The position of the benches marked on the A/M model are not too bad, however, there are still some that need to be repositioned, added and deleted to be historically accurate. See the diagram below for a guide.

 
 

BENCHES TO BE MODIFIED

 

Forward of Raised Smoking Room Roof.

There is no photo graphic evidence that these benches existed and we suggest that you don't add them to the model.

Aft of Raised Smoking Room Roof.

The model suggests that you add a bench both port and starboard, however, the Cork examiner photographs show that only the starboard bench was in place as the port side was used for storing deck chairs.

The starboard bench sat between the aft facing stairs and terminated BEFORE the outboard corner of the raised roof.

If you use the model's benches they both overhang the corners by as much as 3mm into the `walkway'.

The solution is to trim the bench by least 3mm in length.

Tom's benches fit into the space provided, if you use the GMM set you will have to trim the length of the bench to suit.

Aft Grand Staircase Skylight Cover.

The benches on either side of the aft Grand Staircase skylight cover need to be deleted. Refer to the Cork Examiner photos.

#4 Funnel's Deckhouse.

There's an inconsistency between the manual and the model.

The manual indicates the addition of a bench on the aft facing wall of the #4 funnel's deckhouse facing the 2nd Class entrance (page 12, step 23) but the deck marking is missing.

Locate the bench to the starboard side of the door against the deckhouse wall in front of the ladder. If using GMM ladders place the ladder on first.

2nd Class Deckhouse.

There is possibily a bench missing.

This should be located between the ducts on the aft side of the Boat Deck's 2nd class entrance underneath the arched window. You will need to trim the bench to fit into this narrow area.

It has been suggested that a bench was located in this area early in Titanic's fit up but was removed as a gift to a local shipping merchant. Depending on when you want your Titanic model to be sailing will depend on whether you add this bench or not.

Aft A Deck Promenade.

The model has a pair of benches that sit side by side at the rear of the 2nd class entrance next to the aftmost railings. The starboard bench had two locations. In the photo on page 26 of Illustrated History as the Titanic sets out from Belfast on her sea trials it appears in the position indicated on the model, however on page 64 of The Last Days of Titanic it has been moved out board of its original position.

The starboard bench remains in place.

There is also a mystery bench on page 26 of IH. If you look to starboard of the starboard bench mentioned above you will see another bench sitting in front of the large vent. It has been assumed that this bench is the one that sat between the two large "box" vents and eventually found its way to the shipbuilder's in Southampton.

Poop Deck Aft.

The markings on the aft group of four benches are too far forward. The end of the first pair of benches lines up with the aft edge of the Docking Bridge.


All other benches appear to be located properly about the ship.

  • Note: A word of caution, place four GMM benches on the Poop Deck aft of the Docking Bridge FIRST and then mark out where you want to place the 4 steam valves on deck.

WORKING WITH THE GMM BENCHES

Here is the method we used that makes it easy to construct these minute benches with minimal hassle.

 

Step 1.

Take a plastic lid from one of your spray cans. (We use Testors which comes with this type). Make two slits in the side with a hobby knife on opposite sides to each other. This device then becomes the modeler's third hand for working with these brass sheets.

Step 2.

Take the brass sheet of benches, turn it edge wise and place one end into the cut mark and then the other. This will allow you to work on both sides at the same time. If you are using the new GMM set with the benches included you may have to separate it from the rest of the sheet.

Step 3.

Now spray the benches with a primer (gray or flat white will do). Do this with as light a coat as possible to avoid plugging up the rails and fine `leg' wrought iron detail. This primer allows the finishing colors to bite to the brass better.

Step 4.

When dry, paint all bench wooden slats a dark brown, on both sides, being careful to not plug up the openings between slats.

Step 5.

After the brown is dry, use flat black to paint the wrought iron legs and arm rests on both sides.

Step 6.

Making the benches require a bit of finesse work. After the benches are painted cut them off the brass tree and set them aside in two piles, one for seats and the other for the backrests.

Step 7.

Take a pair of flat tipped angled tweezers and hold the backrests by their arm rests and then bend them at the fold point with one crisp and clean movement. *WARNING* you only get a couple of tries with a bend before they snap off so practice on some scraps first. Repeat for the other arm rest and set aside then repeat the procedure for the remainder of the other backrests.

Step 8.

As in step 7, hold the bench seat in the tweezers by the leg at the fold mark and make a clean creased fold. Repeat for the other leg (we only had the two legged GMM benches). Duplicate the process for the remainder of the bench seats.

Step 9.

Take a strip of masking tape about 20cm long (200mm) and make a loop out of it with the sticky side facing out. Press this flat to the table so it doesn't slide around.

