Return to the BUILD

In this issue, we will attach the forward bridge bulkhead and install many of the bridge details.

Contents

Parts

IMPORTANT: Many of the parts in this issue are tiny/delicate. Take care opening the small envelopes to prevent from losing or damaging anything:

Materials: The Wheel House Decking is wood veneer, the Sticker Sheet is paper, and the rest of these parts are plastic.

Magazine

• Giant of the Sea – Arabia: The Last Ship of its Generation
• A Date with Destiny – Southampton: City of Martyrs
• Step-by-Step Instructions

Build

Details for the Bridge

I feel many of the parts supplied in this issue were slightly inaccurate, so bear with me here as I painted a lot of parts here. Starting with the Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge, I masked off the railing on either side of the navigation bridge and hand-painted it with Vallejo Model Air 71.032 Golden Brown acrylic paint. This was to try and replicate the teak wood found at this location.

NOTE: The details of the bridge are covered in another large Mod Zone farther down this page.

Next, instead of using the supplied stickers, I chose to mask off and hand-paint the starboard side navigation light casing with my Vallejo Game Air 72.729 Sick Green acrylic paint:

In the same way, I hand-painted the port side navigation light casing with Vallejo Game Air 72.711 Gory Red acrylic paint:

Then, to add more light-blocking around the navigation Light LEDs we installed in the previous issue, I hand-painted the underside of each wing cab housing with my Vallejo Model Air 71.057 Black acrylic paint, as shown:

Once the paint dried, I removed the masking and cleaned it up. Here is how my modified Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge turned out:

Finally, I hand-painted the tops of the two Navigation Lights with Vallejo Model Air 71.001 White acrylic paint. I feel like these lights would have been encased in some type of lantern housing, so this was my attempt at replicating that look:

Step 1

Peel and stick the red and green stickers of the Sticker Sheet into the sides of the Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge, as shown. Apply one sticker at a time and smooth them down with a cotton swab (bud). Make sure the hole for the Navigation Light is not covered.

I felt these stickers did not quite match what I expected so I decided not to use them. Instead, I painted my casings in the Mod Zone above:

If you do want to use the Sticker Sheet on your own model, this is how they are shown to be installed in the instructions:

Step 2

Retrieve your Boat Deck assembly from the previous issue. The Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge will be fitted to the front of it:

This step can be tricky. The easiest way I found to attach the Forward Bulkhead is to turn both of these assemblies upside down and angle the Boat Deck under the rounded tabs of the Bulkhead at an angle, as shown:

Next, while holding the Bulkhead in place, I pivoted the Boat Down down towards my work surface:

The two base sections of the wing cabs may need to be popped into place on either side:

Finally, we can press these two pins of the Boat Deck completely through the holes in the rounded tabs of the Forward Bulkhead:

Make sure the Forward Bulkhead is fully seated all the way around…

… then secure these parts together from below with two (2) CP screws.

Do not over-tighten these screws as I’ve noticed they tend to pull the front wall of the Bulkhead away from vertical:

Step 3

Press the D-shaped pin of the green Starboard Navigation Light into this matching hole on the right side of the Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge, as shown:

In the same way, press the D-shaped pin of the red Port Navigation Light into this matching hole on the left side of the Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge, as shown:

Step 4

Remove the backing paper from the Wheel House Decking and stick it into this location on the Boat Deck, as shown.

As with my previous Decking, I sprayed the sticky side of this section with my 3M 45 General Purpose Spray Adhesive to help it adhere securely:

In this Mod Zone, I tried to add a bit more realism to my bridge details. First, I hand-painted the dials of the five bridge Telegraphs with some Vallejo Model Air 71.057 Black acrylic paint. Then, I used a small Craft Cotton Swabs dampened with Isopropyl Alcohol to clean up the edges. This was to better replicate the dial faces of the actual Titanic telegraphs, such as this example:

Next, I airbrushed both of the Steering Columns in Vallejo Model Air 71.067 Bright Brass Metallic acrylic paint. This was to better replicate the brass mechanism of the real columns (one of these columns is actually still visible on the wreck):

Then, I hand-painted the two Platforms and both Pelorus with Vallejo Model Air 71.036 Mahogany acrylic paint to better represent the darker wood these would originally have been constructed from. I like to use less paint and more dirty-brushing (letting the paint start to dry, then smear it around) on these to simulate the grain of wood:

Finally, I hand-painted the base of the Binnacles with the same Vallejo Model Air 71.036 Mahogany. On either side of the real Binnacles (which housed the magnetic compass), there would have been two iron balls. As these balls were typically painted to match the port/starboard navigation colors, I added a drop of Vallejo Game Air 72.711 Gory Red to the port side, and a drop of Vallejo Game Air 72.729 Sick Green to the starboard side. You can tell which side is which because the key of the bottom pin on these Binnacles faces toward the front of the ship.

