Step 42 - Mounting the superstructure

A) I sure hope you test fitted this several times along the way. Check all edges for an even fit.

B) There needs to be 3 support pillars from B-deck to A-deck. The kit only supplies the back two. Add the forward post using Evergreen M-1 strips between the railing on B-deck to the bottom front edge of A-deck.

C) After mounting the superstructure, follow-up by applying all the railings from steps 26-35 that you haven't done yet. Note that the aft railings for passengers on the boat deck, A and B-decks have wooden hand railings. If using the photo-etched railings, add the handrails using Evergreen K-1 strips glued to the top. Getting the curved corners will be difficult. Also note that at the corners, you do not want a post. The rails are simply bent at the corners. If using the kit railings, the poopdeck and forecastle rails should not have the wide hand rail on top. Bending the kit rails around the corners is near impossible.

D) This is minor but you can add the pipe that runs under the A-deck promenade. The photo looking up at Capt. Smith appears in almost all the books and under him, rising off the second post supporting A-deck, the pipe runs back under the full length of the promenade and turns in at the start of the open B-deck promenade. Use Evergreen SA-2 rods. This also helps to hide any sins in the seams from mounting the superstructure to the hull.

E) The boat deck was divided up into sections for the officers forward, the 1st class in the middle, a small area for the engineers, and the 2nd class aft. The dividers were a three-rail railing across the decks with a small swing gate to allow passage.

	Place the rail 2mm forward of the expansion joint almost in line with the davit. Photo from a still of Cameron's "Titanic"
	The forward railings are 2mm aft of the expansion joint (can't have the railings cross a flexible fixture). The still from the movie doesn't show the expansion joint. Photo from a still of Cameron's "Titanic"

Use the 3-strand rails from the kit. If using the photo etched parts, add the wood hand rail to the top of the railings using Evergreen K-1 strips. The rails are painted white and the hand railings are dark wood brown as for other hand rails. There are no hand rails over the gates so cut these off the kit rails (if using them) and omit them from the gate sections when using the photo etched parts.

F) 71 on figure 2. At the forward ends of A-deck are two platforms for the leadsmen. See the famous photo looking up at the bridge with Capt. Smith peering down. The platforms are 3 X 4mm and attach even with A-deck starting 5.5mm back from the forward edge of A-deck. Use pulled sprue for the braces and add something to indicate coiled lines. The leadsmen stood on the platform and swung a weight on a rope out in front and took a sounding of the harbor as the weight passed below the platform.

Step 43 - Forecastle (Now the fun begins)

Figure 4 - The forecastle

Remember that numbered items refer to figure 4.

A) 1. The most glaring error in the kit is the absence of the center anchor. Cut out the tip of the forecastle but save the tip of the prow. Use sheet plastic cut to the inside dimensions of the hull just below the fit line of the forecastle to form the storage well. It should have a slight down slope going aft and finish 2mm below deck level. Cement it to the underside of the forecastle and test fit before committing. Fabricate a center anchor from plastic stock (slightly larger than the side anchors) or cannibalize one from another kit. Fabricate the grate over the front end of the anchor from "Venetian blinds" photo-etch set for model railroads, or another photo-etched grate. There are two cat walks barely 2mm wide that rest on the sides and connect the front grate to the outer edges of the deck. See "Triumph and Tragedy" p.26.

Paint the sides of the anchor well white. The bottom is probably funnel base gray. When installed, the anchor itself was a light gray and may still have been. The Olympic anchor in the reference above has the teeth painted black but the shaft is still gray.

The side panels to the anchor well were welded on. In photos at Southampton, The welds appear dirty and leave a slight rust line indicating the shape of the well on the sides. This disappears when the ship is freshly painted.

B) 2. The anchor chains have safety brackets that straddle the chains. Fabricate a loop of Evergreen K-1 stripping. The loop should extend 3mm above and across the anchor chains at the aft end of the wide front part in chain guide. Glue these before painting and paint black.