Step 10.

Place all the bench seats onto the tape so they face in one direction. We had ours so that the benches were facing us.

Step 11.

Grab a scrap piece of plastic (we used a 6cm x 6cm square out of a fishing box tray divider, or a sliding tray tool/utility box divider could suffice) and squeeze a small puddle of a CA brand glue on it.

Step 12.

Now with the tweezers grab one of the back rests in its center top half and dip the bottom rail and the arm rests into the glue puddle. Next place this on one of the bench seats in the proper position and wait for a few seconds for it to set. Repeat the process for the entire collection of benches.

Step 13.

When dry, place another puddle of glue on to the 'gluing square' and as before grab the benches with the tweezers by the middle of the bench's backrest and dip the tips of the wrought iron legs into the glue and then place this on the deck where you have decided and allow to set. Repeat for all benches.

Step 14.

Some benches may require minute reinforcement so add a dab of CA to the foot/deck area using the tip of thinly pulled sprue after the bench has been placed. This insures minimal deck scarring from the glue and works great.

Step 15.

After the benches are set securely there may be some glue marks and scratches in the paint on the deck. Touch this up using the color you are using for the deck.

Where you trimmed the backrests and seats from the brass tree after painting will also show brass flecks also need to be touched up.

LOREN PERRY'S PROCEDURE FOR GOLD MEDAL MODEL BENCHES

"Several people have contacted me about having difficulties in building their 1/350 Titanic deck benches. As I've stated these were intended for expert modelers, but there ARE some tricks I've learned in building mine that I'll pass on here to help those who need help.

First of all, they CAN be built. See the photos of my model on this site (titanic-model.com) for proof; the benches aboard my Titanic were made from the very same brass bench sets that many of you have ordered. I built them all in one evening, and when I did it, no one had ever done them before in this scale. I'm a 52-year-old guy with bad eyes who needs magnifiers to see things closely, so if I can do this, you can too.

I chose to make these benches accurate replicas of the originals as opposed to easy-to-build and simplified versions. This forced me into making them in two parts due to the angle of the seat back vs. the swept-back legs (the geometry of these items makes a one-piece fold-to-shape bench impossible. At least I couldn't do it, and believe, me I tried every angle before giving up.)

Print out the following and keep it as a reference.

To make assembly easier, you'll need a few tools to assist you. Many of you already have them, but if you don't, here's a list:

Parts Required:

1. An X-acto "Extra Hands" clamping tool. This is made up of a cast metal base about two inches square holding two double-ball-jointed "alligator clips" mounted on opposite ends of a movable metal arm about five inches long. It's available at better hobby shops as well as mail order tool companies like Micro-Mark (see their ads in Fine Scale Modeler and other good hobby magazines.)
2. Two (2) cross-action tweezers with pointed tips. Cross-action tweezers act opposite to normal tweezers: the handles must be squeezed to open them. These are also available from the same sources listed above. You'll be using these tweezers as tiny clamps.
3. Pacer's "Zap-CA" glue or equivalent. This is a very thin and watery brand of "superglue".
4. Micro-Dropper CA-glue nozzles.

These are made by:

Alteco USA, Inc.,
23510 Telo Avenue,
Unit 8, Torrance, CA 90505
Telephone (310) 539-7680.

These nozzles have a very thin end with an opening about .010" in diameter. They come six to a poly bag for under a dollar and last a long time. When the tip clogs eventually, simply snip off a fraction and carry on anew.

5. X-acto's Number 11 knife blades and a handle.
6. One pair of regular tweezers with precision pointed tips.
7. One pair of precision miniature flat-nosed pliers.
8. An airbrush and source of compressed air.
9. A finely-tipped artist's paintbrush.
10. Black and brown modeler's paints and thinner.


You may not need all these tools. Some of you can probably get by without a few on this list. But together, they will make assembly much easier.

Step 1.

Cut all the bench parts from the sheet of brass they came on. Separate the upper halves into one pile and the lower halves into another. Keep them in lids from small food containers or something similar to prevent loss. For the newer bench sets with the Third Leg, (on GMM upgraded Set No. 350-15) keep these in their own separate container lid.

Step 2.

Using the flat-nosed pliers, carefully bend the arms forward 90 degrees on all the upper halves. Keep them in the lid for safety.

Step 3.

Now bend the legs down 90 degrees on the lower halves. Put them back in their lid.

Step 4.

