The Ship Model Forum

I'm really hoping someone out there has some kind of updated, concrete idea about what the exact colour scheme the roofs of Titanic's deck houses were. I've been looking at the two following references.

http://www.titanicmodel.net/uploads/4/1 ... alents.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20180227102 ... .com/paint

Are we still in the dark about this 'exactly'?
Is there any new knowledge? I've contact Ken Marschall about this, but don't expect a response. If he does, I'll definitely share.
Which of the following would you do and what would be your reasoning?
Thanks for weighing in!

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Every time the PE sticks to your tweezers, you lose a minute off your life.

I have not read of a definitive answer for the deck houses roof color. Your charts look pretty good.

For some additional info for readers of your Post.... these are some very worthwhile links:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_su ... 17327.aspx

http://www.rivet-counter.com/51Model_In ... Index.html

Update.

The web site http://titanicmodel.com/, with hundreds of photo's and model kit tips, hit the proverbial iceberg awhile back. The site is gone.

The Titanic Research and Modeling Association domain site also expired but they still have some photo's on their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Titanic-Res ... e_internal

Keep us updated on whatever you find.
Thanks for posting the question.

Nino

Edit: Thanks again Tim!

Thanks,
I"ll definitely check those out. But alas, it always seems to come full circle to removed links, a variety of representations, dead ends etc.
As far as I can see, it's modellers choice between the diagrams I posted.
I keep coming back to the same conclusion. Of course I could be dead wrong:
Selection A is the most conservative choice. It avoids getting into the debate and plays it safe.
Selection B is probably the most likely and is still on the conservative side
Selection C adds the very hypothetical 4th funnel area which is speculative based on on Olympic, but who knows.
Selection D adds the argument that the tank room had to be sheathed in wood and painted as per some regulations.
Selection E complicates argument D with another debate as to whether or not both Tank rooms should be sheathed.
Selection E absorbs and accepts all arguments and 'probably' takes it too far.
Again, what do I know. I guess pick the one that looks best to you.
I give up!

_________________
Every time the PE sticks to your tweezers, you lose a minute off your life.

My initial thoughts...

I believe I would paint all hatch covers white, not grey
The section of the roof over the officers quarters of the bridge I would do flat white,
I like light grey for all the bases of the funnels.
The two hatch covers on the rear section of the library roof I would paint light grey.
(I was told that Floquil Southern Pacific Lettering Grey is the correct shade of light grey.) (Model Masters Gloss Gull Gray is close)
I have no opinion on the docking bridge other than grey or same as the deck.
Class Lounge Roof- maybe white.

Not sure which of your panels match my suggestions. Just some thoughts.

Nino

I remember reading a long while ago on the now-defunct TRMA site that the roof over the bridge was covered in canvas to provide additional weather-proofing. The canvas was colored (painted?) the lighter gray.

Can anyone confirm/deny this? It has been a while and memory does fade.

If true, perhaps other roof sections also got a canvas treatment and they would also be the lighter gray.

Enjoying the discussion!

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Steve,
I thought I remembered the canvas cover also but maybe it was only based on a photo of the rear of the bridge roof , possibly showing a canvas tarp being pulled back.
(cropped Photo from TRMA.)

There was a nice 1/200 scale resin model from Tehnoart . Their bridge roof was light grey but the section of the roof over the officers quarters they showed as "wood", not grey or a "canvas tarp".
(Photo from Tehnoart advertisement.)


More questions than answers it seems.
( I will get a PM to Big Jake over on FSM. He is my go-to-guy for all things TITANIC.)

Nino

I don't want to be a spoilsport, but the first picture seems to be Mauretania or Lusitania, not Titanic. Lusitania and Mauretania definitely had planking on top of their bridges.

editing: the picture must be Lusitania, as I cannot see Mauretania's large helmet cowls.