C) 3. The horizontal support for the crane is not a single bar. Cut it away and use Evergreen SA-2 .025" plastic rod and cut two parallel bars that mount on the outside of the original upright and crane arm along the original lines. See the detail in figure 4 at the bottom. It mounted on a steel plate on the deck. Paint a gray square equal to the diameter of the base under the corners.

D) 4. The anchor machinery is augmented with two drive shafts that include a gear that sticks up vertically and two shafts that cross the deck to the anchor capstans. Fabricate the gear from plastic stock and use the Evergreen .025 rods for the shafts.

E) 5. The #1 hatch sides should not be taller than the big breakwaters so shave it down. The #1 hold is protected in high seas by a splash guard. Fabricate this from sheet plastic. See the sub-drawing. For items 8, cut four small triangles of sheet plastic and install the braces for the #1 hold. The front three sides were of the hatch were painted rust colored. The back wall was white.

F) 6. The bollard arrangement in the kit is wrong. There are 3 bollard sets on each side, not two. There are spare bollards in the kit so arrange the bollards as indicated in figure 4. The center bollards by the anchor capstans should be moved forward 2mm so the back of the rear bollard is even with the front of the anchor capstan.

G) *corrected* 7. To properly locate the big bollards, the small bollards molded on the deck need to be carefully sliced off and reset as indicated. The forward set can be left in place.

H) 9. The splash shields are molded into the deck at the wrong angle, the need to reach the sides 9mm forward of the aft edge. This is a difficult fix. Slice the splash shields off the deck with an Exacto Minisaw and refabricate. If you moved the splash guard forward, replace the supports with pulled sprue. Check "Titanic: Triumph and tragedy" p.60 and p.87 (top) for better views of the splash shield. Note that the support bars are black or perhaps the rust red used in the well decks. A clearer picture is seen in "Last Days of the Titanic" p.54. Note also the 3' wide mat of ropes laid out that span from kedge anchor to halfway across the port side on the backside of the splash guard. There is a sign on the aft face of the starboard splash shield, color unknown. This sign appears on both sides on Olympic but only starboard on Titanic.
The signs that are seen on railings around the ship and on the sea break on the forecastle starboard side say:

To rectify the obvious deck damage, try the greater approach of scribing the deck along the raised deck lines. You can then scrape and sand the deck flat and have more realistic recessed plank lines, even in the modified areas. This is a lot work and the planking doesn't show as well after painting.

This is an advanced technique. PRACTICE it a bit using sheet plastic and a metal ruler before you attack the kit. Be comfortable with your knife or other scribing tool you use.

I) 10. There's an extra vent to add. Cut this from thick sheet plastic (1.5mm wide) to the shape shown in the sub-drawing in figure 4. See "The Discovery of the Titanic" p.97 for this and items 13, 34, and 35.

J) 11. The power for the electric winches comes from the fan room a bit foreword and under the forecastle and the wires are covered with conduit covers. Cut these from Evergreen K-2 plastic strips and mount. The conduits form a Y with anther piece forming a T at the fore end. The color is unknown; black, white, rust, or gray are possible.

Repeat painting tip: The winches have black rollers, but the bodies over the engines are slightly darker than grass green. The same is true for all the large and small winches scattered around the ship.

K) 12. The skylight to the crew galley has prop-up weather covers over the four glass panels. Indulge your modeling skill. This is hard to correctly position if you don't move the big splash shields forward. Each fold-up panel in the skylights has a port hole. See Eaton and Haas "Titanic: Triumph and tragedy" p.60. Use the new Gold Medal Skylights set.

This view of the wreck shows some of the fixes in place. Most are easy and enhance the model. YOU will get the satisfaction of knowing you did a better job than you needed to. Roy Mengot wreck model.

L) 32. You need to add two more holes for pre-placed rigging. Fit the forecastle on the hull and mark the center between the anchors 29mm back from the tip of the ship. Drill a thread size hole 1mm on either side of the center line. You have a double line to the foremast so cut a 10" line of heavy rigging for each hole (see step 5 A), thread it through from below, cement it in the center, and later it intersects the mast at the same point where the rat lines attach. These are the main stays (I can't believe the kit missed them!) All other rigging on the bow can be lighter weight thread.

