Piet

Hey Popeye, nice wales, nice contrast!! Re breaking the strips, could be the grain not being parallel to the run of the strips, I had the same problem. But you'll get there my friend. She's really looking very nice, bravo. Cheers,

Hello everyone, Today was a good day,made good progress. I first fiddled with the small deck pieces and rails over the torpedo launch are to try and make them lay nice without a wiggle and even with the rest of the deck. After some scraping here and there and twisting they seemed to fit quite nice. I then cemented the wood decking to the rails . I used a slow curing epoxy cement so I could position the 1 mm deck pieces to the rails in situ and then remove them from the boat to clamp the wood to the rails. The cure time was 3 hours which gave me the chance to paint the launcher area with gray enamel. It's looking really nice but is still in need of some touchup. Tomorrow we'll check the deck pieces for fit, again. One never knows what the paint will do. I also finished installing the dock bumpers and put the poly urethane to the deck structure sides and the top side of the ballast tanks. I put two coats on but it needs at least one more coat to seal the paper really good. It got rid of some of the "fuzzies" from sanding and scraping the paper. I also started with the dive planes and rudder. I am making them from a three layer sandwich of 1 mm plywood. That way I shouldn't be afraid of warping. They are cut out and being glued and clamped till tomorrow. Then they'll be finalized and checked for fit. Then they need to be shaped a little like an airfoil. Installing them with the hinge pins will be a challenge. I don't know how much time I'll have tomorrow and how I'll feel after a two hour dental visit for a double tooth implant. Cut the gum, drill two holes in the upper jaw and screw the titanium studs in. Sow it all up and presto, done I am actually looking forward to it, these two will be the last ones and then I'm done with the restoration. Okay, we are now ready to look at a few pics of the progress of today. Sorry no pics of all the small pieces for the rudder and dive planes, forgot After a lot of fiddling, scraping and twisting these pieces I got them to lay down very nicely. It may just work to have them removable But I'll wait till the paint has dried and see what it did, if any, to change the nice fit. Another shot of the deck area, still unpainted. This shows the dock bumper strip, sorry for the out of focus pic. Here we see the painted launcher area. Yes, there are a few spots that need touchup. Another shot of the launcher area with the port door open. Cheers,

Thanks to everyone who "liked" my post. Hello John, thank you for your kind and encouraging words and congrats with your finished model, she's a beauty! Cheers,

Well John, I am afraid she's a little to small for such a long voyage. Not much space for provisions. So we'll have to build a larger boat or wait till my VOC ship "Surabaya" is finished Have to muster a few hundred people for the crew though but it's with free room and board Cheers,

Hello John, what a gem! Simply superb! Am looking forward to your next build. Cheers,

Hello all y'all, Today I completed the new starboard door for the side launch torpedo launcher. Booth doors are now hinged and operable. I checked wether that troublesome 12 mm tube will fit and yes, but barely. It is still a no go with that tube and will have to come up with a viable and practical alternative. Perhaps my sights were set too high, that's what you get when you are "an airplane man" So - - - perhaps it's time to come down to the ground and think about something else and use the kiss method (keep it simple stupid). As I said in my previous post, I have the time to think about it. I started on the deck rework above the side launch torpedoes. I'll try to make that entire section removable but it may just not work. So far I'm pretty satisfied with what has been accomplished. Here are a few pics of what's done in the last few days. Here I have both doors open and stuck the 12 mm brass tube through both doors. There is not much room to spare between the tube and the upper and lower edges of the opening. Needles to say, this is a no go. The new port side door is finished and installed. Both doors work just fine and close much better then the previous ones. It may appear that there is a gap on the bottom but it's pencil marks left on the card. Once the boat is painted it'll look much better. As they say, paint hides a lot of errors Cheers,

