The thread
that comes with the model for the rigging is too heavy and looks
and out of scale. Therefore we suggest you replace the kit's thread
with fine nylon monofilament fishing line. Use 10lb. test line
for the funnel guy wires and 4lb. Test for all other rigging.
All monofilament line was painted flat dark gray for better appearance
at scale.
The
majority of the rigging in the instruction manual is okay but
to add further realism a few alterations and additions are required.
Note: The
rereleased Mincraft kit now comes with nylon monofilament
instead of cotton thread.
ALTERED
RIGGING
Item
1 (bow anchor crane).
Follow
the instructions. You might want to add the block and
tackle pieces available from the GMM railing kit to
the lower ends of the cables. These can be seen in photos
of the Titanic's bow.
Item
2 (scratchbuilt block and tackle).
We
made small pulleys wherever any cables attached to the
foremast stays and #1 funnel stay. Make six pulleys
for the bow area and one for the stern.
Make
these by cutting small discs from pulled sprue about
0.5mm thick x 1mm diameter. Glue these onto the main
stay wire at the location of choice.
After
the cables are secured to the deck CA glue them to one
of the sides of the "pulley" and trim as close as possible
with small scissors or a nail clipper so no tag end
is seen.
Painted
the pulleys flat black and cables flat dark gray
Item
3 (Making the stem post).
Cut
out a stay from the unused A/M railing panels following
the same procedure as seen in Item 8.
Create
a horseshoe shaped piece from pulled sprue. Attach this
to the stay by inserting the two together like a chain
link.
When
dry, glue the horseshoe end to either side of the prow
on the proper angle towards the mast (determined by
the cables). Attach the cables to the stay end. Paint
the stem and horseshoe white. Paint the stay black.
Glue the cables to the stay before mounting them to
the mast as the stem will be under strain once the rigging
is applied and the stem is more delicate than the mast.
Item
4 (Marconi connectors).
Where
the Marconi wires came up from the ship to connect with
the antenna wires just forward of and above #2 funnel
we made small plastic "connectors".
Make these from plastic scraps cut to around 1mm in
length each and CA glue at the point of contact. Paint
flat black against the flat dark gray of the Marconi
wires.
Farther
down the antenna cables between the #3 funnel and #4
funnel we tied blood knots to simulate the connections
seen in photos and paintings of the Titanic. See Item
4 below Making The Marconi Wires.
Item
5 (Marconi spreaders).
Rather
than use the kit's plastic part to create the mast spreaders
for the Marconi wires we suggest you use the GMM spreaders
for a much nicer visual appearance. See Item
4 below.
Item
6 (Forward Mast Stay Bullseyes).
In
the aft corners of the forward well deck were two wing
plates that held the mast stays. You need to make these
plates from sheet plastic as they do not come in the
kit.
After
gluing the cables to these plates add small bullseyes
to each point of contact. Take the bullseyes from the
base of the spare GMM Lusitania ratlines. Trim off 4
bullseyes and glue one bullseye to each cable where
it attaches to the wing plates
When
dry paint the bullseyes flat black.
Item
7 (#1 Funnel Bullseyes).
More
bullseyes can be found on the third and fourth guy wire
cables on each side of the #1 funnel. These allowed
the cables to be separated when lowering the collapsible
lifeboats from the Officer's Quarters roof.
As
above, use the Lusitania ratline bullseyes for these.
Trim 4 off and glue one to each cable where it crosses
the roof collapsibles. Paint the bullseyes flat black.
See Ken Marschall's painting on page 44 of Robert Ballard's
"Exploring The Titanic".
Item
8 (#4 Funnel Aft Mast Stays).
Rather
than glue rigging cables through the deckhouse roof
make the stay brackets from sections of A/M railings.
Item
9 (2nd Class Entrance/Elevator Aft Mast Stays).
See
item 7 above.
Item
10 (Aft Mast/Docking Bridge Stay Wire).