M) Item 34 is a reel for working rigging. Check "Last Days of the Titanic" p.68 or "Titanic: Triumph and tragedy" p.106 and note that two similar reels in each forward corner of the poop deck have a tent shaped canvas cover on them and the forecastle reel is seen similarly covered on p.60. Carve all three tent shapes from plastic or modeling clay and paint the same color as the lifeboat covers. These should be 3mm long, 2.5mm wide and 4mm tall. Save the stern ones for later.

N) 35. This vent or chimney supposedly comes from the crew galley and angles back and then rises along the aft port corner of the mast. Fabricate the wider base and top and the narrower shaft using the Evergreen plastic rod assortment SA. The .040 diameter rod is about right for the main pipe. It should be 19mm tall. It's only fully visible is photos taken from the port bow.

O) 36. Fabricate and add the smaller "kedge" anchor. Add a second bar similar to the shaft of the kedge anchor alongside the shaft on the outside. A simple strip of .025 Evergreen SA-2 rod will do for this. Fabricate two kedge anchors. A second will appear later on the poop deck.

P) 38. The cover was not flat and plain. It was rounded and featured portholes in the top. The two in the front side were Olympic only. Use the original G5 hatch cover as a base and cut an 11 X 14mm piece of .010 sheet styrene. Draw a slight hour glass shape so the center is only 10mm wide. Drill the portholes as per figure 4 and place clear acetate behind them. Add the center doors by cutting two rectangles in .010 sheet plastic and apply. Cement this to the hatch cover and it should be the right shape. Cut the half round end sections, apply, fill, and sand. Mount and paint white.

Q) The sides and rear of the forecastle have the kick-boards for the railings mentioned in step 2. The rear ones need to cross the width of the hull and join up with the kick boards on the sides. Leave gaps for the stairs. Other bad news, the railings across the aft side are *6* rail railings, not 5. I don't see these anywhere else and have no recommended fix.

R) Just aft of item 32, add the machine room access hatch between the anchor chains by cutting a thin rectangle of plastic 2 X 2mm. Fit the forecastle on the hull and mark the center 34mm back from the tip of the ship. This is the front edge of the hatch. It is seen painted black on Olympic photos. The opening is seen in wreck photos.

Just .5mm aft of the hatch, the deck is covered with a steel plate. Measure 36.5mm from the tip of the hull to 42mm and scribe lines between the anchor chains. Scrape off the deck surface in between and paint this area funnel base gray, just like the mounts for the forecastle winches. This cover was level with the planking. On the wreck, there are two C-beam tracks in the steel deck that either brace the top cover or were used for machinery servicing the capstan machinery below. Any sub-hatch is still in place.

S) 40. Add the steam valves for the capstan machinery below the forecastle. Cut 6 flat head finishing nails 3.5mm tall with a head just under 2mm in diameter and file the base flat. These are best viewed in Marriott's "Titanic" p.39. The front pair are along side the loops over the anchor chains. The rear ones are just in front of the #1 hatch between the fittings for the anchor machinery, and on the side of either front corner of #1 hatch. Mount with super glue.

T) The phone box is a separate post aft of the anchor crane. Use a 4mm tall section of SA-2 tubing with a slightly thicker head on it. Paint rust brown.

Step 44 - Forecastle and well deck

A) Item 15 back on figure 2. There are crane racks available as part Gold Medal photo-etch set. Here on the well deck, you need three 2-legged brackets with a connecting bar across the top. I fabricated mine from adapted model railroad parts and a strip of Evergreen K-1 stripping. Use the Gold Metal parts and fabricate the crane booms using the photo-etched parts and Evergreen K-2 strips. There should be a single line centered on the crane mast to the end of the boom. Drill a hole in the center down to the hole provided from the sides. Add the main crane line limp, not taught, as the hook runs back under the boom and is secured underneath. The side lines in the instruction manual are still there and run straighter to the outside of the boom ends. The instructions are wrong on placement. The port crane rests on top of the starboard crane. For all cranes, remember to add the photo etch ladders and scrape the molded ones off before painting. All of the cranes have handrails for the operator. These will be a single rail with 3 posts. See figure 2. Two posts are on the side where the platform juts out slightly. The third post is in the center of the rear. These are included in the new improved Gold Medal Merchant ship set.

