Piet

Nice and fast start Denis - an interesting project - looking very good. Cheers,

Beautiful work on the masts JesseLee and a very cleaver jig. Cheers,

Hello everyone and thanks for the likes. This post brings us to Days 16, 17, 18 and 19, which brings us to December 04, 2018. I could only spend a little time each day on this project. I cemented the railings on, the machine guns and range finder. I had to repair one of the machine guns, it lost its barrel and I had to make one from bamboo, The same happened with the range finder so i made a new one, also from a small piece of wood and bamboo. I cemented the smoke deflector to the top of the funnel, the search light platform to the main mast, its railing and search light. That platform had also some very small support braces as well as the most top platform with the little "doghouse" with the antenna wire supports. Cemented all particular PE parts to this sub-assembly as directed by the installation instructions. The final tweaking of those parts that are in need of straightening out will be done when I'm ready to paint them. This will be done after I have painted the hull in camouflage colors. and have cemented all the superstructure to the hull. This will complete this sub-assemble, more or less. Part of the installation instructions for the assembly. Top view of the completed assembly. Here you can see my scratch build range finder Another view from the rear. Side view starboard side. This is a copy from my 1:50 scale scratch build drawings to show how it's supposed to look like. Another side view. The gun deck looks warped but it has slight droop to it. I tried it on the hull with the support posts under it and it comes to a nice flat deck. This is a photo from the actual ship shoeing the detail brought into the model. Cheers,

Boring perhaps but you are doing a marvelous job with it. Looking great Nenad. Beast looks good too. Cheers,

Impressive Hennie. Sorry to hear about all the brass parts being too big. How did you reduce the size of them without destroying the detail? Whatever you did, it sure looks good. Cheers,

Incredible detail on that hangar roof Kevin and I figured that the lights could be manipulated. Very nice effect. Cheers,

Not too shabby Woody and quite symmetrical too! Looks fantastic all the way from Florida. A similar method was employed by the old Dutch ship builders. They started from the keel laying the planks butting against each other to wards the bottom of the bilge, NO frames!

First of all my thanks to all for liking the build. I see familiar names too, welcome folks. This post brings us to day 15, November 28, 2018. Spend half this day chasing down the drive belt for my band saw, got a hold of the supplier and he was nice enough to send me the correct one, no charge. I did send him the wrong part back though, it's only a few bucks via regular post. My iMac computer is still at the fixit shop Even with all that I did get a lot done. I cemented the railing to the lower level of the forward funnel housing and surprised myself how easy this one went. Tack it on in the middle and slowly worked my way around as soon as the tack has set. Cemented the bands around the funnel as depicted in the installation picture. To be dressed down later. I decided to replace the forward machine gun deck supports with scratch build ones from 0.5 mm bamboo. to the funnel housing. I could now cement the funnel, machine gun deck and mast to the funnel housing. First I used slow cure epoxy cement, thinking that I needed extra time to keep everything in its proper position. Not a good idea because it was too slippery and very difficult to hold for that long of a time. When the cement had set I discovered that the funnel and mast had crept aft somewhat. So, I had to remove it, clean everything and went back to the CA. I tried to keep the mast parallel to the funnel and had to remove some material from the forward side of the mast hole in the machine gun deck. Eye balling it it looked good as I put everything together with a few dabs of CA. Just hope it doesn't slip again, this CA gives me a little time before it grabs hold. Well, that's all for today and here are a few pics. The forward funnel housing with the vent louvers. Oh yeah, I cemented the rafts on both sides too. The railing is in a constant state of straightening because I keep bumping it, no matter how hard I try not to. Actually, I am not going to worry about it because I'll go over everything anyhow before its on the hull and ready for paint. A view looking aft. The light colored posts are my scratch build 0.5 mm bamboo posts. This is a copy from my scratch build model drawings of the area I'm working on. Top view of the assembly. I also cemented a small platform to the forward side of the funnel. I have no idea what's it for. Looks like possibly the antenna wiring leading into it or the little house between the funnel and the mast, for the radio operator?? Strange place for him, I'm most like wrong in my guess. Top view of the area. Pic is taken from my scratch build model drawings. Here is the side view as it was at the end of this day. I still have some cleaning up to do. The photo is at 3X the actual size, when looking at it in real life things look a lot better. Here is that little "house" with a slanted walkway to the top of it from the top of the funnel platform. There is something not quite right with this assembly. The position of the machine gun deck is correct because the outboard support posts between the deck and it fit like glove. Either the funnel is too long and I I didn't notice it at first or the side posts are too short, which i doubt. For now I 'll have to live with it. This is the aft view looking forward. Another side view but at a smaller scale, only 2X magnification. Cheers,

