Titanic model on eBay - hurry!

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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
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Minicraft Photo-etched Detail Sheets

John John,

I was thinking I could use it as a 'tempalate' for wire constructions of appropriate size (bonded together with CA or similar strong glue, perhaps even soldering). For now, I´ll just wait for the laser-cut railings from GPM to see whether they have managed to reproduce the railings, ladders, etc, faithfully in card. If not, it´s back to square one - no comromise.
Why should I compromise? There are so many talented artists and card model designers involved in this project already, so I don´t want to make it worse by adding something that would bring the overall quality down by a notch. That would be counter-productive.
Btw, sharpness is not a problem - I have scanned in 1200 dpi hi-resolution, which yields sharpness that is more than enough. So, I have enormously big original TIFF files (uncompressed), which gives me the best quality that is obtainable from the web servers.

All the best,
Bengt :thumb:
 
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phlipmbirner

New Member
Jan 31, 2004
16
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6
Lusaka, Zambia--The Real Africa
John John, Bengt and others,

I went to the GPM website to look at the Fly Model Titanic accessories. I noticed both card railings as well as photo etched railings. Does the card railing set contain enough material to do the entire ship or does one need the photo etch stuff as well? Also I noticed a set of laser formers that seem to cost nearly as much as the card model itself. Does this set contain only formers or are there railings and other details in it as well?

I'm not adverse to paying for the laser stuff even if it increases the cost of the model times two and then some. Its just that I would hate to purchase too much stuff for it or more likely purchase only part of what is needed and then have to reorder more parts down the line together with the postage costs. I'm interested to hear from you guys who have ordered accessories or are in the process of doing so for the Titanic model.

I've been enjoying your discussion on this model.

Phil
 
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NYC Irish

Member
Apr 26, 2004
172
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Cork Ireland
Ok Bengt best of luck with the railings. I think they are suitable, I also belive that the set is specifically designed for the Titanic so I would believe that there is a suitable amount for the kit. The only thing is that there is no set way to use them so I would be careful about where to start as you do not want to end up trying to finish a 50mm section with 5 remainder sections from elsewhere...am I making sense? I suppose that 2 sets for spares and practie/ repairs would be a good idea. I'd say that the railings should be spray painted on their sprues with some gloss white paint as they are slightly tinged from the burning..I think that it will also add a bit of strength to them...my word they are flimsy....they would have to be the last addition to the model before you place it away in a glass case...

I dont think that the laser cut sections are anything but the formers, I didnt see them in the list when I ordered the kit & railings...If I see another kit I like on he site I may throw the formers in too...I'm building their Kursk at the moment, just back from holidays and started in a new job so...time...I wish I had some...

Hope that helps..

John John
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
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Allan Rose´s Titanic Model

Billy,

Yes, I have seen Allan´s model before. This copy is very pricy indeed. It´s a waterline model, though. That is where Fly Model (and Betexa) separates from the rest of the past and current models.

Best,
Bengt :thumb:
 
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NYC Irish

Member
Apr 26, 2004
172
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Cork Ireland
ok Im a novice at scanning etc but..

I A3 scanned a page in 48 Bit colour at 900 DPI (I tried 1200 but 900 was max that buffer could work with) and the image came out at an uncompressed TIFF at a 901 MB size file... My PC is pretty good, Intel Centrino Duo Core and 2 Gig RAM...but it still takes quite some time for any step....


Any tips?

John John
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
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Scanning Model Sheets

John John,

Interesting that you have started experimenting with those big sheets!

That is an incredibly big file to handle - even if you have a fast PC, with dual processors and 2 Mb of RAM, it will still take you ages to scan (and color-correct) all of the color sheets in this book.

I would scan at 720 dpi or even 600 dpi, to obtain a more fast-working file. Yesterday, I scanned an A4 model in 600 dpi (six sheets) and the result is excellent - the files are 99 Mb each and look very good even at 200 % magnification on my 17" eMac screen, which is more than adequate. I have sharpened them slightly, at 40 % with Unsharp Mask in Photoshop CS.

The color-corrections I most often use in Photoshop are found under Image, Adjustments; Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation. First of all, the contrast are often too soft in a scanned file and have to be adjusted somewhat. Next, in Color Balance, you can adjust the colors to suit your needs and (in my case) your printer output. I have also found Saturation to be a most valuable tool, when you want to reduce colors that are too bright or if you would like to 'desaturate' grey tones to obtain an even color overall.
Unsharp Mask, is, in my opinion, the best sharpness tool for contours and printed surfaces.

Best of luck with your model,
Bengt :wave:
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
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Titanic Survivors, Etc

John John,

Interesting - I thought they were all gone by now. Apparently, 'Millvina' Dean is still alive in Southampton. There has been some time since the last survivor who had own memories of the disaster died. Walter Lord did a tremedous research job of writing hundreds of letters and tracking most of them down long ago and interviewing them for his great book "A Night to Remember". This is probably the finest and most authentic record of the RMS Titanic disaster itself and the aftermath.