Hoi Remco, yes I did when I first decided to add the side launch torpedoes. Thanks for reminding me, I kinda rejected the idea because I wanted to have real tubes with opening/closing doors on them and stick a fake torpedo in them Then I decided I can make the tubes from my handy dandy file folder stock and didn't think more about it till I saw this nice 12 mm brass tube at the hardware store, problem solved. Hmmm I guess not. Well, the options are again making a slit in the 12 mm tube and squeezing them down to 10.5 mm; looking for a thin walled brass tube of 10.5 or 11 mm; an 11 mm styrene tube; making them from the file folder stock or hardwood dowels as my very original plan was. I checked on the Internet and so far I have not found 10.5 or 11 mm thin walled brass tubes. Oh sure, I could make them from some boxwood dowels and not make workable tube closing doors. It would perhaps be the simple way out and still look very acceptable to the eye. Hmmmmm - - - I'm thinking. Fortunately I still have the time before I reach that point. This way I can mull things over and weigh the options, perhaps the boxwood dowels my just be the way to go Okay, I'm going to leave it at this and in due time I'll come up with a decision and surprise everybody Cheers,

Thank you Cap'n Bob, Pete, Wayne, John and Harvey for having followed this build and your comments, it's really appreciated. This particular model had several reasons for me to build. First was that my wife and I were going to build a simple version of a sloop but due to certain circumstances we had to shelf that idea. Thus came the need to build a model of a real sloop I would build if I were a lot younger with unlimited resources. The other reason was to use this project to get used to working with wood in order for me to design and build a mid 17th century Dutch VOC ship. That project was started soon after this sloop was completed and can be seen under the name VOC ship Surabaya below my signature. The challenge (to me) was to design my own ships and see how they would come out. This to me is the ultimate in scratch building. Yes, I made mistakes and learned from them but that is all part of the fun in scratch building. My wish is to see more people build a scratch model instead of a kit, not that there is anything wrong with kit building but there is something special in doing the research on a ship or boat and then translating the drawings and paintings into a model. There is really very little difference in these processes, you just have to make your own parts. Well John, I think that our first port of call will be Bermuda. We'll cast off from Flagler Beach and sail to Jacksonville via the Intercoastel and then south - east across the Atlantic. Then from there, who knows - - - Costa Rica? Ah, just dreaming my friend. Okay, now to figure out how to put this model in the gallery. Cheers to all and happy modeling

Thanks to all for your "like" votes. @ Bob, you are always welcome aboard my friend. This post will be the last episode of my freedom sloop project. I had failed to make pictures of the sail making process, I just got too preoccupied I guess. However, the sails were made with some very fine linen my dear wife picked up in an off-white. Instead of actually sewing all the seems I folded the edges and glued them. The battens in the mainsail were sandwiched between the mainsail cloth and strips of cloth, also glued with fake stitches drawn in with pencil. For the jibs I made small brass rings I threaded to the sail edge and onto the brass stays. To keep the sails as if filled with the wind I soaked them in a mixture of water with some white glue in it. I shaped them as they were drying. Not much more to say, everything is well known to most modelers and there seems to be enough how to data available here in MSW. So then, I'll close this project with ten pictures of the sloop's final stage. I have named her after my dear bride of 50 years, Gwenfra, which is according to her mother, an old Welch name. Name on the bow is Gwenfra. Name on the stern is Gwenfra. Clos-up of the mainmast area. All sheets are belayed Clos-up of the gaff lifts. Clos-up of shrouds and gaff rigging belayed. Captain Piet at the helm. The Admiral Gwenfra is in the galley getting Piet some coffee. A seagull's view on Friendship sloop Gwenfra. Freedom sloop Gwenfra seen starboard front Another seagull's view. Bow view of Freedom sloop Gwenfra. Fair winds and calm seas to all,

