RMS Titanic: A Modelmaker's Manual Paperback – May 1, 2018

Like many ship modelers, I have always had a fascination with the three Olympic class liners, and particularly that most famous of the three, the Titanic. Of course, many are drawn to her story and tragically short life, but I have always been fascinated by her appearance - in my estimation, she was one of the most beautiful ocean liners ever built.Over the years, I have made a couple of attempts at capturing her in miniature, but was not satisfied the results. One core problem has been the lack of reference material. The discovery of the ship and the subsequent James Cameron film has sparked massive amounts of interest in her, and a result has been the publication of many books, plans and websites on all things Titanic. The amount of research that has been done in the last decade has finally allowed highly accurate models of this ship to be built. This book documents a very impressive feat of the model shipwrights craft, a 1/48 scale Titanic that is some 18 feet in length.Starting with a brief summary of the prototypes story, and quickly progressing into research and building, Peter Davies-Garner has written a no nonsense documentation of the model. The author touches on every area of the build, but some more thoroughly than others - a necessary compromise to control the size no doubt, but I was left wanting more. The many photographs are really the core of the book, and the model is covered thoroughly in black and white with a central color section. If you see a high resolution scan of the cover, this is a classic case of not judging the book by it's cover - for some reason, it is a poorly reproduced digital image, whereas the photographs in the body are higher quality.This is an important work to scholars of the Titanic. What I particularly appreciated was the author's clear differentiation of which areas are factual and which are educated conjectures. As he states, there will never be a totally accurate model of the ship built, but his must surely be the closest to that goal yet made. I highly recommend the book, and, if you are visiting Orlando, seeing the model in person.

This modestly sized handbook is a real boon for model builders or ship enthusiasts. There aren't many colour photos, but for a manual on model building the only colour photos needed for paint schemes are there. Additional photos of the finished model on display are also included. Detailed drawings of the deck spaces are shown with detailed written instructions, and rather smallish b/w photos as to how construction was pursued. I was hoping for a larger book with larger photos, but that's asking for a lot these days. One might even be able to transfer the same techniques for use in building other models, but one would have to have some detailed drawings/plans of those ships.I'm not sure if I could ever have the time or resources to undertake a larger model, but this will help anyone with a plastic model who wants an alternative detailed painting instruction other than those with the plastic model kit. At any rate, it's interesting to see how this was done.

Not exactly what I was expecting. It is NOT a manual, as listed. It does NOT reference anything specific about instructions or step by step on the construction of any model. But, after reading it and looking at the pictures, my appreciation for this book has grown. It gives a lot of history of the ship, has great historical photos of the ship, for details that might otherwise be overlooked, and gives the modeler many helpful tips on building a realistic model. Good purchase. Five stars.

I agree that this is a WONDERFUL book. However, be aware that the "plans" on the inside cover are not enough and that on the 1:300 scale drawing, a large portion has been left out--the uniform area of the hull before the last funnel and to just before the foredeck. without a plan view, the body plan is of not so much use . There is a basic plan view on pg x that could be scaled up then you are home free.The major pluses are the very many scale drawings or detail all to a standard based on 1:48--doubled, halved or whatever. The photos of the model are great because they provide clarity that shipboard photos do not generally.That said, there are plans in John Bowen's book Miniature Merchant Ships and general arrangement plans in McCluskie's books (and they are also filled with great photos and clear details not to be missed. As noted, the drawings are generally of the "Olympic "class and only detail drawings are apparently available for the Titanic.There are likely things here that are standard shipbuilding practise so the details in this book could likely be used on other H&W ships or other merchant ships of the period, especially where no detail drawings are available. For example, the stern on the Titanic is not much different from the stern and forefoot on the Bavarian of 1869--H&W yard No 68 (Titanic was Yard No 400). This suggests that where no plans exist, those of the T could likely be modified for other hulls of the same period.This is a book not to be missed by any modeller and MR Davies-Garner has done a great service to all modellers by setting an example of the kind of work that should be standard.

I've just started construction of the Minicraft Titanic model, using this book for reference because it was highly recommended by sites related to the Titanic. There is certainly a lot of good information in the book but it doesn't have it all. Seems you have to buy Titanic plans that are out there to get the details you really need. My biggest issue is that it's rather expensive... a little over-priced.