The
hole in the Poop Deck for this rigging is too far forward,
if you used this hole the rigging would interfere with
the cowl vent just forward of it. Fill the existing
hole and drill a new one approx. 5mm further aft. The
new rigging point should be directly in front of the
point where the pole running up to the ship's wheel
enters the Poop Deck.
Two
cables descend from the aft mast and connect to the
Poop deck just forward of the Docking Bridge. Directly
above the cranes another cable drops down and ties onto
the cranes. Add a pulley where the cables join to each
other and the securing cable goes down to the cranes.
ADDED
RIGGING
Item
1 (forecastle mast stay bracket and cable stays).
The
kit missed this rigging entirely. These cables ran from
the top of the ratlines down to the forecastle deck behind
the bow anchor crane. The stay sat between the phone box
and the anchor chain hatch cover (both to be added). A
good photo of the Olympic's stay can be seen on page 39
of Leo Marriott's "Titanic".
First
make the stay bracket (see Item 7
above) and then glue two lengths of monofilament 4lb fishing
line to it.
After
the paint dries CA glue the bracket to the forecastle
deck. The bracket should be on an angle so that when the
cables are taut they will point toward the top of the
ratlines.
When
the bracket is firmly in place dab a small bead of CA
glue to the mast on either side were the ratlines go.
Now pull the stay lines taut against the glue and wait
for a few seconds for them to set. Trim the tag ends flush
to the mast. The ratlines will help mask the contact points
but care should still be taken non-the-less.
Paint
the brackets flat black and the cables dark flat gray.
A
pair of cargo span cables need to be added as follows:
These
were attached to a connector plate on the roof of the
officer's deckhouse just behind the wheelhouse roof and
in front of the big trunk box vent. You can see the connector
in Ken Marschall's painting on page 44 of Robert Ballard's
"Exploring The Titanic".
The
cables rose on an angle to the foremast and attached where
the ratlines ended, similar to the forecastle guy location.
Cut
a small rectangular connector from sheet plastic (1.5mm
long x 1mm wide) and glue it to the officer's deckhouse
roof in front of the trunk vent. Paint flat white.
When
dry cut two pieces of nylon monofilament line longer than
is needed to reach the foremast for easier handling. Apply
a dab of CA glue to the connector and place each line
into the glue until set. Once set, test fit them up to
the foremast. When satisfied dab a small bead of CA to
the mast at the proper location and pull the lines taut
against the mast/glue dots. Hold until the glue dries
a few seconds later.
After
the glue has dried, trim the tag ends off as close to
the mast as possible using small scissors or nail clippers.
Paint the lines dark flat gray.
Item
3 ("cargo" cables).
From
the cable mast stays you have just added in Step 2 there
were other cables hanging from pulleys down to the forecastle
and well deck areas. See pages 64 & 65 of Leo Marriott's
book "Titanic".
Fashion
two pulleys by cross cutting through plastic sprue to
create two thin discs between 1.5mm and 2mm diameter.
Dip these in a small bead of CA glue and place on the
underside of the cables added in step 2. They should be
roughly in line with the aft end of #2 cargo hatch and
the high roller fairleads. Make sure you add one pulley
to each cable and NOT both to one or the other cable.
Once
set, cut 4 lengths of monofilament longer than required.
The exact point of termination at deck level for these
lines' are not known so we had to "guesstimate". Examining
photos of the Olympic's forecastle it appears that the
forward connections were in among the winches that service
cargo hatch #2 at the base of the foremast. Therefore
dip the end of the monofilament into a bead of CA glue
and then hold the end in among the winches on the starboard
side. Leave the other end of the cable unattached for
now. Repeat this process for the forward port cable mounting
it to the inside of the port winch. Allow to dry.
Now
apply a bead of CA glue to the forward sides of the pulleys
you added to the stay lines in step 2. Pull the line taut
and touch it to the glue bead. Allow it to set. Repeat
for the other cable/pulley combination. When both cables
have set, trim the tag ends off as close as possible but
be -VERY- careful not to cut through the stay line or
you will have to start over again. We found that nail
clippers are very good for this project.
