This section of the Official Titanic Scale Model Tutorial will deal with the many inconsistencies with the windows around the decks of the Minicraft Titanic model.

FIXING THE WINDOWS

All of the windows are badly formed and most are molded in reverse.

There are now three existing solutions to this problem; replacement with photo etched parts, using decals or replace the mullions.

Method 1 (photo etched windows).

Tom's modelworks has just released his new brass window sets and this is without reservation the best way to put windows on your Titanic model.

You simply have to:

  • remove the existing mullions
  • clean up the rough edges
  • paint the windows
  • paint the bulkhead
  • apply the windows

A simple and very effective solution.

Method 2 (decals).

Bruce Beveridge has come out with an excellent sheet of 1/350 window decals as mentioned in the EXTERNAL SUPPORT PRODUCTS section. All the ordering detail can be found there. In the meanwhile here is Bruce's suggestion in how to apply them to the model:

"The modeler will achieve the best results by first removing the model's original window mullions and then replace them with the decals." He states that the decals are of a high quality so acetate backing is -not- required (although still optional). It is recommended that the you fill in the larger windows with white glue or KK like product, this gives the decal a bit more backing and once applied no decal setting agent should be necessary.

The smaller windows should be fine with just the decal placed over the opening.


Method 3 (scratchbuilding).

For those who like a truly scratch built solution you can replace the mullions using two methods:

First you must remove the existing mullions and tidy up the edges of the window with square or round files depending on the shape of the window. Be careful not to over file or you will end up with a larger window than you had originally planned. Also be sure to keep the file level so you keep the window square.

There are two approaches to replace the mullions that will work for any type of window:

Approach 1:

Step 1.

Lay K1 strips along the back of the wall to create the horizontal mullions. You can handle several windows at a time if they are next to each other.

Step 2.

Lay the upright mullions either behind the horizontal mullions as in the diagram opposite or cut to size and placed in front, whichever works for you.

Step 3.

If angled mullions are required cut the ends of two K1 strips at 45 degrees and then slot the points in between the upright mullions to get a secure anchor point.

 Approach 2:

This method is the more historically accurate but is considerably more time consuming and you will go through a lot of K1 strip in trial and error.

Step 1.

Use the same methods as above but DO NOT glue the strips to the back of the wall, only glue them to each other. See diagram opposite.

Step 2.

When you have formed the mullions for your window, trim them to the exact size of the window you are replacing. Then glue into the window flush with the surface of the wall. You may need to do a little bit of filling and sanding to get the right finish.

CREATING YOUR OWN ARCHED WINDOW

To create the missing windows on the 1:350 Minicraft model you will have to cut into the walls. The following is a simple method of doing this:

Step 1.

Score or mark up rectangular perimeter of window with pencil. Window is approx. 2.75 mm x 4.5 mm. Distance from bottom of wall is 2.5mm.

Step 2.

Mark centre point of the arch.

Step 3.

Drill small guide hole.

Step 4.

Drill hole at 2.5mm diameter using guide hole.

Step 5.

Using a very sharp hobby knife carefully carve out the bottom section of the window.

Step 6.

Carefully file the window into its final shape using square and round files. DO NOT over file and check that the bottom sill of the window is level.

Step 7.

The final product.

INSTALLING GLASS

If you are not using Bruce's decals there are a couple of options if you wish to install glass into the windows on your model.

Option 1:

Place clear acetate behind the windows.

The flash of acetate through the hull portholes,windows, etc. adds a great deal of realism to the model.

Place acetate strips in behind most of our windows including the bridge, 2nd class entrances, hull, #3 and #4 funnel deckhouses, etc. Other windows we used Kristal Klear.

Fasten the acetate on with either model glue or white glue but NOT CA glue because it will fog the acetate. You will need to measure each section you wish to acetate separately. Use cellophane tape to help hold larger panels as well as the glue, experience has shown that the acetate will tend to pop off once and awhile and this can be a big headache if you already have decks glued together.

