Piet

Fantastic looking hearth Remco and also the pots. Now also a few ladles and pokers and other utensils they may have used. And while you are at it with making charts you may as well make a few oil lamps for the captain's cabin. John Texxn5 better get on the ball and cook off some wale oil to sell you Cheers,

Hoi Remco, thanks for looking for your scrap box and the parts, no problem. I'll do some browsing on the Internet and see what the model railroad folks have to offer. I think that O gauge is 1:48 and on the old freight cars the hand brakes had similar hand wheels. However, I have no problem with "home build" hand wheels that I can cement to the gun mount, not rotatable, just static. It's all the other paraphernalia that comes with it. See pic below. Hi ho John, good to hear from you and thanks for your compliment - - - I lucked out with the hinges and lids. I have been searching for your progress reports on your Morgan, where are they???? Remco may need some wale oil for the lamps he should make for the captain's cabin Pretty much a lost day today, again a dental visit but the end is in sight I spend some time in fixing one minor hitch. The snorkel intake guard was too far aft and interfered with the aft AA gun. Then I made a bunch 1 X 1 mm slats for the deck planking. Tedious work but it has to be done. Next step is to stain them in some teak looking stain. I'm very curious in finding out how they'll look but according to the color chart it should be good, fingers crossed I also painted the decks again and the gun bun lids, they look quite nice This is a pic from the original factory drawings of the AA guns on the O19 when it was build. To look at the pics Boris send they are a few pages back. This is the same factory drawing with my gun model next to it for comparison. As all yuns can see I need to do some modifying primarily on the top end. I think I can do it and make it believable. It'll be strictly stationary and as long as my guns kinda look similar then I'm a happy camper. Cheers,

Again my thanks to everyone who visited and clicked on like. Hoi Remco, thanks for the idea for PE parts. I agree that that would be the most logical way to arrive at a more accurate gun model but I needed to try my hand first at scratch making everything myself. You think I'm being anal in wanting to make everything myself, including the ship's bell? Yeah, I'm not happy with that plastic thing, it's a little too big anyhow. However, having said all that, realism and accuracy may take the overhand. Yeah sure, look in your scrap box and when you come up with a set of 1:48 parts I'll gladly accept them I'll be looking on the internet to find an outfit that makes nice hand wheels in 1:48. Model trains come to mind. There is a slight problem though, the gun mount I made is not quite like the one on the drawings. Again, hindsight - - - I received the drawings from you and Boris after I already made the guns. The upper part is where the difference comes in. I have been thinking about this all day as I did some yard work. I may have to remake the entire mount or at least the upper portion. That last option seem to be the most viable because the lower part is close enough for me to work with. It's the gun elevation mechanism I'm looking at. It's a curved rack and pinion system and I can make a decent fixed look alike from brass sheet. The little hand wheels are done now and look quite decent. I cemented them on with CA before I realized that I had to do something with the upper part of the mount. So, I had to remove them again. This left some cement residue that needs to be cleaned off or remake them. This is not too much of a problem now that I have gained some experience in making them So for now I'm putting the guns aside till I have finalized my next step with these things, sketches and parts. I have the time, it's not urgent to complete them right now I did manage to cement the gun bun lids to the styrene buns though I'm quite happy with the way they turned out. I'm ready to paint them and repaint the deck so I can glue the deck slats to the gun decks. Then the railings. That'll bring the upper part of the con to completion and on to the bottom part - - - the hinged doors

