Piet

Thank you Anthony for dropping in and I'm glad you enjoy my efforts and your "like" votes. Thank you John for dropping in and your encouragements, It's really appreciated. Well, so far things seem to be working okay with this endeavor. As you can see we're making progress. Cheers,

As shown in a previous post I have cut a hole in my model soooooohh - - - - I have now a holy sub - - - oooooooh, I crack me up Okay, enough of my sick humor, snicker - - snicker I managed to pretty-up the opening a little by putting a file folder back-up to the underside of it. It still needs a little more dressing up but that'll come after I have cemented the mine bun in. I don't know yet how I'm going to do that but we'll come up with a solution. Originally there were brackets attached to the pressure hull and the bun was fastened to them. I also managed to worm a pice of file folder card stock inside to simulate the pressure hull. That piece is held in place with caulking compound. Then I made and installed a piece of framing between the the bun areas as is shown on the actual build photos. I lucked out on that operation. See pics 6 and 7 below. Then I started with making a new bun lid from a small piece of 1 mm ply. There are a few framing pieced on the underside which I made from boxwood. First I had to make a template for the correct curvature of the hull in that area and used a piece of styrene - - - yup, I found it - - - All very time consuming work to get the right curves in these little pieces of wood but I think they are correct. We'll know tomorrow when I'm going to assemble the door / lid for the bun. If not, then we'll go to plan B, make another one. I also started to make the bun from styrene. I rolled it around a ⅜ drive long socket wrench of the right inside diameter and clamped it together with 6 water hose style steel clamps, then dunked it in very hot water for about 20 minutes to take the strain off. Then dried it off and re-clamped it back with Duco cement and a reinforcing strip on the seam to make the weld hold tight. I'll find out tomorrow how this is holding up. Then comes the task of cementing it inside the ballast tank. But first I need to paint the inside of the ballast tank dark grey to match the color of steel. It doesn't look like much work but it was all very tedious and time consuming. Yes, it is a challenge but actually fun The biggest challenge will be making the hinges for the lid. No clue yet how I'm going to do that in such a way as to make the actually hinges not visible when closed. I'll have to make a test piece first I think, before messing around with it on the boat itself. Okay, here are a few pics of today's progress. This shows the main parts for the lid. The long straight piece will be cut into three sections to fit between the 2 longitudinal pieces, shown here with the curves. I don't know yet what glue or cement I'll be using, either 5 minute epoxy or CA. There is some tension on lid piece to keep it in a bend. See pic 6 below. The next three pics show the inside of the ballast tank where the mine bun will be located. Here you can see that end frame and a part of the pressure hull. I modeled the end frame after the real one as shown in the actual build photos. See pics 6 and 7 below. This is the bulkhead of my model and I plan to paint the bottom of it black leaving the top part grey with three black circles to simulate that top frame piece. This shows the simulated pressure hull. It'll be painted dark grey to simulate steel. I may even reduce the width of the lip where the lid rests on. Here is the styrene bun clamped on a socket wrench acting as a mold. The cement should hold after 16 hours curing time. Then it needs to be prettied up, trimmed to size and cemented into the ballast tank area. Yes, and painted too Here we see the O19 at the Navy base in Den Helder when she was brand new. And yup, I'm sure that's my father standing at the aft end of the conning tower, it's the tall fellow with his head cocked a little, his typical stance The reason for this picture is to show how the upper braces in the ballast tanks look like and why I modeled them as I did. This photo was taken in 1938 when she was being build. It also shows how these braces look like. We are not there yet making mines but this picture shows how they look like and how they load them babies. This photo was taken in 1944 during her war patrol era. This picture does not belong here but I like for you to go back a few posts together with picture 6 above and compare my work with the conning tower with these pics. This one shows the snorkel exhaust pipe exstanded with the shroud on the bottom. I think I came pretty close Cheers.