Insert a pre-shaped upper half into a pair of cross-action tweezers, holding the part in the middle. Now using your ZAP-CA glue and Alteco nozzle (or the tip of a pin if you don't have the nozzles), apply a small amount of glue to the bends in the arms. Fill the gap between the arms and the back with glue. Set the part aside to dry and repeat for all the remaining upper halves.

Step 5.

Insert a pre-shaped lower half into a pair of cross-action tweezers, holding the part in the middle. Apply glue as in Step Four to the bends in the legs. Set these parts aside to dry.

(These steps will strengthen the legs and arms considerably and make accidental bends and/or breakage less likely.)

Step 6.

Secure both pairs of cross action tweezers in the alligator clips of the X-acto Extra Hands tool. Adjust the alligator clips until the pointed ends of the tweezers face each other at about a ninety degree angle and are about an inch apart.

Step 7.

Secure a lower half in the jaws of one cross-action tweezers, holding the lower half by the front center of the seat bottom.

Step 8.

Secure an upper half in the jaws of the other cross-action tweezers, holding the upper half by the top center of the seat back.

Step 9.

Adjust the alligator clips and tweezers until the upper half meets the lower half along the rear corner of the seat. Align both halves until straight.

Step 10.

Using your ZAP-CA and Alteco Micro-Dropper nozzle, run a thin bead of glue along the joint between the upper and lower halves. Avoid clogging the slats with too much glue. Do not apply glue to the arms where they meet the seat bottom - it isn't necessary and may clog the arms with glue.

Step 11.

For the newer benches having the Third Leg, remove the bench from the tweezers and fasten the top center of the seat back into one of the cross-action tweezers. The bench should be held inverted.

Step 12.

Apply a droplet of glue to the center brace on the underside of the seat bottom. Now using tweezers, pick up a Third Leg by its bottom and line it up with the seat bottom, carefully pressing it into the glue droplet. Make sure the leg is facing the same way as the end legs. (NOTE: You can also use the slower-drying ZAP-A-GAP (also by Pacer) or an equivalent gap-filling superglue for this step. It's slower drying and will give you more time to adjust the leg properly.)

Assembly of the bench is now finished. Repeat these steps until all the benches are assembled.


TO PAINT:

This requires an airbrush. Sorry, but the small size and fine wrought-iron detailing demands it. If you don't have one, you can hand-brush the paint, but it has to be very thin to prevent clogging. And you'll probably miss some spots - shine a flashlight on the benches to locate missed spots. They'll reflect the light brightly back at you.

Step 1.

Fasten a piece of masking tape, about two feet long, to a long platform made up of a piece of cardboard or plywood, sticky adhesive side facing up.

Step 2.

Gently press the benches onto the tape in an orderly line. The benches are to be placed with their legs up (inverted) and lined up front to back in a long row. Press each one down firmly enough so the air blast from the airbrush won't blow them free. You can press them down at an angle so the backs and the arms are touching the tape - this hold them more securely.

Step 3.

Mix up a thin batch of black paint and airbrush all the benches black. Take care not to apply too much paint that can clog the fine detail. Repeat until all the benches are painted. I prefer Floquil brand model railroad paints, available at virtually all model railroad hobby shops. Allow the benches to dry thoroughly, at least
24 hours or more.

Step 4.

Remove the benches from the tape. Discard the tape and replace it with another strip, adhesive side up, in the same manner as before.

Step 5.

Press the benches onto the tape in an orderly row, this time end to end, with the front of the benches facing you as close to the edge of the cardboard (or plywood) platform as possible.

Step 6.

Mix up a thin batch of brown paint (I used Floquil Rail Brown.) Using the artist's paintbrush, carefully apply the brown paint to the front and back of the seat back, and the top and bottom of the seat bottom. (The underside doesn't have to be painted if you really don't want to - it won't show on the completed model.) Repeat until all the benches are painted. Allow to dry before handling.


Now glue them all to the model's decks. YOU'RE FINISHED!


FINAL NOTE:

Ocean Liners, by their very nature, require a lot of repetitive steps in model building Liners have many identical fittings such as lifeboats, davits, vents, benches, and other items. There's no avoiding it. It will take determination and patience to successfully create a detailed scale model of any liner, and especially one as elaborate as the Titanic. If this was easy, everyone would have these benches on their models. But they demand patience and dexterity. There is no way they'll build themselves. For those who successfully complete their benches, you'll be able to grin from ear to ear when viewers see them and utter in a low whisper, "Oh! My! God!"

A/M BENCHES

If you are going to use the kit's supplied benches, paint the seats and backrests brown and then the ends with flat black and apply with standard model glue (but sparingly so it doesn't ooze out from underneath onto the deck planking).

 

 
 
This site was created by David Cotgreave January 2000