Could not do much today due to other things I had to do with the admiral in St. Augustine but that gave me the chance to visit Hobby Lobby there. Could not find what I'm looking for, it's more of a craft store rather then a hobby store On to the internet for a search. As mentioned to Daniel in Spain I'm still working on the AA guns. Right now I'm in the process of adding some detail items to them such as the elevation and rotation hand wheels and the elevation mechanism. I don't know yet how successful I'll be with either one because it's all so tiny but I'll give it an honest try I made four of the rims for these wheels but I need two more for the dingy tackle mechanism. I think I made enough round rings for them all. I am using 0.1 mm brass wire for the spokes but if that proves too much of a struggle I'll have to resort to a strand of copper wire out of telephone wire and CA them to the rims, we'll see. I have carved some wood away from the gun sides to accommodate these little hand wheels to allow them to go inside the buns. I'm anxious to start with the deck slats on the gun decks but I'll do these first now that I have started them. The guns can always be fiddled with at any time because I can lift them out of the buns. This picture shows the brass ring of 0.7 mm brass wire for the wheel rim with the 0.1 mm brass wire for the spokes ready to be soldered. I may tin the parts first and them hold the .1 mm wire with tweezers to tack them to the rim and then use a steel office clamp as heat sink to solder the other end. The second wire can be tacked on in the center, I think. The diameter of the wheel is 5 mm. I wound the .7 mm wire around a 5 mm pin punch and snipped a ring off it and then soldered it into a ring. These are the four wheels in process of being made. Even though the scale at 1:50 is rather large this stuff is still tiny to work with and make it half way decent looking. Cheers,

Thanks to everyone for visiting and your "like" votes. Hello John, thank you my friend, I appreciate your visit and comment. Hi Daniel in Spain, thank you also for dropping in and your appreciation for my work. Yeah, swish - - - clang - clang I'm still working on these guns as we speak but getting there Cheers,

Hello everyone and thanks for visiting and liking my work, really appreciated. Hi Mark, well, after I found out that CA glue and solder don't like each other I first tinned a small spot on the dome and the end of the brace. Then held the brace in my left hand with tweezers and tacked it in on the lid. Then I could use a steel office file clamp as a heat sink and soldered the rest. The one next to it I did in a similar fashion. Duck soup, as they say. Thank you for your compliment! Hello Popeye, thank you, Yes, it's a little tedious but with some patience it works. Today I semi finished the hinges for the AA gun bun lids. Some more tedious work, even more so then the lids because of the hinge pin holes that had to line up and allow the pin to go trough the little copper tube, straight, so the lid would close evenly. It too worked out okay and I'm actually ready to cement the ring with the center hinge tube to the styrene bun. I think that I'll secure the hinge pins with a dab of 5 minute epoxy and then paint them. The epoxy should simulate the securing hardware. I also started to modify the two AA guns so I can put the two hand wheels on them to allow the crew to rotate and train the guns on their target. No, They are not really going to rotate but at least it'll look like the guns are close to being finished. (No pics for that little project yet) This is how the bottom portion of the hinge assembly starts, a strip of brass sheet the same width as the outer ring that fits over the gun bun. The hinge pin bracket will be made from a piece of this strip. This is the completed hinge pin bracket. The copper tube will be soldered to the top of this bracket. Here are all the parts I need to finish the complete hinge assembly. The bun lid that was made yesterday, the ring that was made last week, the little bracket, the copper tube and brass pin for the hinge. Sorry, but I did not make a photographic sequence of events in assembling all this to the finished product, you'll laugh when you see it This is the completed AA gun lid assembly on the forward gun bin. I just put the gun in the bin for fun. This is another shot of the forward gun lid assembly. This is the aft AA gun bun lid in the closed position. Cheers,

Thank you all for visiting and your "likes." Hello John (Texnn5): Thank's for the compliment, it is fun work but hard on the fingers. Holding those small parts between thumb and index finger while filing them has removed much of my thumb nail Can't use a vicegip plier because it damages the brass. Hey Remco, thanks and yes it was a little tricky doing the soldering but with some ingenuity I got it done. btw, your brick stove looks really good with the copper pan. Hello John (Lad), thanks for dropping in and your compliment. Your bowsprit is looking great. Not much done today. I started with the hinge part on the bun. Formed the brace for the copper tube and was ready to solder that to the brass ring but had to stop for some stuff the Admiral needed to do and then lunch and off to the dentist, again. This visit was supposed to be a quicky but didn't get out of there till 1700 hrs. But I'll be getting two crowns installed on the 28th and that'll be the final part of the restoration project, yippee Well, more tomorrow. Cheers,