Fun Fact: These balls, called compensation spheres or ‘Kelvin spheres’, could be adjusted to compensate for the magnetic influence of the ship’s metal hull on the compass reading (it is also why the entire Titanic bridge was built out of wood and was subsequently destroyed during the sinking).

Step 5

Press the keyed pins of the five Telegraphs into these matching holes just behind the Forward Bulkhead of the Bridge, as shown.

If you find any of these details fit loosely, use a small drop of super glue to secure them in place. To ensure these parts were fully seated, I used a set of tweezers with wide tips to install them.

Fun Fact: The five bridge telegraphs on the real Titanic were manufactured by J.W. Ray & Co out of Liverpool, England and each one had a specific purpose. From port to starboard, they were the Engine Order telegraph, the Docking Order/Emergency Steering Order telegraph, the Emergency Engine Order telegraph, the Advisory Engine Order (Maneuvering) telegraph, and another Engine Order telegraph. The two Engine Order telegraphs were linked and synchronized to each other and allowed the sending of commands from either side of the navigating bridge.

Step 6

Press the pins of the two Platforms into the matching holes at these locations in the bridge Decking. While the two Platform parts are identical, one pin one each is larger than the other so these will only fit one way:

Step 7

Press the keyed pins of the two Binnacles into the matching holes at these locations of the bridge Decking, as shown:

Here is the same view from the other side, showing the green paint dot on the starboard side of my Binnacles:

Step 8

NOTE: I chose to do these next few steps in a different order than the magazines. This was to give me more room to install the smaller details.

Press the pin of a Wheel Hub through a Steering Wheel and into the hole of a Steering Column. Repeat this to build both Steering Wheel assemblies, as shown.

The easiest way I found to do this is to put the Wheel Hub on your work surface with the pin facing up. Next, place the Steering Wheel onto the pin. Then, press the hole of the Steering Column down onto the pin, capturing the Wheel in between:

Press the keyed pin of one Steering Wheel assembly into the matching hole at this location of the bridge Decking:

Fun Fact: On the real Titanic, these Steering Wheel mechanisms used Brown’s Patent Telemotors from Rosebank Ironworks in Edinburgh, Scotland. This forward Steering Wheel on the navigating bridge was mechanically linked to the Steering Wheel in the wheelhouse behind it by overhead gears and shafts. The wheelhouse Steering Wheel was then directly connected to the rudder’s steering engines via a system of hydraulic pistons and pipes.

In the same way, press the keyed pin of the second Steering Wheel assembly into the matching hole at this location of the bridge Decking.

Fun Fact: This rear Steering Wheel was located within the wheelhouse and was the primary means of steering the Titanic while underway.  As the wheelhouse could be fully enclosed by shutting its doors, it better protected the helmsman during bad weather. The forward navigating bridge Wheel was typically only used while docking and during tight maneuvers as its location provided more visibility (and better ability to hear spoken commands) forward and towards the wing cabs, but it was in an area that was exposed to the elements:

Step 9

Press the pins of the two Pelorus into the matching holes at these locations on the bridge Decking.

I tried to install these parts so the ‘ribs’ along each Pelorus were in line with the planks of the deck.

Fun Fact: On the real Titanic, these were actually tall wooden bases on which a Pelorus was mounted. A Pelorus, or “dumb compass”, was a navigational sighting instrument used to measure relative bearings of objects in relation to the ship. They had compass cards mounted to them so 0°/360° was always pointing at the bow. This allowed them to measure the bearing change of remote objects as the ship moved. With a bit of math, they could estimate distance traveled and, using the nearby clock, even estimate their speed.

Finally, fit the two Pillars into these matching holes of the bridge Decking, as shown.

I recommend just dry fitting these Pillars for now. We will secure them once the roof Panel 1 arrives in the next issue:

With this issue now completed, I decided to take a picture of my bridge so far – what do you think?

Thoughts

I feel that the bridge is one of the most important visual areas of our Titanic, so I spent more time adding some extra colors to it. It is not easy to add details to a 1:200 scale model, but I think we did a pretty decent job!

Next Up

Issue 43 – LED Strip/Cable, Bulkheads, Lamps, Panels