Titanic Trumpeter 1/200 by InkMot

[InkMot]

B and C Deck Superstructure and B Deck


The B and C Deck superstructure is glued in place. i ended up doing the port side twice because I wasn’t careful with my alignment. Take your time to dry fit B deck (lower right in picture) to ensure proper for and aft placement of the superstructure.


B-Deck is in place, with wood decking and bulkheads for the Cafe Parisian and First Class private promenades, etc. I chose to not replicate the details of the Cafe Parisian or the private promenades because I’m not lighting the model and, well, I get lazy. Seriously though, I’ve set limits on myself with this project so that I can get it done before I’m dead. My plan has been to focus on detailing the obvious and doing the minimum on the hidden areas.


Pay attention to the height of your B-Deck bulkheads. Test fit A-Deck to ensure that your B deck bulkheads aren’t raising A-deck too high. I had to play with this a lot. Also, if you’re installing wooden decking, be careful to clear out space for the bulkheads to mate directly with the plastic of B-Deck, otherwise they’ll sit too high. I chose not to glaze the inside windows of B-deck. I might regret that later, but there are sooo many more windows to glaze on the upper decks.

 

[Beau]

Your painting look great, just one observation, the anchor well in the bow on the Titanic was white.

 

[Wedgie01]

B and C Deck Superstructure and B Deck

View attachment 547081
The B and C Deck superstructure is glued in place. i ended up doing the port side twice because I wasn’t careful with my alignment. Take your time to dry fit B deck (lower right in picture) to ensure proper for and aft placement of the superstructure.

View attachment 547082
B-Deck is in place, with wood decking and bulkheads for the Cafe Parisian and First Class private promenades, etc. I chose to not replicate the details of the Cafe Parisian or the private promenades because I’m not lighting the model and, well, I get lazy. Seriously though, I’ve set limits on myself with this project so that I can get it done before I’m dead. My plan has been to focus on detailing the obvious and doing the minimum on the hidden areas.

View attachment 547083
Pay attention to the height of your B-Deck bulkheads. Test fit A-Deck to ensure that your B deck bulkheads aren’t raising A-deck too high. I had to play with this a lot. Also, if you’re installing wooden decking, be careful to clear out space for the bulkheads to mate directly with the plastic of B-Deck, otherwise they’ll sit too high. I chose not to glaze the inside windows of B-deck. I might regret that later, but there are sooo many more windows to glaze on the upper decks.

Thanks for sharing all your tips. The building up is looking really good and the painted areas so far; amazing. I'm one of those people who, no matter how much masking tape I use, always seems to get bleed in between two colours. :-(

 

[Alan Smith]

A few of the plates were mis-numbered, but it’s pretty easy to identify what needs to go where.

Famous last words.

 

[InkMot]

Your painting look great, just one observation, the anchor well in the bow on the Titanic was white.

I was basing my colors on reference photos like this. The color ones are from “Titanic Honor and Glory”, the black and white image is from the Olympic…probably later in her career. It appears to me in these photos that the floor of the well was either dark grey or black.

 

[InkMot]

Thanks for sharing all your tips. The building up is looking really good and the painted areas so far; amazing. I'm one of those people who, no matter how much masking tape I use, always seems to get bleed in between two colours. :-(

I like using the Tamiya masking tape. The adhesive on it holds its place without damaging painted surfaces. I just buy rolls of the 3mm size to define my edges and then use regular painter’s tape to fill in the rest. I avoid loading up paint near tape seams, preferring to spray light coats that are just enough to cover. This helps to minimize bleeding and those annoying ridges that form.

 

[Alan Smith]

the black and white image is from the Olympic…probably later in her career. It appears to me in these photos that the floor of the well was either dark grey or black.

These old black and white films were 'ortho' type. Red would also look dark grey, since ortho film was not sensitive to red light. So it cold have been red oxide.

 

[InkMot]

These old black and white films were 'ortho' type. Red would also look dark grey, since ortho film was not sensitive to red light. So it cold have been red oxide.

It certainly could be. That’s what’s frustrating about this model. There are so many open-ended questions about what color something should be or how many blades the center screw had…makes me nuts.

I’m tempted to just make the entire model in grey scale.