Hello Nenad, Kevin, Mark, Jan and ian, thank you all for looking in and your comments. @ Kevin, thanks for the hint! I have tried e-bay once on bidding on "something" but gave up. I found a source that sold me a brand new "something" for a lot less. However, I understand they also sell outside the bidding process so I can give it a try. @ Jan, WOW, some nice pics and good quality too. They have gone into my O 19 file for future reference. Thanks for your search on my behalf, REALLY appreciate it I have a few pics of the O 19 and O 20 launcher tubes but they are poor quality and small. My model of the side-launch tube assembly is not going to be an exact replica of the real thing though. I plan to use only the most important visible items that can be seen on the top. Most of the stuff you see on the pic I posted before. That in itself will take me some time to make and will most likely be the last thing. @ Nenad, yes, just one silly mm but that does cause a lot of extra work though. Not as much as you are facing and I'm sure you will wind up with a much better looking model @ Ian, yes, that's what I need, some small brass tubing that can slide into each other. I was planning to use some of the stock of my local hardware store but they are running out and not reordering. I'll have to go on the Internet and find a source. I have bought some rod from one outfit and am pleased with their service, so I'll check with them again as soon as I know what sizes I need. Fortunately that is still some time off but better get them now before our so-called government deprives me of an income Well, I ventured into the garage this morning and was looking at my torpedo tube dilemma and just thinking. I was facing the port side and decided to remove the door and see what elseI I could do. I rigged up a small grinding wheel in my Proxxon hand tool and started to carefully grind some wood away that is keeping the door from going far enough down. I did a dry run with a few pieces of folded file card stock under the door and lo and behold I could put my brass tube in with just a little room to spare. Hmmmm, that's a good sign So I made some new paper hinges and proceeded to reassemble the door to the opening. I turned the build dock around and also removed the starboard door to the same thing. Somehow that opening was less then 12 mm and had to remove some from the top of the opening. That also means that I had to make a new door. No problem. The door was made at 1700 hours, just in time to clean up a little and go feed my 8 koi fish. I was curious though how the port side door works so I tried it and it works as advertised, which made me a happy camper. My 12 mm brass tube fits with just a little room to spare. The door also fits a little better But - - - - I'm not really out of the woods yet. Looking at the photos again the tubes have a hinge arrangement at the top that may stick out above the tubes enough to eat up the little play I now have. As I mentioned before, my brass tubes are little over my scale at 12 mm and scale works out to 11 mm. So I'm still up the proverbial estuary without any means of propulsion. Thus, with these brass tubes I cannot install the tube doors hinge mechanism. The only way out, no matter what, is to go with the styrene tube of 11.125 mm unless I can find a 11 mm brass tube somewhere. I can machine that quarter mm off to accommodate the hinge mechanism and closing doors as is seen on the photo. The reason for buying the 12 mm brass tube is that the torpedoes used on the O 19 were 21 plus inches in diameter, which is at my scale 10.7 mm or rounded out to 11 mm. But there are reinforcing rings on the outside making the actually OD close to 11.5 mm. The opening in the deck sides are actually a tiny bit larger then scale already hoping that these brass tubes would work. But alas, it's not to be. As of right now the plan is to proceed with the rework I started today and order some .7 mm styrene sheet for the deck and this 11.125 mm styrene tube. While I'm at it I will also check for 11 mm brass tubes and the smaller diameter tubes for the loading gantries My 12 mm brass tube I can probably use for escape hatches, the waterproof A A gun storage tubes and the torpedo loading tubes in the forward and rear deck. Fortunately all this is not a dire need for right now, I have some time to the research I guess I can cement all the brass hardware to the styrene tube with epoxy cement. It'll be painted gray. Okay that's it for today. Tomorrow we'll complete the deck doors and hopefully also decking rework. Then it's off to the rudders and propellers. Cheers,