Option 2:

Fill the windows with Krystal Klear by creating a 'bubble' in the hole.

You will probably use a combination of both, acetate for the larger windows and KK for the portholes and smaller windows. The choice is yours.

See EXTERNAL SUPPORT MATERIALS for information on Krystal Klear.

FILLING UNWANTED WINDOWS

If you only use putty to fill unwanted windows you run the risk of it cracking or falling out. We always sealed the opening from behind with a piece of sheet plastic. This gives the putty better adhesion by giving it a backing to push against and grip to.

OPEN WINDOWS

To animate the ship some of us elected to have open windows along the Officer's deckhouse bulkheads.

Create the windows out of small sections of an A/M ratline, sand these down and glue to a window frame in an open position. Use these ONLY if you have bought the GMM or Tom's Modelworks replacement brass photoetched ratlines!

Not all of the windows could open. The windows that did open have a small circular object beneath their sill. Add the circular object by dipping the tip of thinly pulled sprue into brown paint and then touching under the bottom sill in a center.

The opening windows also had retainer clips on the deckhouse bulkheads to the bow side of the frame. The bottom section of the windows opened towards the bow (for splash control) the top section opened out and upwards. Make the retaining clips by dabbing thinly pulled sprue into gray paint. Paint the clip one window width away from the bow window frame. So when the window was swung open, the handle on the frame could fit into the clip.

Fill all of these open window frames with Kristal Klear to simulate glass.

WINDOW CORRECTIONS

Corrections are arranged by deck from bow to stern.

C DECK

Forward Well deck.

The "bumps" on the forward wall of the C deck cabin are portholes molded in reverse. Drill them out.

These portholes can be seen clearly in National Geographic's "Secrets of The Titanic" video, in footage of the Olympic approximately 5 min. 52 sec. into the documentary where the cargo hold is being loaded.

Aft Well deck.

There are two "portholes marked on the aft wall of the 2nd class staircase forward of number five hatch. Sand these off. There is no evidence to suggest that these existed on the Titanic.

Second Class Library.

The windows are incorrect on parts J19 and 20. There are five evenly spaced windows on each model part when there were six in reality, being three pairs of two. For an example of the window type please refer to page 65 of 'The Illustrated History'.

Cut out all of the uprights between each window. Extend the open rectangle forward and aft until the overall rectangle is 21mm x 3mm using a square file. Create the two sections of wall between the two windows using sheet styrene 2.5 mm x 3mm. Divide the rectangle by three to get the centerline for the wall sections. This should leave you with your windows. Insert mullions as described earlier but use a piece of K2 strip for the divider between the two windows. Or use Bruce Beveridge's decals.

B DECK

Forward:

Parts J13 A and B should have an extra window on the small blank bulkhead approximately 2mm from the outer edge of the part. This window measures approximately. 2mm x 3mm (e.g. the same as the three other windows in the part). There were -NO- mullions in these windows. The corner of the port window can be seen in the black and white photo of Ballard's "Discovery of the Titanic" on page 143.

Forward Cabins on B Deck:

The rectangular windows on part J39 had -NO- mullions in them. Carefully cut these out and file back the rough spots (see any photo of the forward part of the ship).

Forward Starboard Cabins on B Deck:

The 2nd window along B deck on the starboard side is too far forward and needs to be relocated to match the port side with the second window being about 1.5mm further aft. Refer to any side shots of the ship like the Beken photographs).This is not an easy fix so if you feel uncomfortable with it, don't do it. It is better to leave it alone than ruin the hull with a sloppy relocation attempt.

There are two ways to correct this and both have their drawbacks. Option 1 leaves the windows misaligned with the C deck portholes, option 2 means you also have to correct the port side to match the starboard side. Modeler's choice.

Option 1:

Extend the second window approx. 2mm further aft and then put a piece of sheet plastic to the forward side to fill the old section of window. Putty and sandpaper smooth. To ensure proper window placement mark the position of the first three windows on the port side onto a strip of paper and transfer the measurements onto the starboard side.

