Inspired by a 1982 attempt to locate the wreck of the Titanic, Wayne sought information from the local library to make his model as accurate as possible. This involved pouring through deckplans, copies of known blueprints, photos and a plastic model to make sure the job was done right. In order to shape the complex hull, Wayne first had to build an infrastructure or a skeliton, then clad it with toothpicks like bricks. The skelital frame is built just like a real ship. He started out formulating a set of 20 vertical frames which would be spaced and connected into the form of a hull. The skeliton had to be strong enough to withstand over one hundred times it's own weight, if his ship were to last the test of time. Built around the same concept as a bridge, Wayne's toothpick Titanic can support a few six-packs of beer on its boatdeck. Not suggested, of course.
As like the real ship, Wayne's Titanic was built in two phazes. The hull was constructed first, then, the superstructure. The superstructure is the part of the ship above the hull which contains the captain's bridge, smokestacks, etc. In a real ship yard, the hull is launched first. It is then towed to a place called the fitting yard, or the place where they build the superstructure and fit it with all the furnishings you would see in a ship. Large ships are launched hull only. The reason is that they tend to be top heavy and much safer to drive out a dry dock and into the water. The Titanic is now resting at the Carol & Barry Kaye Museum of Miniatures in West Los Angeles at 5900 W. Wilshire Blvd.
These were scanned from negatives taken by friend Mike Padgett in Chicago. They were thought lost and recently rediscovered. They demonstrate the building of Wayne's Titanic. From skeliton, lone hull structure, to near completion. The photos are placed next to archive photos of the real ship during the same phazes of construction.