Thank you Mark, Adriaan and Banyan for your visit and comments. Adriaan and Mark, Well, yes, I guess that launcher will be a challenge and will be build on the bench where I can sit, finally. During this whole build I have been standing. I did put some carpet remnants down, which helped on the "mature" legs [[the word old is not a happy word to be used in front of "old" people ]] I'll strive to make it look like a work of art, won't want to disappoint my dad now, won't I ? Well, today I can report some good news and unfortunately also some bad news. First of all, the paper hinges work as advertised, real good. The bad news? I ran into a snag when fitting my brass tube I planned to use for the torpedo tubes. They would not fit through the opening with the doors open and laying down flat on the hull. I am missing just 1 mm of room. The doors have a 1mm plywood strip behind them acting as stops and they rest on the bottom stringer and pieces of wood the hinges are glued to. Now, I have several options open to me. 1. Remove the lower side plates and then removing about 2 mm of the stringers, then replacing the lower side plates with new ones to fit the present doors. That way the doors will fold down at least 1 mm more allowing my brass tubes through the slot. 2. Cut a split in the tubes, squeeze them a little smaller to the desired diameter of about 11 mm and then soldering them together. They need reinforcing rings anyway. The seem will be on the bottom. This way I don't have to do anything to the doors or the hull and is still close to scale. The brass tubes I have are actually 1/2 mm too large for scale. Going down 1/2 mm is acceptable to me. 3. Buy a stirene tube of the correct size. I checked already and found a tube of 11.25 mm but I can remove some material from the outside diameter. It seems to have a 1 mm wall thickness. 4. This just came to me, I can remove the lower stop strip and add stops to the forward and rear ends of the doors. I can then glue a small stiffner strip a little higher op on the lower side of the door that won't interfere with the bottom stringer. Obviously I'll try the last one first, which may just work. Keep fingers crossed. Poor Nenad has to redo a lot more then I so I'm not that bad off. But he'll have a much better model because of this "little" setback. It never occurred to me that the lower doorstop would cause this hiatus. But such is the nature of our hobby. I think I'll order some black styrene sheet of 0.76 mm for deck planking and some tubing for the torpedo tubes, just in case - - - - I'll also check and see what sizes of tubing I need for the loading gantries, I need three different diameters that can slide into each other. They are kinda small in diameter though otherwise I have to order brass tubing. Here is a picture that shows what I'm talking about. I have annotated the problem areas. The door opening is 12 mm. With the door open and laying down the outer skin of the door is what sticks above the opening, which is now 11 mm. You'll also see the three paper hinges of the starboard door that are glued to the lower deck frame stringer and the remnants of the three deck bulkheads I had to remove for this afterthought workable torpedo launcher. Honestly, it was not my initial plan. If that was the case I would not have this dilemma. Cheers,

Thanks Mark and John, yup, at this stage I had already bought some very fine cloth at the sewing store and started to layout the sails. We are getting close now to shove off and head out in the Inter-coastal Waterway Cheers,

Hey Nenad, guess what? I found out today that I have a large problem with my O 19 submarine model I found out that with the side launch torpedo doors open the resulting space for the torpedo tubes is just 1 mm too little. So - - - - I have to either tear down part of the deck structure sides or do some other drastic things. I have a few options. So you see, you are not alone in having to redo things on your build. You and I will fix it because - - - - we must Keep the faith my friend and keep chugging along. Cheers,

It's been some time since an update on the sloop's progress. We are approaching the finishing end of this project. In this episode I'm completing the standing rigging and started with the running rigging. For the fore stays I used brass wire so I can run the jibs on them with eyelets. The pictures will tell the story. A detail shot of the cockpit and helm rigging the mainmast shrouds. I made eyelets for the shroud turnbuckles to hook into. The shrouds are in the process of being ceased to the eyelets a little above them. I made the belaying pins from toothpicks and dipped the ends in a mixture of white glue and sawdust. They were later sanded smooth. First of all as a reminder that all round wood was made up from square strips and glued together to make a square dowel. These were then shaved to the desired thickness and finished in the drill press with sandpaper. The little belaying cleats are made from wood and painted stainless steel. The tackle blocks are also made from small pieces of wood and all rigging hardware from brass rod and flat stock. This shows the main sheet with it's travel rail. This shows the gaff rigging and gaff lift. Yes, it works. I have actually demonstrated the operation to the Admiral, she was duly impressed. A detail pic of the gaff with parrels and the lift. Belaying pins with gaff lift and gaff lines. I made a stand for the sloop from a commercially available board and some nicely formed dowels from the hobby shop. They were stained with cherry and finished with poly urethane clear mat finish. This was the only thing I did not make myself. I set the sloop on a close-hauled tack to starboard, heeling over some. Cheers,

Hoi Remco, Now THAT's a very lovely model of a hatch!! Looks like your mom didn't raise a dummy, making all the hatch parts at once Cheers,

Our dear friend Nenad, There is peace and calm and sunshine after the storm. Now you have the privilege to correct the few things you find error in and your ship will rise from this minor setback as the beautiful phoenix you envision her in your mind. Take heart my friend, we cry with you but we know that the rework will make her beautiful. Cheers,