 

[InkMot]

Installing A Deck

Since I’m using the Woody’s Model Works A and B Deck PE superstructure, I’m not following Trumpeter’s proscribed process for assembling the superstructure. The instructions call for you to assemble everything, C through Boat decks, off of the hull and then mount that as a whole on the hull. I’m building everything on the hull as I go. The Woody’s A and B superstructure will get glued to the outside edges of the Boat and A decks later. This approach will also require the addition of styrene strips in various places. I’ll show you that later.

With my process, A Deck had to be placed exactly on top of the bulkheads B-Deck deck houses and I had to make sure that the edges of A Deck fit tightly into the lip at the top of my C-Deck superstructure from the kit (Which was cut down to accommodate the Woody’s PE going in above it).


A-Deck prior to installation.
Note the black paint surrounding the wood decking. I sanded the plastic deck down to remove the molded planking and to make room for the layer of wood decking. After that, I sprayed it with black paint. This helps the wood decking show better (the real wood had black tar in the joints). As mentioned previously, I use the adhesive that comes on the wood decking to stick it to dark tissue paper. I then glue that to the plastic deck using Gorilla Wood glue. This makes it easier to mount in the correct place and allows you to make the inevitable adjustments before the glue dries. It is also supposed to last longer.

Overhead I Beams
Since I didn’t purchase the Woody’s Model Works B Deck I Beams kit, I made some myself using styrene strips mounted to the bottom of A-deck. I think this works fine, although I made mine too close together. In retrospect, I should’ve gotten the Woody’s kit since it also includes I beams for the aft deck area and the thin area under the promenade. I still might order the kit just to do that lower area. You can see the styrene strips I added to the open promenade areas over B-deck.


You need to be careful that the I beams don’t interfere with the contact area where A Deck attaches to the lower bulkheads.

I spent a great deal of time with the dry fit. Some of the B-deck bulkheads had to be shaved down. Since I mounted the kit superstructure to the hull first, both sides were leaning a bit outboard and needed to be pulled in to mate properly with A-deck. I needed a lot of clamps for this. In fact, I needed a couple more than I had on hand.

A-Deck clamped in place.
I used a combination of Tester’s Model Cement (red tube, original fumes) and CA glue. The Tester’s glue was used on the tops of the B-Deck bulkheads and along the edge of A-deck where it mates with the kit superstructure. CA was used later to tack down sections of deck that didn’t adhere well with the Tester’s.

I also used strips of wood to protect the hull form the clamps.

 

[Wedgie01]

What size styrene strip did you use for the under deck support beams? I'm wanting to do a similar thing, but can't really afford the Woody's PE upgrades.

 

[InkMot]

What size styrene strip did you use for the under deck support beams? I'm wanting to do a similar thing, but can't really afford the Woody's PE upgrades.

I used 0.13mm styrene. Make your beams 1.5mm tall and space them 4.25mm apart. The ones in my photos are too close together.

My measurements are based on the Woody’s Model Works I beams that I have.

 

[Wedgie01]

I used 0.13mm styrene. Make your beams 1.5mm tall and space them 4.25mm apart. The ones in my photos are too close together.

My measurements are based on the Woody’s Model Works I beams that I have.
View attachment 548806

Thanks very much for that.

 

[InkMot]

Making Window Glass and Building A-Deck Houses

Painting Deck Houses


Not much to see here. All deck houses were primed and sprayed Vallejo Air Flat White. I do hit some parts of the superstructure with semi-gloss clear, but not the internal or harder to see stuff like this.

Making Window Glass
There are so many windows in the Titanic superstructure that you’ll have to adopt a strategy for making them since the kit only comes with a few stained glass panels. Hand-cutting them all out of acetate was a non-starter for me, so I went with the Midwest Model Shop suggestion to use a Cricut. I found a used Cricut on eBay for for about $250 USD. Cricut has a broad range of machines and they’ve been on the market for quite a while. This means that you’ll be faced with a lot of choices if you decide to grab a used one for your project. They’re basically classified by the size of their cutting area and the type of materials they can cut. You will need a model that will handle an area of about 25cm by 30 cm, capable of cutting acetate. I went with the first edition of the Cricut Maker (they’re up to v3, I think) because it can cut balsa wood, but you can easily use an older and cheaper model.

