I built the kit a long, long time ago; I can't claim to remember a great deal about it. I know it had lots of parts, including railing stanchions (some molded integrally with the hull halves, some molded individually). And I know it was great fun to build.
What I don't recall is what period in the ship's career it represented. (I think I did some digging about that the last time I built the kit - but that was about thirty years ago and frankly my poor halfzeimer's-afflicted brain has forgotten.) As I recall she didn't go through any hugely obvious modifications, but she did get some. (I have a vague recollection of something involving the pilothouse armor - but that may be entirely incorrect.) Also, in her as-built configuration she was rigged for (believe it or not) sails. I don't recall seeing a picture of them in use, but the gear for them was there.
She wore at least three color schemes during her active career. If I remember correctly, she initially had a white hull and superstructure, buff funnels and masts, and black funnel caps. During the Spanish-American War she was painted grey overall. Sometime after the war (I don't know exactly when) she got the scheme she wears now: white hull, buff superstructucture and funnels, and black funnel caps. I imagine she was painted grey again during WWI, but I don't know that for sure.
For a real conversation piece, you could model her in the scheme she wore for several months during 1976. At that time she was docked almost directly under the Ben Franklin Bridge, in Philadelphia. One fine morning, in preparation for the U.S. Bicentennial observances, the bridge got a fresh coat of glossy, extremely bright blue paint. Nobody thought to consult anybody on board the
Olympia in advance, and the painters, working many feet above her, probably had no idea they were dumping several gallons of paint onto the ship. Imagine what went through the minds of the staff when they showed up for work later that morning and discovered that she'd suddenly acquired thousands of irregularly-sized indigo blue polkadots.
The ship's management sued the city of Philadelphia for the cost of a new paint job. The last time I visited her a photo of the mayor of Philadelphia handing over a check, with an extremely disgruntled look on his face, was prominently displayed.
With a bottle of Floquil Conrail Blue paint and a "spatter" nozzle in an airbrush, at a distance of about two feet....