| HISTORY |
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RMS Olympic
was a British ocean liner and the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio
of Olympic-class liners. Olympic had a career spanning 24
years from 1911 to 1935, in contrast to her short-lived sister ships, Titanic
and Britannic. This included service as a troopship during the First
World War, which gained her the nickname "Old Reliable", and during which
she rammed and sank the U-boat U-103. She returned to civilian service
after the war, and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the
1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition,
and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her
operation increasingly unprofitable. Olympic was withdrawn from
service and sold for scrap on 12 April 1935 which was completed in 1937.
As this model represents
the Olympic in World War 1, here is a bit of her history during
that conflict:
After witnessing
the sinking of the battleship Audacious off the coast of Ireland
in October 1914, the White Star Line intended to lay Olympic up
in Belfast until the war was over, but in May 1915 she was requisitioned
by the Admiralty, to be used as a troop transport, along with the Cunard
liners Mauretania and Aquitania. The Admiralty had initially
been reluctant to use large ocean liners as troop transports because of
their vulnerability to enemy attack; however, a shortage of ships gave
them little choice. At the same time, Olympic's other sister ship
Britannic, which had not yet been completed, was requisitioned as
a hospital ship. Operating in that role she would strike a German naval
mine and sink in the Aegean Sea on 21 November 1916.
Stripped of her peacetime fittings and now armed with 12-pounders and
4.7-inch guns, Olympic was converted to a troopship, with the capacity
to transport up to 6,000 troops. On 24 September 1915 the newly designated
HMT 2810, left Liverpool carrying 6,000 soldiers to Moudros, Greece for
the Gallipoli Campaign. On 1 October lifeboats from the French ship Provincia
which had been sunk by a U-boat that morning off Cape Matapan were sighted
and 34 survivors rescued by Olympic. Hayes was criticized for this
action by the British Admiralty, who accused him of putting the ship in
danger by stopping her in waters where enemy U-boats were active. The ship's
speed was considered to be her best defense against U-boat attack, and
such a large ship stopped would have made an unmissable target. However,
the French Vice-Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet took a different view,
and awarded Hayes with the Gold Medal of Honor. Olympic made several
more trooping journeys to the Mediterranean until early 1916, when the
Gallipoli Campaign was abandoned.
In 1916, considerations were
made to use Olympic to transport troops to India via the Cape of
Good Hope. However, on investigation it was decided that the ship was unsuitable
for this role, because the coal bunkers, which had been designed for transatlantic
runs, lacked the capacity for such a long journey at a reasonable speed.
Instead, from 1916 to 1917, Olympic was chartered by the Canadian
Government to transport troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Britain. In
1917 she gained 6-inch guns and was painted with a dazzle camouflage scheme
to make it more difficult for observers to estimate her speed and heading.
Her dazzle colors were brown, dark blue, light blue, and white. Her many
visits to Halifax Harbor carrying Canadian troops safely overseas, and
back home after the war at Pier 2, made her a favorite symbol in the city
of Halifax. Noted Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer made several paintings
of her in Halifax. A large dance hall, the "Olympic Gardens" was also named
in her honor.
After the United States declared war on Germany
in 1917, Olympic transported thousands of American troops to Britain.
During the war, Olympic is reported to have carried up to 201,000
troops and other personnel, burning 347,000 tons of coal and traveling
about 184,000 miles. Olympic's war service earned her the nickname
"Old Reliable". Her captain was knighted in 1919 for "valuable
services in connection with the transport of troops".
For more information on Olympic's
history, check out her
Wikipedia
page, where this history was taken from. There are also good YouTube
videos on her career here,
and on her layout as a troop transport here. |
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| The
Hobby Boss Olympic
The Hobby Boss 1/350 HMS Olympic comes is
a sturdy cardboard box. On the box top is a painting of Olympic
at sea, wearing dazzle camouflage. The model is supposed to represent
Olympic as a troopship, wearing her second dazzle scheme. Inside
the box are 23 sprues, a stand, two small photo-etch frets, and decals.
Many of the sprues are marked "Titanic", while several are specific
to this version of Olympic, and marked as such. |
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| THE
HULL (SPRUE A) |
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| The hull is one piece. In scale,
it comes out about six scale feet longer and eight scale feet narrower
than the real ship. On the hull, as with previous Titanic/Olympic
models, you'll find molded on hull plating. My opinion is that the
hull plating here is more subtle than other versions, with nice details
like doors and what I think are coal scuttles. The rudder is molded separately,
as are the shafts and proprs. |
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| DECKS
(SPRUES P1 - P4) |
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The largest sections of the decks
are labels Sprues P1 through P4, and are each packaged separately.