Another seemingly very well-researched new book project on the Titanic that is now under way at the publisher is "Titanic - The Ship Magnificent", which will be released in TWO volumes, the first being published in the UK in December: http://titanic-theshipmagnificent.com/
This could very well become the definitive book on the subject of the design and construction of the liner. With a number of previously unpublished photos, this will probably be another great source for serious modellers worldwide. Peter Davies-Garner´s model making manual also remains a great collection for the modeller with ambitions: http://www.amazon.co.uk/RMS-Titanic...2275/ref=pd_sbs_b_title_9/026-6461642-7198868


Btw, I got the laser-cut railings for the Fly Model 1:200 scale Titanic from GPM yesterday. Amazing precision and quality! They are a bit short, though, which means there has to be a lot of precision joints along the sides of the finished model. It puzzles me, though, why they didn´t make them in the correct lengths while they were at it . . ? The photo-etched railings for the Minicraft plastic model are all 'ready-made'.
I wonder if it would be possible to CA-glue them together in the desired lengths first and then carefully paint them (off-)white with a precision airbrush tool and fine water-based acrylic paint?

Have you made any A3 scans yet? I am interested to hear how you are advancing.
I have been thinking a lot about this scanning 'project'. If you scan and print to the exact same scale (with some kind of mm or inch 'ruler' or scale along the side of the sheets), you wouldn´t have to scan the whole model, just the sheets that you´d want to color-adjust. In addition, I suppose all the formers and spars could be copied in a regular copier, if you want to save those sheets un-cut. Any further ideas on this?

All the best,
Bengt :thumb:

PS. Stephan Hintze (at Kartonbau.de) is doing great progress on the Fly Model Titanic; hehas already completed the hull below the waterline, started on the top decks, and has also made a very nice 'wooden' model stand, which he has generously made available as a free download: http://kartonbau.de/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=14032&hilight=Fly+Model+Titanic&hilightuser=0&page=4
 
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phlipmbirner

New Member
Jan 31, 2004
16
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Lusaka, Zambia--The Real Africa
Bengt,

Thank you for your report on the laser-cut railings. Its just the information I need.

Concerning scanning: I usually scan a model before I make it as a contingency against ruining a part and having no back up. I've never had much success matching color even though I do have a copy of Photoshop 6 but figure for making one ruined part on a model I'll mess around until I get it correct. One thing I have learned over the years is the necessity of calibrating my scanner. I think the last time I did this the I had to scan at .9921 over the width while the length was right on. It doesn't sound like very much but especially on a model the size of the Titanic you would have larger parts coming out 1-2 mm off. That can really ruin your day after assembling a ship hull and finding those last parts coming out 5-20mm off.

Phil
 
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Amazyah

Senior Member
Mar 1, 2006
910
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Foothills of the Smoky Mountains
www.cardmodelsnmore.com
I put my copy of this classic up on EBay, just in case anyone is interested.:thumb:
This was the first commercial model that I ever purchased and Bengt was there to give me advice on it then.
Thank you, Bengt!:cool:

I'm sure many of you are wondering, why?:confused:
Why would I want to sell these models, that mean so much to me?
Well, my wife and I, are now part of the American population that doesn't have Health Insurance.
We need the money for Doctor visits and prescriptions.
I never wanted to admit it but I have had several inquiries as to why? So there you have it.:eek:ops:

Hey, I'm not a hard luck case and I don't need or want any sympathy either.
I just wanted to answer the inquiries and clear the air about the matter.
A man's got to do what a man's got to do, right?! Nuff said.

So, if you want your chance a great classic, here it is.
I paid $85 for this model and I started the bidding at $9.99.
So have at it and Good Luck To Ya!:mrgreen:

Russell
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
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36
Modular Quay Model

Hi all,

I´ve just found something that might be really dandy to have if you´d like to display an RMS Titanic model in Southampton harbour.
It´s a free download modular quay model system from Paper Shipwright in the UK: http://www.papershipwright.co.uk/pf05/details.shtml
There are even bollards in the picture.

It might look something like this, with suitable plastic or glass for water:

TitanicdepartSothamptonApril10.jpg


All the best,
Bengt :thumb:
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
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36
The Peter Davies-Garner RMS Titanic Model

Hi John John,

I haven´t a clue, really - I don´t remember seeing anything about an estimated total cost of the big model in Peter Davies-garner´s book http://www.amazon.co.uk/RMS-Titanic-...461642-7198868 but I´ll have a look at it again.

Thank you, by the way, for an excellent build thread on the big Fly Model 'Kursk' submarine - it has been most enjoyable and very inspirational.

All the best,
Bengt :thumb:
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
0
36
Amazon

Hi Bill,

Yes, I have also found this to be the case - I often find my best book buys slightly used from Amazon Books.com. Some a real bargains.
However, I have to choose the sellers who have international shipping.

It´s interesting that you have found the Allan Rose model book - it seems there is a re-print of December 2000. I thought the ones that were available used were still from the 80s:

TitanicBook-byAllanRoseca1980.jpg


Thanks for the tip!
All the best,
Bengt :thumb:
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
0
36
The Latest in Titanica

Hello Mauiman,

Thanks for the tip - that is indeed a great book, with amazing and detailed pictures of Peter Davies-Garner´s impressive 1:18 scale model. It is also useful when detailing a card model, for example the big Fly Model 1:200 scale Titanic.

Here is another book tip - these two brand new volumes are perhaps the definitive work on the RMS TITANIC - they are not yet released, however, the first book will be released in April, 2008: TITANIC The Ship Magnificent
They will soon be available through Amazon Books, too: Amazon.co.uk: "Titanic": The Ship Magnificent: Bruce Beveridge,Steve Hall,Scott Andrews: Books

All the best,
Bengt :thumb:
 
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