Nice work Denis. Sorry about the demise of your hole punch, they don't make 'm like they used to Cheers,

Right on Nils, you have taken the words out of my mouth. Cheers,

I love it, I love it I LOOOOOOVE IT. Nice touch with the sheik standing in the doorway inviting us down for a feast. Talking about a feast, your work is a feast to the eye. Cheers,

Hi Marcus, your jacht looks marvelous! You are so right about your sentiments on sail cloth. Most of us are left hanging as far as size, weave, material and color. When we consider the scale of our model, it becomes quite important trying to match the right cloth for it as well as color. We can always use a dye with white cloth though. When I can finally start on my Young America in 1:3000 scale, what can I use???? Cigarette paper is even too heavy. Oh well, I may have painted myself into a corner on that one I'm sure there are some knowledgeable individuals who can give all of us a good and logical answer. Cheers,

Interesting project. Looks like you have the right approach here. Some very nice models have been build using tong depressors, Popsicle sticks and matchsticks. I'm looking forward to your progress. Cheers,

This post is for Day 14, 2017. Yes, it's still past history but such is life. I had a late start today because of chores and trouble shoot my little Chevy pickup truck. I needed to run a few errands and she wouldn't start, The solenoid was chattering but didn't engage the clutch to the tarter motor. Jumped the truck from Gwen's Buick and she fired right up. Clear indication I needed a new battery, ouch. Yeah, they aint cheap. Long story short, bought the battery, installed it and now I can use my truck. I finished cementing the railing to the searchlight platform and then the two searchlights. Looking quite convincing. This completes the work on the aft funnel, except for the smoke deflector on top that I'll cement on till I can cement the funnel to the vent housing. I'll wait with that till the vent housing is cemented to the ship. Next I directed my attention to the twin Bofors AA gun deck and fire control center. I decided to cement the distance finder on the longitudinal axis because I intend having the ship fire her guns more or less in a broadside. Removed all the necessary PE for this section per the installation instructions. Cemented the two "houses" to the gun deck part. Cementing the PE parts was fun, at least they were a little larger and things went rather fast. This time I formed the railing as I went around the PE platform, that worked okay. I started at the ladder position and tacked the railing in spots as I went around. The handhold of one of the ladders had to be bend up and the rungs bend to simulate steps, Tweezers kinda work. I managed to cement all the PE parts as indicated on the instruction sheet. Actually I did manage to do a lot of work today, I'm proud of me The completed aft funnel Part of the instructions drawing for the AA gun deck. Ship's frame 43 location for the AA gun deck. Top view of the AA gun deck, from the scratch build drawings I have. The two "houses" cemented on with the range finder. Looking forward. Looking aft. A photo of the Bofors AA gun deck looking forward, starboard side. The completed AA gun deck, painted and all, as it is on 02/ 14/2018. I forgot to take a few pics as I went along in November last year. Closeup pic of the aft housing on the AA gun deck. Closeup side view of the aft housing. There will be a small flag staff yet cemented to the aft side of this housing with the Dutch National Ensign. Cheers,

Yeah John, fiddly is not even the right word for them, they were difficult picking up from the table. I had to wet my left hand index finger to pick them up and then the tweezers in the right hand. Had to be sure to pick them up in the right orientation. Well Jan, before I got them in the tweezers I dabbed a little CA on the brass part, wiped most off, then picked the part up and trying to steady my hand, placed it where I were I wanted it, one at a time. I did use a 3X reading glasses and the optivisor. I also learned to use the finest dentist's bur for removing excess CA, but only from metal parts though. There is almost no getting away from too much CA at this scale and the thin stuff don't work for me. However, after the parts are painted it mostly disappears from sight. My thanks also to all who clicked the like button. Cheers,

