HMT Olympic in Battledress (WWI)

[Dirkpitt289]

HMT Olympic In Battledress




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 scheme 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.

[Dirkpitt289]

Here we go

[Dirkpitt289]

and some more

[Dirkpitt289]

some more work done

[Dirkpitt289]

Time to fill the seams and begin the sanding

[Dirkpitt289]

Ok, it took a lot of work, and rework but its finally at an accetable point. Not perfict but close enough for this project.

Time to lay some paint. Did I mention this is the first time I'm useing an airbrush? Well it is. Probably not the best of projects to begin with.

[Pieter]

Looks very nice, especially on a problematic kit like that.

[JIM BAUMANN]

There are quite a few differences twixt Olympic and Titanic--there are more knowledgeable chaps than I who can give you a few of the more obvious items....

However-after my Mauretania project--I vowed to to Olympic in dazzle--and have collected some useful images of her dazzle scheme(s)

drop me an e-mail at jbys1@tiscali.co.uk and I will send you some useful dazzle scheme images/ pointers!

Cheers

JIM BAUMANN *( Clive Cussler fan--prefer Dirk Pitt to Kurt Austin...! )

Mauretania project-- http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... eview.html

[Dirkpitt289]

I had a little bit of time to add some more paint

[kennylibben]

wow, looks great! Can't wait to see more progress!

[William J]

Excellent, I really love dazzle patterns.

Bill

[Dirkpitt289]

Hi everyone.

It's been a while but I've finally finished the starboard side of the Olympic. I hope you like it.









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.

Till next time

[MartinJQuinn]

Yep, I like it. Nice!

[Dirkpitt289]

Well its been a long time since I've been able to work on this model. Its not a lot but its something.








See ya soon

[chuck]

Don't know if it's too late to suggest a modification to the model. But there is a very prominent difference between Olympic and Titanic. On the Titanic, the big open air promenade just below the boat deck only run the rear 2/3 of the promenade deck. The front 1/3 of the promenade deck is enclosed and has smaller square windows. On the Olympic the open air promenade runs the entire length of the superstructure from right under the bridge all the way to the aft end of the superstructure. So to convert a Titanic model to Olympic, one needs to open up the front 1/3 of the promenade deck.

[Dirkpitt289]

Don't know if it's too late to suggest a modification to the model. But there is a very prominent difference between Olympic and Titanic. On the Titanic, the big open air promenade just below the boat deck only run the rear 2/3 of the promenade deck. The front 1/3 of the promenade deck is enclosed and has smaller square windows. On the Olympic the open air promenade runs the entire length of the superstructure from right under the bridge all the way to the aft end of the superstructure. So to convert a Titanic model to Olympic, one needs to open up the front 1/3 of the promenade deck.

Chuck

This was discussed on one of the Titanic forums. Had I known that before I started the painting I would have attempted it but Due to my lack of modeling skills I'm not ready to attempt a repair of that scale at this point. What I decided to do to rectify it is to lower some of the life boats to cover that part of the ship.

Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment.

REGARDS

[wolfik]

hi all+
cant understand the changes between the Titannic and Olympic...
any photo?
good build!!!

[MarkieSparkie]

cant understand the changes between the Titannic and Olympic...

The difference between the Olympic and the Titanic is the promenade decks.

Titanic

Olympic

So this hull is the revell 1:570 Titanic kit. I tried building it but the pieces were too poorly molded for them to fit together properly and I was too lazy to fix them.

And the colouring of the hull looks good.