Hello dear friends and wow what a response, thank you all for dropping in and "liking" my build. Hello Doris, I'm so happy and pleased seeing you here and thank you for your compliments. I am also enjoying your build of the Royal Caroline, which is an inspiration to me to do my best in making my model acceptable to my father. Hi Popeye, thanks you for your accolades, much appreciated. Yup, I bit the bullet and waiting for the consequences Hello Mark, yes, I got your "tongue in cheek" funny alright but my remark was directed at what Sailor posted yesterday on post 839. And yes, I figured why not doing the mine thing and see where the chips may fall. So far it seems to be working okay for me. Cheers,

Thanks to everyone for visiting and your like votes ! Okay, the build dock is turned around so I can work on the starboard side. I made the conning tower handhold rail and installed it. I also cemented the four steps in the rear of the con leading up to the aft gun deck and then prime pained the lower part of the con light grey. Final painting of the con will be done after the green is on the starboard side. Well, I made the bold decision to install one mine bun with hinged lid - - - I should actually get my head examined - - - so much extra work, and I just hope it's gonna pan out okay. Keep fingers crossed. I picked a spot between two bulkheads and lucked out that the aft one was close enough to act as the real thing. Actually, there are no solid bulkheads inside the ballast tanks, just steel framing, but don't tell anyone I had to pick a lot of foam out that I used to give the thin planks I used for the hull some support. So far so good. Next is to figure out how to install the simulated pressure hull that can be seen when the lid is open. There is not much room to maneuver a lot of material through the opening. We'l see how that's gonna work out. Oaky, here are a few pics of today's work. This shows the starboard side handhold rail for the lower con. Same material as I used for the port side. I decided to make this off the boat, it made it a little more difficult to install but after some fussing with it it worked out okay. Front view of the handhold rail installed. Side view and you can also see the rear steps and it's painted. Another view from the rear. This picture shows the start of cutting out the opening for one of the mine buns. Standard procedure, same as I used when making holes in aluminum aircraft skins. Here it shows the opening pretty well cleaned up. It'll need some reenforcing behind the lip for the door to rest on. I may use some file folder card, it's easier to let it flow along the curves. Sometime last year John Texxn5 was goading me in doing this (and I was rather reluctant then) I did make a test lid just to see if I could do it. This is that lid but I have to make a new one, this one is not good enough, it needs just a little more of a bend and the little holes are a mess. No problem tough, it has to be good. The bun itself will be made from styrene, if I can find that sheet - - - I must have put it in a real safe place - - - somewhere Cheers,

Hoi Remco, thanks for visiting and yes, it's different alright with these colors. It'll take getting used to and it'll invoke many questions from people who are used to seeing "the grey wolves." Pink subs, hmmmm, let's see - - - only one though - - - the one from the Beatles Hello Daniel, thank you for your comments. Yup, adding rivets would have been an impossible task, scale wise and work wise. Hi Sailor, exactly, cross hairs are in the optics and isn't that what I mentioned to Mark a few posts ago? Cheers,

That's outrageously beautiful Robert!!! Cheers,

Hello Mark, I have not been ignoring you, far from that. My heart goes out to you and wish you all the best with your renewed efforts. I like to add my thoughts to your very brave decision to start over with your build. I fully understand your motives, when something is just not fixable to your satisfaction then there is really no other choice. I have torn up many a drawing or watercolor pieces because it was not to my satisfaction and besides that I could never sell such a piece with my name on it. Several oil paintings have been scraped down and over-paintd for the same reason. Right now i have such a piece on my drawing table, it'll be torn up. I like to think that your bold step is a motivation to others, not so much as to arbitrarily wreck a model and start over but to check and recheck drawings , guide material, etc. to make sure everything jibes. Yes, I had to redo several things on my submarine model because I received data after I assumed how things looked like without having the real drawings. I'll also be following your new build and with all the experience you have now gained it'll be a master piece. Cheers,

Today I installed the handhold rail on the port side of the con and installed the steps at the rear. I also gave all that a coat of paint. Now that the conning tower is completed on the port side I decided to paint the upper part of the hull above WL 7 green, as the manufacturer's model shows. Gino and I have already explained the reason behind this color scheme. Remember that this model depicts the boat as she was in 1939 and 1940 when my dad sailed on her and it was still peacetime then. It's different and will invoke questions I'm sure. Okay, I have now turned my build dock around so I can work on the starboard side of the conning tower. All that needs to be done there is install the handhold rail and the crew steps in the rear and put the grey primer paint on. As soon as that is done I may just go ahead and paint the upper part of the hull green. I'm still contemplating cutting one of the mine buns open and install a mine bun and a hinged lid. more detail work - - - am I nuts or what? If I do then I'll have do that before painting, it'll make a real mess. Right now I don't quite know yet how to worm the side frames in and the visible parts of the pressure hull. Hmmmmm, cardboard comes to mind with caulking compound and a lot of luck. That also means that I'll have to make a few mines Okay, here are a few pics to show today's work. Here she is all dolled up in a fresh coat of paint. The weather was nice and warm, no wind, ideal paint weather. A close-up look of the completed port side of the conning tower. I found a rather heavy chain inside but no cases of Heineken beer. Perhaps they put them in the aft part, I need to have a look see Cheers,

