Top coat

I'll start with a top tip - you can never spend too long painting. Rushing this part of the process will involve a lot of extra work going back over your model, removing paint and having to start over. Some golden rules here are to remember that although the paint may seem dry, you need to allow it to cure, otherwise when you go to mask over it, you will peel it off as if it were still wet. Also, when applying the paint, two or three thin coats, are more effective than one thick one.


So... how have I been getting along? Well take a look for yourself...

With the crimson red anti-fouling paint applied and the white 'deck' coat

With such and uneven surface it't almost impossible not to get a little overspray

Masking being applied ready for the black hull paint

Job done!

I try to apply at least 3 thin coats of paint from different angles to make sure I cover all of the surface. It is then left for at least 24 hours to cure before the next coat is applied. Then you can unmask it, allow it time to dry then move onto the next colour. It is always best to start with the light colours first, any over spray will then be covered by the darker layers. You can see the results for yourself. Amazing what a lick of paint can do to really bring a model to life.

This will now be left to dry completely for a couple of days to allow the paint to set, then I will touch up any areas that need it by hand before giving it an all over coat of satin varnish to really make her shine.

I am still really pleased with how the model is coming together and I cannot stress enough the importance of taking the time to get the job done right first time. As in the real thing, no cutting corners! 

Next I will be tackling the finishing touched to the hull before finally making a start on the lighting rig... a job I keep putting off but can no longer avoid.

Primed and ready

Seeing the hull now complete in all over black plastic does look good, though this is not going to sit well for a completed model. I have finally managed to get the paints I needed. Purchased from Hobbycraft stores at a cost of roughly £5 per tin.

The three colours are Crimson red, Cream, and Satin Black. I decided to use spray paints instead of the brush on paints provided because they give a more even coating and will over a larger area more easily. The other advantage is that you can apply several thin layers instead of one thick layer. Before the hull is painted it needs a covering of primer. I did think of using red oxide primer so I wouldn't need to paint the 'Anti-Fouling' layer on the lower part of the hull but when I checked the colour swatches the red oxide primer would have dried to a much lighter shade than was required. 


Its important to heed the warnings on spray cans when using them. They should always be used in a well ventilated environment and where possible not indoors. What I use is a very basic booth made from a cardboard box. I cut off one side so I can place the model inside and access it easily with the spray. With the Titanic's hull being such a large piece I ended up placing it on top of the box and priming the surface outdoors, luckily it was a nice day so I could get on with it knowing that in the sunshine it would dry quickly.

The hull with the first of three coats of primer.

By applying thin layers one at a time it retains the fine detail on the model

Once the primer had dried, I masked off the top section of the hull ready to apply
the red Crimson paint to the lower section

I taped pieces of newspaper to the top of the hull to avoid overspray from the crimson getting inside the hull. I will continue with the rest of the hull painting next time

Take her to sea

Sitting back with yet another brew in hand I have to admit I have enjoyed the last couple of evenings looking at the hull thinking about how it would look slowly rising out of the Harland and Wolff dry dock in Belfast. Indeed by the time it was due for launch from the dock ready for the interior fittings to be added it was already one of the tallest structures in the Irish city and thats without the four funnels.

Because of its massive size, it needed a rudder to match. Something that was capable of steering over 46,000 tonnes of ship. The rudder itself was over 78feet high and weighed over 100 tonnes. The rudder on the model comes in two halves which fitted together nicely without too much trouble at all. It may have been possible to made it move, but the effort involved in doing this along with the preparation and planning was one consideration, the other was that if I didn't get it quite right there would be a lot of back tracking to get it looking right and possibly a phone call to Revell to ask for a replacement. So in the end I decided against it. As a component though, it does give an idea of the scale of this colossal section.

They are moulded in white which against the shiny black hull do look a little odd at the moment but eventually they will all be the same colour. The other white components in the picture are the housings for the additional propeller shafts. If you have ever heard of Titanic being referred to as a "Triple Screw" vessel, this relates to the three screw propellers that powered her through the sea.

Before I fit the propellers, I will need to get hold of some 'Brass' paint. I will be painting these on the plastic sprue before I remove them and fit them, getting a paintbrush into small places is not as easy as it seems and experience has taught me this is the better option.

Holes in a sunken ship...

Drilling the portholes, neatening up those holes, sanding down the insides and cleaning the flash from the mouldings took all of three evenings to complete. When held against a light source the effect the interior lighting will have on the model was apparent straight away.

Certainly a boring task in every sense but in the end worth every drop of tea consumed in order to keep my sanity. The two halves would now need to be joined together. On the model this is helped by a couple of locating lugs molded into the hull, these will be invisible once the two halves are paired together. What I have to say though is that I was not very impressed with the way the keel of the ship looked. Trying to avoid any puns but more holes than Swiss cheese comes to mind. 

It took about two hours to clean the edges of the hull in order that it could fit together nicely without too many gaps. Some bending of the structure with it being plastic is inevitable as the mould cools and the plastic naturally contracts. With such large sections this becomes even more of an issue. 