Build all cranes at the same time.

As a tidbit of information, the long rectangular signs on the booms of the poop deck's cargo crane which are bordered in black with black letters say: "Load not to exceed 2 1/2 tons". The elliptical ones on the "uprights" of the cranes read:

The two cranes aft on A Deck are smaller than those on the rest of the ship. The signs on these cranes would read: "Load not to exceed 1 1/2 tons."

B) 16. The curved support brackets in figure 2 can be formed from sheet plastic, 3mm long and 2 mm wide. These mounted even with the bottom of the portholes in the well-deck wall. Mount these after placing J14.

C) 13. After mounting the forecastle, there is a (drain?) pipe that runs from the port winch along the forecastle edge and bends down to the port well deck. Use the evergreen .025" rod once again. See this in the photo on p.97 of "Discovery of the Titanic".

D) 39 in figure 4. Slice the boom off the back of the main mast and reapply so the base is 7mm above the deck. Test fit with the forecastle to find the right height. There are 3 struts that brace the crow's nest to the mast. These angle down at 30 degrees from the back corners of the crow's nest and from the forward edge (see sub-drawing in figure 4). Use pulled sprue for these. See what you can do about fabricating a hollow crow's nest. The brick provided by the kit seems out of place if you're doing all these other fixes. Evergreen K-8 strips are right for the sides. Also, the crows nest is not tapered at the bottom like the one in the kit (the top and bottom are the same size).

E) 68. Add a bell similar to the one over the crow's nest to the back of the forward mast, but bigger. The bridge bell (item 56 in figure 2) was 9" diameter, the crow's nest bell was 15", this one is 25". Mount the bell right below the boom, not on the side as shown in the H&W rigging plan, or in front as on Olympic. See "Titanic Voices" p.5.

Step 45 - The poop deck (The fun never ends)

A) The underside is only half done. On both sides, cut away the wall section going turning aft from the forward wall. The forward wall is there but not the interior sides. On the starboard side, add a section to extend the interior wall all the way to the starboard side. On the port side, add walls for a protruding room (the bar, show some reverence) 6 X 9mm and add a door like the ones on the side of the #6 cargo hatch. This will fill in the gap on the aft wall left in the kit. Add double doors to the sides of the entrance house behind the cargo hatch. The walls are split white and rust in color. See the drawing below.

B) Install the G23 vents deferred from step 7. The port side sports a reversed G23 (A) moved forward slightly by the added room. See Marriott's "Titanic" p.23. (B) There is a G25 type vent ducted through the poop deck to the cowl by the crane above. The starboard G23 (C) is mounted as indicated in the instruction manual. (D) Add a G33 to mirror the port G25. See "Titanic voices", p121.

If you need to fabricate any G25/33 vents, place them here where they are less noticeable. The bollards deferred from step 8 need to be placed almost against the aft wall.

C) The perimeter of the poop deck has the kick-boards for the railings mentioned in step 2. Leave gaps for the stairs.

Figure 5 - The stern (repeat)

D) The rigging line coming through the deck forward of the docking bridge is a single middle weight line, not a double line as shown in the instructions. You do need a second line but of much lighter weight thread. This will be line that runs part way up the mast stay to a block and tackle and drops to the area of the cranes in step 60.

E) 59. There are two small candy cane shaped vents under the outer edges of the docking bridge on the poop deck. They face aft. See Ken Marshall's foldout painting on p.48 of "Titanic, An Illustrated History", and p.25. Cut these from .020 sheet plastic about 3mm tall. They are not as tall as the rail.