The
aft half of this cable on these pulleys seems to terminate
somewhere in the well deck. We added ours to the high
roller fairleads between cargo hatches #2 and #3. See
the FAIRLEAD segment to
make these.
The
gluing procedure is similar. Dab one end of the line in
a bead of CA glue and then attach it to one high roller
fairlead. Repeat for the other fairlead. Now apply a dab
of CA glue to the aft side of the pulleys above, pull
the line taut and touch the lines to the glue. Trim the
tag ends off as mentioned earlier being -VERY- careful
again not to cut through the mast stay cable.
Paint
the pulleys flat black and the cables dark flat gray.
Item
4 (Marconi spreader stabilizer cables).
On
the outboard corners of the Marconi spreaders at the tops
of each mast were stabilizer cables.
We
are not certain where these cables attached to the deck
but general consensus is somewhere around the base of
the ratlines. So we shared one of the holes in the deck
for the ratlines with the stabilizer cables, so add the
cables AFTER the ratlines have been installed.
Cut
four lengths of monofilament longer than needed.
Glue
these lines into the aft footings of the forward well
deck's ratlines, one on each side of the well deck. When
set, apply a tiny bead of CA glue to the outboard corner
of the spreader, pull the line taut and touch the line
to the glue. Repeat for the opposite side. Trim the tag
ends from the spreader contact point.
Repeat
the entire process for the aft mast but glue the cables
to the forward leg of the ratline (closest to bow) instead
of the aft leg.
When
all cables have been glued and trim and paint dark flat
gray.
Item
5 (funnel painter's lines).
Atop
of each funnel were a pair of painter's lines on both
sides of EACH funnel (i.e. 4 painter lines per funnel).
See the FUNNEL section Steps
9 and 10 for a description of these lines.
Item 6 (lifeboat rigging).
The
majority of davit/lifeboat rigging is covered in the LIFEBOAT
section. However, here is some optional rigging for
those wishing to add as much detail possible.
Rope
1.
Add
the length of rope that extended from the top of each
davit arm to the belaying bitt fastened to the deck at
the base of each davit. See the BITTS
section on how to make these.
Measure
the distance from the belaying bitt to the top of the
davit arm. Cut 32 sections of monofilament line to this
length. Apply a small bead of CA to the bitt and arm and
place the line onto the beads with tweezers. Allow to
set. Repeat this for all 32 arms and bitts.
Paint
this line flat military brown to simulate rope (or whatever
you decide to use for your rope color).
Rope
2.
There
were coils of rope at the top of each davit arm, underneath
the block and tackle. These can be seen on pages 102
and 103 of Don Lynch's "Illustrated History".
Add
these by taking lengths of pulled sprue and lightly
drag them across the -backside- of your hobby knife's
blade. This causes the sprue to coil. Trim the loop
form a "C" and dab each end in CA glue. Attach one end
to the rigging line that spans from one davit arm to
the other and the other end to the rope length tied
off to the belaying bitts.
Paint
flat military brown to simulate rope as before.
Rope
3.
When
the Emergency boats were swung outboard of the superstructure
they were held in place by three cables. These can be
seen in the picture on page 80 of Leo Marriott's "Titanic".
Make
them using nylon monofilament in the 4lb. Test line.
The
fore and aft cables form an X pattern across the emergency
boat. Each cable was attached to the end of the davit
arm. The forward cable attached to the superstructure
under the 3rd aft window aft on the enclosed A-deck.
The aft cable connected to the superstructure just ahead
of the rectangular drain opening on the A-deck forward
open promenade.
The
center cable ran from the gunwale's superstructure and
attached to the cable running from the aft davit arm.
(Approx. between the 1st and 2nd windows of A-deck's
enclosed promenade).
Glue
small pips to the lines here to simulate this connection.
Down
either side of the ship's A-deck superstructure were
small A-framed "arms". These were swinging brackets
that aided in coaling and other activities. The cables
ran from the first arm to the last arm looping down
between the brackets. See pages 64 & 65 of Leo Marriott's
"Titanic". The line doubles back at the forward end
of the cable where the enclosed promenade begins. Refer
to Ken Marschall's painting on page 130 of "Illustrated
History".
