Piet

Beginning to look like a boiler. Nice looking front.

Cheers,

Stunning!! A lovely jewel.

Is it your birthday Patrick? Well, in that case let me also wish you a happy birthday with many more to come.

Cheers,

Right off Nills, I really like the gun tackle jig you set up. This is a clever way of not having to rig the guns on the ship. Makes everything the same and the result is a neat rigging job and it simplifies the job.

Love the pics with all the guns rigged in different configurations.

Cheers,

Thank you Denis and Nils for your visit and comments. Also to those who clicked the like button, thanks.

Yes Nils, this scale has been a challenge, mainly due to the very delicate PE. I'm not afraid working at a small scale but this PE stuff is difficult.

Here is another photo of "Java" taken from the Australian cruiser "Hobart." This was most likely in Lampung Bay on February 14, 1942, one day before the action in the Gaspar Straits. (From the collection of J.A.Dorlas).

Cheers,

Nice idea with the planking Denis. Staring at the center seems to draw me into a hole - - - lucky for me that spread-eagled myself

Cheers,

Nice progress Jan.

Cheers,

My thanks of course to those who clicked the like button.

This post is for Day 53, which takes us to March 5, 2018.

No actual work was done on the ship this day. I needed to think about how to place the 15 cm guns. In order to know how both the Japanese flotillas and the ABDA fleet were situated in the afternoon of February 27 I reread the documentation by Jeffrey Cox in his excellent book "Rising Sun, Falling Skies . . ." and found on pages 288 through 291 with the course map of all flotillas on page 289. There seem to have been only a few opportunities for the ABDA strike force to have come into range for Admiral Doorman's 6 inch guns, as Jeffrey Cox states.  Okay then, that will be the moment of my diorama display, a westerly course. This means that "Java" was firing from her starboard side.

There were actually three Japanese flotillas, each consisting of heavy cruisers with their destroyer escorts. The two Japanese cruisers of interest are the heavy cruisers Haguro and her sister ship Nachi. It was the Nachi who fired the fatal torpedo that struck Hr. Ms. Java that night.

So then, I hope to be able to create realistic enough gun smoke effects from "Java's" starboard side and two splashes Japanese shells nearby. Well, at least that's the plan I have in mind.

The photos I'll attach below are the temporary placement of the completed 15 cm guns on the port side. The model just happen to sit that way on the table. I decided to hold off on cementing the guns to the deck until I ave installed all the railings and propeller guards. There is still some handling of the model till I can place her in the diorama sea. 

All ten of the completed 15 cm guns in a row, ready to be dressed, cleaned and painted.

Another view of the guns.

Closeup of a 15 cm gun on my left index finger, still in need of dressing, cleaning and paint.

seven of the 10 15 cm guns temporarily placed on the ship's port side.

Another view.

A closeup of port side.

One of Kevin Denlay's photos showing live shells with cordite

A frontal view of one of the 15 cm guns.

Cheers,

Thank you Mark, I appreciate your comment more then you may realize. My hurt and anger is a thing of the past and so is my hatred for the Japanese. I do treasure the memories I have from the good times I have with my father. Besides, I carry a part of him within my body and mind through the genes he shared at my conception.

Wow Ken, scale 1:700?  Even with the delicate PE for scale 1:350 giving me some problems I can imagine how difficult this tiny scale would be. To me - it's the detail that counts and at 1:700 some or most will not be feasible.  After I completed the model of my father's submarine, the O19, my wife asked me if I was going to build the 1:50 scale "Java." Well, at that time i was not too keen in doing so for several reasons. This small model is good enough for me, it has really good detail on it and is a visible reminder. No - - - I would rather build the model of Gwen's father's ship he made captain on. Yeah, it's on my bucket list and perhaps I can start on it and work on it together with the VOC ship that's in progress. Who knows.

Cheers,

Yeah, that's a lot of work making a mouse, but it came out rather nice. Agree, at this scale it may not be worth your wile, at least not now with battling that lyme beast.

Hang in JesseLee!