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Adding to the discussion: this will most likely be a proverbial search for a needle in a haystack. Anno 1912 there weren't hardly any aerial photographers flying around, and given the short lifespan of Titanic it is extremely unlikely we will ever find photographic evidence for any of the top deck covers. In the best case someone has climbed up the ratlines to one of the crow's nests in the mast: no fun doing that with a 1912 vintage camera strapped onto your back!

This might provide us with a picture like this one: or this one: Neither of these is from Titanic but from hr sister Olympic. For what it is worth.

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Thanks Maarten,

It is not Mauretania. Most Likely Lusitania as you suggest. I will re-name my file as needed. There should be a larger size image of this photo somewhere. I will double check.

In any case, I think Lt Grey is the way to go. Even if canvas, the difference would not be noticeable at these smaller scales.

Thanks for the correction.

Nino

Here's a little chart I did earlier this morning of the drill bits for those wanting to drill out the holes in the 1/200th kit *in scale* - note that I haven't surveyed my kit yet to see if they match or may be over/undersized to what was molded.

I can say that there are some missing lights in the area of the Officer's Promenade - these were the "skid lights" that were 8" portholes about knee to shin height connected to a duct to the deck below for 1st class cabins. The glass was 8" in diameter but there was an inch lip around them. I'm not sure how much of a glow they would have had at night however.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Trumpeter's 1/200 Titanic kit omitted the ship's anchors! There are only two empty hawse holes!

WTF?

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Assessing the impact of new area rug under modeling table.

What does your kit have in this sprue spot?

(screenshot from this review)

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De quoi s'agit-il?

It's not in the instructions!

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Assessing the impact of new area rug under modeling table.

Is anyone interested in doing the trumpeter 1/200 kit as the Olympic instead of the Titanic?

I always thought Olympic was a better looking ship with even rectangular windows on the B deck, and uniform open sides for the promenade on A deck. Titanic and Olympic’s uneven windows on the B deck and half enclosed A deck looks too fussy.

I also dislike the over thick bulwarks trumpeter provides for the A deck, and the walls around large windows on the bridge, and on the B deck, which should show glass transparencies almost flush with the side walls at this scale, So I intend to scratch built these to improve apparence.

The portholes trumpeter provided for the hull sides seems mostly too small. The thickness of the hull side makes it a challenge to use hand held cordless hobby drills because the plastic is too thick to dissipate heat to the plastic melts and causes the drill bit to seize inside the hole.

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Assessing the impact of new area rug under modeling table.

Seeing as I had two of the 350th Models I'm planning on doing one each as Titanic's sisters to go with the 200th Titanic. Olympic in Dazzle and Britannic as a hospital ship.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

After looking through the model, I am impressed and disappointed at the same time.

Impressed; TRUMPETER has clearly gone farther than they did with previous 1/200 offerings to create an accurate model of the Titanic. It is more accurate than the hood, and far more accurate than the Missouri or Arizona. It is probably the most accurate titanic model on the market by some margin.

Disappointed: on 1/200 scale, there should be a lot of room to avoid the clunky overly thick parts that were imposed by limitations of molding technology and strength of plastic. Trumpeter really didn’t take advantage of that. The bulwarks and stanchions around the promenade decks really could have been made far more accurate in scale thickness, and that would have brought far more life and realism to the model. But as it is, these bulwarks are molded with a thickness that would scale out to 12-14 inches. It looks as if titanic wan’t a ocean liner but a ship with a ironclad’s carapace.

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Assessing the impact of new area rug under modeling table.

New 1/350 Olympic kit announced by Minicraft: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10696989

Nice catch, Dan - someone had noted earlier Minicraft removed the Olympic from their website that I had linked to in the Upcoming Releases thread, and I was about to delete the entry. Glad I didn't, and that the project is moving forward (albeit for a 1911 guise instead of the original 1913).

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De quoi s'agit-il?

1913 guise would have required more changes from the original titanic molds.

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Assessing the impact of new area rug under modeling table.

If they'd done WWI Dazzle I would have thought about it.

_________________
Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman