With the outbreak of World War I, Liners were called into service by the British government to act as Troop Transports, Hospital Ships, Auxiliary Cruisers and even Commerce Raiders.
But for all their suitability, passenger liners were never intended to endure the rigors of sea warfare. As far as is known no liner has ever been constructed with amour plating, anti-torpedo bulges or any other structural features to afford them protection from attack.
The Liners best attribute to contribute to its well-being during war time was its speed. In addition to a liners speed the Admiralty investigated and implemented camouflage schemes. Dazzle as it became popularly known as called for ships to be painted in bright, contrasting colors, in strong geometric shapes, to make it difficult for a submarine to determine the ships bearing, speed and identity.
This project will be of the Olympic in one of I believe 3 “dazzle” color schemes she had during the course of the war.
What makes this project difficult is the fact that there is very little information and photos to go by. Each ship had 2 dazzle patterns at a time. One for port and one for starboard. So when you find a photo on the web you have to try to then find the corresponding side.
I was able to find detailed drawings with color index for the “Type 19” scheme which was the Olympics first but not a lot of character in my opinion.
The other obstacle I’m facing with this project is 4 month old twins. So those of you who decide to tag along for the ride please be patient. It’s taken me just about 5 months to get to this point.
Since there is not an Olympic model I started this project with the Revell 1/570 scale Titanic model I had received for Christmas. Not the greatest of Titanic models for detail and accuracy but the real focal point for this project will be the Dazzle more then anything else.
After taking inventory of what I had to work with I washed the pieces with soap and water to get them ready
Out of the box the hull lacks luster and detail. The one of the first things I could do to improve the model was to drill out all the port holes. By hand.
All that effort of drilling out the port holes paid off. Just look at the difference between the last picture in the last thread and this one after its all done
Interesting project. Too bad about the stern; I’m surprised you didn’t try clamping or taping to get the required join (and this will become important when you go to fit the deck!). As an aside, my grandfather-in-law was one of those assigned to come up with these ‘dazzle’ camoflage schemes, and they went through all sorts of trials to determine effectiveness…
That is going to be fantastic. Nice subject, for sure.
The most obvious difference, to me, from her sister, and it’s a big one, is the (ahem) greatly increased number of lifeboats. There appears to be a continuous row along each side, perhaps as many as 14, rather than 8. Some pictures show them swung in, others out.
Plus aerial views show quite a few additional boats on the decks.
I’d guess a donor kit would solve that nicely.
Two tips. Locator pins IMHO are never useful at all and I always shave them off on my aircraft models. It’s a gamble if they’re right, but if they’re off it makes alignment impossible.
Second, be sure to put a full height vertical divider in the hull from stem to stern. The ports are great opened up, but you do not want to see through, it’ll ruin the whole effect. I learned this building model buildings. Lighting would be a great project.
It is definitely an interesting topic for me. I will need to scratch build approximately 56 lifeboats and then some rafts and collapsibles. As a troop carrier the Olympic could carry close to 10.000 troops and needed enough lifeboats to accommodate them.
I’m not going to be lighting this model. I was hoping to do a lighted Titanic someday.
It is a little late now, but the biggest visual difference between Titanic and Olympic was the covered over promenade deck on the former. The camoflauge covers it well though. That said, it occurred to me that if Titanic hadnt had her accident then she would almost certainly have ended up as a transporter herself during WW1
It’s been a while but I’ve finally finished the starboard side of the Olympic. I hope you like it.
Thanks for looking
I hope to start the Port side this weekend. This side should be even more fun because I’ve found even fewer photos of this side then the other. Ah, the challenges of creative ship building.
Well its been a long time coming but I’ve finally able to show some progress. Since my last post the I had to have eye surgery and the twins are now 16 months old. Its hard to find time to sit and build so I have to steal time when ever and where ever I can. Its not a lot of progress but its something.
Another piece that has been taking up a ton of time (Not pictured yet) has been the shaving down the solid railings to get ready for the PE rails and painting the deck. Maybe I can post some of those pictures later on.
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