Thanks everyone for your overwhelming support and "likes," I really appreciate it. Well Mark, the cross hares are in the optics down below and we must just let our imagination go to work and picture ourselves at the eye piece Thank you for your compliments, makes me feel good. The Admiral was also impressed with how she's looking. Thank you also Popeye for your compliments! Talking about paint, see pics below. As soon as the starboard side of the con is done and the hull painted then I'll spray paint the con with a final coat. Cheers,

Well, I'm coming close to finishing the conning tower. The remaining tasks are the foot treads in the rear, the handholds and final painting. Oh yeah, let's not forget the AA guns, the antenna mast and the periscopes. The foot treads are already made, they just need to be cemented on. Remember that I had a problem with them not wanting to stay glued? I'll have to retry it and hopefully reinforce them from the inside of the conning tower through the rear crew hatch hole Fortunately I left the crew hatches un-cemented and they can be removed. I cut the tubing for the periscopes and the antenna mast. The actual periscope heads still need to be made and installed then they need to be checked for raising and lowering and adjusting the focus of the lenses Kidding of course but I'll cement a simulated piece of glass to the scope tip, at least it should look like it has a lens in it More detail work. The cross arm for the antenna mast will have to wait till I'm ready to rig all the antenna wires. Okay, now for the pics of today's work. btw, today was our 51st wedding anniversary! The Admiral said that she'll keep me a bit longer, am I lucky or what This shows all the conning tower doors installed, closed and latched. The wide-angle lens distorted it somewhat. You can also see that the rear AA gun has it's elevation rack installed and that the snorkel exhaust shroud is on and painted flat black. The rear steps will go into the half-round holes in the rear. This picture shows all the doors open. This is the conning tower painted with a primer coat and the antenna mast, periscopes and snorkel intake installed. The tops of the periscopes are 1.5 mm copper tubes with a flat filed in them for the fake lens glass. The hand-hold rail will be just below the top level of the doors and between the upper foot holes. I'll wait with putting the O19 number on the con till the boat is completed. Cheers,

Thank you all for visiting, including all yuns who clicked on "like." @ Mark: Thank you for your kind words and today we'll see the conning tower close to completion, with the doors open and closed and painted (primed only). See next post. @ Remco: Thank you! Yes, the 0.5 mm brass tubes would have been a little too delicate for this work. It would work but the plywood for the doors are too thick and actually out of scale and thus these tiny hinges would just disappear. In retrospect the doors could have been made from brass sheet stock of - - - oh, about 0.15 or 0.2 mm thick. But then we'd run into a whole other set of problems such as the door frames and etc. So, where do we stop - - - and all metal boat? Hmmmmm, now that's an idea - - - like the brass model steam locos - - - ???? Not!! In my next life perhaps As mentioned before, even this is way beyond what I had originally planned to do and it'll have to suffice - - - for now. I may leave the aft two doors closed and just keep the forward one open so we can see some "stuff" inside, like a chain and cases of Heineken beer By the way, I also tested the deck slats by spraying them with workable fixative I use for my art stuff. It works like a charm to seal the dye so it doesn't bleed when I put glue on it. Problem solved. @ Daniel: Thank you for your very kind words but you give me too much credit I love it though. No, no jeweler. Time for a career change is long gone at being 80 years of age. I just like to challenge myself and see what I can still do. Some of this stuff just can't be done with hard or silver solder, the flame blows things away and clamping or affixing it is not much of an option. The biggest challenge is holding all these tiny parts together to be soldered. I guess I'm too lazy to try at this point so I soft solder these things. Cheers,