Thank you Mark, John txxn5, Ian, Remco, Popeye, Aship- - -, and Sjors, for your "like" votes, really appreciate it. I took today off as a day of rest and just now logged on to this marvelous forum, what a bunch of friends. Thanks all for visiting my shipyard. @ John (Jim Lad), thank you and yes, when I squint along the bow I can almost picture her slicing through the waves. Did I mention that I'm planning to make a painting of her like that? Hope I live long enough with all my planned projects @ Popeye, thank you for dropping in and your encouraging words! @ John texxn5, hello my friend, watch out for Micky though, oh sorry, he is a mouse, not a rat Yeah, I keep plugging at it but it's all the little details that take the time. It's been indeed a pleasure to have to and Diane visit and see my dad's sub taking shape. The torp launcher will be build, have no fear but it'll be one of the last projects I'll tackle. No, I have not contemplated buying a resistance welder, Too rich for my blood. I'll have to do with silver solder and soft solder, both are no problem for me. Be careful traveling! @ Mark, thank you for your kind words. I am very fortunate to have a few contacts who have provided me with many photos of the actual build of the boat. A few even with my father on them. Re, the launcher, well, that's a thought but I like to have the launcher as a model in place on the sub. The idea is to have her as my father knew her for the three years he was involved with her and sailed on her. If a few other modelers can build the launcher and one of them even make it work, then I should be able to do the same. The plan is to leave the doors open but if asked I can also close the doors. With the center hatches removable I can take the launcher out and display it separately at times. I hope you understand my aim. Cheers, to all oh what the hay let's have another one

@ John (Jim Lad), yes indeed, it'll be a very interesting project to say the least. I think that I'll wait till the boat is nearly finished because it is a series of separate models as Remco so aptly states. It's really not needed till later on in the build. Thanks for your kind comment! Cheers,

This morning I could spend some quality time in the shipyard. I made and fitted the two side deck pieces and the center piece from which I'll make the hatches. The 1 mm plywood is flexible and won't retain their flat shape. If I want to make this whole assembly removable then I'll have to add some small wood strips on the bottom. It's also possible that when they are cemented to the brass rails they may be stiff enough but who knows. That's the first place to start cementing the side deck pieces to the brass rails anyhow. There are a few other possibilities to secure the assembly in the center but we'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now my interest is in how the hinged side doors work. I made the hinges and cemented them to the doors and the bottom of the deck sides. Have not tried it yet - - - - - keep our fingers crossed. I also glued and screwed the exhaust shields to the deck structure. Looks quite nice, only had to add a little wood filler in a 1 mm gap in the starboard one at the rear, only about 10 mm long. The port side glued up real nice. I also cut the two exhaust pipes from aluminum tubing. As the glue was curing on various parts I fitted the port side docking bumper. It is now also ready to be glued and nailed to the hull. More progress! Okay, here are a few pics of what was done today. All deck panels are now made and fitted. The center one will be cut up for the hatches. I think that the seems will disappear from view when the deck strips are installed. In reality they don't look as pronounced as on the photos. Everything is still loose. This is a sideway view of the deck rework. This shows the paper hinges I cemented to the inside of the doors and to the deck frame pieces. I put masking tape on the outside to keep the doors as tightly closed as possible. The glued and screwed exhaust shrouds, looking aft. You can still see some of the evidence of wood filler at the aft end. This will also disappear with the final deck paint and decking strips. The top of the shrouds add some deck space to the aft hull. It is really needed there because the deck narrows and the stern torpedo loading hatch is in that area and the loading gantry. The crew needs some maneuvering space. Exhaust shrouds looking forward. Another shot of the exhaust shrouds looking forward on centerline with the pipes. This is the docking bumper being fitted to the port side of the hull. I will also be using 1 mm brads in addition to glue as a means of clamping and additional holding power. If any of the sub experts may be wondering if this sub has bilge keels, the answer is no. The flat bottoms at the mine compartment and the broad keel there didn't seem a need for it. Looking from the bow. Cheers,