F) 45. Using the same two sources, you need to add a post for the ship's wheel below the docking bridge to the poop deck. The other posts are correctly placed although the front support posts should be finer than the ones in the kit. Note this also displaces the aft deck benches farther aft. The wheel assembly in the kit is reversed, and there are two of them (C2 and G14). The post to the side of the wheel is probably a compass. It is on the starboard side of the wheel for Titanic, slightly taller and more white on Olympic, and on the port side in the photo in "Shipbuilder" p.114 and a couple feet farther from the wheel. This last photo is probably Britannic. C2 looks like a Britannic arrangement (as do the stair and side support arrangements). Carefully cut away the wheel, turn it around, and mount it all backwards from the manual. Use G14 as a backup. The phone box is a separate post aft of the wheel. Use a 4mm tall section of SA-2 tubing with a slightly thicker head on it. On Olympic, the phone box was shorter than Titanic and Britannic.

G) 46. Using these sources again, note that the cranes are stored horizontal on the 4-legged crane rack. The legs are spaced a bit narrower than the #6 cargo hatch. The starboard crane is on top of the port crane. The booms were actually clamped together. This arrangement is similar to that of the cranes in the forward well deck except the forward rack had 6 legs. Titanic left Southampton with the cranes raised tip to tip. They were secured in Queenstown pictures.

H) When placing the cowl vents on the poop deck, note that they turn on their mountings. They face slightly different directions in different photos, but mostly aft, give or take a few degrees.

I) 51. To properly separate the 3rd class from the upper classes, add two gates at the tops of the stairs at the locations shown in item 51 of figure 5. They're a simple 4 rail gate with no handrail on top. The new Gold Medal set has the gate for the forward well deck.

J) 34: There are two reels similar to item 34 in step 43 M) mounted in the forward corners of the poop deck, between the cranes and the rails.

K) 63. The skylights for capstan machinery room are lame. It's best to refabricate them without the slope to fore. Add the three portholes both fore and aft. Add the vent covers on top as per the detail drawing in figure 5. The covers are hinged on the fore end and can be propped open.

L) 60. Add the big red warning signs for tugboats: "Notice: This vessel has triple screws...". At this scale, add a red plaque of sheet plastic with hints of 5 rows of white lettering as shown on the stern drawing. These are the same height as the railings and 4.5mm long. The aft sign is in the second rail section port of the center line. Order decals for the various signs from Duane Fowler.

The set includes the signs above, First and Second Class sections signs, Lifeboat markings, Crane markings, Bridge Telegraphs, extra flags, and "TITANIC" and TITANIC LIVERPOOL" bow and stern plates in gold. He is asking for US$2 per set to cover costs and postage and will take equivalent foreign currency. NEW!! He also has a 1/350 set for Olympic and Britannic for both war and peace configurations.

M) 61. Do you want your sailing model to be leaving Southampton or Queenstown? If Southampton, then place the two 16 foot staffs erect on the docking bridge over the outer frame uprights, flying small pennants, see "Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy" p.49 and 50. (They show up in other Southampton photos as well.) For Queenstown, stow those staffs on the docking bridge deck as per the photo on page 106 of the same book. You can see the dark lines of the stowed staffs. This matches the H&W plans I have. Use the Evergreen SA2 .025' rod again cut 14mm long.

N) 44. Add a copy of the Kedge anchor from item 36 in step 43 N). This stood on it's side with a center support from the deck just forward of the jack staff and 2mm starboard of the centerline. You can just glimpse it in "Titanic: Triumph and tragedy" p. 106, and in "Discovery of the Titanic", p.214.

O) If using the Gold Medal parts, the outer braces to the docking bridge did not have an outer diagonals or a horizontal member under the X, just two uprights and an X.

P) 50. Finally add the steam valves for the capstan machinery. Cut 4 finishing nails 3.5mm tall with a head just under 2mm in diameter, similar to the ones on the forecastle. They are offset and mount in two lines as shown in figure 5. The aft starboard one is 20mm aft of the post for the wheel on the docking bridge. The aft should straddle the benches with the port one slightly aft.

Q) The starboard center support for the docking bridge is a stairwell landing. Add a door on the port side with the 1mm spacing at the bottom. Since the stairs rose from aft, the aft wall slanted out to aft. Fabricate a sloped wall that starts 4mm aft of the structure and rises to almost the top. Add the triangle sides and fill and smooth. This is the head space for people climbing the stairs from the machine room below. The stairway to the docking bridge will later cover this.