The draw back with this method is that the windows will be accurate on both sides of the ship but they are incorrectly aligned with the portholes below.

Option 2:

To fix it you can drill a new window out of the plastic area between the 2nd and 3rd window. Clean this up the edges with your hobby knife and then fill the old #3 window with putty and sand smooth to hide the seams.

Option 3:

Remove the plastic between the 2nd and 3rd window entirely leaving one large hole. Then place sheet plastic inserts into this opening at the appropriate locations to create the proper distance between these windows. Putty and sand any seams before painting.

Cafe Parisien:

For those of you looking to add a little detail to your interiors there are some corrections to the windows of the Cafe Parisien. See INTERIORS 29d more information on creating this interior.

All of the mullions are incorrect. All of the windows should have nine paned in the center panel and three in the side panels (See Leo Marriott's "Titanic" p 52).

 

You will also need to add five arched windows forward of the double doors. We believe that these were false windows with a mirrored back because they looked into a corridor. This is a good place to practice your arched window technique, as it will not show too much if you make a mistake.

Glue acetate to the inside of the Cafe Parisien walls to simulate glass.

A double door will need to be added forward of these four windows. See DOORS 29 & 30.

2nd Class Smoking Room:

The windows in parts H 6 & 7 have the correct spacing but are too short. Carefully file them to approx. 3mm high. These were a six paned windows with two larger panes in the center

Part J25 has a six paned window on the starboard side of the smoking room lavatory, just above the No 4 hatch. 2mm x 3mm high and 2mm aft of the corner. The top of this window can be seen in the picture on page 26 of Illustrated History and clearly in the cutaway on page 50. Cut this out of the wall and install mullions using your preferred method.

There was also a window in the same position on the port side. It can be seen clearly in the picture of Titanic being fitted out on page 25 of ' The Illustrated History', however, it seems to disappear in later photos.

Research by Bob Read and Bruce Beveridge indicate that this window did not vanish but was covered over and so hard to detect in photos. A photo of the Olympic when enlarged shows the portside area with the window covered to protect it while loading cargo in the port #4 hatch.

You can either add the with or without the cover. Modeler's choice.

With Cover:

Fashion a cover from sheet plastic and glue to this wall.

Without Cover:

Cut the window out of the bulkhead and install mullions and glass using your preferred method.

 

 

There are two arched windows in part J25 facing aft with one cross mullion in them. These should be of the same style as the gymnasium arched windows.

These windows should be slightly narrower than molded. Add a plastic strip to the inside of the opening and flush with the wall. Apply the strip to the sides and arch only. Install mullions and glass using your preferred method.

2nd Class Entrance:

Add two windows in the forward facing wall of part J36. These were 6 paned windows and can be seen in the center photograph on page 120 of Triumph an Tragedy.

A-DECK

Here's where the fun really begins as this deck needs a complete overhaul.

 

Forward Cabins in A Deck promenade.

Are molded as open windows, these were four pane mullion in the shape of a cross.

Portside aft wall of forward grand stair case.

A door needs to be added to the out board edge of this wall. See DOORS section (door 21) for a description of this.

Add two windows inboard of this door. These can be seen in the Browne & Wels plans and the photo on page 75 of Marriott's "Titanic" looking forward from the reading and writing room. You can see the two windows through the large 7 x 4 pane window.

Forward wall of the Reading/writing room.

Add the 7 x 4 paned window you're looking through in the above photo and add the three pane section onto part I 1.

To make the three paned section take one of the discarded A/M ratlines (having replaced them with the finer scaled photoetched parts) and cut a section from them equal to 4 rungs. When trimmed it will have 4 rungs and 3 spaces between.

Flip it on to its side and dry fit.

Sand it down on the sanding block to reduce it thickness. Clean off the sanded plastic residue and glue to the forward bulkhead of the raised Reading and Writing room using the lower part of the window as a guide. We suggest that you add this window after you have the decks assembled and the roof of the lounge/reading & writing sub assembly in place.

