The
hatches on the A/M 1/350 are incorrect in that they
are practically flush with the deck level. All evidence
suggests that these were raised up on the Titanic. Ken
Marschall shows this in his cutaway paintings and James
Cameron also shows this in his epic movie (Rose &
Jack jump down onto them before the ship cracks in two),
that's good enough for us.
This
fix assumes that you are using the GMM or Tom's Modelworks
Railing Kit thereby freeing up the A/M's railings for
other projects. We will address both scenarios.
If
you are using photo etched railings:
Make
the hatch risers out of the 1 bar A/M railing sections.(The
one bar would be seen around deckhouse roofs where only
the crew had access).
- Note: What we call the 'one bar' railing in the kit
actually has two bars. One represents the handrail
and the other provides for stability when gluing the
rails to the deck. So when we name the railings we
only recognize the non-deck rails (1-bar, 2-bar, etc.).
Two sections (or panels) of one bar railing would
then appear as two picture frames side by side.
Use
2 x three panels of 1 rail railing. Remove the top and
bottom railing of the center section. You should now
have four rectangles. Glue two of the rectangles on
top of each other. Repeat for the other two rectangles.
Glue these onto the smooth side of some planked sheet
plastic. When dry place the plastic sheet on a cutting
surface and trim off the excess plastic flush with the
railing structures.
When
you turn them over the planked side will face up.
Place these
over the #4 hatches on the deck.
Before
you glue the new hatches down cut a 14mm length of thinly
pulled sprue (or 4lb. fishing line). Glue this along
the outboard facing side and stern end of the hatch's
seam where the sheet plastic `cap' and `rail bottom'
riser meets. Then paint the assembly flat white and
the sprue piping dark gray
When
dry, glue these units over the top of the model's flush
#4 hatches with the gray piping side out and push it
into the corner of the bulkheads as much as possible. |