¹⁄600

Building the RMS Mauretania, (1907-1935)

The Model...

Dazzle painted ships have always held a fascination for me, in particular the idea of not actually camouflaging for the purpose of hiding the ship, but to change its apparent shape. U-boats did not aim their torpedoes directly at a ship to sink it. Because the target was moving, it was necessary to aim ahead of its path in order for the torpedo to arrive in the same piece of water at the same time as the targeted ship. If the torpedo is too early or too late, it will miss. The primary goal of dazzle painting was to confuse the U-boat commander who was trying to observe the course and speed of his target.

This model project came about as a result of an impulse (!) buy of the 1/400 JSC card kit of RMS Mauretania - which among other versions contains parts for the WWI dazzle-painted troop carrier guise of this famous ship. Comparison with available photos showed the designer had the proportions just about spot on… and I started hatching a plan! Not having the space for model in 1/400 scale - or indeed the inclination to build a complex card model – an unfamiliar media to me - I felt it must be possible to utilise their superb design work of the camouflage scheme in a ‘solid’ model format.

Inspired by the famous painting hanging in the Liverpool Maritime museum by Burnell-Poole I set to work!

Interestingly the famous Cunard poster shows colours-whilst attractive—were certainly unrealistsic.






The admiralty sketch showed the true colours.




I scanned the 1/400 card kit dazzle components, and after some careful measuring and evaluation I re-sized the scans to 1/600 using the Serif 5.0 programme - to suit the readily available classic Airfix kit of the liner…




After some experimental printing and re-colouring I was able to print crisp and usable decals of the camo-scheme onto white decal sheet. Prior to the application of these very large decals to the Airfix hull I removed all raised moulded detail and sanded everything smooth.