This weekend, we'll be back at work in the shipyard trying to fix the problems with the splitting Titanic model, and hopefully finally get some video shot of her! As we reported in our last video update, the model isn't ballasted (weighted) properly, and therefore she doesn't float upright in the water. Her tendency to list heavily results in premature flooding in the "separation zone," wetting the electronics and pyro gear there and basically ruining everything.
The solution is to add more weight to the ship, down below the center of gravity/center of buoyancy. The challenge is, though, that the interior of the model is quite sealed off, with very limited access to the bilge area. See our build photos to get an idea of just how difficult it is to get inside the hull now.
We've therefore decided to add more weight to the exterior of the hull along the ship's keel (bottom), using magnetic tape. This tape is very heavy in and of itself, and it carries the extra bonus of being, well, magnetic. This means that if the weight of the tape itself isn't enough to correct our stability problem, we'll be able to add more in the form of metallic objects, and position them as we see fit.
This does carry with it some challenges, chief among them making sure the tape is secure to the hull (we'll have to sand and rough up our nice paint job on Titanic's bottom). This also will make filming the model even more complicated, as angles showing the bottom will now have to be avoided. In sum, this is yet another compromise that must be taken (another being that the "falling funnels" have now been glued on) in the name of getting the video finished before our September 21 deadline.
This coming Friday will see the magnetic tape added to the hull, the corroded electric igniter leads polished up and tested, and new hull tape being applied to the break-up zone to prevent premature flooding. We'll also need to do a salt-water float test Friday night (bathtub testing won't give us the assurance we need, as the ship is more buoyant in salt water). If the modifications work well, and the weather holds up, we may have our first shot of a splitting Titanic model "in the can" by Saturday morning.
If not, well ... we still have another few weeks to get it right. :) Thanks for your patience!
The solution is to add more weight to the ship, down below the center of gravity/center of buoyancy. The challenge is, though, that the interior of the model is quite sealed off, with very limited access to the bilge area. See our build photos to get an idea of just how difficult it is to get inside the hull now.
We've therefore decided to add more weight to the exterior of the hull along the ship's keel (bottom), using magnetic tape. This tape is very heavy in and of itself, and it carries the extra bonus of being, well, magnetic. This means that if the weight of the tape itself isn't enough to correct our stability problem, we'll be able to add more in the form of metallic objects, and position them as we see fit.
This does carry with it some challenges, chief among them making sure the tape is secure to the hull (we'll have to sand and rough up our nice paint job on Titanic's bottom). This also will make filming the model even more complicated, as angles showing the bottom will now have to be avoided. In sum, this is yet another compromise that must be taken (another being that the "falling funnels" have now been glued on) in the name of getting the video finished before our September 21 deadline.
This coming Friday will see the magnetic tape added to the hull, the corroded electric igniter leads polished up and tested, and new hull tape being applied to the break-up zone to prevent premature flooding. We'll also need to do a salt-water float test Friday night (bathtub testing won't give us the assurance we need, as the ship is more buoyant in salt water). If the modifications work well, and the weather holds up, we may have our first shot of a splitting Titanic model "in the can" by Saturday morning.
If not, well ... we still have another few weeks to get it right. :) Thanks for your patience!
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