RMS Titanic by MisterMeester - Trumpeter - 1/200 - PLASTIC

[Winnie]

I have heard that the E6000 glue/adhesive available from Amazon and others, is great to maintain flexibility, yet have a good bond. I purchased some for my Hood and Missouri builds, as there are some large plates on flat plastic surfaces. I'm unsure how that will work on metal to metal though. It's relatively inexpensive though. Will allow for shifting of parts while curing though!

 

I got paint on my hull, but now have to fix it... I decided to not go wild on the PE hull parts and happy I didn't do the superstructure!

 

Cheers

Harald

Southport

 

(Edited to add:)

Warman... I must have driven through many times on my trips from Saskatoon to Weyakwin or LaRonge... Never stopped though. 

Went to a hobby shop in Saskatoon, but can't remember the name, been since 2013...

Edited October 27, 2025 by Winnie

[MisterMeester]

Ahoy Harald!

 

Thanks for your post. The E6000 packaging says it's good for metals, so I suppose it would work. I considered it, but for the sole reason that the instructions do not mention it, I decided on epoxy. I'll be touching up the edges with CA.

 

Speaking of glue....the Gorilla two part epoxy I've been using is 5 minute quick setting. I'm finding it to be not very user friendly for the larger back plates. My method of application involves mixing a puddle of the stuff onto an old CD and transferring it to the PE by way of dabbing a round toothpick in it and applying small drops onto the PE. This is somewhat time consuming. Longer than 5 minutes for the larger plates. The epoxy begins to set before I'm done, resulting in it becoming globby and stringy.

Bob Smith Industries makes a "Mid-Cure" (15 minute) and "Slow-Cure" (30 minute) epoxy. Segue to the Saskatoon hobby shop you likely visited. Express Hobbies. Couple of blocks North of 33rd St. It's essentially the one and only here. They have both epoxies in stock. I think I'll get the Slow-Cure and give that a go.

 

Back to the hobby shop....I moved here in 2016. Didn't actually step through their door until 2022. Not sure what else might have been here before then. There's one other store here that I've never been to as they are pretty much all about RC.

 

Cheers,

Mark 

[Force9]

I have my popcorn and snacks at hand to follow along on this important step.  I'm very curious to understand your experiences with adding these detailed sheets to the sides... You've already identified some areas of awareness for those coming along behind you.

 

I decided to stick with some styrene scratch building to address some of what mini brass solves, but I am curious to know if you will remove the well deck bulwarks and instead rely on the thinner brass sheets to better represent the scale thickness? I haven't seen any other modeler do this, but it seems an obvious approach to take to improve those areas of the kit?  Thoughts?

 

Wonderful progress

Evan

[MisterMeester]

15 hours ago, Force9 said:

………I am curious to know if you will remove the well deck bulwarks and instead rely on the thinner brass sheets to better represent the scale thickness? I haven't seen any other modeler do this, but it seems an obvious approach to take to improve those areas of the kit?  Thoughts?

 

Wonderful progress

Evan

Hello Evan!
 

Thank you for your post.

 

Honestly, removing the well deck bulwarks had never entered my mind. I’ll take a look at that when the time comes, however preliminary thought on that is….leaving the delicate PE without any backing support in that area makes me nervous.

 

I neglected to mention….I found working on the hull, prior to acquiring and employing the cradle I’m using for her, to be awkward and cumbersome. Prior to the cradle, I managed to inadvertently erode away a fair amount of the rivet detail. The main reason I got this MiniBrass kit was to rectify the lost rivet detail. My initial plan was to use 3D rivet decals (I even went as far as purchasing some), but decided the PE was the way to go instead.

 

Cheers,

Mark

Edited October 29, 2025 by MisterMeester

[Winnie]

let me know if you're headed to Winnipeg! there's a fantastic hobby shop here, that's online as well. Hobbysense. It has a good online store as well.

 

Cheers

H.

[MisterMeester]

Back Plates of Sheets 1 and 2 done.

I've been working on another project, which delayed me for a while, but that's completed now.

 

As well, I found I had to provide weight to the PE to flatten the bends resulting from the shipping damage. Not sure if this would have been required regardless, but me thinks not. At any rate, because of this, I chose to do each of the larger back plates one at a time. I wanted to minimize the possibility of the back plates slipping as much as possible. Thus, this slowed the process down.

