Posted by Loren Perry on June 27, 1998 at 04:06:30 in nts66.rockisland.com:
In Reply to: Re: skylight colours posted by Mike Pell on June 26, 1998 at 08:13:09:
Glad the parts reached you okay.
About my skylights - I arched my
forward First Class skylight to comply with
Ken Marschall's artwork, and left the aft
skylight flat, again to match his art. To
arch the forward one, I cemented the clear
skylight cover onto the white housing (both
parts from the Minicraft kit) and when dry,
I cut out the center of the clear parts and
then rounded the front and back into a smooth
radius. Next, I CA-glued the brass top in place.
Be sure to thin the walls of the white housing
as much as you can to allow a clear acetate
window pane to be inserted later. Otherwise,
you won't be able to make the pane large
enough to completely fill all the outer
windows.
Now paint the completed skylight and then
add the clear acetate. Do NOT glue the acetate in
place using CA-type glue because this will
fog the clear plastic. Instead, use Krystal
Kleer, or a white glue. And be careful not to
pre-curve the acetate too much or the plastic
will craze from the stress.
I painted the floors of the skylight
housings Floquil Marine Colors Ocean Gray
to match Marschall's artwork.
Photos of my completed model will be
taken in mid-July and later on I'll send a batch to
Sean W. for posting on this site. I may
also make available glossy prints for sale
to Titanic model enthusiasts if there's any
interest.
My completed model has several interesting
features: Virtually all the confirmed details
mentioned on this site have been worked into
the model with only a few minor exceptions, all
due to the tight deadline I've had to work
under. The forecastle is completely reworked
with repositioned breakwater, new vents and
conduits, skylight, galley chimney, and
detailed mast, crow's nest, and derrick boom,
the latter rigged with miniature pulleys. The
center anchor and the smaller kedge anchor
are also present.
The bridge has full interior detailing,
a "wood" deck on its top, and raised footboards
inside the bridge wings. New semaphore lamps
on the bridge wing cabs are made from clear
plastic rod. Captain Smoth and First Officer
Murdoch are on the starboard bridge wing. Other
officers are on the left as well as inside the
wheelhouse.
All funnels now sport triple whistles with
whistle platforms and railing, ladders, and
improved steam piping.
All lifeboats are fully rigged and chained
down. They also have tiny red "white star" banners
fore and aft and all boats are numbered (except
the collapsibles.) The numbers were taken from a
GMM 1/192 Naval Ship decal set (GMM No. 192-1D @
$5.00 plus postage) - I used the draft marks by
cutting the numerals apart and applying
them one by one to both sides and both ends of
each boat.
The poop deck has improved raised skylight
structures (under the docking bridge), additional
goose-neck vents under same, and covered cable
reels near the forward corners. The docking bridge
has improved instruments, wheel, and engine order
telegraphs. Red warning signs are mounted to the
outside rails, and a clear running light (MV lens
No. 300) has been added to the stern rail. A
second kedge anchor is secured to its rack near
the extreme aft end, just ahead of the flagstaff.
BTW I now believe the round bases of the
electric cargo cranes are all a tad undersize.
I found this out when I compared their heights
to that of the railing and the covered cable reels.
Also, I couldn't get enough ladder rungs to go
up their sides due to the lower heights. IMHO,
the crane bases should be raised in height about
two scale feet or so. But their tops (the part
that holds the boom's rigging) should be lowered
by the same amount or so. As they are, their total
overall height is about right, but with too much
of it in the upper part and not enough in their
bases.
The promenade decks have added detail on their
outer bulwarks including the 20 triangular supports,
draped rigging hanging from same, scuppers near
the middle, and rounded bead seams running below
the windows and blending into the top of the
solid rail aft.
All rigging is secured to tiny eyebolts set
into the decks - these were taken from a GMM
N-scale steam locomotive detail set (GMM No.
160-42 @ $14.00 plus postage) - I used the
locomotive handgrab stanchions for these - the set
includes hundreds.
All wooden decks are painted using a three-
color system I developed which employs one
Floquil paint and two Floquil stains, all bought
at model railroad shops. The paint is called
"Mud" and the stains are called "Natural Pine"
and "Driftwood".
I airbrushed the Mud on first. When dry, I
took a tiny pointed brush and then "dry-brushed"
thin longitudinal stripes of Driftwood along the
length of the decks, each stripe about the width
of a plank or two. Do this randomly. Next, I
did the same with the Natural Pine. Finally, I
did the same (again), this time with the Mud,
which kept the overall color pretty close to the
Mud. The result really fools the eye into thinking
it's looking at real wood planking.
All the large windows and pilothouse windows
are glazed with clear plastic. I didn't do the
portholes - all are left unglazed. Not enough
time, and no guarantee I could make them all
uniform enough. Nor did I paint their brass rims -
same reasons.
All the benches are replaced with the new GMM
etched brass benches. Over 90 deck chairs are
on the promenade and boat decks. More than 200
painted and shaped figures are standing and seated
all over the ship. The four-piece band is playing
an inpromptu concert on the boat deck, port side,
where the real band performed it's final numbers.
A small crowd of figures is gathered round the
musicians. I did this as a demonstrator technique
mostly - I don't think the band ever played
outdoors prior to the disaster.
And of course I have Rose and Jack "flying" at
the extreme bow.
All rigging is done with nylon invisible
thread sold at better fabric shops. I painted
the mast rigging black but left the funnel
rigging in its natural "smoked" color for
variation.
The model is a waterline version now. I sawed
the lower hull off and built a sea base to display
it underway.
At the IPMS show in Santa Clara July 1 through
4, the model in its clear case will be displayed
just below eye level for adults. A portable stereo
will be playing CD's of actual White Star music
as well as waltzes, ragtime, and Celtic airs.
And of course the famous film's soundtrack.
The White Star music is sold through the
Public Broadcasting System's "Wireless" mail
order music service. There are two CD's available
- one is called Titanic - Music as Heard on the
Fateful Voyage. The other is called And The Band
Played On. Both are excellent with very little
duplication between them.
I'll let the future photos speak further
about the details. Hope this didn't bore anyone.
Sincere apologies if it did.