Thank you Ian and Popeye for dropping in and looking at my build. Ian, right now it's just a thought. It depends on "flexy" that assembly will be. If it does not lay flat and stable on the support structure that I have no choice but the glue everything to the support structure, except for the center hatches. All I can do is give it an honest try. Yes, that launcher is quite an intricate contraption and so is the aiming "computer." Here is a picture of the O 19 launcher assembly at the boat yard. And then to think that I have to make a model of it. I already have the tubes though, in brass. This shows the real McCoy before it was installed on the O 19. It is shown from the front to the rear. Cheers,

Thanks Anthony for checking in and your approval She's coming along fine, slower then I want but all that detailing stuff slows it down. Not that I mind, she has to look good. Cheers,

Many thanks to Sjors, Andy, Boris, Popeye, Mark, Remco, John and Adriaan! Thank you Popeye for mentioning Plastruct Product. I'll try Hobby Lobby in Daytona Beach and see if they carry it. Daytona is a 30 mile drive for us so we don't go there often. I'll try their website first and see if they have it. I can order Evergreen also online direct.. Not much work was done today. Had to mow the backyard and then go to Bunnel to their Ace Hardware store to get some more brass or copper tubing for the exhaust pipes but they were out of the size I needed. I bought aluminum instead, they are going to be painted black anyhow. I also picked up some very small brads I needed for the rubbing strakes. I did a lot of "fiddling" work, mainly tweaking, shaping here and there and making the small deck pieces over the torpedo launcher area. I also glued and screwed the starboard exhaust shroud piece. Doesn't seem like a lot of work but all the picking at details with the #11 Exacto blade takes time. Hmmmmm, I have been thinking again - - - - If I would make that entire section over the deck torpedo launcher removable - - - - - - In case I have to fix something there - - - - just thinking mind you Cheers,

Hello Boris, That looks very good, outstanding job my friend. I hope you don't mind but for the benefit of the members of MSW I like to add some details to this particular boat that fought so gallantly during the first year of WW II against the naval forces of the JIN. She sunk and damaged quite a few JIN ships during her short war career. Unfortunately she hit a mine at the end of 1941. Here is the record of her last war patrol I copied from the Dutch site WWW.dutchsubmarines.com "15 Dec 1941 about 02:30 hrs: O 16 is struck by a mine while she is exiting the Gulf of Siam during her homebound voyage to Singapore. The submarine is nearly broken in half and 41 men are lost. Only one crew member, boatswain Cornelis de Wolf, survives. O 16 sailed right into a Japanese line of mines, this line of mines also sunk the submarine K XVII. Because the wreck of the O 16 is regarded as a war grave the exact coordinates of the wreck will not be displayed on this site." However, I like to add that the coordinates of the wreck are 3 degrees 10 mins N - 104 degrees 19 mins E. Here is a picture of the O 16 when docked at the KM Naval base at Den Helder, the Netherlands, before WW II. [[KM stands for Koninklijke Marine and is Royal Navy in English]] Again my condolences to you and your family for the untimely death of your father. Keep strong my friend. With kind regards,