Thanks everyone for visiting and your like votes, it's much appreciated. Could not get far today. I forgot that I had our monthly meeting of the colored pencil society chapter here in Palm Coast. I managed to fabricate the two hinge bracket pairs for the AA gun bun lids and soldered them to the lids. I first had to make the hinge mounts from brass sheet. These are the rings you'll see on the photos. I still have to make brackets that hold the center hinge part, a small copper tube, that'll be soldered to the ring This will eventually be cemented to the outside of the styrene bun that sticks above the deck. The lid hinge brackets will have hinge pin holes drilled in them for the hinge pins to complete the hinge assembly. It's kinda difficult to describe the manufacturing method so I have made a few pictures that hopefully will show what I mean. I also had rotate the aft crew hatch tube by close to 90 degrees so the lid opens against the snorkel exhaust pipe instead of the port side railing. I should have consulted the drawings first Well, that is all for today. But it's progress and that's a good thing This shows the parts I made for today's project. The ring that'll go around the styrene tube and that'll be the foundation for the stationary hinge part. Then the two hinge brackets to be soldered to the top of the lid. The lid I made a week or so ago. I figured to temporarily cement the brackets to the lid with a dab of CA so I can tack-solder the brackets because I had no way to hold them to the lid. Big mistake because solder would not hold at that spot. Fortunately it was only a tiny spot and is not noticeable. For the second one I first spot-tinned both parts and then hand held each bracket to tack it to the lid. Now I could hold both brackets to the lid with clothes pins and a steel clamp for a heat sink. This is the completed lid assembly. I made the brackets extra long so I can play with the final size. This the same lid assy from a different angle. This is the completed second lid assy. This shows the forward gun placement. Here I have temporarily put the base ring over the styrene tube and placed the lid on top to show how it'll look like. The lower part of the hinge bracket has to be made yet. This shows the aft gun placement with the lid and base hinge ring temporarily put in place. You can also see the change I made with the crew hatch tube. Cheers,

Hoi Remco, that's fantastikamogoro! (What??? - - - don't ask me ) In Indonesian it is bagus betul betul. Looks real! Now that's truly scratch building, making your own bricks and mortar. Now I figure you'll be casting your own cannons too Yes? Understand the comment of the admiral, I spend most of the time in the shipyard too. Cheers,

Nice metal work bro. Sorry to hear about your problem with MS but being a smart cooky you'll work your way out of it. Pics look great! Cheers,

Hello Kevin, yes, there are many differences between the pre WW II boats and those that came after, even between different nations. Then also we must consider that the O19 class of boats, of which only two were build, were primarily mine laying subs and needed the capability of full and instant control from the bridge. Thanks for your compliment Kevin, coming from a submariner it's highly appreciated. Hi John, thanks for dropping in and sorry for the lack of an update and hope you didn't hurt yourself hoisting that Leffe Blond . I take Saturdays as a rest day but will proceed again tomorrow. I don't know how far I'll get with the AA gun bun lids and hinges. I'll have to do some thinking and possible experimenting with the layout. I'm trying to get as close as I can to make it similar to the pictures and drawings, using brass stock of course. And then also still the guns themselves need some detailing. Till next post, Cheers,

First of all, to the many, and I mean many, who visited and "liked" my progress my sincerest thanks. Hoi Gino, thanks for your compliments. Yes, I guess I'm getting carried away a little by adding more stuff to the boat but am loving it. Thanks for the added information about the configuration of the subs in the time before WW II. Hello Boris, thank you! Hi John, yup, that makes the model more realistic. Well, today I only managed to complete the two crew hatches on both gun decks. Just a lot of tedious work with small pieces of brass tubing and wire. But they are now done, painted and installed. I decided not to take pictures of it because there is really not much difference in how she looks now compared with yesterday's post. I also received the dye for the deck slats, so I'm now all set to start work on the gun decks. Next project will be the lids for the AA gun buns. That'll be a humdinger, many parts. All y'all have a great weekend, stay warm or cool, as the case may be and in good health, Cheers,

