My Obsession

IT'S DONE!!

2008-12-15T20:52:00.001-08:00

I finally finished it after four years of on-again off-again work! While careful and close examination would reveal many flaws that bring me great shame, I must say I am happy with the way it turned out.

The ship now rests on an old piece of mahogany I salvaged from a piano my sister threw away and is covered by a plexiglass case I built myself. It is lit from within by twelve LEDs and lit from above with nine LEDs.

If you're going to light a model of the Titanic, you must do justice to its most striking feature which is the Grand Staircase with its magnificent skylight. I took a top view picture to show this skylight lit.

Notice that I have the rudder set for full astern which was the first stage of trying to save the doomed ship. Second Officer Lightoller ordered full astern followed by a quick full to port to try to port-round the iceberg. Unfortunately for him and the 1200 who died on April 14, 1912, he also ordered engines full reverse which reduced the amount of water flowing past his rudder and thereby reducing the ship's ability to turn. The rudder was too small anyway, so there was probably nothing Lightoller could have done.

I have a replica of a third class dining plate that I plan to display beside her and I am shopping on Ebay for an authentic piece of coal taken from the Titanic debris field to display with it as well.

Now that I'm done with this mammoth project, I have two car models I have started. The first is a 1977 Mustang II. The Mustang II was a throwaway piece of crap, but I've never seen one in a kit before, so I couldn't resist buying it. The other is a 1970 Dodge Charger. I'm going to see how much work it will take to convert this kit into a 1970 Plymouth Satellite which was the first car I can ever remember riding in. My parents had a 1970 Plymouth Satellite with a 427 Hemi and a Ram-Air hood scoop. I've already purchased the metallic brown and clear coat to try to replicate my parents' car.

I am still trying to acquire a 1/350 scale model of the Lusitania (I have a soft spot for doomed ocean liners) but the kit is exceedingly popular right now and the manufacturer and online hobby dealers are sold out. I am also looking at doing a resin kit of the Edmund Fitzgerald. That kit is almost $300, so if I acquire that kit, it will take my entire 2009 hobby budget.

Update as of November 16

2008-11-16T23:50:00.001-08:00

It's getting close to done! I still have the two rear sets of lifeboat davits and associated rails to attach. I also have to install the poop deck rails, life preservers, signs, and rails on the aft docking station.

After that, There's lots of touch up to do and fine finishing on some of the putty fills I had to do.

I salvaged a nice piece of old mahogany from a piano my sister scrapped on which to display the model. I also have to buy a high amperage 4.5 volt adapter and switch for the lights.

I hope to get the Lusitania for Christmas!

Titanic Lit

2008-11-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

The photos are kind of grainy, but here is the Titanic with all 12 LEDs working.

Progress as of October 28, 2008

2008-10-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

I have the entire boat deck done as well as the four funnels and the rigging that goes with them. I have not yet done the touch up on the paint. That will be the last step.

Bending the brass rails has proven much more difficult than I anticipated. The brass is so soft and bends so easily, it is hard to get mounted straight.

I've passed the halfway point now. I still have to finish the forecstle deck, construct, paint, and detail the entire poop deck, detail and place the masts, construct individual lifeboat davits, mount the lifeboats on the tiny, little davits, then do all of the rigging. Still have a long way to go!

Forecastle Deck

2008-10-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is the forecastle deck of the Titanic. I am very pleased with the modeling process on this deck.

I had to cut the point off of the deck because the actual ship had a recess at the front where an anchor was stored. I then reshaped the piece I cut off, flipped it over, and glued it into place to serve as the anchor platform. I have put contour putty in the seams, but have not yet sanded it or painted it. I have an etched brass grille that goes over top of this.

The mast platform was not part of the model (the gray area by the big hole at the rear of the deck. I used some spare parts and contour putty to build this area.

There are a number of valves use to control ballast that were not part of the original kit. The brass wheels came with the after-market kit, but I had to fashion the posts out of spare plastic parts from the kit.

The kit's forecastle's hatch cover was flat. In reality, it was slightly concave with beveled edges. I used contour putty to shape this as well.

I still have to finish the anchor well, fashion an anchor out of spare parts, create a coil of rope or two for the bulwarks, and actually mount the forecastle.

Progress as of October 14, 2008

2008-10-14T02:48:00.001-07:00

Here is my progress thus far. . .

I've since removed the incascent lights and replaced them with twelve white LEDs. I also replaced the thread provided with the kit for rigging with four lbs test fishing line which is close to scale. I paint it gray once I'm ready to finish the rigging as I did with the number 1 and number two funnels.

I have nearly completed the bridge, officers' quarters, and gymnasium. I used brass aftermarket windows that are glued onto the kit. I had to use a lot of contour putty to reduce light leakage. The Morse lamp stations would not assemble correctly at all, so I reconstructed them out of contour putty.

I added two vents on the boat deck. One is above the Marconi room and the other above the officers' lavatory. They are the dark brown fixtures on the roof above the gymnasium. I still have to add collapsable life boats A and B to the roof, then it will be done except for railings.

The compass station mounted on the roof of the first class lounge is also etched brass and was very difficult to bend and mount. The brass is very soft and delicate. The benches that are visible are also etched brass and, up close, individual slats in the benches are available.

I still have a lot of cleanup to do on the front of the ship before it is done. The parts were painted before I mounted them, and the contour putty has covered up some of this. I still need to do the fine sanding of the contour putty and repaint the Morse stations and the bridge.

Still have a long way to go. . .

Early Pictures

2008-10-14T02:37:00.001-07:00

I started this model about four years ago. In that time, I assembled the hull, painted the hull, assembled A-Deck, painted A-Deck, the forecastle, the poop deck, the boat deck, the roof above the first class lounge, and the roof above the first class smoking lounge.

I also drilled each individual port hole and ran fiber optic cable to them. I glued clear plastic behind each of the large windows to give it the appearance of glass when lit and I wired it with two incadescent lights.

I then set the project aside for four years. These pictures are of the progress I made up until then