Thank you Andy, Popeye, Ian, Paul and John for dropping in and your kind word. This day was a good day, got some stuff done. Went to the local hobby store to inquire on that Evergreen plastic stuff Ian mentioned. Evergreen what????? Needles to say they don't carry it. But I needed some gray paint anyhow so the 5 mile trip was not lost. This afternoon I started to shape the port exhaust shroud and tried to make a mirror image of the starboard one. Well, I surprised myself, both came out rather well and with some extra critical viewing and checking they are very close to being an exact mirror image of each other. I am one very happy camper I sanded the poly'd area around the deck torpedo opening and the doors. Also looking very good but I'll give it one more coat of poly. I also completed both docking bumper strips (wales) but have not glued and nailed them on yet. I need to make a cradle first for the sub to lay on when on its side to protect the protruding parts. I think my next task will be to fasten the engine exhaust shrouds. I have been looking for some real small but long wood screws to screw them to the deck frames but nothing local. I'll try the #4 screws I have and hope I can hit the centers of the 1/4 inch poplar frames. I like to add the screws to help draw them into the side of the deck and help in the glue clamping. The Admiral piped in and told me "drill pilot holes for these screws Piet." Aint she helpfull - - - Hmmmmm "Yes dear, thank you" Hey, I'm not stupid After 50 years of marriage I begin to learn I have a question regarding the Evergreen styrene sheets. What kind of glue should be used to glue it to wood? Do treat the wood first and if so, with what? What kind of paint should be used on it? Any prep before painting? Okay, we'll see. I'm also close to making the torp door hinges and and installing them. Lots to do yet but there is progress, and that's a good thing. Here are a few pics for yuns to look at, that way my Dutch friend in Schiedam is happy. Looking down on top of the aft deck with both close-to-being-finished exhaust shrouds rubber-banded to the deck sides. Looking aft across the deck with both engine exhaust shrouds temporarily held in place with a rubber band. Both engine exhaust shrouds seen from higher above the stern. They kinda look like gun turrets but in reality they do look like what I see in the photos. The pipes are just stuck in with the port side being a dowel, I ran out of copper tubing. They do run parallel to the ship's centerline though. Ster-on view. This pic was taken by the boat builder, Wilton Feyenoord in Schiedam, the Netherlands, just before the launch, Sept. 1938. It shows the exhaust shroud with the opening for the exhaust pipe. Another photo of the O 19 seen from the stern showing the exhaust shroud. I used these and a few other photos I have to guide me in shaping my shrouds. Cheers,

Hello everyone, I could spend some time in the dockyard today, it was raining on and off. So, today I cut the little slots into the crossbeams over the deck torpedo area for the T "irons". I made the space between then the same as the small hatches for the dingy compartment, 12 mm. That works out to .6 meter. I am tentatively planning on a 25 mm length, which is 1.25 meter. That may change to a little smaller, depending on what I can determine from the photographs and what Gino suggests. Actually there are many hatches all over the deck of this boat and I will not make all of them removable, just to much work. The only ones will be over the deck torpedo area, the rest will only be indicated. One problem is to show the rails where the hatches sit between. Have not figured that one out yet. I mentioned to Gino that I have bought one piece of N gauge flex track. I do have to remove the narrow flat part where the wheels ride on and that's a labor intensive job. That stuff is rather tough and small but seems the only way that will look good on the deck. We'll see. Perhaps someone here on the forum has a better idea. I also put two coats of poly urethane on the deck torp doors and the surrounding outside area where the doors go. I may have to put an extra coat on and let it dry real hard before I can sand it down. So far it looks okay. Once that's done I can make and install the hinges to the side doors. Besides doing that I also shaped the starboard engine exhaust shroud to almost satisfactory. The final shaping will most likely be done after it's glued to the deck sides. I also made the two rubbing strips (wales) at WL 7. Again, looking at photos and guessing for size I think I came up with a passably thick strip. Now I need to find some 3/4 or 1 inch very thin brads to nail it to the hull frames as a clamping aid while the glue cures. I have .9 mm brads but they may not be long enough. Have to go to the local hobby shop tomorrow anyhow to get some gray paint and will ask about that Evergreen plastic stuff and see if they have these small brads. The hardware stores don't have them in the lengths I want. I could use sewing pins though in a pinch but they bend easy. Oaky, here are a few pics. This shows both engine exhaust shrouds temporarily rubber banded to the hull. I already shaped the starboard shroud some. There is much more to do and a few pics down it shows close to be satisfactory. I just wanted to show how my Rube Goldberg twisting setup worked. The port side does not need any fitting to the hull. These are the two T "irons" for deck and hatch supports. Kinda out of focus but just squint a little and you can see the T shape These are the cross beams to help support the T "irons." It's hard to see the little cutouts for the T "irons." This shows the cutouts for the T "irons" better. Both T "irons" are laying on the forward deck, ready to be put in. Their final installation will have to wait till I'm happy with the side door hinges and the operation of the doors. Both T "irons" are temporarily laid in the crossbeams to check the fit of the deck pieces. The starboard engine exhaust shroud nearing its final shaping. Yes, the pipe will be positioned parallel to the boat's centerline. Fastening them will be a challenge. This is a shot looking forward of the starboard engine exhaust shroud. Cheers,