Hi John, LOVE that bow shot!!!!! Cheers,

A little more progress today. The bridge is now completed except for the periscopes and antenna mast. I finished the crew hatch, it now has a hinged lid, a ladder and is painted and installed! Next I made the snorkel intake pipe guard and installed that one together with the intake pipe. While I was at it I also made the exhaust pipe and painted it. This was all time consuming work but very satisfying. Tomorrow we'll tackle the crew hatches on the gun decks and the AA gun buns. I seriously doubt that I can finish all of them tomorrow but there is always another day. Okay, here are a few pics of today's work. A seagull's eye view of the bridge. The ladder and lid of the crew hatch is clearly visible here and yes, according to the drawings, this hatch tube does stick above the deck a little. That crazy looking pipe with a hood like thing on top is the snorkel intake pipe with the protective guard. That was a tough one to make. A port side profile shot of the bridge with the entire conning tower. That black pipe sticking up at the end of the con is the engine exhaust when snorkeling. This allowed the boat to run the diesels to charge the batteries and continue to cruise while submerged. This also allows the commander to cruise at a high speed without depleting the batteries. It also provided fresh air for the crew that circulated through the boat. Rather cleaver if you ask me. Obviously, navigation was done with the navigation periscope. As mentioned yesterday, right below the flag post holder you can see a small hole in the support. That is to hook a block and tackle for the dingy lift boom. Cheers,

Again my sincerest thanks to everyone who visited and liking my work. Hello Daniel in Spain, good to hear from you and thanks for dropping in. Yes, I do have that picture, that was taken when the O19 was overhauled in Scotland 1942 / 1943. Reason was that the Dutch sub tender with all the spare parts and ammo was sunk by the Japs so they had to refit her with English size armaments. They removed the deck-launch torpedo launcher and left the doors off. They also removed the forward AA gun deck and the snorkel system. @ Sailor: Yes indeed, very interesting thing about the helm. They call it a steering wheel and according to the drawings I have now there were several. one on the bridge, another one right below that in the command center and then one below that in the "central staten. The one in the command center was located right below the crew hatch, which is actually very short. That one was used when at periscope depth. That whole part below the bridge to the end of the periscope housing was water tight and part of the pressure hull. My guess is that when maneuvering in shallow waters near the coastal areas to lay mines they wanted eye-ball control without having to relay commands down. That's also the reason for having the engine / motor power controls on the bridge. The prime purpose of the O19 and her sister the O20 was laying mines, not so much as an offensive weapon, although she could and did successfully. That was also one of the reasons for having an AA gun forward of the con and the color scheme. @ John: Yeah, the bell looks nice and will do for now till i find a smaller one. The Bo'sun did indeed do a good job, ready for promotion Cheers to all,