Thank you John, yes, I'm rather pleased with how it's shaping up, even when scrutinizing it close up. The shipyard was closed today for work but I managed to make hinges for two of the lower con doors. They even have latches that work. I also managed to cement two elevation racks to one of the AA guns but they need some work before I show them to you. So this'll be a short post with a few pics. This shows the back side of the forward door with all the parts to necessary to hang the door. I had to cut and install a small piece of 1 mm brass tube for the latch, which is just a piece of 0.5 brass rod bend as shown. I had to bend the last bend after putting it the tube The hinge pintels are made from 0.15 mm brass sheet and 1 mm brass tube with 0.5 mm brass pins for hinge pins. Everything was cemented using CA glue. The latch shown here is the wrong size brass rod, I made it from the correct rod when I couldn't get it through the little tube. Me "domkop," but so what - - - pfffffffff as the Dutch say, at least I had a laugh about it all by myself This shot shows the now completed forward door hung into the frame and is latched close. Okay, sorry I didn't show it hinged open, some other day when all three doors are done and hung. It still looks kinda untidy but the light grey paint will hide all of the dirty smudges Everything works quite easily. This picture shows the center door also installed into the frame and is latched. This door too works as advertised Yes, there is a gap between the deck and the conning tower side plates. This is to allow water to drain out when surfacing. The entire conning tower fills with water except for the command center, which is hidden from view by the side plates but is in the center of the conning tower. Quite a few pages ago I have actually posted a few photos of that structure when the boat was being build. Cheers,

Hello Anthony, Well, when inquiring minds want to know then the least somebody should explain when having some knowledge about the subject. Not that I know much about subs but this is kinda basic and I'm glad to be able to inform all yuns. Thanks for the applause, much appreciated and I'm glad to be of some help. Happy modeling my friend! Cheers,

As is my custom I like to recognize all those who "silently" visit my dockyard. Thank you all for dropping in and leaving your much appreciated "like." Please keep coming back anytime, there is always fresh coffee and cake and cookies, perhaps even a good Belgian or Dutch beer @ Anthony: Thank you Anthony for your very astute questions and observations. Yes, these pre WW II subs and those that were build during and just after that war were not very hydrodynamicaly designed. They all had a lot of "stuff" sticking out everywhere. The con, an exposed deck gun, railings, loading booms, rivet heads etc., etc. The max submerged speed for the O19 was 9 knots but could only sustain that speed for 30 minutes before the batteries gave out. The thinking at that time was that they are mainly surface vessels that had the ability to submerge for a limited time and a limited depth. What is generally not known is that the German naval engineers designed and build a revolutionary submarine, the Type 21. That sub was at least a decade ahead of it's time. It could move faster submerged then many escort vessels protecting the convoys. It could fire their torpedoes faster then any other sub for decades to come and dive to over one thousand feet. It was a technical and hydrodynamic wonder. Fortunately for the allies Hitler's Nazi war machine could only send two of these subs into the Atlantic when war ended. Yes, I keep shaking my head when looking at the progress of my model, seeing all those drag inducing things on the boat. But I'm looking with today's eyes knowing a little more about hydrodinamics and aerodynamics. It all has to do with the evolution in technology. How do you keep a sub submerged for long periods of time before running out of of breathable air. Oxygen generators, fresh water makers, etc. How can you increase the submerged speed? The same evolution can be seen in aircraft design and actually there are many similarities between aircraft and submarines.. Well, let me get off my soap box. When it comes to aircraft I can talk for hours but thanks for the questions and visiting. @ Popeye: Thank you my friend for your compliments. @ Sjors: Following in silence is good, I see your like votes I also follow your builds in silence, very impressive! Wilton Feyenoord eh? I visit so once in a while via Google earth, brings back memories. You know, there is very little difference between kit building and scratch building. As long as you have as et of drawings and some pictures it's just a matter of transferring the drawings to wood and cut each part out and glue it together But thanks for your compliments and dropping in so once in a while, you are most welcome anytime. Now you can go back and be a silent observer, I can feel you breathing down my neck and that's a good thing! Did not do much today. I had a dentist appointment - - - again - - - this morning and it was freezing in the garage. I did manage to spend a few hours there after lunch though. I made the snorkel exhaust pipe guard and cemented that on the guide pipe. It still needs flat black paint. Then I started with the lower con door hinges. Managed one set for one door, very tricky stuff, it's so tiny. I think that I'll do one door at a time, that way I can learn what not to do and improve on the method I am employing. Oh yeah, I also made the AA gun elevation racks. Next step will be to cement them on and add the little square thingies to the top of the pedestal and some other details such as the wheels and the brackets that come out of the square thingies. I looked on the internet with model train part outfits but did not find any control wheels of the size I need. Those listed with a size were too large and many others did not specify size. I'll have to send them a message and ask if they have four spoke control wheel of 5 mm diameter. But then again, I have already made four of them and are acceptable to use. I really looking forward in finishing the con so I can start with the main deck but I'm taking it slow, no rush, it's a labor of love and not a sprint. Thanks agin everyone for visiting and Cheers,