Step 46 - Aft railings

A) If you can get one of those life rings off the parts tree without breaking it, let me know how. I've never heard of it successfully being done. The easiest way to get life rings is to take slices of the life ring sized tube in the Evergreen SA tube assortment. You need 10 of them. Make 10 in the time it takes to recover one from the kit!

Step 47 - Stern mast

A) 48 in figure 5. Note that the bases of the well deck cranes have a steel base around them. The deck was not planked inside the base. Paint this gray as for the funnel bases. Also, if mounting the crane racks, these were tripods and not set perpendicular to the booms. Figure 5 shows the correct foot print. The same is true for the A-deck cranes above.

B) Add the long conduit between the boat deck and the stern mast, see "T: Illustrated" p.39 and the foldout painting on p.48. Evergreen M-2 strips are good for this.

C) Rigging the cranes require a single line from the center of the tower to the end of the boom and the hook doubles back and hangs under the base of the boom. The aft A-deck cranes had a second safety line from the top of the tower to the crane rack on the inboard sides only. See any photo of the boy playing with his top.

D) *updated* Before adding the mast, add the docking lamps to the sides. Two little 1mm strips of Evergreen SA-2 tubing will do. They mount 5mm above the ring on the mast for the two lower stays from B-deck on the port and starboard sides (see "T: Illustrated" p.26). Add the ladder to front of the mast. The H&W plans show it and Ken Marschall Paints it in "Illustrated History" p.39 and p.139 but it doesn't show in other paintings or photos. That doesn't mean it wasn't there. It's logical to have the ladder to service the lamps. Use a Lusitania funnel ladder plus another extension in the Gold Medal set to get the full 46.5mm from A-deck to the top. Cut out a rung on the ladder to make way for the conduit from the boat deck in B) above.

Step 48 - Forecastle rails

The Gold Medal rails have the correct number of sections in the right places. You will loose the bottom rail if you have the kick board in place though. The sections that stop short of the deck are the removable sections for use when the mooring lines pass through the rollers. The post should continue to the deck, but it's bent in. See E&H p.25, center photo. There is a removable section leaning on the rail.

Step 49 - Forecastle rails and rigging

A) When installing the front railings, the bottom 2 rails must be removed for the section that curves at the very prow. The Gold Medal parts have this.

B) The rigging shown in the instruction manual represents Titanic as she left Southampton. Fasten the two main lines added in step 43 to the point where the rat lines intersect the mast. The two lines going from the portside bollard to the top most line to the mast are OK, but tie them to the aft most bollard, now that you've added an extra set.

C) The rigging lines to the rails are a bit off. There is a single line running to the top of the mast but it is lighter gage than the rest of the rigging. Tie one line to the starboard rail in the second section forward of the breakwater, run it to the top of the mast and down to the portside at the aft rail location indicated in the manual for the 9" thread.

D) Add a ladder to the forward mast on the starboard side from the rat lines up 31.5mm. This only appeared on the starboard side. If using the Gold Medal Merchant Ship Set, use a funnel ladder from the Lusitania for this.

Steps 50- 51 - Mounting poop deck

A) The stairs going to the docking bridge (and the rails) are misplaced. The stairs reach the docking bridge even with the starboard edge of the big square box support under the bridge (move them port about 5mm). Adjust the cutting of the hand rails accordingly.

B) Item 65. There's a sign on the rails of the docking bridge by the stairs, probably red. See "Triumph and Tragedy" p.106.

C) The life rings on the docking bridge all appear to hang on the aft rail, not both sides as shown in the instructions. See the reference for B).

D) The Gold Medal rails are generally OK, but counting from the front, the 13-14th rail sections next to the rollers forward of the docking bridge are removable. Cut off the bottom rail and bend legs inward. Again the kick board covers the bottom rail but makes the railings easier to install. Ideally, the forward most post would be bent around the corner, rather than right at the corner.