Cheers,

Nice progress Denis, the end caps look really good.

Thanks also to Ken and you Denis, for the little people info. Z gauge may work but I too have to watch my expenditures.

Cheers,

Hello everyone and my thanks to Ken, Lou, Marcus and Ken Canute for visiting and also my thanks to those who clicked the like button.

@ John, yes indeed Hobart was a lucky ship. I read her history as well as the other ships involved.  This led me to the Australian War Memorial to see if they have a few photos of Java in high resolution. There is one I plan to purchase because at the time it was taken my father was on board and may be visible on deck. One never knows, but at least I know he was there. I plan to frame it and hang it in my studio/office.

Yeah Ken Backer, most of the ships that were involved in that part of the world battling the Japanese onslaught in the Far East are not well known. The battles too are not well known. That's why it's called "the forgotten war."  Of all the people in the world here is a fellow in St. Petersburg, Russia, who took a great interest in the battles for British Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies. He set out to produce and market 1:350 scale models of all the ships involved. He is dedicating his efforts to all the men who fought in those battles.

Thanks Lou for following.  I have done the same thing when building the O19. The things I can remember about my father's exploits during his service for Queen and Country makes the build very personal. It jars my memory banks too, which is good exercise for my poor 84 year old grey matter. 

Hey Marcus, thank you. Yes, it's "pieter-peuterig werk"

And to Ken, instead of the usual response to "thank you" as "you're welcome" I'll say it as the Dutch do "graag gedaan" that translates as "delighted to do so."

Right now I am in a dilemma. I have a photo taken by Kevin Denlay of the #10 gun but he asked me not to show it to anyone other then my direct family.  I would very much like to show it because that was as close to my father's battle station I can get on the wreck. This gun is a real mess and at the forward end of the separated stern section.  The plan is to make a rough painted sketch of the photo. Reason Kevin doesn't want it to be made public is the quality of the picture. I respect him for that, even though the wreck has been removed from the sea floor.  So give me some time to make the sketch and show you all. 

Oh yeah, Kevin Denlay is the first diver who went down to the wreck when it was found and he and I have had quite a few discussions about it.

The next post will be coming shortly. I have been much too busy with other things. The interesting parts are yet to come.

Cheers,   

Yeah Marcus, count me in on the windmill build. That's also a project I want to tackle.

See you then and

Cheers,

Anny additional frame is progress John and we'll be here in May waiting for you. Hey John, is your Heath Robinson the same bloke we know as Rube Goldberg? I'm quite familiar with his methods, use it often.

Cheers,

The finished 15 cm guns turned out okay, after I cleaned them up and painted them. I was going to post day 52 but thought to interrupt the sequence with something else. All this busy work with the guns reminded me of an event just a few days before "Java" was sunk. I remember my father telling us about a Japanese air attack during an action in the Gaspar Strait on February 14 - 15, 1942.

A formation of Japanese bombers did a bombing run but fortunately they missed, just barely. My father told us about how the captain looked up at the bombers through his binocs and as soon as he saw the bombs released he ordered the helm hard over and full speed ahead.  This was repeated several times till the Japanese finally gave up.

Having searched through the internet in the past years I have been able to find many photos of "Java" and few other ships of the ABDA fleet.  The Australian War Memorial has a collection. The ones available to the public are low res but it's something anyway.

I'll attach two of them below, both taken by the Australian Cruiser HMAS Hobart.

The attacking aircraft.

The caption on the photo is in Dutch but here is the translation: "Japanese aerial attack against "Java" during the actions in the Gaspar Strait from 14 to 15 February, taken from the Australian cruiser HMAS Hobart."  It may appear smoke coming from forward of the mast but the shops structure forward of the mast blends in with the smoke from the forward funnel. Yeah, the Japanese were close but no cigar for them that day.

Cheers,

Nice assortment of figures Denis. They'll surely dress up your model.

Would there be figures available in scale 1:350?  Just asking, no plans at the moment. Although I would be nice to get at least 6 figures to man one of the guns on "Java."

