Britannic Models

[Joshua McCracken]

I thouroughly enjoy putting models together, and I have been trying to find out if any model company has ever produced models of the 'Britannic'. Not too long ago I wound up converting a model of the 'Titanic' into 'Britannic', but it just isn't very accurate. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Hi Joshua!

Check out the good old DF:

http://www.debrisfield.com/models.htm

You'll find a good lot of models there for the 'Olympics,' not to mention Cunarders. There's likely as not some instructions to buy Tom Nicolai's brass conversion kits for a Britannic model.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello Joshua,

There are no Britannic models which can be build out of the box.
There is a company though which makes small Britannic models, both HMHS as RMS; but this is 1:1100 scale or something like that. And I believe these are already assembled. Seeing there scale, they can't be very accurate. They are quite common on Ebay if you want to take a look.

Most used way to build a larger scale Britannic model is to convert a Titanic into Britannic. Tom Nicolai's conversion sets are a great help; they take a lot of work out of your hands. Though I have to admit that I don't use all things he provides.

Other option would be scratchbuilding it.

Russell Wild and me started working on a Tutorial for Britannic some time ago. This is the adress:
http://www.russellwild.co.uk/bmr/obsmt.html
The plan was a RMS/HMHS Tutorial but it is now a RMS one; and still a far way from being finished.
No idea if we're going to finish it, and there have been new findings which are not in it.
Wish I had more time...

Regards,
Remco

 

[Joshua McCracken]

I couldn't find much to help me out, so I am going to see about making a better conversion of a Titanic model to a Britannic. I am going to see if I can make the gantry davits out of excess pieces of plastic, and I think that I can make a level aft well deck if I simply cut off the part that dips on regular models and then gluing it back so that it is level with the actual poop deck. Any ideas about the deck house on the poop deck?

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello again Joshua,

The way you choose now for your conversion is the hardest way. There are several parts which are very hard to construct using styrene; most visible are the gantry davits and the A-deck/B-deck sides. These parts looks great in brass.
I'm not advertising for Tom Nicolai, but that's just they way it is. The sets also contain a small guide for some of the larger changes; this includes 1:350 scale plans to help cutting decks and placing deckhouses.
But then again, the sets are not cheap at all. The brass set is $45 and the resin set $35. Adding this up with the cost of a new model and all the other things you need like paint, it makes an expensive model!

As for the questions; I would suggest that that you buy some sheets of styrene in the hobbyshop. These gives the advantage that you can make pieces as large as you want; it works much easier.
I used such a piece of styrene for the covered aftwell deck; after I scribed the deckplanking in it. Same goes for the Shade deck, the deck on top of the Poop deck.

As for the Smoke Room on the poopdeck, this can also be build using pieces of styrene.
This is an example from my model:
http://www.debrisfield.com/Models/Remco_Hillen/remhbrit/aftadeck2.jp g (fix the .jpg)
As you can see, this area is reconstructed using several new parts. Putty, sanding and painting should hide the seams.

Hope this all is of some help.

Regards,
Remco

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello,

For those interested, I have some new shots of my 1:350 RMS Britannic model online at:
http://olympic.txc.net.au/RemcoHillen/
Comments, suggestions, ideas etc are as always welcome!

Regards,
Remco

 

[Steven Hall]

That's one nice model there Remco.
Really - looking at it, what more can I say. Brilliant.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hi Remco,

I agree with Steve, that's a very impressive model!

You've done a terrific job on it.

Best regards,

Jason

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Hi!

There's no harm to say it again; my congratulations. An excellent model made by a skilled artist.

Kindest regards,

Mark.

 

[Brian R Peterson]

Hi Remco!

I am interested in making a 1:350 Britannic but I am unsure of how to go about doing so, what do you suggest?

Thanks

Brian

 

[Christopher Foster]

Remco,

That model is very, very, VERY good. I wish I had your skill, you have a gift!


- Chris

 

[Chris Mazzella]

VERY, VERY impressive Remco. Chris is right you are gifted with art of modeling.

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello,

Thanks for the compliments! Nice to hear the model is enjoyed

Hello Brian,

If you are sure you want to make a Britannic model, I would definatly get the Tom Nicolai Britannic conversion set. Here is some info on them:

Nicolai

http://web.archive.org/web/20030205110415/http://www.titanic-model.com/nicolai/photos.html

The brass parts, mostly the davits and the A/B-deck sides looks brilliant and I don't think it can look better when scratchbuild. They are not cheap though!
Apart from these things you'll definatly need photo's and deckplans to look at; they will proove to be a great help.(or they'll make it even more confusing!

)
If you need more info, just drop me a note, I'll be happy to help.

Regards,
Remco

 

[Brian R Peterson]

Hi Remco!

I was looking at plans as well as your model, then examining the brass conversion set itself, does the conversion set come with the cover for the aft well deck as well as the shade deck that has the lifeboats atop? What about all those stairways to the lifeboats, and the detailed railings you have? These are but a few that come to mind, but are the most nagging as I havent purchased the conversion kit yet so I dont know what will be with it.

Best Regards,

Brian

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello Brian,

No, the Shade deck and the deck covering the Aft well deck are not supplied with the conversion kit. What the kit does have; it contains 1:350 scaled templates(I believe that is the correct name; I really wish I could find the guide again!) for these decks.
You can cut them out, put it on a sheet of styrene and then cut out the deckpiece. The guide explains it quite well, and it worked for me!

One thing though; you might have to scribe the deckplanking in as I had to do; depends on what sort of sheet styrene you can get.
You'll have to buy sheet styrene anyway; there are many other places where you'll have to use it.

As for the brass railings and staircases, I believe the kit comes with enough railing and staircases for Titanic. This is, not suprisingly, not enough for Britannic. I had to buy 3 sets extra to get enough staircases! (I vagely remember that I needed about 36 for the lifeboatstations)

As you can hear, this all won't be cheap..

Here is a page with several brass upgrade sets; The Titanic Research and Modeling Association

The brass conversion set comes with:
Enough davits for RMS Britannic, lifeboat racks, davit 'footprints', A/B-deck sides, morgue building, 4 'red' crosses, gear channels(which are too small BTW) and aft well deck sides.

The resin comes with the larger Britannic lifeboats(plus the 2 motorboats), though not enough for RMS. Also supplied are the motorhouses and some other deckhouses.

Regards,
Remco