Mark, The Master Modeller

Stage 92 gives us the rear centre spoiler. This is a nice easy stage. The two parts of the centre spoiler just push together. Turn the rear hood upside down and slide the spoiler into the slots. Then secure it with a couple of screws. This completes the stage.

Stage 91 gives us the rear hood air ducts and a clear green plug. Fit the left hand duct to the hood with a couple of screws. Repeat with the right hand duct. Take a ring of double sided tape, remove the backing paper and stick it to the green plug. Remove the other backing paper. Apply it to the inside of the hood. Note that the flat goes against the lip on the rear hood. It will look like this from the outside. This completes the stage.

Stage 90 gives us the rear body. We're on the home straight now, and this stage gives us the first glimpse of how impressive the finished car is going to be. Firstly, attach the hinge clamps with 2 screws in each. The outer side of the hinge clamp is stepped up. Apply the clear tape to the front body between the hinge clamps. This will protect the paintwork while you test fit the rear body. Angle the rear body upwards about 45 degrees, and slide the hinges under the hinge clamps. The body can now be dropped down flat and the hinges clamps will hold the hinges in place. This completes the stage, and the model is now getting too big for my cutting mat. You may get to see the embarrassing mess of my workbench outside the cutting mat!

Stage 89 gives us the details for the right hand door. Much of this assembly is the same as the left hand door in stages 86 and 87. I'll be a little brief here, so refer back to those stages if you need a more in depth description of the assembly. We start by assembling the door lock. Push the long pin through the lock, then drop the smaller spring over the pin. Drop the latch over the spring and then secure it with the short pin. Push the lock release over the end of the long pin. I found that mine didn't grip that securely, so I put a tiny drop of super glue in the hole in the latch. You need to be very miserly with the glue as you don't want any excess dripping into the lock mechanism. Make sure that the lock mechanism operates smoothly, then screw it to the inside of the door. Push the door light onto the door, noting that the white lens points forwards. Push the vent window on to the main window. Now screw the window assembly to the door. That's the door complete, now we can turn our attention to the hinges. Fit the lower hinge with the metal clamp. As before, the shorter screw must be driven home and tight, but the longer screw with the spring must not be fully tightened as the clamp has to be able to lift against the spring. Fit the upper hinge with 2 screws. Now put the door in position and close the latch so it's flush with the body. Then you can screw the hinges to the door. The door should look like this from the outside. Check that it opens and closes smoothly. This completes the stage and the pack.

Stage 88 gives us the right hand door which needs a decal applying. The hinges are also provided but these are used in the next stage. Apply the decal so that the bottom edge is aligned with the bottom of the door. The bottom of the decal should also be in the middle of the bottom edge of the door. Apply the decal in the usual way by soaking in water until it will slide off the paper easily. The door has a slight compound curve on it, so using decal softener will help the decal confirm to this curve without wrinkling. Refer to stage 82 for a detailed description on how to use decal softener. You can see a few wrinkles in the photo below if you look carefully. The decal should look painted on once it dries out. This completes the stage.

Stage 87 gives us some details for the left hand door and we will attach the door to the front body. Push the vent window onto the main window. Screw this to the left door with 7 small screws. Put the lower hinge in place. Secure it with the clamp and a screw type RM that goes in the hole closest to the door. I found the this screw definitely needed a bit of oil to get it to drive fully home. This screw needs to be tight. Put the spring over a type NM screw and screw this into the other hole in the clamp. I needed to loosen the RM screw so that I could get these holes to align. Don't lubricate this screw, and only screw it down far enough so that it just compresses the spring. The clamp must be able to move up against the spring to hold the door open and closed. Place the upper hinge in position. Secure it with the clamp. Put the door in position and engage the door lock so the door is flush with the body. Screw the two hinges to the door. THe door should look like this from the outside. Check that it opens and closes smoothly. Push the rear view mirror in place. This completes the stage.

