail to perfect scale.  Very well done!

[Tsm209]

Scratch-building. Fun! Fun! Fun! Great job on the scratch built rudder.