 

I chose a BIG HEAVY book for the weight.

Further, I switched to a slower curing epoxy. Working out well.

 

On to Sheet #3, and more Back Plates.

 

 

Four back plates for each side (Port and Starboard) on this sheet. I'm hoping to get all eight done in two applications. We'll see.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[MisterMeester]

Parts CU1 and CU2.

 

For the Port side, I treated these parts same as the previous back plates. Worked them from the back side. Measured for fit and applied epoxy. Then flipped the sheet over for fine tune positioning. As soon as I flipped the sheet over both pieces fell off. I wasn't able to apply enough glue for the parts to remain attached during the flip. Bit of a gong show, from that point, but I managed to position the parts while working them from the topside and using CA glue in conjunction with capillary action.

 

 

Different approach for the Starboard side, which was way easier. Worked them from the topside from the get go and simply positioned the pieces dry and then taped them in place, followed by applying CA glue at each ends, allowing capillary action to do it's thing. Then, once secure, flipped the sheet over and applied more CA from the backside.

 

On to the Doubling Plates...

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Mark

Edited November 14, 2025 by MisterMeester

[MisterMeester]

Doubling plates (all 180 of them) attached. Used CA glue for these. Parts A - D now complete. I found Part CU-2 backplate to be the most difficult. Particularly on the Stbd side (circled in red). It popped off under stress from handling. Re-attached with epoxy. Unfortunately I re-attached it without paying attention to alignment. Thus, it is slightly off by about 1-2mm longitudinally. Shouldn't be a big deal and hardly noticeable.

 

Up next, as per instructions, with this PE kit is to prepare the hull. However, before engaging in that surgery, I want to do somewhat of a dry fit first. As well, there are other hull features still to be attached. For attaching the bilge keels and propeller/shaft wings I expect I'm going to want to flip the hull upside down. I'm quite certain that would not be a good idea with this PE in place.

Further, kit parts N1 & N2 and P1 & P2 (for A, B, and C decks) come into play with this PE. Having said that, it's time to install the internal frame aftermarket kit. Original plan was to install the frame kit after painting the hull, as it would be much easier to install the porthole "glass" without the frames in place. But that plan was before I decided on this PE kit, and plans change.

 

Glueing one frame at a time. I did not have a bar clamp large enough for this, so went out and bought one. At $18.99 CDN each (on sale, down from $29.99) it made more sense to get just one, instead of four.

 

In the meantime, prior to starting on the internal framing, I was pondering the lowest row of molded indentations on the hull, which represent through hull fittings. Common advice regarding these is to DON'T DRILL THESE OUT(!). But wait.....I'm not lighting my model, and therefore, there would be no light leakage through these if they were drilled. I decided the overall look will be better with them drilled. Left undrilled, some of them will end up painted over with antifouling red. Done.

 

Second frame glued in this morning. Two more to go. Should have that completed within a couple of days. After that will be the bilge keels and propeller/shaft wings.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Mark

Edited November 25, 2025 by MisterMeester

[MisterMeester]

Changed my mind on getting to the propeller shaft wings and bilge keels next. Will get to those later. I need to address something else so I can get back to content sleeps at night.

 

I did a dry fit of the Mini Brass Hull Profiles PE kit, port side. Ugh.

 

 

 

 

As one can see by the photos, alignment is perfect in some parts (circled in green), but grossly not in other spots (circled in red). In hindsight I suppose more research on others experiences with this aftermarket kit would have been prudent. Apparently, turns out the kit hull has even more inaccuracies and, in this regard, the Mini Brass PE is correct. Who knew? If I had known that, I likely would NOT have purchased the kit. One of the reasons I was sold on it was that I expected no major surgery required. There is no mention of major surgery in the instructions, which I perused online prior to taking the leap.

 

Having said all that, and given the amount of time and money already invested in this PE, I think I can make it work. Unfortunately, I have already drilled out the portholes. Less surgery would be required if they were still intact. First step is to remove the raised detail for a flush surface. Then more dry fitting for a better understanding of where I need to cut.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Mark

Edited November 30, 2025 by MisterMeester

[richardhd]

Mark,

 

That is frustrating! I think you convinced me not to grab the PE set for this kit. Which is a bummer because it looks fantastic. I am

sure the effort and stress of surgery will be well worth it. Looking forward to seeing the outcome!