Stage 86 gives us the left door lock and hinges. There are some small, fiddly parts in this stage. Be careful not to lose any of them. Take the long pin and insert it in the lock. Be careful as it will fall out quite easily. Place the spring over the pin. Place the latch over the spring. Insert the shorter pin through the other hole in the lock to secure the latch. Push the lock release over the end of the longer pin. This should finally hold the longer pin in place. When you push down not he lock release the latch should pivot outwards. Screw the lock assembly to the inside of the door. It should look like this from the outside. Finally press the door light in position. Note that the white lens points forwards. This completes the stage.

Stage 85 gives us some details for the front body. Push the front air scoop in place. It looks like this from the top. Screw the two door lock catches in place. They are marked L & R. Push the windscreen wiper in place. You'll need to remove flash and mould lines from the pins to get it to go in easily. Push the rear view mirror bracket onto the mirror housing. Remove the backing paper from the mirror and put the mirror in place. It's self adhesive. Now peel off the clear protective film. Put the mirror to one side to fit later. This completes the stage.

Stage 84 gives us the top roll cage. This simply screws in place under the roof of the from body. This completes the stage.

Stage 83 gives us the windscreen. Clip the windscreen in place. Start by inserting the long tabs under the roof, then clip the small tabs into the slots in the front of the body. Fix the windscreen with two screws. Make sure that the two smaller tabs are properly inserted in their slots. This completes the stage.

Stage 82 gives us some details for the front body. Screw the left and right air scoops, which are the cooling air intake for the front brakes. They look like this from the top. Fit the two grills over the wheel arches. They look like this from the top. Take the front grill and bend the table up at 90 degrees. Make sure you bend them the right way as they are likely to break if you get it wrong and have to bend them back the other way. Push the grill into position. Secure the grill by bending the tabs at the back. Place the bonnet in position. Temporarily hold it with four blue bonnet pins. Now we have to apply the first decal to the bodywork. You will need some decal softener to get this to adhere over the edges. I use MicroScale Sol and Set, is I'll describe it's use. There are several other decal softeners available so follow this instructions provided with whatever you use. Put the decal in water for just long enough so that the decal will slide easily on the paper. Don't let it soak for so long that it floats off the paper as this will have dissolved all the glue! A plastic parts tray makes a good container if you're too lazy to go to the kitchen to get a saucer! As I mentioned, the Microscale softener comes in two bottles. The blue bottle softens the decal and improves adhesion. (At least, that's what it says on the bottle). Paint it on the area where the decal will be applied. Don't worry if it beads up. It will spread when you apply the decal. Slide the decal off the paper and onto the model. Line it up with the numbers on the bonnet. Remove the bonnet so you can get to the edge of the decal easily. Now apply the Micro Set (red bottle) which is a stronger softener. This will soften the decal so it will mould itself round the edges. You can help it with a brush, but be very gentle. Focus on the edge against the bonnet, the edge under the windscreen and also the edges around the air intake. Once you're happy that the decal is nearly there, leave it to dry overnight. If the decal starts to wrinkle, don't panic, and stop touching it. This is the decal softening, so leave it alone to dry. The wrinkles will magically disappear as it dries. Once the decal is dry, it should look something like this. Then you can pierce the holes for the windscreen wiper with a cocktail stick. This completes the stage.

Stage 81 gives us the headlights. We did assemble a left headlight in stage 1, but the manufacturers have made some improvements so that headlight will be disassembled and remade with some new parts. Take the right small headlight lens and small housing and push the two parts together. Take the LED headlight and feed it up through the hole in the main headlight housing. Push this into the back of the reflector of the small housing. Fit the small housing into the main housing. Secure it with a screw from underneath. Push the headlight bezel into the main headlight housing. Push the main headlight lens onto the reflector. Fix the main headlight into the housing from the rear and secure it with a screw. Push the other LED into the back of the reflector. The completed headlight assembly looks like this from the front. Take the left headlight from stage 1 and disassemble it. The only tricky part is getting the small lens off the small housing. This can be done my pushing on the pin on the edge of the lens from the back with a cocktail stick or similar. Keep the main headlight, its bezel and the small headlight lens. The two headlight housings can be discarded. Push the small lens onto the new small housing. Feed the LED through the new main housing and push it into the back of the small headlight housing. Fit the small housing in position. Add the bezel. Fit the main headlight and LED. The completed headlight assembly looks like this. Take a headlight screen and fit it to the front body. Make sure it sits flush with the outside of the body. Put the headlight assembly in place and fix it with 2 screws. Repeat with the other side. They should look like this from the top. Finally, add the headlight protective film to both headlights. It will have a few wrinkles, just as the real car did. Personally, I'm not overly keen on how these look. I know they are authentic, but I may remove mine after the build is completed for a showroom look. I'll see how they look on the completed model. This completes the stage.