Only the outboard pane will be seen as it is partially blocked by the cowl vent.

Paint the frame white. If you wish you can darken the recessed areas to look recessed but it is not essential.

The big bay window and adjacent windows in the reading/writing room are wrong in that they only have half of the amount of panes needed. Page 44 of Marriott shows the bay window with 6 x 4 panes and three on top at boat deck level. The windows on either side are 4 x 4 panes with two panes on top at boat deck level. Replace with K 1 strip or decals.

Starboard corridor connecting 1st Class stairway to 1st Class Lounge.

There are two options here:

Option 1:

If you refer to the deck plans in the 'Last Days of the Titanic' or 'Legacy' plans you will see that this wall had eight windows. If you use this configuration simply add an extra window in the empty space.

Option 2:

The the H&W plan of the Olympic that has some of the Titanic modifications on it show only seven window to the aft of the wall. Add the extra window into the space in the center and fill the forward window.

Modeler's choice. (I went with the Browne and Wels plan (Ed)).

1st Class Lounge.

The top of the angled sections of the bay windows should be arched not square. See page 76 of Shipbuilder & p 170 of Ballard.

The windows on the angled sections below the arch had four panes with the crossbeam about two thirds of the way up. These windows were slightly narrower than the non-angled windows so you will need to fill and sand to get the correct size.

The non-angled windows had an elaborate curve section in them. See Shipbuilder page 76 for both above windows.

Both the Browne and Wels plans show a window on the starboard forward wall of the 1st class smoking room. There is no photographic evidence that I can find to corroborate this. It did not exist on the Olympic as can be seen in "Anatomy" page 127.

If it existed as in the plan I would assume a similar type of window as in the bay windows. Which style to choose? Modeler's choice until some evidence comes to light.

Areas forward of cabins A 36 and 37.

All the windows in this area were if the nine-pane arched variety.

To allow for the correct spacing of windows in these areas you must move cabins A36 and 37 further aft, which is described in the BULKHEADS section of the tutorial.

Port Side:

Based on Olympic plans Roy Mengot suggests that the port windows should look like this:

Fashion a new wall using styrene sheet and cut the windows out as discussed earlier.

Starboard Side:

There are three possible options for the starboard wall. The choice is yours as to which you might consider the most accurate.

Option 1:

Based on Olympic plans Roy Mengot suggests that the port windows should look like this:

Option 2:

A second configuration for the port wall can be seen in both the Wels and Browne deck plans. If you choose to use it:

Option 3:

Bruce Beveridge suggests a third configuration:

  • Note: The measurements from the center door forward are based on the Olympic configuration the position of the aft two windows are approximations.

Cabins A 36 and 37.

Add a window inboard on the forward wall. This can be seen in both Wels and Browne plans and in the photo of a crew member (Captain Smith ?) walking aft seen in most books.

1st Class Smoking Room.

The windows are the correct configuration but the mullions need to be replaced.

The arches above the windows had no mullions in them. Carefully cut them out and file arches down.

Verandah and Palm Court Cafes.

The windows have been molded too short.

Carefully file these down until approx. 2mm from the bottom. Use the photo in Anatomy on page 130 as a guide.

These windows are very intricate and are difficult to reproduce. Decals are the answer here.

For those who do not want to use decals I used the following method:

1. Replace mullions to form a large cross in the lower section with cross piece at the base of the arch.

2. To create the oval in the arch drill a hole down the middle of a piece of rod and slice a section off to create a ring. Then glue into the arched section. An alternative is to drill into a sheet plastic strip with a tiny bit and then cut it out around the hole with small scissors and glue on to your constructed frames.

BOAT DECK

It is not necessary to replace the mullions in this area because the molded windows aren't too bad. However, there are some tabs from the molding process on the back of some of windows and some are filled with flash. Carefully file down the backs of the windows until the excess plastic is removed.

Officer's Quarters.

The window layout of the of port and starboard sides of the Officer's Quarters is incorrect.

