Titanic Lifevest #69 Maquette en papier Paper model kit Kartonmodellbausatz These white, cork-block life preservers are probably one of the more recognizeable artifacts of the Titanic. Who can forget pictures of lifeboats, filled to the brim with anxious and worried survivors clad in these white garments? These lifepreservers were made of simple canvas, with hard cork blocks providing buoyancy. They were actually extremely heavy and hard, many passengers actually discarding them since they were too havy to swim with. Others found their jaws shattered as they hit the water with these not properly fastened. Titanic carried more than enough lifejackets for her passengers and crew. While they did prevent men from drowning, they were useless against the frigid water of the North Atlantic. For the majority of the passenger and crew, these vests were merely floating burial robes, allowing their bodies to be easily picked up by recovery crew.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages on the pdf should correspond to the page numbers on the table of contents. If they do not, you may be a victim of software pirating. Titanic:The Ship of Dreams... 3 Common Misconceptions... 4 Instructions... 5 Parts Sheets... 6
TITANIC: SHIP OF DREAMS April 15, 2012 marks the centennary of the Sinking of the Titanic. Many people are aware of the story of Titanic. The largest ship in the world, the embodiment of Edwardian human achievement, foundered in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage. Deemed "unsinkable", the ship carried enough lifeboats for only half her passengers, women and children being urged into them as the men watched on, Molly Brown trying to convince Quartermaster Hitchens to turn back to save more people, and fifth officer Lowe returning back to the scene to find survivors, finding only four people. There are countless stories of heroism, terror, and courage on that April night that have been retold through various media, but only a handful of the general public are aware of the Titanic's full story. Titanic was the second of two then-built Olympic-Class vessels, and was the larger of the two. HMHS Britannic, launched in 1914, would be the largest of the trinity. The Olympic-class liners found their origins between White Star chairman J. Bruce Ismay and financier John Pierpont Morgan. The White Star Line's up-and-coming rivals, the Cunard Line, had just launched Lusitania and Mauretania, two of the fastest ships in the trade, and White Star was also facing pressure from Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Titanic's keel was laid on 31 March, 1909 in Belfast, Ireland at Harland and Wolff shipyards. To accomodate the two Olympic-class vessels, Harland and Wolff had to demolish three slipways in order to make way for two larger ones. 2,000 hull plates, each one six feet by thirty feet, and weighing over two tons each, went into the construction of the ship, as well as over three million iron and steel rivets. Each ship took about twenty six months to build, and over fifteen-thousand people worked on each. Of those 15,000, around 246 were injured, and another six died on the ship herself. Unfortunately, these would not be the only lives Titanic would take. At 12:15PM on 31 May, 1911, the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic was launched. She was not christened. 22 tons of soap and other lubricants were used on the slipway that led into the River Lagan. She was then towed to to a fitting-out berth where she would have her engines, superstructure, and funnels installed. Sea trials began on 2 April, 1912. Titanic was, without a doubt, the most beautiful ship constructed. Interior design drew heavily on Neoclassicism, but also included disciplines drawn from the Renaissance to Victorian eras. Design of the ship was in contrast to the prevalent ideas of the day, Titanic was designed to be like a floating hotel, unlike other ships which were designed as moving vehicles. Facilities included a barber shop, swimming pool, squash court, turkish bath, and the Cafe Parisien, which served the finest haute cuisine to First Class passengers. The ship could accomodate 739 first-class passengers, 674 in Second, and 1,026 in steerage. Crew typically consisted of 900 people. RMS Titanic left Southampton on Wednesday 10 April, 1912. She was Captained by Captain Edward James Smith, RD, RNR, with William McMaster Murdoch acting as first mate. 1,317 passengers were on board. At around 11:40 PM (ship's time), Titanic struck an iceberg off of Newfoundland. At 2:20AM on April 15, 1912, Titanic slipped beneath the waves. Of the 2,224 souls onboard, only 710 were saved.
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS About Titanic Women and Children First Although an order along those lines was given by Captain Smith, the rule did not apply to the evacuation procedure as a whole. All he meant was that women should board the individual lifeboat first, and any remaining seats would go to the men. The misinterpretation resulted in the disproportionately large amount of male deaths. Titanic split in two before the final plunge Well, yes and no. The Titanic did split in two, but it probably wasn't very visible or dramatic. As the ship pitched steeper and steeper, enormous strain began to be put on the ship. She eventually cracked between funnels no. 3 and 4, her weakest spot. The crack extended down to the keel, the spine of the ship. As the bow began to take on more water, it was literally hanging off the stern, the keel being the only support. Eventually, the keel gave way. Nonetheless, one can't help but constanly replay the splitting scene in James Cameron's Titanic. Titanic was touted as being "Unsinkable The "Unsinkable" myth is undoubtedly every Titanic buff's berserk button. Neither Harland and Wolff nor the White Star Line ever claimed the Titanic or her sisters was unsinkable. Meanwhile, the press went only as far to say that the Titanic was practically unsinkable. First use of SOS Another tick of Titanic buffs, the incident was, in fact, not the first to use SOS. The signal had first been proposed in 1906, and had seen widespread use before April 15, 1912. British seamen, however, rarely used SOS at the time, and still stuck to CQD. Another myth is that "SOS" stands for "save our souls", or some other derivative. The telegraph, however, was not like SMS. SOS was not an abbreviation like "LOL" or "OMG". While CQD was derived from French, SOS was simply used because it was a unique, recognizeable, and simple pattern that could be used by wireless operators. Almost everyone knows by heart the "ditditdit, doo doo doo, ditditdit" of SOS, while CQD's "dootditdoot, dootdootditdoot, dootditdit" might be a tad more difficult for some. -.....-.-...-.......... -
INSTRUCTIONS TITANIC LIFEVEST Vest should fit most adults Shoulder strap reinforcement 1L 1R NOTE: PRINT THE PARTS SHEETS 6-18 FOUR TIMES *This replica is in no way meant to be used as a PFD. Actually, go ahead. If you're that stupid, we can probably afford to lose you. 2L 2R Attach four lengths of flat string, each 2 to 3 feet in length on either side of the vest between cork floaters one and two, and two and three. 3L 3R PROTIP: "Weather" the cork floater pieces to give the replica a more authentic look. You can also retrace the patterns onto canvas and cover the replica in that. FRONT ELEVATION (ONE SIDE OF VEST SHOWN) SIDE ELEVATION (ONE HALF OF VEST SHOWN) Shoulder straps should be attached as shown COMPLETE LIFEVEST (UNFOLDED)
Lifevest 1L Lifevest part 2L should overlap here Lifevest 1R overlaps here
Lifevest 2L Cork floater 1 Lifevest 2R Cork floater 2 Lifevest 3L
Lifevest 3L Cork floater 3 Lifevest 3R
Lifevest 1R Lifevest part 2R should overlap here
Lifevest 2R Cork floater 1 Cork floater 2 Lifevest 3R
Lifevest 3R Cork floater 3
Cork Floater 1
Cork Floater 1
Cork Floater 2
Cork Floater 2
Cork Floater 3
Cork Floater 3
(Optional) Shoulder strap hems
Shoulder Strap reinforcers PROTIP: The shoulder straps are a weak point (even if you're building this for display only). Print these parts on heavy cardstock and sandwich in between both sides of the lifevest, centering the reinforcements in the middle of the shoulder straps.