Stage 80 gives us the front body, and what a body it is! Nothing to do with it just yet. I'm leaving the cross supports in place to save any risk of distortion. They will only be removed at the last opportunity before fitting the body. This completes the Pack.

Stage 79 gives us the front wheel arches. Fix the front left wheel arch in place with 3 screws. Repeat with the front right wheel arch. This completes the stage.

Stage 78 gives us the front brake cooling pipes and some model supports. THe model supports can be used to display the model, especially if you want to display it with the wheels removed to show off the brake and suspension details. Fit the cooling pipe to the brake caliper cooling duct. Lay the front end of the pipe in its support. Repeat for the other brake cooling pipe. This completes the stage.

Stage 77 gives us a spare wheel. And it's a space saver! Who would have thought that a Porsche 917 would have a space saver spare wheel.😆 Push the outer rim onto the tyre. Fit the inner rim and screw it in place. Take the wheel strap and tie it loosely round the rear frame and drape the strap over the engine. Note that the quick release lever should be upside down at the moment, so it's the right way up when the strap is placed over the wheel. Put the spare wheel in position. Bring the straps over the wheel and tie them to the rear frame. The centre of the straps should be roughly over the centre of the wheel. You can fully tie the front strap now to get a nice tension on the straps. Now tuck the excess ends of the straps neatly out of sight. This completes the stage.

Stage 76 gives us the right rear wheel arch. Press the rear brake cooling duct into the wheel arch. Put the wheel arch in place and hold it with one screw on the top. Now you can turn the model over and fit the three screws that go into the chassis. Finally, fit the 4 remaining screws at the back of the wheel arch. This completes the stage.

Stage 75 gives us the fuel filler neck and the second fuel pump. Note: Don't glue any of the fuel piping as some of this will be replaced in a later stage. Screw the two halves of the filler neck together. Push to tray onto the chassis plate. Fit the filler neck with a screw from underneath. Take the two breather pipes and fit them between the top of the filler neck and the chassis plate. It takes a bit of careful flexing but they will go in. Alternatively you could loosen the screw holding the filler next to give you a bit of movement. Glue the handle to the fuel filler cap. Push this onto the filler neck. Fit the fuel pump to the protective shield and fit this to the chassis plate. If necessary, remove any mould lines from the bottom of the protective plate. Take the fuel pipe and fit it to the lower pin on the fuel pump and the appropriate pin on the chassis plate. I fitted the connectors to the two braided fuel lines before fitting the chassis plate as this looked like it would be tricky with the chassis plate in place. Fit the chassis plate in place. It's secured with two screws that are fitted from under the chassis. There is also a pin that locates into the fuel tank/battery holder. This is a bit tricky to get in place, but does go with a bit of persuasion. Connect the two fuel lines to the filler neck when the chassis plate is in place. Connect the braided fuel pipe to the pump fitting with the connector. Connect this fuel line to the lower arm of the Y piece, and to the fuel pump of course. Pre-bend it as best you can to avoid putting strain on the pump fitting. Note that I moved the fuel pipe fitted to the chassis plate in stage 73 out of the way to give a bit more room to work. It's fitted back after the braided pipe is connected. Now fit the braided fuel line from the first fuel pump to the upper arm of the Y connector. Fit the support rod in place. It's plastic so can be gently flexed to get it into position. Scrape off any mould lines from the pins. This completes the stage.