Looking at plans, I think these decks are
-
P1 Main Deck
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P2 Bridge Deck
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P3 Promenade Deck
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P4 Boat Deck
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| DECK
P1 |
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| This deck, unlike those of some other
brands, runs almost the length of the ship. There is really finely
done planking with butt ends on all the decks. Not sure if it's "accurate",
but it looks good, and will probably pop nicely with a wash, for those
who aren't fans of aftermarket wood decks. |
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| DECK
P2 |
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| DECK
P3 |
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| DECK
P4 |
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| SPRUE
B |
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| Here are two of the four funnels,
the prop shafts, rudder, masts and the walls/bulkheads for some of the
deckhouses. The fineness of the details inside the windows (frames)
is really impressive. The masts look a bit thin, you may want to
replace them with the turn brass mast set from Master Models. |
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| SPRUE
C |
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| The other two funnels are here, along
with skylights, bridge wings and crane bases. The latter have
nice detail. |
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| SPRUE
D (X3) |
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| These three sprues hold the different
types of ships boats that Olympic carried, along with individual
boat davits (no more of that long insert with davits molded to it), the
insides of the tops of the funnels, crane arms and vents. |
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| SPRUE
F (X2) |
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| This sprue contains Olympic
specific parts - armament for her role as a transport, paravanes and additional
boat davits. |
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| SPRUE
G |
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| There are several smaller sections
of the decks are labels Sprues G1 through G6, that come on four different
spures. The same nice level of planking detail found on the larger
deck pieces is also present here. |
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| G1 |
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| G2/G3 |
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| G4 |
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| G5/G6 |
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| SPRUE
L |
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| There are some larger deckhouses on
this long sprue. The details on the windows, especially the window
frames, is really well done. |
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| SPRUE
M |
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| This sprue is similar to Sprue L,
with the same comments. |
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| SPRUE
N |
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| More boats, more crane bases and vents
(with really nice details) are found here, along with some smaller deckhouse
structures. Again - I'm impressed with the level of detail found
on the surface of the parts. |
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| SPRUE
Q |
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| This is an Olympic specific
sprue. Along with the nameplate that gives that away, there is the
Olympic specific bridge face, cowl vents and another skylight. |
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| SPRUE
R |
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| This sprue consists of two parts -
the port and starboard sides of the ship, which are configured to match
the Olympic's open promenade deck. |
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| PHOTO-ETCH |
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| There are two photo-etch frets in
the kit. One has funnel grills, the amidships signal stand and some
W/T doors. The second has storage racks for the extra lifeboats Olympic
carried as a troopship. |
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| DISPLAY
BASE OPTIONS |
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| The kit comes with the usual Trumpeter/HobbyBoss
stand. |
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| DECAL |
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| There is one small decal sheet included
with the model. Included are two versions ("wavy" and straight) of the
following flags: British merchant, White Star pennant, US national
flag and the French national flag. There is also decals for the ships
name, though these are probably for a liner version, as I would think they'd
be painted over during wartime. |
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| INSTRUCTIONS |
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| The instructions are in the typical
Trumpeter/Hobby Boss style: booklet form with exploded view drawings.
If you've built a Trumpeter/Hobby Boss kit before, you know what to expect.
There is a color profile of the ship included as well, showing the complex
camouflage pattern, with the color callouts for matching paints from a
variety of manufacturers, including Mr. Hobby, Valejo, Tamiya and Humbrol. |
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| CONCLUSIONS |
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| While this is the second 1/700 Olympic
on the market (Revell did a liner version some years ago), it is the first
version, in any scale, of this ship in her troop transport guise (a 200th
scale version is coming from Trumpeter). Overall, I'm impressed with
this kit. It is finely molded with some great details, like the windows
on the deck house, the planking and the screened vents, as well as the
hull plating. Also the model, albeit being a tad narrow in scale,
compares favorably to drawing in "Shipcraft 18" and other online resources.
I think a lot of liner fans, and fans of World War 1 ships, will really
like this kit and it's unique fit and camouflage. I certainly do!
Highly recommended.
This is Hobby Boss Model's kit number 83421,
1/700 RMS Olympic. The model retails for $79.99, and is
available from
Model
Rectifier Corporation - who I'd like to thank for this review sample.
This is an in-box review of the kit contents only.
Your mileage may vary once you start construction. |
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