Cricut has a proprietary design environment that’s pretty simple to learn. Take the time to watch the numerous You Tube videos that Cricut publishes which will explain how everything works. The Cricut is a part maker, which means that it doesn’t care how you lay out your shapes because it’s just going to arrange them and cut them how it wants. So you’ll see plenty of video examples where they’re just stacking shapes on top of each other and it might not make sense for modelers who seek to manufacture a couple hundred windows and keep them organized by type. Once you make, duplicate and arrange all of your shapes (I added part numbers next to my groups), select all pieces and look for the “Attach” feature in the lower right of the frame. This tells the Cricut that you want all of your parts attached and arranged exactly as you’ve placed them. I’ve just saved you a few hours.

My Cricut Design File for Trumpeter Titanic Windows:
Here is the link to my Cricut design file for the Trumpeter Titanic windows: https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/689b7ee89641b6fe226490d5



This picture shows the Cricut design software with all of my window shapes arranged just as I wanted them. Note the numbered groups.


My Cricut Maker ready to cut out a few hundred Titanic windows

Cricut makes its own acetate that works with their machine. I haven’t tested any other kind, so I don’t know if regular plastic will work. I picked up a package of Cricut acetate at Michael’s. Their acetate has a thin plastic covering on BOTH sides. I suggest that you remove the top layer before you cut, keeping the bottom layer to hold your parts in place. The Cricut comes with plastic cutting sheets with a sticky surface that hold your material in place for cutting. You just need to align your acetate on this and install the cutting blade. The photo below shows what my windows looked like after cutting.


Cut windows sitting on top of the plastic cutting sheet.

Installing Windows
My process goes something like this:

1. Coat window opening with Kristal Klear, using toothpick
2. Select window from sheet (I’ve also had success pealing off a bunch of the same window and dumping them in a small bowl for selection.) and peal off protective plastic
4. Pick up the window using a wax pencil, and insert it into window opening
5. Cut out window frame and pick up using wax pencil
6. Dip edges of window frame in CA glue and insert into window opening over top of window (NOTE all window frames are from the MK.1 Detail set, but you can do the same with the kit frames)


Applying Kristal Klear to window opening.


Inserting window using wax pencil. Blobs of Kristal Klear will disappear once they dry.


Installing the window frames (MK.1 Detail set ) using a wax pencil and CA glue


It’s a lot of factory work, but you eventually get all of the windows installed and then you can move on to the railings.

Installing Railings
I used the points of my calipers to scribe some short guidelines for placing the railings. This allowed me to get a consistent height and alignment. I also pre-sprayed all of my railings white before cutting them from the PE. I used tweezers to dip each railing in CA and mount to the deck houses wall. I finished each railing with a thin line of dark brown along the top edge.

Applying a thin line of dark brown enamel on each railing.


The deck houses set in place but not glued. You can see the windows (including the stained glass) and painted railings in place. Door windows were painted black. The MK.1 detail set includes replacement doors, but I used those only to add doors where the kit omits them and to upgrade the sliding doors on either ends of the deck house wall.


MK.1 doors and ladders in place. Note the ventilation grills are painted white. This is a mistake, I’ll change them to all black later.

Glueing Deck Houses to A Deck
The deck house structures were glued in place using a combination of CA and Tester’s model cement…and a crap-ton of heavy weight to secure them in place. (See photos below)

 

[Wedgie01]

Making Window Glass and Building A-Deck Houses

Painting Deck Houses

View attachment 551702
Not much to see here. All deck houses were primed and sprayed Vallejo Air Flat White. I do hit some parts of the superstructure with semi-gloss clear, but not the internal or harder to see stuff like this.

Making Window Glass
There are so many windows in the Titanic superstructure that you’ll have to adopt a strategy for making them since the kit only comes with a few stained glass panels. Hand-cutting them all out of acetate was a non-starter for me, so I went with the Midwest Model Shop suggestion to use a Cricut. I found a used Cricut on eBay for for about $250 USD. Cricut has a broad range of machines and they’ve been on the market for quite a while. This means that you’ll be faced with a lot of choices if you decide to grab a used one for your project. They’re basically classified by the size of their cutting area and the type of materials they can cut. You will need a model that will handle an area of about 25cm by 30 cm, capable of cutting acetate. I went with the first edition of the Cricut Maker (they’re up to v3, I think) because it can cut balsa wood, but you can easily use an older and cheaper model.