My thanks to everyone who dropped in and your like votes. It was still a little chilly in the garage but it's warming up, it was 55 F. I tried to finish the bridge today but could not complete the crew hatch there. The Admiral found a little brass looking bell dangling from a demitasse spoon. It's still a little too large but I hung it anyhow. I'm still going to look for a little bell though, like girls or ladies have hanging on a charm bracelet. I also cemented the engine power telegraphs and repeaters and painted the bridge area. I'm pleased. Then I made the most aft part of the aft gun deck. I made it out of brass sheet in the form of a T and soldered a 2 mm brass tube to the top for the flagpole / railing stanchion. The bottom leg of that T has a hole for the pulley to hoist the dingy out. I managed to shove this brass piece under the already existing deck and then covered it with a small piece of 1 mm ply as the continuation of the deck. For all practical purposes it looks like it's made out of one piece of steel plate. Still needs some dressing up on the bottom side. Below that will be the aft deck spot light. Next will have to be the rest of the hatch and AA gun bun hinges so I can start installing the deck slats and railing. I also need to finish the periscopes, antenna mast and the snorkel pipes. You may have noticed that I am working my way down do the main deck. Below are a few pics of how all this looks as of today. We are looking at the starboard side of the bridge with the engine telegraph and repeater, the antenna brace with the Admiral's bell. It looks like I may to to some minor "body" filling under the railing top This is looking into the bridge from a ¾ angle from the rear port side. The paint is really grey, it may have taken on the reflection from that piece of plywood behind the model. Looking forward and sorry for not holding the camera horizontal. Here you can see the aft end of the rear AA gun deck with the flag pole / railing stanchion. Right below that is where the aft deck spotlight will be. What appears to be a hole below the flagpole is actually the vertical leg of the T where a pulley can be hung. Yes, the gun bun still needs to be dressed properly and that's on the to do list. This is a ¾ aft side view of the bridge looking aft from the port side. Port siide view of the conning tower. Ah yes, door hinges - - - Cheers,

Thank you Popeye, yes, the bridge is indeed coming along fine. Except for the crew hatch inside the cockpit the bridge is done. I am working on the hatch now and it should be installed tomorrow. Right now I don't know the status of the citrus condition. They are also battling a fungus disease and many trees have to be destroyed to prevent it from spreading. My own orange tree is also effected by that fungus and will have to be removed. Palm coast is not too far from Deland, we are between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach between Rt 1 and I 95, nice area. Cheers,

Looking nice John! Keep it up my friend - - - rigging is coming - - - - - - Cheers,

Beautiful work Sherry! What a gorgeous model, very impressive. Cheers,

Hello everyone, Piet here from chilly but sunny Florida and thanks for dropping in, it's also chilly in the dockyard. Thanks for all your "like" votes. Hello Daniel, thanks for visiting, I love to have you visit, pull up a chair and stay a while Yes, the cockpit or bridge is shaping up, almost done. There are slits on the bottom of the side plates at the cocpit deck level to allow the water to drain out. Thanks for reminding me, I still need to carve them in, forgot in my hurry to close it up. No problem though. Well, my workplace was above freezing this morning and I could do some work with a heavy jacket on. It'l get to be 21 C at the end of the week Hi John, yeah, I read your log, building mast parts and you finished the bowsprit. Can't wait for your update pics. Thanks for your comments, I'm loving it. I finished the antenna brace today. Drilled the necessary holes in it without breaking a drill bit and soldered the navigation light fixtures on them. Then cemented the assembly into the model using epoxy and also put the simulated steel plates over the exposed tubes with paper. Then glued some pieces of wood to the tops of the cock[it sides to close it off nice. These will be shaped tomorrow and then finish painting the inside of the bridge. Am also working at the end of the conning tower to make the aft deck spot light fixture and the flagpole stand and dingy hoist fixture. A few other small details to do before the top of the con is completed. Sorry, no pictures today

Hey John, I was kinda wondering about your progress and pics But I understand about lots of little things not being worthwhile for pics. Am looking forward to your bowsprit work. Keep at it, she's really looking great! Cheers, and say hi to the admiral,

