ISSUE 44

Return to the BUILD

In this issue, we will attach the decking to the Central Boat Deck, then connect the two Boat Deck sections and two superstructure sections together.

Parts

Materials: The Central Section of Boat Deck is plastic, the Decking is wood veneer, and the Connecting Plates are metal.

Magazine

Giant of the Sea – Between Two Eras
20th Century – Titanic the Blockbuster (Part V)
Step-by-Step Instructions

Build

Central Section of the Boat Deck

As I did back in Issue 41, I masked off and painted the internal sections on both sides of this Central Boat Deck to help with light-blocking. First, I airbrushed on a coat of Vallejo Model Air 71.057 Black acrylic paint:

This was followed up by a coat of Vallejo Model Air 71.064 Chrome Metallic to help spread the light around:

Once dry and with the masking removed, this is what both side of our Central Boat Deck looked like:

Step 1

Test fit both pieces of Decking on the top surface of the Central Section of Boat Deck, as shown.

Be very gentle with this Decking as it is fragile and can easily snap apart:

When happy with the fitment, carefully remove the backing paper from a Decking piece:

Even though I took it slow and easy, I still managed to snap off a small piece of my Decking here. We can still fix this, no worries:

Slowly apply the Decking to the Central Boat Deck, minding the staircases and aligning all the holes, as shown.

As with all of my Decking, these pieces were sprayed (on the exposed sticky side) with my 3M 45 General Purpose Spray Adhesive:

On my model, I did notice that even though one end of this Decking was aligned to the holes…

… the other end was slightly off. We may have to drill out these holes later on:

As for the piece of Decking that broke off, I was able to fit it into place just fine. The break line is nearly invisible:

Repeat this step to adhere the second Decking piece into place on the the opposite side of the Central Boat Deck:

Step 2

Retrieve your Boat Deck/Bridge assembly from the previous issue and align our Central Boat Deck to the rear edge of it, as shown:

Fit the two posts under the front edge of the Central Boat Deck into the matching mounting points at the rear of the Bridge/Boat Deck, closing up the gap as shown:

Carefully turn both sections upside down, taking care not to damage any of the topside details.

For this, I recommend using a couple of the similar sized packing boxes that the parts came in – they work great to keep things aligned and safe:

Begin securing these two Boat Deck sections together with two (2) AP screws, as shown:

Continue securing these sections together by fitting one of the Connecting Plates over the six pins in this recessed area at the seam between the sections.

It is highly recommended to use super glue around these pins to strengthen this connection. Just make sure the decks are straight and level with each other before the glue sets:

Finish securing these Boat Deck sections together on the opposite side of the ship with the second Connecting Plate:

Once the glue dries, we should have a large section of our Boat Deck assembled and ready for more work:

Step 3

Retrieve your two Superstructure sections from Issue 22. Slide the large tab forward of the Grand Staircase section underneath the rear of the Officers’ Quarters section, as shown:

These two sections should fit tightly up against each other:

Carefully turn this entire assembly on its side and secure the two sections together from below with two (2) GP screws:

The completed assembly should now act as one piece:

Thoughts

After all the detail and paint work we did in the last few stages of this pack, it was nice to end it on a much simpler issue!

Next Up

Issue 45 – Lifeboats 3 & 5/Block Gear/Tarpaulins, Winch, Davit Arms/Bases, Decking (Coming Soon)

My RMS Titanic