Hello everyone and thanks to those who visited and clicked the like button, much appreciated. In this post I'll be combining Days 11, 12 and 13, which brings us to November 26, 2018. I'll write my notes as I have recorded them for the noted dates. Still no word from the IT guy who is fixing my iMac. That hard drive was really a mess he said. So we continue using Gwen's laptop to stay abreast with what's going on on MSW. On day 11, 11/24/2017, I separated the PE parts for the aft funnel. The most difficult were the bands around the funnel and the searchlight platform braces. The funnel bands are smaller then 0.05 mm. In order to form the railing around this small platform I figured making a wooden form. It seemed to me almost impossible forming the railing without some guide. After reshaping the bands I managed to cement the bands around the funnel. Removing them from the PE sheet they do tend to lose their pure form and need to be reworked. After the cement was cured I removed most of the excess but still not a pretty sight, from close-up. Once it's painted it should not be too noticeable. I'll wait attaching the smoke deflectors to the top of the funnels till after they are cemented to the vent housings. Too much handling in the meantime. I also cemented the little platforms with railing on each side of the rear funnel vent housing. On Day 12, 11/25, 2017, I cemented the searchlight platform to the funnel making sure it was positioned at the right height to allow enough space for the access ladder. I also cemented the ladder with its platform to the forward side of the aft funnel and the oval ring on top of the funnel. Removed more excess cement from the funnel. Not much work this day, too many other chores around the house. On Day 13, 11/26/2017, I made the search light platform railing form - after a few gardening chores. Hey, I live in Florida and November is still warm enough to walk in shorts, besides I have to get the yard ready for winter. After I had the railing form made I delicately formed the railing around it. It seemed to work okay but the material is only 0.05 mm. Next I cemented the railing to the platform I tacked the center first and as soon as the cement was hard I worked my way around the platform. When this was done I cemented a small ladder from the base to the platform. Next was cementing the platform braces to the underside. Removing the excess cement was done with a modified small broken drill bit. It will not be visible anyhow because it's on the bottom of the platform but I like to keep it a little neat, as much as I can anyhow. Well, that's all for now. A few photos below to show what I have been talking about. Parts of PE for the funnel. #30 are the funnel bands and #25 is the smoke deflector. The #11 blade gives you an idea of the sizes I had to deal with. In removing the rings from the PE sheet caused these rings to deform quite a bit. Bands cemented to the funnel shown before dressing the excess cement from the funnel. Funnel mostly cleaned from excess cement and the forward ladder with platform cemented to the funnel. There is a small railing cemented to it as well. The ladder is only tacked to the bands and will be straightened out. Funnel is temporarily placed to the vent housing. I have also cemented the two side platforms to the vent housing. There are also braces cemented to the underside of these platforms. Don't ask me how I managed to get them glued on. This is the railing form I made. This shows the railing nicely formed. These are the support braces for the searchlight platform. Again, the #11 blade for size comparison. The support braces in process of being cemented to the platform. To remove excess cement I took the shank of a small broken drill bit and ground a triangular point to it. Cheers,

Wow Hennie, that's a lot of gold on that ship. Nice work. Cheers,

Very believable iron work Pawel. Cheers,

Thanks to all who selected the like button, much appreciated. Yes, John, they could very well have been painted white and I can still do it, they are accessible still. Don't forget that these posts are all about work done a few months ago. Thanks for dropping in. Hi Jan, I don't have the lines for the "Celebes" but a comparison picture of her with "Java" on color. As you can see on the below picture, "Celebes" was supposed to have them im enclosed twin turrets and no guns on the side. For the rest she had the same lines. Hello mark, thanks for visiting and yes, a little added work is getting her closer to being finished. I hope I can do a believable sea for the diorama and the gun smoke. Yesterday I showed the semi completed sloops and motor launches, not the finished product. So I took two pics this morning as they now sit on the model. Cheers,

Wow, you have been a busy beaver JesseLee and well done I should add. Cheers,

Mighty nice Patrick, especially the back-lit ones. Ah, they are all nice. Cheers,