[MisterMeester]

Ahoy, Richard! Frustrating indeed. Update follows.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[MisterMeester]

Not sure where to start. Hoping I can convey this update coherently.

 

It's been awhile. On the one hand, I feel an update is not warranted as I have yet to complete prepping the hull, and P & N parts, on just the port side alone, let alone both port AND starboard.

On the other hand, this model is very fluid, with its share of plot twists and various options, and shifting decisions as a result. In other words, this update is warranted for the reason that I've changed my mind on a couple of things.

 

Lots of pictures coming that probably don't say much (sorry about that), but if they help another modeler considering the aftermarket kits I speak of here then it's a win.

 

Initially, I did a dry fit of the PE for the purpose of doing a markup and get an idea of where to cut.

 

These photos show work done on the forward portion of the hull. The large lengthy gap was created to accommodate Backplate DP of Part A from Sheet 1. I saw this done on another modeler's build photos.

 

And similarly further aft, big gap to accommodate Backplate DPA of Part D, from Sheet 3.

 

For the other portholes, windows, etc. I worked on each individually, mostly filing by hand. The next four photos show parts N and P. Note that the bulwark curvatures require modifying to match the PE curvatures.

 

In this photo I've indicated the two aft curvatures, that also required modifying. I neglected to take a photo of this prior to filing them down.

 

A second dry fitting revealed I had not removed enough plastic on many portholes, windows and other openings (ie: washports). After more mark ups, I decided to drill some of these out wider, and hopefully save some laborious filing time. The intent was to keep the removal of plastic to a minimum to preserve structural integrity of the kit pieces.

 

More photos showing the current results.

 

Onto the third dry fitting.

 

These next four photos are some examples of even more plastic that is still showing.

 

Ugh. There's got to be a better way. Well, turns out there is.

A support frame that takes the place on parts N and P.

I was aware of this kit, but could not find where to source it. I don't know the history of it, but for whatever reason(s) it became unavailable, as far as I could tell, somewhere along the line. Until just recently.

 

Woody's Model Works (aka Maritime Models), in the UK, is now printing it. 

 

Here's where it gets a bit complicated. The Mini Brass Hull Profiles PE only covers B Deck, C Deck, D Deck, and some of E Deck. Wait what?, what about A Deck?

 

Woody's to the rescue again. Since I had relative success with putting together the Mini Brass PE, I have had my eye on this PE as well anyway. BTW, "Sheets A+B" is not to be confused with Decks A & B. These two sheets (A+B) are for A Deck (as well as PE for other aspects of the ship).

 

One question I had for Neil (Neil Woods of Woody's) was.... what about these B Deck stanchions? Does the support frame have those? Because.....

...... these stanchions are not represented in the Mini Brass Hull Profiles PE.

 

Neil's answer: They are included.

 

So. Phew! To summarize.

- The support frame is for BOTH PE kits. The Mini Brass Hull Profiles kit AND the Woody's Superstructure & Bridge Sets kit.

- The Mini Brass Hull Profiles kit does not cover A deck. Only Decks B, C, D and E.

- Woody's Superstructure & Bridge Sets kit covers A Deck.

- Woody's does not make a PE set that covers B - E Decks.

 

Again, I don't know the history, but I surmise that all of these kits were made by one source at one time, and I also believe that for whatever reason(s) that outfit went out of business and the said kits were taken up by others, but not collectively. Again, I don't know. Just speculating.

 

It should also be mentioned that the support frame is not necessary for the A Deck PE. Kit parts N and P can be modified for that. There are two cuts required. But I would still be faced with modifying all the rest of N and P for the Mini Brass kit. The benefit of the support frame is a huge time saver, not to mention much easier to work with.

 

Needless to say, I have ordered the support frame and the Superstructure & Bridge Sets kit from Woody's. Delivery is 4-8 weeks away. In the meantime, I'll continue on with the needed modifications of the hull (primarily D Deck and E Deck openings) for the Mini Brass PE.

 

Sorry for the long winded update. Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Mark  

 

Edited December 23, 2025 by MisterMeester

[MisterMeester]

On 10/28/2025 at 3:31 PM, Force9 said:

 ....I am curious to know if you will remove the well deck bulwarks and instead rely on the thinner brass sheets to better represent the scale thickness? I haven't seen any other modeler do this, but it seems an obvious approach to take to improve those areas of the kit?  Thoughts?