Cricut has a proprietary design environment that’s pretty simple to learn. Take the time to watch the numerous You Tube videos that Cricut publishes which will explain how everything works. The Cricut is a part maker, which means that it doesn’t care how you lay out your shapes because it’s just going to arrange them and cut them how it wants. So you’ll see plenty of video examples where they’re just stacking shapes on top of each other and it might not make sense for modelers who seek to manufacture a couple hundred windows and keep them organized by type. Once you make, duplicate and arrange all of your shapes (I added part numbers next to my groups), select all pieces and look for the “Attach” feature in the lower right of the frame. This tells the Cricut that you want all of your parts attached and arranged exactly as you’ve placed them. I’ve just saved you a few hours.

View attachment 551687
This picture shows the Cricut design software with all of my window shapes arranged just as I wanted them. Note the numbered groups.

View attachment 551714
My Cricut Maker ready to cut out a few hundred Titanic windows

Cricut makes its own acetate that works with their machine. I haven’t tested any other kind, so I don’t know if regular plastic will work. I picked up a package of Cricut acetate at Michael’s. Their acetate has a thin plastic covering on BOTH sides. I suggest that you remove the top layer before you cut, keeping the bottom layer to hold your parts in place. The Cricut comes with plastic cutting sheets with a sticky surface that hold your material in place for cutting. You just need to align your acetate on this and install the cutting blade. The photo below shows what my windows looked like after cutting.

View attachment 551690
Cut windows sitting on top of the plastic cutting sheet.

Installing Windows
My process goes something like this:

1. Coat window opening with Kristal Klear, using toothpick
2. Select window from sheet (I’ve also had success pealing off a bunch of the same window and dumping them in a small bowl for selection.) and peal off protective plastic
4. Pick up the window using a wax pencil, and insert it into window opening
5. Cut out window frame and pick up using wax pencil
6. Dip edges of window frame in CA glue and insert into window opening over top of window (NOTE all window frames are from the MK.1 Detail set, but you can do the same with the kit frames)

View attachment 551703
Applying Kristal Klear to window opening.

View attachment 551704View attachment 551705
Inserting window using wax pencil. Blobs of Kristal Klear will disappear once they dry.

View attachment 551715
Installing the window frames (MK.1 Detail set ) using a wax pencil and CA glue

View attachment 551707
It’s a lot of factory work, but you eventually get all of the windows installed and then you can move on to the railings.

Installing Railings
I used the points of my calipers to scribe some short guidelines for placing the railings. This allowed me to get a consistent height and alignment. I also pre-sprayed all of my railings white before cutting them from the PE. I used tweezers to dip each railing in CA and mount to the deck houses wall. I finished each railing with a thin line of dark brown along the top edge.
View attachment 551708
Applying a thin line of dark brown enamel on each railing.

View attachment 551709View attachment 551697
The deck houses set in place but not glued. You can see the windows (including the stained glass) and painted railings in place. Door windows were painted black. The MK.1 detail set includes replacement doors, but I used those only to add doors where the kit omits them and to upgrade the sliding doors on either ends of the deck house wall.

View attachment 551716
MK.1 doors and ladders in place. Note the ventilation grills are painted white. This is a mistake, I’ll change them to all black later.

Glueing Deck Houses to A Deck
The deck house structures were glued in place using a combination of CA and Tester’s model cement…and a crap-ton of heavy weight to secure them in place. (See photos below)

View attachment 551712View attachment 551713

I have a Cricut which I've used to make some parts for my models. I don't suppose you're able to share the file? Understand fully if not, but would appreciate the window measurements you have used to set up my own file. That's an awful lot of work.

 

[InkMot]

I have a Cricut which I've used to make some parts for my models. I don't suppose you're able to share the file? Understand fully if not, but would appreciate the window measurements you have used to set up my own file. That's an awful lot of work.

I'm happy to share it. I just need to figure out how.

 

[Wedgie01]

I'm happy to share it. I just need to figure out how.