E) Add the stern running light. This is just a slice of round sprue the same size as the wall lights on a small plate that fills the top 3 rails right behind the jack staff. It shows best in the Wels book on p.42.

Step 52 - Props and decals

After soaking off the decals, use a decal setting compound to better set the decals on the hull.

Step 53 - 57 - Life boats

A) The #1 and #2 boats are rigged outboard on either side of the bridge. Add the tie down lines that wrap around the boat down to the A-deck promenade. The lines from the davits form an X in the center of the boat. A good reference is the cover of "Last Days of Titanic."

B) If using the Gold Medal parts, the grab ropes on the upper sides of the life boats do not appear on the #1 and #2 boat or the collapsibles.

C) You can add the boat numbers and white star flags if you're good with decals. The actual numbers and flags on the boat are very small and subdued. Take some artistic license!

Loren Perry's model features the White Star flags from red decal material with a white spot added. The numbers are from other lettering decal sheets. They look great!

D) There needs to be a sounding spar added to each side. It was a pole with lines for retrieving material from tenders. It appears to be white. It did interfere with launching the boats in the survivor accounts and was cut away with an axe.

The sounding spar was stowed along boats 3 and 4. It's 26mm long. Use Evergreen SA-2 rods for these. The picture at right shows it stowed for sea, the far right shows it deployed at Queenstown. It was used to bring (port papers?) up to the boat deck.

E) Add a single section of 3-rail railing on each side of the boats angled to the davits. This does not apply to the front set of boat davits that already had bulwarks providing a barrier. This kept kids from slipping between the boat and the davit. See the drawing in step 42.

Step 58 - Radio wires

If your aerial lines are not perfectly parallel, neither were the originals. The starboard line pulled down a touch. For a really stunning effect, paint the horizontal and vertical lines mid to dark gray. Then paint the horizontal lines black for 6mm aft of the forward spreader bar and 5" (yes, inches) going forward from the aft spreader bar.

Step 59 - Final rigging, decals and anchors

A) I've seen no evidence that the anchor indents are red as should in the instructions. There will be a scrape area where the chains have taken off the paint and this will rust. This is common on ships.

B) The US flag on the fore mast indicated the country of destination. This would be changed for the Eastbound journey

C) Final rigging of the bow

Run the two lines added in step 5 by the base of the rat lines to the very top of the mast.

The two lines added in step 15 from the bridge roof will run to the mast where the rat lines attach. Before mounting, tie a 10" length in the center to each line from the bridge. These will be block and tackle lines and should be positioned so they hang down over the #2 hatch. Mount the bridge lines to the mast so they hang a bit limp. Secure one end of each hanging line to a roller on the winches at the base of the mast. Secure the other ends down between the cargo hatches somewhere. They should pull the bridge lines down a bit to form and angle.

Mount the rat lines last to hide any sins in mounting the wires. Do other rigging as indicated in the manual.

There are four lines coming from the ends of the antenna spreader bars, probably used to keep it hanging flat. These are very light weight. On the bow, they appear to tie off somewhere around the aft forecastle but they wash out completely in most pictures. On the stern, they seem to go to the forward corners of the well deck.

Step 60 - Flags and final rigging of the stern

The very fine line hanging from the aft mainstay down to the cranes is another block and tackle rig. It's a lightweight line that crawls up under the main stay from near the base of the main stay and secures around the bottom of the port crane rack base, not the cranes themselves.

The very lightweight flag lines shown going to the starboard poop deck rail in the manual appear to be right. This should be much lighter than other rigging lines. The port set don't show on photos I have and may go to the port corner of the well deck by the rat lines.

Finally, the US flag had 46 stars, not 48. The 2nd and 5th rows of stars had 7 instead of 8. Carefully add a dab of blue paint to shorten those rows on the ends. Arizona and New Mexico were added to the flag in the summer of 1912.

Step 61 - Add antenna

Tie the front end first. The lines coming off the front spreader need to be close to the mast. The lines off the rear spreader can have a little room off the stern mast. this puts tension on the masts so check your rigging all around as you tighten the antennas.

Step 62 - Sit back, stare, and marvel at your work!