I found the worst section to be over the large curved stern of the ship where it seemed as though this was almost moulded out of scale with the rest of it. In the end I resorted to using a sheet of fine wet n dry sand paper to file this down, test fitting all the time.

*Top tip* when removing extra plastic remember to remove just a little at a time, test fitting between sanding. Its much easier to remove another small section than to have to add a lump of filler to fill the gap after.

Eventually it fitted together nicely, I have decided that I may go over the keel again with some filler later if it still doesn't look quite right. The model will be displayed on its stand and as with anything that has interior lighting, it is just crying out to be viewed at close quarters.

I hope the pictures above give a good idea of the size of the model. At almost 26 inches in length its anything but small. I would also like to point out that the pink hair bands are not my own and were donated by my daughter to help hold it together while the glue dried. I left it like this for 24 hours, much longer than the recommended 2 because this is what everything else will eventually be resting on and it needs to be one of the strongest components.

It was at this point I realised I had missed a section of portholes on the starboard side and had to drill these out. Knowing what I do about the history of the vessel and seeing the hull in an almost completed state it did feel almost surreal making holes in the sides...

Starting the build...my way

I'm starting off as the kit suggests with the main hull section. As I mentioned before this was in two halves which are kept rigid by three spacers to be fitted when you are ready to join them.

I have decided to make a small, well major alteration to the kit; the fitting of a lighting kit.

I will be making the lighting unit myself using what are known as "Grain of rice" LED bulbs. 

These things really are tiny and need to be handled with some care. I will be using a mixture of white and yellow to give a warm glow to the inside of the ship as fluorescent lighting did not exist in 1912 and I feel this combination will give the best feel when looking at the completed model. As such I will be painting the inside of the hull in an off-white colour eventually to help reflect the light inside.

In order to do this it will be necessary to drill out the portholes on each side of the hull. I have not counted them for the simple reason I don't want to know the scale of the task ahead! Needless to say to complete it took nearly four evenings work and had to be done in sections.

Using the pin vice I drilled out each porthole. Luckily there are only two different sized portholes on each side, the smaller ones are 0.9mm wide and the larger ones are 1.8mm. There are indentations on the sides marking the location of each porthole and the kit suggests just filling these with a dab of paint to suggest lighting. With the larger portholes I found it easier to keep the 0.9mm bit in the vice and drill a small pilot hole first before using the larger drill bit. A little more time consuming but well worth the effort in the end...

The first four holes are drilled. Held in front of a light source the effect is immediately apparent

                                       
Once completed, I think it looks much better and the internal lighting will compliment what is a very fine kit. I will admit that this is a very time consuming task and one not to be taken on lightly if you are thinking about this yourself. Many cups of tea were consumed in order that my sanity would remain


Next it was time to neaten up the whole process as there were cases where the portholes lined up with markers on the inside to support the decks later in the built. Where these parts had been drilled through, I filed them back using both the hand files and some fine grade sand paper so that later on the deck sections would still be able to sit flush. It was also necessary in some cased to drill from the rear outwards to neaten up the holes. Again, DO NOT rush this part of it, the time taken to make things look right now will pay off in the end as the model nears completion.

The Tools

I cannot stress the importance of having the right tools for the job at hand. This is the basic set that I would suggest anyone get hold of before embarking on the task of kit building. They are all available from http://www.expotools.com/ from left to right they are;


A standard Stanley Knife with spare blades. Cutting hard plastic will eventually blunt them.
A scalpel. For light scoring and removing flash from smaller parts
A Pin Vice (Drill bits underneath). A very useful hand tool for drilling small holes, the bits range from 0.2mm to 2mm in diameter. When using this tool I keep a small piece of cardboard between my fingers to stop the end of the tool rubbing or marking my skin
Wire-cutters. For removing parts from their moldings
Files of various grades and shapes, the two inner files are both round, one is fine the other more coarse.
A steel ruler. For checking parts are correctly aligned.


I may be telling you how to suck eggs, but remember that both Stanley knives and Scalpels can be unbelievably sharp and to always try to cut away from your fingers.


This is my basic starting kit, sometimes other tools are needed and should I require anything else, I will make sure to let you know. Likewise, if anyone would like to let me know of any other useful additions I'd love to hear from you.


Next I start the build...

About the model

The model comes from Revell to a scale of 1:400. The kit itself in its current form or similar has been around for a number of years now. However to mark the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the vessel a special edition was released. This contains what I believe to be some re-tooled parts along with reprints of both historical records, White Star Line postcards and information obtained from the Titanic Museum in Germany. 


The kit contains a total of 159 individual parts. They are all plastic moulded with the exception of a spool of cotton to be used later in the build.


The instructions are to Revell's usual standard and are as clear and concise as can be expected for something designed to be multi-lingual. A lot of it is pictorial and is very easy to follow. 


The two largest sections are the two that make up the hull. It has been split into two halfs and getting them together quickly will give you an idea of scale. 


Next I will write about the tools...