I am a huge Vallejo fan. I used to work in a model shop so I got to try their acrylics out and was instantly converted. Surprisingly, I’ve not even layed eyes on enamels since. Some modellers also find oil paint handy for basecoats, with acrylic being used for highlights etc. Lifecolor do a nice range of weathering agents in some of their multipacks.

I’m not sure about use with enamels but certainly if using acrylics it’s worthwhile purchasing some Fairy Power Spray. This is normally used to clean burnt on grease and stubborn stains but makes a fantastic paint stripper – I apply with a brush and leave for 30 minutes before rinsing with a slight scrubbing motion using the brush. It will strip the model to the bare plastic without affecting the plastic whatsoever (it’s worthwhile testing on a a scrap piece of the models plastic first to make sure. I’ve even used it on clear plastics many times – including those covered in emulsion paint.

I think I spent 50p on my spray and it’s still going strong.

It also works wonders for cleaning my brushes 😉

It’s very possible. Certainly makes sense to me.

I’m a huge Lancaster fan. Not as much as the Spitfire of course but a huge fan nonetheless 🙂 There was a chap who came into the model shop one day who builds scaled down versions of real engines. I’m told he once took out part of his neighbours house with a scaled down V2 Rocket 😀 I’ve wondered ever since what a 1:4 Scale Spitfire would be like with a scaled down Merlin III powering it 😀

I’ve never found out who the chap was but wish I had 😀

I think you’ve very much hit the nail on the head there. I don’t believe they were swapped, secretly or otherwise. My reference to events that happened referred to work on completing Titanic being postponed to repair the damage to Olympic. Titanic was originally scheduled to sail from Southampton in March 1912, but Olympic’s collision delayed this. As you say, the work to swap the ships to the point where not only Olympic looked like Titanic, but also Titanic looked like Olympic would have been impossible in the timescale, never mind actually doing so without arousing suspicion.

The theory would appear to ignore the fact that White Star obviously weren’t as concerned about Titanic being completed in time for her maiden voyage as is the basis of the theory. In fact, they postponed her sailing to allow for the repair of Olympic – this would suggest to me that the emphasis was actually on getting Olympic back in service rather than Titanic. There is also the fact that to swap the ships to pass each off as the other would involve astronomical cost that would serve absolutely no conceivable purpose – it would be like committing financial suicide for a company which had already invested considerable sums in the creation of the Olympic class steamers.

That’s why I agree with you that the swa.p could not have happened

I read that they were planning to turn Trigger’s character into a right nasty piece of work, much to the disappointment of Sir David Jason. Definitely a bridge too far I think 🙁

I like to keep an open mind on these things but could someone explain in simple terms what would have been the point of doing it if it did happen!

The swap theory suggests that after Olympic was damaged by her collision with Hawke, a financially strained White Star Line decided that it would be quicker and cheaper to repair Olympic than it would have been to complete Titanic, but it should be noted by anyone passing by (excuse the pun) that although this did actually happen, it merely delayed Titanic’s maiden voyage by about one month. There would be no conceivable gain in swapping the two ships for the sake of one month.

That said, it is not uncommon for the names of vessels to be changed (I recently changed the name of my boat), but what is, in my honest opinion, the key fact in all of this is that whether or not she is the original Titanic is immaterial – she bore the name Titanic on that voyage and still bears the name Titanic some 100 years later. I think that whatever her true identity, she is the only Titanic we’ve ever known. She’s the Titanic that fascinates and grips us and will hopefully continue to do so for many years to come.