Thanks to everyone who have visited my shipyard and looking at my progress, it's much appreciated. Today I braved the cold again in the garage but managed to finish the gun deck railing I started out by making the hardware for the for the forward railing where the gun bun lid has to fold open. I made two eye pins that are to slide inside the most forward stanchions. These are made from 1 mm brass tubes. Then a hook so we can unhook the chain when needed. This hardware is made from 0.5 mm brass rod. I had to make the hook four times, goes to show yuns that things sometimes just don't work out right away One time I lost the hook when trying to attach it to the chain. I had it in tweezers and it just popped out and went flying somewhere. Good luck finding it so it was quicker to make a new one. So what is another 10 minutes of work - - - pfffffffffffff I then soldered these into place and started on the railing caps that I made from 0.8 mm brass rod. They had to be bend in places to follow the contour of the decks as shown on the photos I have. I had to remake the forward starboard cap because I didn't like the first one. When I was happy with them they were then soldered to the tops of the stanchions. After filing most of the excess solder off and cleaning the railings with MEK I could paint them. When I looked at the pics I made previously I noticed that the top antenna brace was not level, it was a little higher on the port side. So, I had to desolder this end and file quite a bit off the vertical post and re-solder it back in place. I started to make the template for the snorkel exhaust guard but it was now 1730 hours and time to quit, my legs were getting tired and eyes started to water and burn. I also performed the test with putting polly urethane on a piece of dyed deck slat and then glueing it to a freshly painted piece of wood with TiteBond. At quitting time I tried to dislodge it and it was holding quite nicely without any dye weeping through. Thanks Remco for the suggestion, it seems to work. Okay, time for a few pics of today's progress. This shows the individual parts for the removable chain in the forward part of the front gun deck. A fixed rail cap would prevent the gun bun lid from opening all the way. The lid should rest on the deck. I found some small chain in my Thermopylae plastic kit I still have on the shelf. This shows all the parts assembled, the eye pins soldered in the stanchions and the hook attached to the chain and hooked to the port side eye pin. And yes, it is removable This shows the forward gun deck railing stanchions with the chain installed. Here you can clearly see that the cross beam of the antenna brace is a little too high on the port side. That beam is where the ship's bell hangs on. That'll be fixed a little later. Here is a view with both the front and rear gun deck railings completed and painted. At this point I have also lowered the port side crossbar of the antenna support bracket. Much more better Another view of the completed gun deck railings. Completed gun deck railings looking forward. Top view of the conning tower with completed gun deck railings. Cheers,

Thank you very much Senior for your compliments, I really appreciate it. Well yes, I kinda feel my dad's presence when I'm working on his boat. Cheers,

Not much accomplished today. Had another dentist visit this morning that turned out more then expected. My upper front bridge came loose and we had to repair that before we can do some more minor work. After lunch I ventured out into the garage, aka shipyard, and fudsed a little more on the railing stanchions and reworked the snorkel intake guard. I also made two steps for the crew to get up from the gun deck to the bridge at the periscope housing. I finalized the length of all the rail stanchions and squared them up with the deck. They are now ready for the caps. I'll be using 0.7 mm brass rod for that soft soldered to the top of the 1 mm brass tube stanchions. According to some of the photos I have there appears to be a chain between the two most forward stanchions where the gun lid folds open. This was to allow the gun bun lid to fold open and lay on the deck. Being that my gun lids are a little smaller then scale they could pass under a fixed rail cap. It was tempting to forget the chain and just solder the brass rod across it but no, that's not the way it was when my father sailed on her. So, I have to make the necessary hardware for it. I have the same issue with the aft railing but there I think it'll work with a fixed rail cap, it has a bend in it and the lid will miss the rail cap when opening. Well, let's see, what else - - - no, that's about all I did. Tomorrow I'll make the front rail chain hardware, install it and hopefully solder the rail caps on. Oh, yeah, the snorkel exhaust guard, we don't want to burn our hands squeezing around it to the flagpole Apparently they moved that flagpole forward and attached it to the aft side of the periscope housing where the snorkel intake pipe is, smart move. No, I can't do that because that too was not the way my father knew the boat. Cheers, to everyone,