Being new to AI things, thought I'd give it a try. Siri came back with the following:

How to Share Your Project​

1. Open Your Project: Launch Cricut Design Space and select the project you want to share.
2. Make Your Project Public:
   • Click on the option labeled "Make Public in Design Space."
   • Confirm that you want to make the project public.
3. Share the Project:
   • Go to your profile and find the project under "Shared Projects."
   • Click the share icon next to your project.
   • Choose how you want to share it: copy the link, or share directly to social media platforms like Facebook or Pinterest.

 

[InkMot]

Being new to AI things, thought I'd give it a try. Siri came back with the following:

How to Share Your Project​

1. Open Your Project: Launch Cricut Design Space and select the project you want to share.
2. Make Your Project Public:
   • Click on the option labeled "Make Public in Design Space."
   • Confirm that you want to make the project public.
3. Share the Project:
   • Go to your profile and find the project under "Shared Projects."
   • Click the share icon next to your project.
   • Choose how you want to share it: copy the link, or share directly to social media platforms like Facebook or Pinterest.

Thanks! Saw that! Here is the link to my Cricut file. Good luck!

Cricut Design Space

Cricut Design Space

design.cricut.com

 

[Wedgie01]

Thanks! Saw that! Here is the link to my Cricut file. Good luck!

Cricut Design Space

Cricut Design Space

design.cricut.com

Hey mate,

Thanks so much for sharing this file. You did an awesome job with the design of the windows. Very much appreciated.

 

[InkMot]

Installing Woody’s Beam Kit under Boat Deck

I installed the Woody’s Model Works Promenade Deck Beams kit (https://www.maritimemodels.co.uk/store/p20/Titanic-ibeams-Photo-Etch-set-Trumpeter.html#/)

This is a well-done and very detailed set. I’m finding the installation pretty straightforward, other than a minor mis-labeling of parts (Port and Starboard are swapped) There’s a lot of time spent folding up the beams, but they’re simple 90-degree bends. There’s is a small telegraph box to fold that installs under the bridge that was easily tackled with a PE bender.

The telegraph box is nicely modeled under the bridge

The Woody’s directions instruct you to remove all of the structure beneath the boat deck and to fill any holes. You also need to run a 2mm strip long the outside edge. I started this process using a powered sander and finished using Tamiya putting and more sanding.



Underside of boat deck, showing sanded and filled areas. Note white styrene strips on forward edge. This is to align the PE bridge face with the lower deck. More on this later.

If you’re installing LED lights, there are extra instructions from Woody’s that include scribing channels for wiring, etc.

Since I’m also installing the Woody’s A&B deck superstructure, I’m building my superstructure up on the hull, instead of building everything off of the hull as per Trumpeter instructions. Because of this, I had to dry fit the Boat deck so that I could trace a pencil line to ensure that the PE beams wouldn’t interfere with the top edge of the deck houses on A-deck. The pencil lines helped to align the PE pieces later.


The Boat deck in place on A-Deck for alignment check and tracing of the A-Deck structures. Painter’s tape protects wood decking. Note oak base under construction. I post separately about this later.


I attached my first section with E6000 but abandoned that for some thin (and evil!) CA. The E6000 is too thick and makes a mess. I think epoxy might be just as messy. I just taped the sections in place and used the capillary flow of the CA to secure everything. Woody’s designs the sections with removable borders inboard and outboard of each section. They help you align the pieces and they keep the many tiny sections straight until you’ve glued everything in place. They’re relatively easy to cut off after the glue dries.


Bottom of Boat Deck showing prepped areas and traced lines, ready for installation.

Another thing to keep in mind is your order of operations with prepping the Boat deck. If you’re using wood decking, I suggest the following:
1. Prep the underside of the Boat deck per Woody’s instructions
2. Flip over and install wood decking on Boat deck
3. Protect wood decking with painter’s tape
4. Dry fit the Boat deck and trace a pencil line along the top edge of the A-deck houses
5. Flip back over and install PE beams, ensuring that they don’t overlap pencil lines
6. Paint beams


First section glued in place with E-6000 (later changed to thin CA). All beams have been bent up. Cross beams, taken from removable boarders and located near where they’re to be installed, are in place.

Beam construction concludes with the installation of the longitudinal cross braces which are found well, labeled in the kit. They go in place after everything else is secured. I imagine they’d pop off if you attempted to install them before the sections were secured.