Cheers,

Fantastic build Marcus. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting your shipyard and watched your ship develop from start to finish. You captured the typical Dutch "romance" of these Dutch ships, well done.

Safe me a seat for the Boyer build, okay? See you there.

Cheers,

Thanks Carl. Yeah, everything is so small to work with and making it look neat is not easy.

Cheers,

Thank you John and Carl and those who clicked the like button. It's all much appreciated.

This post will cover days 50 and 51, which brings us to February 25.

I'll be working on the 10 15 cm deck guns. As mentioned before they need modifying quite a bit for me to point the barrels up for effective shooting. The whole gun and pedestal are molded in one piece and not usable this way, of course. Problem is that by separating the gun assembly from the pedestal I will destroy the pedestal.

I'll have to make a new pedestal and am using a small piece of 3 mm dowel for it. This'll have to be reduced in diameter and then tapered. A groove in upper end has to be  filed into the small end for the gun to lay in. A small piece of 0.5 mm plywood will serve as base to cement the new gun assembly and the shield to it.

Sounds simple but it is labor intensive.

The first thing then is snip the gun from the pedestal and then snip the barrel off. Next was to remove some metal from the kit supplied brass barrels and drill a hole in the gun receiver end. A dab of CA and push the brass barrel into the gun.

When the cement had cured enough to handle I cemented the gun assembly to the new pedestal.  Next was trying for fit to make sure that the shield would fit and the gun pointing up at about 40 degrees. This fitting process turned out to be a can of worms, holding three loose parts down to the table with one hand and manipulating the gun assembly with the other didn't work to well. I decided to cement the gun shield to the base plate first then I could fit and file the base at my hearts content. I was happy with the end result, the breach stuck out of the end a little and the barrel had a nice angle to it.

All this took care of the two days to get the first gun done. It least now I had a method and can continue with the other nine some other day.

Eight of the 14.91 cm guns for "Java's" main armament at the "De Schelde" shipyard, probably around November 1923. These Krupp guns were originally meant for the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein near Coblenz., Germany. Photo copy from the book "Hr. Ms. Kruisers "java" en "Sumatra" by J.Anten 

A detailed drawing of the 15 cm gun.

This shows the amount of men needed for one gun. There usually is a non-com or officer in attendance. The gunner is ramming a grenade into the breach while a sailor is holding a casing with cordite at the ready.

A copy from the installation instructions.

The particular parts in the kit to make up one gun. Removing the pedestal from the gun did cause damage to one small piece of the mold. This was not a hindrance because it cannot be seen anyhow once assembled. I placed the Exacto #11 blade next to it for size reference. 

This is the 3 mm dowel pte-tapered with a groove filed into it. To the right is the 0.5 mm plywood that'll form the base. The bun shield above it.

The new pedestal loosely placed on the base. The gun ready to loose its barrel. Needles to say that the pedestal needs to be trimmed. I did that after the gun was cemented to it and in further fitting.

The brass barrel ready to be cemented to the gun receiver. Yeah, it looks kinda untidy but must is not visible once the shield sits over it.

Here is the completed gun sitting on one of the shroud channels of my VOC ship "Surabaya."  Yep, a little dudty but I'll be starting with her as soon as "Java" is completed.

The completed gun temporarily placed in the #9 position. All the guns will be painted in middle grey when completed before they are cemented to the deck.

That's a sneaky way of doing it Dave, but effective. It looks really great.

Cheers,

Get well Doris. Your tackling the mods is admirable and a lesson to all of us - try to stick with authenticity. Sometimes we can fudge but with those major design flaws it's better to redu things.

Cheers,

Yes, I agree with the comment about displaying the guns in the three positions. Crowded it is, especially when the sweeps are employed. 

Will there be enough space on deck to place all crew members?

Cheers,

Beautiful work Pawel, very believable.

Cheers,

Well done Dave.

Cheers,

That's an interesting method, I have saved the instructions. Thanks for sharing.

Your flag came out pretty nice.

Cheers,

Well done and congrats.

Cheers,