Port Side:

Add fifth window aft.

Mark up the window using the dimensions of the other windows. Drill two small holes and then clean up the edges with your hobby knife. To make a window frame cut a single panels of the 1-bar A/M railing kit and paint dark brown. Glue this over the hole and then add an Evergreen K1 mullion behind the bulkhead.

Fill sixth window aft of the door. Use your preferred filler and sand flat when dry.

Starboard Side:

Add third window aft of the door using method outlined above.

Forward:

There is a window on the forward port wall of the Officer's Quarters next to the bridge. This is moulded into part G10A. This needs to be the same style as the other windows so add the horizontal mullion 3/4 of the way up the widow using K1 strip.

You will also have to cut out a small square from part H11behind where the window will sit otherwise the window will look directly into a plastic wall.

Gym.

The mullion configuration for all of these windows is incorrect they should be nine paned windows, however, they are too small to do anything with without serious damage to the model. Put the two cross mullions behind the windows to give some suggestion of the panes.

Some of the arched sections are filled in. Take a very small drill bit and drill them out, the panes will be round but it's better than a filled window.

Window "Glass":

The gym windows had a translucent, marbled textured glass.

Dan Cherry suggests that you use semi-clear sheet protector acetate to create a scale effect. This is especially useful in preventing from seeing into the gymnasium should you choose not to furnish this area.

Aft Gym Window:

The window on part no J34 has two problems.

  1. It is modeled too far inboard. When you add the 1st class lounge roof in Step 18 it will intersect the window, and
  2. The window is too large when compared to the other windows in part H11.

Fill the existing window and create a narrower one further out board. The deck lamp is also over represented so file it off and replace it with a similar style to the ones you have modeled for the rest of the area.

1st Class Smoking Room.

Roy Mengot states:

"There are 3 portholes in the aft wall of the raised roof of the 1st class Smoke Room. They face the 2nd class entrance. One is centered and the other two are 8mm on either side. You can make them out on the near flat wall as it appears on the wreck in "Discovery of the Titanic" p.169."

Tank Room.

Starboard Side:

The model has three windows on the starboard side (part H27). The Titanic only had the two forward windows. Fill in the aft window with putty and sand flat.

One door needs to be added to this bulkhead and one moved. See DOORS section.

Aft Bulkhead :

There are two windows on the aft bulkhead (part J6). The port window is in the correct location but the starboard window should be further outboard. Refer to the Cork Examiner photo graphs on page 107 & 107 of Titanic - Triumph and Tragedy.

To fix this slice a 2mm section out of the bulkhead outboard of the window then cut close to the window on the inboard side. Now swap the two parts and glue back into to place. Fill and sand. To counteract the loss of plastic by the saw you can glue some K 3 strip on the edges of each section before you glue them back together.

#4 Funnel Deckhouse.

Port Side:

On the port forward side are two single windows with a door in between. Fill in the window immediately aft of the door.

Starboard Side:

On the starboard side there are two groups of triple windows. Fill the 2nd and 3rd window aft of the FIRST group with putty, sand flush and paint flat white.

 

 

Second Class Entrance.

Item 1 (adding the forward windows)

Roy Mengot states:

"On the fore end, replace the single center window with two windows evenly spaced along the walls. Tom Andrews' notebook specifies 7 windows, not 6, and this is the logical place. They are probably symmetrical with the fore windows for the lower 2nd class entrance seen in "Triumph and Tragedy" p.120 middle-left."

You can either build and new wall with two windows in it or cut the new windows out of the existing parts and fill the centre window when you've assembled parts G29A & B.

Item 3 (aft arched window).

The arched window in part G19 is very badly formed. Carefully file this out to its correct size.

Item 2 (mullions)

All of these windos were the nine paned arched variety.

Remove the mullions in the arch and the add new mullions using your preferred method.

SEGMENT ENDNOTES

Thanks to Bruce Beveridge for pointing out a few missing windows and window styles.

 

 
 
This site was created by David Cotgreave January 2000