Thanks to all who clicked the like button. This is Day Ten, November 23, 2017. Thanksgiving in the USA. I decided to tackle the two motor launches and the two sloops supplied in the kit. As you can see on the pics below, they are rather small as is everything on this model. I dreaded to remove the PE from the sheet because of its size. The steering wheels for the motor launch are 1.8 mm in diameter! I had to do some filing on the PE seats for the sloops to make them fit, not much but did not want to run the chance of them buckling. Then the oars, there are 8 per sloop and all individual, which caused some trouble cementing them to the seats. I guess I could have lashed them with some silk threat but that thought came too late. They are ready for paint after I have cleaned them thoroughly. Okay, this is all for today, I have to get my but into the kitchen and help Gwen with cooking our simple Thanksgiving dinner. Seasoned turkey breast, pan sauteed in a white wine sauce with mushrooms, rice, asparagus, cauliflower and carrots. We'll have a glass of that white wine to go with it. I managed to cement those tiny steering wheels in place without a hitch. The rudders were no problem for a change. They'll be painted in the medium grey and the seats in wood color. I placed the #11 blade next the sloops to indicate their small size. The motor launches are even smaller. The seats and oars will be painted in wood color and the boats in te light grey. Again, not much of excitement but it's a pleasure seeing progress, even if it's slow. Cheers,

This post will reflect work done on days 8 and nine, November 21 and 22, 2017. Day 8 - no work done due to many things needed around the house. I planned on at least to make a start with fashioning an anchor for the one that got away but got only as far as selecting a brass rod. So, I figured the next day I could make an effort. Yes indeed, first thing in the morning of the 22d of November I was able to go into my garage work shop and give it a go. The brass rod I laid out yesterday was 0.5 mm and I figured that it would suffice for a 1:350 scale anchor. I flattened first one end, then bend it to form a U and flattened the opposing side and cut it off. The flattened parts did not really give much material to make the flukes but went ahead anyway. After I had something like what looked like flukes I soldered a piece of 0.5 mm rod to it for the stock. Dummy me, I forgot to bring the kit anchor with me and comparing the two mine was way too small. Bummer. Hmmm, now what. I found a square brass rod of 0.8 mm. This may do the trick. I proceeded the same way as before with the 0.5 mm rod. I used a steel punch to hammer the end nice and flat with a lot of material for the flukes. Bend it around, matching the kit anchor and did the same with the opposite side. Then cut the crudely fashioned part into what looks like an anchor, off of the rod. Filed flukes to it and shaped it to match it with the kit anchor as best as I could. Holding this tiny piece between my left hand fingers was a challenge. Soldered a piece of 0.5 mm rod to the center for the stock, dressed it some more and painted it flat black. Now I was careful matching it with the kit anchor. Not too bad, not good but okay for the stern. All this took about 2 1/2 hours of my time. Below are the pics of my efforts. First I tried wacking it with a hammer to one of my bucking bars but that proved difficult in aiming. I resorted to using a half inch diameter punch with better results. Here I show that the bend matches the kit anchor. I added the #11 blade for size comparison. Here we see both sides flattened enough to fashion the flukes. Ready to be cut off. Here I have placed the 0.5 mm brass rod to where it is to to be soldered. After the soldering is done I'll dress it down some more. Here we see my scratch build anchor completed and next to the kit anchor, the one with the eyelet on the end. No, I was not planning to add that too because I am sticking that end into the hole on the hull. This is my first attempt that turned out too small, good practice piece. Cheers,

Thanks Denis for your kind words and visiting my log. Sorry to say there is not much excitement in this build, yet. Glad you like the photo of the Ruyter. Yes, the lines are good but the shape of the third ship to be build, the Celebus, are even better. Sorry that was not laid down, cancelled. For the time they were state of the art and their German origin is visible. No, I was not aware of the prop guards being foldable. I did see on one of the videos that the stern deck railing is foldable though. For those wondering what Jan is talking about with "Java" in Sydney Harbor, here is a photo of her. The bridge over Sydney Harbor should date it. "Java" is shown way before her 1937 upgrade. Cheers,

Wow Kevin, nice work on that fix. Cheers,