Stage 74 gives us the battery and a support rod. Take the battery terminals and screw them to the battery. They have a pin to ensure that they go the right way round. Push the battery cover on top of the battery. Fit the battery holder to the chassis plate. Note that the large hole goes by the edge of the chassis plate. Push the battery onto the battery holder to complete the stage.

Stage 73 gives us the right chassis plate and a fuel pump. Note: Do not glue any of the pipe work as some of it is replaced in Pack 12. Take the long fuel line and cut two lengths. One 50mm long, the other 90mm long. Fit the longer length to 2 pins on the chassis plate. Fit the fuel pump to the protective shield. Push the shorter length of fuel pipe onto the lower pin of the fuel pump. Mount the fuel pump assembly on the chassis plate and connect the fuel pipe to the appropriate pin on the chassis plate. You may need to scrape away the mould line on the bottom the protective plate. Fit the braided fuel line to the pump fitting with the connector. Push this onto the pin on the fuel pump. Mine is quite loose and falls off easily, so you'll notice it missing in some of the subsequent photos. As I mentioned, don't glue it yet. This completes the stage.

Stage 56 gives us the base for the fourth funnel. Clip the LED strip in place. Test it with the tester. Clip the motor to ventilator C. Glue this to the funnel base. Glue the remaining 2 ventilators to the funnel base. This completes the stage and the Pack.

Stage 55 gives us the 3rd smoke generator. This is (probably) the final smoke generator as the aft most funnel on the Titanic was only used for engine room and galley ventilation. The boilers only exhausted through the front 3 funnels. Insert the spring in the end of the filter. Insert the filter assembly, spring end first, into the tank. THe filter should be able to move freely in the neck of the tank so that the spring can keep it in contact with the smoke generator element. Mine was a little squashed to an oval shape and stuck in the neck. Rolling it between my fingers made it round again. Place the smoke generator in its holder, red wire facing up. Screw this to the funnel top interior. This can now be pushed over the tank assembly and the plastic band is used to hold the cable in place. This completes the stage.

Stage 54 gives us the 3rd funnel. Put the full plating round the funnel body and fix it with 6 of the tiny screws. Make sure you get the right holes. Place the stay collar on the funnel top. Note that the slots are different sizes to it will only go one way round. Also note that the textured details go to the top. Put the funnel top on the funnel body. THe three holes in the funnel top line up with the seam in the plating. Take the platform and glue it to the funnel body. I had to scrape some of the paint off the tab to get a good fit. The funnel top was removed temporarily while I was fitting this. Glue the whistle/pipe to the water pipe, then glue these to the front of the funnel. Glue the ladder in place. Glue the aft water pipe to the aft side on the funnel. Feed the smoke generator extension cable through the fuel. Not that the female end comes out the top of the funnel. Screw the funnel to the funnel base with a couple of screws. Be careful to feed the extension cable through a hole in the deck house, being careful not to trap it under the funnel. Now I glued the pipe from the previous stage in place. This completes the stage, and I couldn't resist just placing the funnel base on the boat deck.

Stage 53 gives us the base (deck house) for the 3rd funnel and some vents. Take the ventilators B, D & F and glue them to the aft boat deck. Add ventilator A. Add ventilator E. Add ventilator C. Take the funnel base and clip the LED strip in place. Test it with the tester. Add the three small mushroom vents to the top of the deck house. Take the grill 51I, supplies in stage 51, and glue it to the front of the deck house. Take 4 window frames from the brown fret supplied in stage 51 and glue these to the deck house. The instructions say to glue the orange pipe on place, but I suggest not gluing it until the funnel is fitted so you can be sure it sits neatly against the funnel. This completes the stage.

Stage 52 gives us another LED circuit board, 2 lifeboats and a cutter. Assemble one of the lifeboats. As before, don't glue it yet. Assemble the block gears to the cutter. The instructions say to glue these, but as before, they are handed so I suggest that you don't glue them until we actually fit them to the model. Clip the LED strip onto the underside of the rear boat deck. Assemble and fit the davit to the forward boat deck. Place the skylight over the dome. Don't glue it yet. I held it in place with a couple of small pieces of masking tape. This completes the stage.