Painting

I sprayed everything with two coats of Vallejo Air Flat White. This covered everything well and I’m not planning a clear coat since it’s not going to be exposed to handling.

Painted beams showing longitudinal beams in place.

After painting the beams and frames, I bent some 1mm brass bars and cut some 2mm styrene strips to create the piping and vents suspended from the ceiling. Woody’s provides a nice diagram for this. These were secured in place with CA.

Un-painted piping and venting glued in place.

Finally, another two coats of Vallejo white was sprayed over everything and we’re ready to install on the hull!

 

[Wedgie01]

Installing Woody’s Beam Kit under Boat Deck

I installed the Woody’s Model Works Promenade Deck Beams kit (https://www.maritimemodels.co.uk/store/p20/Titanic-ibeams-Photo-Etch-set-Trumpeter.html#/)

This is a well-done and very detailed set. I’m finding the installation pretty straightforward, other than a minor mis-labeling of parts (Port and Starboard are swapped) There’s a lot of time spent folding up the beams, but they’re simple 90-degree bends. There’s is a small telegraph box to fold that installs under the bridge that was easily tackled with a PE bender.
View attachment 552707
The telegraph box is nicely modeled under the bridge

The Woody’s directions instruct you to remove all of the structure beneath the boat deck and to fill any holes. You also need to run a 2mm strip long the outside edge. I started this process using a powered sander and finished using Tamiya putting and more sanding.


View attachment 552704
Underside of boat deck, showing sanded and filled areas. Note white styrene strips on forward edge. This is to align the PE bridge face with the lower deck. More on this later.

If you’re installing LED lights, there are extra instructions from Woody’s that include scribing channels for wiring, etc.

Since I’m also installing the Woody’s A&B deck superstructure, I’m building my superstructure up on the hull, instead of building everything off of the hull as per Trumpeter instructions. Because of this, I had to dry fit the Boat deck so that I could trace a pencil line to ensure that the PE beams wouldn’t interfere with the top edge of the deck houses on A-deck. The pencil lines helped to align the PE pieces later.

View attachment 552702View attachment 552705
The Boat deck in place on A-Deck for alignment check and tracing of the A-Deck structures. Painter’s tape protects wood decking. Note oak base under construction. I post separately about this later.


I attached my first section with E6000 but abandoned that for some thin (and evil!) CA. The E6000 is too thick and makes a mess. I think epoxy might be just as messy. I just taped the sections in place and used the capillary flow of the CA to secure everything. Woody’s designs the sections with removable borders inboard and outboard of each section. They help you align the pieces and they keep the many tiny sections straight until you’ve glued everything in place. They’re relatively easy to cut off after the glue dries.

View attachment 552703
Bottom of Boat Deck showing prepped areas and traced lines, ready for installation.

Another thing to keep in mind is your order of operations with prepping the Boat deck. If you’re using wood decking, I suggest the following:
1. Prep the underside of the Boat deck per Woody’s instructions
2. Flip over and install wood decking on Boat deck
3. Protect wood decking with painter’s tape
4. Dry fit the Boat deck and trace a pencil line along the top edge of the A-deck houses
5. Flip back over and install PE beams, ensuring that they don’t overlap pencil lines
6. Paint beams

View attachment 552704
First section glued in place with E-6000 (later changed to thin CA). All beams have been bent up. Cross beams, taken from removable boarders and located near where they’re to be installed, are in place.

Beam construction concludes with the installation of the longitudinal cross braces which are found well, labeled in the kit. They go in place after everything else is secured. I imagine they’d pop off if you attempted to install them before the sections were secured.


Painting

I sprayed everything with two coats of Vallejo Air Flat White. This covered everything well and I’m not planning a clear coat since it’s not going to be exposed to handling.
View attachment 552707View attachment 552708
Painted beams showing longitudinal beams in place.

After painting the beams and frames, I bent some 1mm brass bars and cut some 2mm styrene strips to create the piping and vents suspended from the ceiling. Woody’s provides a nice diagram for this. These were secured in place with CA.
View attachment 552716
Un-painted piping and venting glued in place.

Finally, another two coats of Vallejo white was sprayed over everything and we’re ready to install on the hull!
View attachment 552717

An incredible amount of work, but the results are amazing. Well done there!