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When comparing the Minicraft model to the available reference material it soon becomes clear that the model has the majority of vents incorrectly listed, incorrectly orientated or missing. The vent section is based on original research done by Roy Mengot covered in his excellent Modeling Guide at The Wreck of the RMS Titanic ; Bob Read the primary researcher for the section who developed the 'Titanic Vent Inventory' and Bruce Beveridge who provided valuable information on several vents. All vent positions and configurations have been determined from photographs, Ken Marschall's paintings or both.
The drawings contained in the vent section are original work by David Cotgreave developed from available reference materials, however, the vent configurations are based on Bob Read's vent research and due credit should be given to him. Where every care has been taken to draw the vents in approx. proportion they are NOT TO SCALE and you should not use them for any measurements. Please refer to Bob Read's drawings for scale drawings and information on the operation of Titanic's vents please refer to the introduction page of Bob's Vent Inventory.
For clarity the vents are listed from Forcastle to Poop Deck but you should install them in the order in the instruction manual or wait until later in the construction process so that you don't risk knocking them off the model.
Some of the vents have been left 'as is' but you will see from the vent diagrams you can add more detail if you wish. As a general rule:
- All of the vents will require filing and sanding.
- To keep your vents in order and avoid losing them you shoud purchase seventy or so re-sealable coin bags that you can get from a bank. Write to the vent number on each bag.
- If you are doing a lot of vents at once wear a dust mask as the fine plastic filings can irritate your respiratory system.
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The modifications are listed from the lower decks to the upper decks, bow to stern. |
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These parts are badly molded and require a little filing and sanding to get them into shape.
To add a little 'depth' to the intake of the cowl you can enlarge the existing depression as follows:
Use a pin vice and either a 1.75mm or 2mm drill bit. The 2mm bit will give you a finer wall but be careful to get the drill bit dead centre or your drill bit might slide and destroy the side of the intake.
Drill to a depth of approx. 1.5mm and spin the end of the drill bit in the hole to clean out the depression.
You can either paint the interior white, a light grey to simulate greater depth or red, depending on which theory of the interior colour that you subscribe to. |
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If you need to make a cowl vent you can use parts of the sprue tree or plastic rod assortment.
Cut two pieces of the same diameter rod, one will be the upright section and the other to be the intake.
File a curved groove into the top of the upright to approx. the same radius as the rod/sprue.
Glue the other piece into the groove to form a "T", this will give you some extra plastic to work with.
Trim and sand into shape.
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Many of the free standing cowl vents could be manually rotated by a pair of small handles on either side of each cowl, eg. Tank Room roof aft, B Deck aft and the Poop Deck. See page 106 of Titanic, Triumph and Tragedy.
Make these by cutting out small pips of pulled sprue or fishing line and gluing one to each side of the cowl. Paint the pips flat white with rest of the vent..
The cowl vents were constructed in two halves not one piece, see page 106 of Titanic, Triumph and Tragedy. To simulate this add a thin black line on either side of each vent. |
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 To make the mushroom vents for the forward Well Deck use three different diameters of Evergreen rod assortment.
To make the 'head' of the vent, drill a hole into the centre of the large rod the same diameter as the middle sized rod and glue the middle sized rod into the hole.
Step 2
To make the location pin, drill a hole in the centre of the middle sized rod the same diameter as the small rod and glue the small rod into the middle sized rod. Trim to the same height as part G31. (You can also use this technique for other scratchbuilt parts.)
Drill holes in the Deck in the appropriate locations allowing for the cranes.
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 To make the mushroom vents for the Marconi Room, No 3 Funnel and Tank Toom roofs use two different diameters of Evergreen rod assortment.
To make the 'head' of the vent, drill a hole through the centre of the large rod the same diameter as the small rod and then glue the small rod into the hole.
Drill holes in the Deck in the appropriate locations and glue into the holes so that the head sits 1.5mm above the deck.
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| Some of the vents have additional rectangular or cylinderical ducting. |
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 A few methods of making rectangular ducts are:
- Use the 'number' tags on the parts 'tree'
- Glue two lengths of 0.040 x 0.40 Evergreen strip side by side
- Cut various widths of plastic sheeting
Cut and shape the ducts into shape as required. |
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Some motor units have a circular duct opposite the motor rather than the rectangular ducts. To install a cylinderical duct.
Cut off the existing duct.
Cut a short length of 2mm diameter plastic rod or sprue.
Drill a 2mm hole into the motor unit opposite the motor.
Glue the rod into the hole and let set.
Cut to rod to approx. 1.5mm in length. |
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There are a couple of problems with the method of gluing the cowl to the motor unit. Firstly it looks bad because it leaves a flat triangular shape on the side of the vent that did not exist and secondly if you are following the vent inventory you will be reorienting many of cowl vents so you have to cut off the "connector" anyway.