 

Wonderful progress

Evan

Thanks for this question, Evan. After much deliberation I have decided not to remove the well deck bulwarks. More on that decision later in this post.

 

Update:

After ~6 mark ups and ~7 dry fits (I lost count), and many hours of drilling and filing in between, the Port side of the hull is finally prepped for the Mini Brass PE. The Starboard side prep should go much faster, given that I now know what I'm doing as well as not having to prep parts N1 and P1, as I'm going with the pending AM support frame.

The mark ups currently showing in the following pictures are for relocating the incorrect portholes on the Port side. Contrary to what I side about those earlier in this build log, I've decided to do them. They will be next, before proceeding with the Starboard side prep.

 

 

 

 

 

Some words on my experience with this AM kit (Mini Brass Hull Profiles) so far:

 

I can't explain why this porthole, near the aft well deck, is partially covered. This porthole is, unfortunately, not one of the portholes on the "remove" (fill) list. It did exist in this location. I have since filled this porthole. Not sure what else to do, short of trimming the PE here and adding a styrene strip to replace the plate seam doubling plate, which would be lost by doing so.  Any opinions on this aspect would be greatly appreciated.

Further to this, and a potential cause:

The instructions for this AM kit provide guidance on the placement of the PE in a vertical plane. "The PE should be lined up with the bottom of the outer strake of D-deck (marked with a red line in the graphic below). Dry fit the pieces to to get a clear idea where each piece needs to go." This guidance is very much appreciated. Having said that, the fitting of the PE on the vertical plane becomes somewhat obvious during the first dry fit. What is far less obvious is the placement of the PE on the longitudinal plane. However, there is zero mention provided regarding where to place the first piece with regard to longitudinal placement. No datum. No benchmark. Guidance in the instructions on that would go a long way.

With the first dry fit, I started forward and lined up the forward well deck wash ports of the PE's Section A with the wash ports on the Trumpeter hull because, well, they lined up. This was my benchmark. Many of the portholes of the first section lined up as well, with this benchmark. In doing this, I discovered some of this coping strip (within the red circle) required trimming.

 

Part of this coping strip, aft, required trimming as well.

 

Unfortunately, I had not noticed the partially covered porthole until much later, after I had already done significant surgery to the hull. Shifting everything 1mm forward was not an option, in my mind. That would cause more surgery required, not to mention who knows what all else.

Again, I'm considering trimming the PE to expose the porthole fully.

 

The Well Deck Bulwarks:

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have decided to not cut these away. Having seen Evan's work on his Titanic in this regard, I was very much interested in removing these bulwarks as well. The only difference for me would be replacing the curvature of the bulwark forward (forward well deck) and bulwark curvature aft (aft well deck) with styrene, as the PE would take care of the rest. I figured I could follow and replicate Evan's lead on this and was 90% committed to take the plunge. Only one more question remained. Would the KA and/or Pontos PE I have, representing the inboard side of these bulwarks, line up with the Mini Brass PE? 

 

KA PE, forward well deck, Port.

 

KA PE, aft well deck, Port.

 

Unfortunately, they do not line up. Pontos does not line up either. Rats.

 

As far as I know, there is no other AM PE available for the inboard side of these bulwarks. These are the only two options. Having said that, I want to use the KA PE in these places and I figure the thickness of the Trumpeter hull will provide enough separation from the Mini Brass PE to render the misalignment a non-issue. Hence, my decision to leave the bulwarks intact.

Much thanks to Evan, regardless, for putting the thought in my head.

 

Not much else to say at this point. As mentioned, will do the porthole relocations next and then on to prepping the starboard side for the Mini Brass PE.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Mark

Edited January 13 by MisterMeester

[Force9]

Ahoy Mark...

 

Arghhhh... That is frustrating and disappointing to know that none of the available PE for the well deck interior bulwark details aligns with the Mini Brass exterior PE.  I had supposed that they would've lined up with the kit wash port and mooring port locations. It would be possible to fashion a thin styrene version to glue onto the inboard surface that would let you add similar detail as I did, but I can see how this is rapidly losing its appeal as the Units of Effort pile up.

 

Thanks for the exploration and the updates on your progress.

 

Cheers

Evan