Let me first thank the many who dropped in and hit the like button, It's really appreciated. @ S. Coleman: Thank you for your compliments. Yeah, the hatches came out okay. @ Remco: Hmmm, didn't think about using poly. I'll try it on a test piece. I was not sure whether TiteBond would adhere strong enough to the poly and the paint. The real big planking job will be on the deck and I'm a little leery starting that. I'll let yuns know how my test piece works. @ Mark: Thank you Mark for your kudos, appreciate it. Yeah, the telegraphs - - - I tried first to actually write the words on them but gave up Kidding of course, I just put a few lines on the faces to simulate words. @ Daniel: Thank you as well for your kind words, it means a lot to me. Well, getting closer to the completion is true but still far off. There is still an awful lot of work to be done but it's all real rewarding and a pleasure. I wanted to wait till the railing was completed before I take some pictures. The railing was fixed as far as I know at the time of the build but apparently they removed them during the war, at least those on the main deck. @ Popeye: Thanks my friend, appreciate your regular visits and your compliments. My door is always open for all you ship and boat modelers. Cheers,

Hello Dražen, Great looking deck planking! Looking forward to the pain colors, green was used a lot on those ships. Cheers,

Today I installed the deck slats to both AA gun decks. I have to get used to seeing them on but I think it makes the model. I stained the slats yesterday with a water soluble stain that's meant for leather. It was not as easy as I hoped for. The glue caused the stain to weep out and slightly colored the grey deck paint. It's also not bonding as well as I thought it should. It tested okay on a piece of scrap, so go figure. To prevent the stain from weeping out I had to get some thicker Titebond, that helped a lot. I would have liked to use CA but I needed to have the time to be able to move it a little, thus the PVA. I also started with installing the railings on the gun decks. All the stanchions are installed but still need to be trimmed. They are made from 1 mm brass tubing, they are small enough and nice and stiff. Then the snorkel exhaust pipe shroud need to me made and installed as well. The aft hatch opens against it. I also started with the AA gun mods, I think it'll work out okay. I also cut parts for the lower con door hinges, that'll be a real challenge. You can also see that removed some wood from the gun pedestal sides and front. Next will be removing some wood on the top so I can install the square looking thingies there and the control wheels and the other things on top. It all has to fit inside the buns. Well, that's it for now Cheers,

Thanks Gino, I was not aware of the "ship's bell" being left at port during war patrols. With Hr. Ms. Java the bell was still on the wreck and Kevin Danley, the Ausy diver/photographer who was part of the company who discovered the wreck, removed it and brought it home. It now hangs in the memorial in Surabaya. For those who may not know, my father was killed in action during the battle on the Java Sea, February 27, 1942, at 23:55 hours. After his promotion to Opperschipper (Adjudant) he had to be transferred to a surface ship. Cheers,

Hi Anthony, yes, I quite frequently browse through Amazon and several other online bookstores, including rare and out of print stores. Not much luck price wise though but I'm not giving up Cheers,

Hello Mischief and thanks for visiting. A great question for which I don'y have a definite answer. It was most likely left hanging as a permanent part of the bridge equipment. Perhaps Gino can tell us more. Remember that the subs of that era were primarily surface vessels that could submerge for a limited time. Underwater speeds were very marginal, not much thought about reducing water friction so leaving the bell hanging was no big deal. Also, with an emergency dive it would be too time consuming. I hope that the crew took the bell with them when they had to abandon the boat when it ran onto Ladd Reef in June of 1945. If so then I also have no idea where it is now. Cheers,

Hi John, I'm patiently waiting for "the rest of the story." Cheers,

Hoi Marc, I too love everything nautical of the Dutch! VOC and the fishing vessels. Of course also the naval war ships. I wish I could afford the purchase price of the many books available, either in Dutch or English. Cheers,