Make: Online : Dazzle camouflage

Dazzle camouflage

Interesting article over on TwistedSifter about the use of so-called "dazzle" or "razzle-dazzle" camouflage beginning during WWI. (The Wikipedia article is pretty good, too.) It's a kind of practical op-art: The idea was not so much to make the ship invisible against the background, but to confuse enemy weapons operators as to its distance and heading. The Rhode Island School of Design has a wonderful online collection of various paper plans for dazzle camouflage schemes donated by Maurice L. Freedman, who was district camoufleur for the 4th district of the U.S. Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, and would go on to invent the board game "Battleship." [via Dude Craft]

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: Oceaneer99 on February 5, 2010 at 4:15 PM

Aircraft Dazzle Camouflage

Be sure to check out this article on aircraft dazzle camouflage by artist McClelland Barclay:

http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/artist/b/barclay/barclay%201.html

Reply to this comment

Posted by: Bill Coleman on February 5, 2010 at 6:24 PM

Razzel Dazzel Camo

Some of those designs would make good clothing designs.

Reply to this comment

Posted by: rekinom on February 6, 2010 at 8:03 AM

Also cool is the story of the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, a Netherlands minesweeper that escaped the Japanese invasion of Java after the crew disguised it as a tropic island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNLMS_Abraham_Crijnssen

http://www.hnsa.org/ships/img/crijnssen3.jpg

Reply to this comment

Name

Email Address

Title

Comments

Make: Online has a "be nice" commenting policy. Don't say anything here you wouldn't say to a person's face. We will use our discretion in removing comments we find offensive, spammy, self-promotional, or mean-spirited. See more on our Maker Community Guidelines page.

Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!

Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.

$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)

Subscribe now

Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out. Make: The risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things... Welcome to Make: Online!

Check out more videos from MAKE.

Connect with MAKE

	MAKE on Facebook Visit our Facebook page and become a fan of MAKE!
	MAKE on Twitter Follow our MAKE tweets!
	MAKE on Flickr Join our MAKE Flickr Pool!

make_tips on Twitter

Make: Online editors and authors!

Gareth Branwyn
Editor-in-Chief

Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
| Web | Twitter

Becky Stern
Associate Editor
| AIM | Twitter

Marc de Vinck
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

John Park
Contributing Writer
| Twitter

Sean Ragan
Contributing Writer
| Twitter

Matt Mets
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

Dale Dougherty
Editor & Publisher
| Twitter

Shawn Connally
Director of
Digital Media
| Twitter

Goli Mohammadi
Senior Editor

Kip Kay Kip Kay
Weekend Projects
| AIM | Twitter

Collin Cunningham
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

Adam Flaherty
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

John Baichtal
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter

More contributors: Mark Frauenfelder (Editor-in-Chief, MAKE magazine), Kipp Bradford (Technical Consultant/Writer), Chris Connors (Education), Diana Eng (Guest Author), Peter Horvath (Intern), Brian Jepson (O'Reilly Media), Robert Bruce Thompson (Science Room)

Suggest a Site!

Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!

Current Podcast

Industrial Sound Controllers Tristan Shone rolled out the 'big guns' for Maker Faire Bay Area 2010. His Industrial Sound Controllers are a musical force to be reckoned with and their sheer size and weight demand considerable attention upon seeing them firsthand. Tristan... More...