Make
this cable from 4 pound test nylon monofilament line
and glue it to the side of the superstructure using
CA glue.
Lay
the ship on its side to make working easier and do one
swing arm at a time to keep the line more pliable. Add
a dab of CA glue to the aft swing bracket and attach
the end of the cable. Once set, repeat the process for
the next swing arm. Do not pull the cable taught as
it sagged between each bracket. Repeat for the entire
length.
You
can use a "smoked" (i.e. grayish) monofilament line
or paint it gray before you glue it to the superstructure.
If you have steady hands you can glue it on and THEN
paint it. This is the option we chose to avoid the glue
smudging the paint on the white of the superstructure's
bulwark. Modeler's choice.
Item
9 (A-deck's aft open promenade sun shade cable).
There
was a cable that ran the entire length of the aft section
of the A-deck's open promenade, attached about 2/5th's
of the way down the opening. This cable was used for
tying off the bottom edge of a sun shade.
Cut
two lengths of monofilament line the length of the open
promenade area. Take one end to the aft end of the weather
cover. When dry, pull the line taut and tack it to the
stanchion representing the location of the aft expansion
joint. Tack onto the stanchion below the 4th funnel
and the last stanchion of the A-deck promenade.
Applying
the cable this way ensures that the line will follow
the shear of the ship and not cut across the promenade
openings at differing levels. Once dry it is easier
to tack the line onto each stanchion between the glued
points. This makes the lineup more exact. When complete
paint the cable dark flat gray.
Trim
the tag ends off at the last stanchion with small scissors
or nail clippers (preferred). Repeat this process for
the opposite side of the ship.
There was
a sunscreen attached to this cable as seen on pages
42 & 43 of " Illustrated History". The
cover hung down from the top of the aft open A-deck
promenade to the cable. It starts at the enclosed promenade
and finishes on the tenth stanchion aft. It is up to
you whether you want to install the covers or not. They
were not installed when the Titanic left Southampton
but were in place when the ship was moored at Queenstown.
Use a Cellophane
type wrap (like Saran Wrap) to fashion these covers.
Cut this to the correct length and width and glue into
place on either side of the ship.
When set,
paint with Model Masters Radome Tan to simulate the
canvas.
Item
10 (Flagstaff flag line).
The
model suggests gluing the flag around and over the flagstaff,
we opted to add the flag to a flag line attached to
the flagstaff.
To
make a sturdier flagstaff replace the model's part with
one fashioned from a metal finishing nail. The add a
small piece of nylon monofilament.
First
CA glue the end of monofilament to the rope cleat you
made earlier (See MISCELLANEOUS
section). When set, cut the monofilament about 1mm longer
than the height of the nail.
Add
a dab of glue to the aft underside of the "nail head"
and place the end of the line into it (i.e. under the
nail head). As the line is longer than the nail the
line will bow out towards the stern.
Paint
the flagstaff to match the masts (Testor's Model Master
Wood) and the flagline (Testors) flat military brown.
As
the flag is very fragile add it at the end of the building
process to avoid getting it in the way or damaged.
Item
11 (ratline stay connectors).
Cut
the turnbuckles off the GMM Lusitania ratlines and glue
to the base of the Titanic ratlines.
This site was created by David Cotgreave January 2000
We
made small pulleys wherever any cables attached to the
foremast stays and #1 funnel stay. Make six pulleys
for the bow area and one for the stern.
A
pair of cargo span cables need to be added as follows:
On
the outboard corners of the Marconi spreaders at the tops
of each mast were stabilizer cables.
When
the Emergency boats were swung outboard of the superstructure
they were held in place by three cables. These can be
seen in the picture on page 80 of Leo Marriott's "Titanic".
The
model suggests gluing the flag around and over the flagstaff,
we opted to add the flag to a flag line attached to
the flagstaff.
Item
11 (ratline stay connectors).