I had to dedicate some time to protect a few of our cold sensitive plants today. We are expecting temps down to about 28 or 29 degrees F tonight. Fortunately it's only going to last till morning, then the temps are going back up. Wonder how cold it'll be in the garage aka the shipyard I spend most of the day on metal work. I made two navigation or position light fixtures. These will be soldered to the antenna brace (see pic # 4) I'll have to remake them because they are a tad too small. No problem, it only takes me 20 minutes for each one, not counting the soldering though. The major job for today was making the shield for the front of the cockpit / bridge. I decided to make it from brass sheet and the frame from a piece of 90 degree brass angle. It worked out okay and is now cemented on. I also made the antenna brace and soldered to the cross bar to the upright posts. I can't cement them to the model yet because I need to drill several holes in it for the antenna wire, the ship's bell and solder the nav/position light fixtures to it. Well, I guess that's all for today. Some pics below. This shows the forward cockpit cover shield loosely laid on for fit. Looks good and is ready for the final trim and then cementing it on. I am using 5 minute epoxy for this so I can hold it down for a proper fit. This is another shot from the rear. A blurred picture of the navigation or position light fixtures. The second issue parts will be soldered to the sides of the antenna brace posts. This then is the antenna brace made from brass tubing. The cross beam I made oval by squeezing it in the vice. It's soldered together and temporarily installed. I need to drill a few holes in the top bar for antenna wire and ship's bell. Then we'll epoxy it in place and cover the tubes inside the cockpit with file folder paper to simulate sheet metal and paint. I have already made the engine power setting telegraph and repeater, which are installed behind the antenna brace. You can also see the cockpit shield cemented on. Cheers,

Thanks to every one who visited and your "like" votes, I do appreciate it your support very much. Hello mark, thank you for your approval. The chart locker is fixed and not water proof. It's too cumbersome to drag that thing down through that round hatch tube in case of an emergency dive. Grab the charts and rush on down, quick. Hi John, thanks you as well for your comments. I'm missing your updates, taking a break? Cheers,

Wow, real ceramic bricks, I'm impressed! Your plan looks very good Remco. With those ceramic bricks you could build a real fire in that thing and make some pizzas I see you have a pizza oven! Paper to simulate mortar is the way to go but let the cement or glue penetrate all the way through. Paper tend to separate easy in the middle. But then again, nobody is going to touch it after it's build. You can use colored paper to simulate mortar, yes?

Thanks to all who stopped by and clicked on like, it's very encouraging to me. Today was mainly spend to get the cockpit / bridge put together. I completed the steering wheel, added a few strips of wood to simulated the vertical structural beams for the curved front panel of the bridge. I also filed a concave groove in the upper outside reinforcing beam of the forward cockpit panel, the last pic below it's the thingy right above the deck spotlight. I painted the bridge so I can finally install the compass binnacle and the steering wheel. Then I made the frame for the forward cockpit shield and the cockpit side railings. Doesn't seem like a lot but making the steering wheel took most of my time but I installed a virtual operating system in my iMac and installed Windows 7. This also took some time away from the shipyard. I need a Microsoft OS in the Mac because I have a few programs I need that are not available for the Macs and like to have it all on one computer. All in all I'm a happy camper, things are looking rather good, some more tweaking here and there but over all I'm satisfied. Here are a few pics of today's efforts. I made a new jig to solder the steering wheel together. All the parts are laid out next to it. I left the piece for the hub on the copper tube, that way it's much easier to solder and handle. I did turn the wall thickness down some on the lathe. First I thought to also cut a slit in it and crimp the ID a little but this seems to work okay. Here I am in the process of soldering the spokes to the hub that'll be cut off the tube. I forgot to take a pic of soldering the rim to the spokes but I used a steel office clamp clamped to the hub tube as a heat sink. Then I had to dress all the solder from the wheel and cut the tube to leave a nice small hub. I also put a piece of brass rod through the hub and secured that to the hub with a dab of solder. A piece of the same tubing is put into the pedestal and the wheel shaft is secured behind it with a dab of solder. it can rotate, whoopee. Here is the completed steering wheel mounted on the pedestal. It's ready for primer and and paint. here is a shot looking forward and into the cockpit after I cemented the compass and steering wheel to the deck. Everything is painted light grey except for the steering wheel. Yeah, the steering wheel still needs some final dressing and paint. This is a shot looking aft at the forward curved part of the con to show the forward deck light housing. I still have to install the spotlight Just above the light housing is a light colored wooden strip that I hand filed concave. You can see it on right side of the picture. Cheers,