To make a cleaner looking cowl/motor joint use the following method. |
File and sand all bad mould lines. |
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Cut off short lengths as needed and CA glue into the "notch" of the vent motor. Allow to dry and then trim and file flush with the edges of the vent. |
Cut off the connector on the bottom of the cowl vent and file the bottom flat. |
Glue on the motor unit in the correct orientation. (See individual vent diagrams for this). |
Fill any gaps between the base of the cowl and the motor unit with CA and sand smooth. |
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You will have to construct many new motor units as the kit does not provide enough for the amount of vents that the ship had. Here is a simple method that you can use for both right handed and left handed motor units.
Using the dimensions of parts G33 or G25 cut a quarter D shaped unit out of scrap plastic approx. 1.5mm thick.
Cut a short length of sprue or Evergreen rod approx. 1.25mm in diameter.
Drill a small hole in centre the same diameter as the sprue you will be using for the motor and glue the sprue into the hole. This makes the join very strong and there's less likelihood of the motor coming off. Don't worry if you go all the way through because you can sand it flat. Or, if required, use it as the circular duct on the opposite side of the motor housing.
Note: A left handed motor unit is pictured above, for right handed units put the motor on the opposite side to that shown above.
Cut two short lengths of 0-1 Evergreen strip and glue them together with CA. When dry file the top corners to an angle and glue below the motor. When this is dry cut off the excess.
Clean up with some fine sand paper and glue a small microdot to the end of the motor.
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There are a few options for modifying the trunk vents.
Scratchbuilt grill frames.
Carefully sand off the existing grill detail.
Make a new frame around the face of the vent using K1 strips or unused Lusitania railing. Replace the uprights using spare GMM railing.
Paint the vent white and grill areas grey to suggest depth.
Carefully sand off the existing grill detail.
Glue to the correct Tom's Modelworks photo etched trunk vent onto the face of the part. The TMW parts are about a third too tall for the part so line up the top of the part with the top of the grill and glue into position. Once set trim off the excess at the bottom and paint white.
You can create a hollow vent with a duct beneath. Refer to diagram below.
You will need to make new ends for the vents so trace the outline of the end of one of a H23 A and H23B onto a very thin piece of sheet styrene and cut out four for H23A and six for H23B.
Note: One of the parts on the kit is incorrectly numbered. There is a part marked H23A in the bottom right hand corner of the "H" parts tree. This should be an H23 B.
You can also cut through the deckhouse roofs to give the vent even more depth. If you do this ensure that you paint the deck below the hole black. You may also need to add an additional plastic bulkhead to stop light from spilling in.
Place the vent part in a vice with the forward corner facing up.
Grind or file the part down until you are left with just the back of the vent.
File each end down a little to allow for the new plastic sides.
Glue the sides onto the appropriate vents that you prepared earlier.
Glue the appropriate Tom's Model works trunk vent grill into position. Again, the parts are too big for the existing parts so line up the top of the part with the top of the grill when gluing. Once set you can trim off the excess at the bottom.
Carefully fill and gaps between the grill and the rest of the structure sand and paint white.
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 Many of the motor units had a curl vent attached to them. The model moulds these as a solid piece that goes all the way down to the deck without a motor unit, however, these curls had an angled bottom well above the deck with a motor unit attached.
To correct this first build a new motor housing for each vent, this will either be a motor housing as described above or a cylinder/motor combination.
Then cut the bottom of the curl vent part to the correct angle. Be very careful to get the angle correct for each vent or you may cut the bottom sloping the wrong way. |
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 Cut a strip of sheet styrene to the width of the curl vent required.
Cut off two sections to the height of the vent you need then glue them together with the bottom of the upper piece in the position that you want the curl to finish.
When dry file trim off the excess of the upper piece and then file to shape. File the bottom of the piece to shape as required.
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| Using part G23 as a guide cut a 5-6mm length of 3mm diameter rod or sprue and glue to the appropriate side of the motor unit, round off the end slightly with a file. You can also use the redundant G30 parts. |
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| There are one or two instances where you will need to reverse the position of the motor and the cylinder. |
Remove the curved duct on the back of the part (G23) and file smooth. |
Using a miter box and a saw, carefully cut the cylinder away from the motor unit and clean up the burred edges with a file |
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To square up the curve take a piece of scrape plastic the same width as the housing or slightly greater (Evergreen 2mm sheet works well). Cut a small square approx. 7mm x 7mm and then cut this in half diagonally. Then file a curve in the centre of the diagonal.
Keep testing it against the curve of the vent until you get it just right then CA glue the two together joining the curve of the vent to the hollow in the plastic triangle. |
 Cut two short lengths of 0-1 Evergreen strip and glue them together with CA. Cut off a small section and glue this to the flat side of the motor unit. This will give it more width.
When both are dry, trim and file the new plastic sections until you end up with square unit with all side lining up with the original sides.
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 Now use a file to round off the new curve on the opposite side to the old curve.
Glue the new motor unit to the cylinder and paint white. |
CA glue two 10mm lengths of 0-1 (.40 x.40) Evergreen strip together and allow to set. Allow to set.
The motor unit is now the wrong width and shape, in that the saw blade has removed some of the width of the unit and the curve is on the wrong side.