Piet

Hi Ken, good seeing you here as well. Yes, indeed it was a sorry state of affairs. Obviously I have done some research, most though is from written data done by others due to lack of time and resources on my side. Boris Mulenko too has done a lot of research and has dedicated his time to make history know by making models available of the ships involved with their historical data. One of the best books available is "Rising Sun, Falling Skies. The disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World arr II" by Jeffrey R. Cox. This book is rather current, 2014, with hitherto unpublished information from several war archives, including Japan. Also unfortunate is that with the change in MSW format all the links in my signature area are either not working and removed, like the link to my build log of my father's submarine the O19. There is a lot of very personal info there. So far I have not been able to fix that problem. Cheers,

Thanks to all who looked in and clicked the like button, much appreciated. Hello Denis and thanks for dropping in. The answer is no, this boat was build a few years earlier and was a class of one, rather unique I'd say. The Royal Navy was constantly trying to improve their submarine designs which resulted in better boats at the cost of low production. That last one did not seem to be important. Hello Vivian, good seeing you here in my humble little shipyard. This model is being constructed on my drafting table in my studio - it's rather small you see and more comfortable temp wise then in the garage with 32 to 35 degrees C. Cheers to all,

That tackle looks magnificent JesseLee. Cheers,

Hey Denis, those railings look really spiffy, great progress my friend. Cheers,

Hey Vivian, so good seeing you back here again/still. Can I pull up a stump and help watch your deft fingers building another magnificent ship? Cheers,

Congrats on finally receiving your ship and fine one it is. Safe me a seat okay? I'll be following your progress. At least Sjors is pushing his popcorn machine over for us, what a guy! Cheers,

Hello friends, It has been quite some time sins my last build log and my work on the VOC ship Surabaya. Many things have come in between but I am trying to spend a few hours so once in a while on a build. I recently obtained a plastic kit of a Dutch WW II submarine that was active during the very beginning stages of the war against the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJP). This particular boat was rather unique in that it had two important new innovations. One was that about 49 % percent of the traditional riveting was replaced with a new welding technique and that a new steel alloy was used for the pressure hull allowing her to dive to a greater depth. After trials proved successful the Koninklijke Marine (KM) or Royal Navy, carried these innovations over to their later build submarines. This included of course by father's submarine, the O19. The kit builder of the O16 is Boris Mulenko who started up PacificCrossRoads and his work can be seen at www.pacificcrossroads.net. Boris is also a member of MSW. Right off the bet I must say that I have no financial interests in his company, other then a mutual respect for the men who fought heroically and gallantly against a determined better trained and equipped foe. His plan is to produce kits of all the ships involved in South-East Asia of the so called ABDA fleet. Abda is the acronym for America, British, Dutch and Australia. Obviously, my interest is not just for the sake of building a model. I was indirectly involved due to my father's service in the KM. He was killed in action during the last major battle on the Java Sea about one year after the O16 was lost in the Gulf of Siam, north of the Malay coast. I heard my father cussing the Japanese for the loss of his comrades. Before my father was promoted in rank to Adjudant he served on the submarines and knew most of the men in that service. The submarine service is like a close-knit family as our submariner member can attest to. In any case, I was then only 7 years old but keenly aware of the coming events that would change my life forever. You can read about my background on the intro pages of the O19 build log. Let me stop here and continue in a day or so. I can then give you all the history of this boat with her war log before proceeding to the actual build of the kit. Cheers,

Just checking in Denis on your progress. Looking great, especially those tiny belaying pins. Cheers,

Nice going Sjors and fast! Are you keeping the anchor from falling over? Cheers,

So good seeing you back. Please allow me to join you with this fantastic build. Cheers,

Bloody nice work Patrick! he's coming together jut marvelous. Cheers,

Hello Nils, first of all, much thanks for a wonderful tour around the Hamburg harbor. The engine room brought back memories. I started my technical career as ship's machinist before switching to aircraft. I'm quite familiar with the old steam "up and downers" and turbines. Your mass produced boats came out really great. One thought to your "canvas cover" project. To prevent tearing holes in the thin cloth, if using it, is to add another layer just behind the triangular parts with thinned PVA. I have tried that before with good results. The best of luck mu friend. Cheers,

Have great vakantie Marcus! Cheers,

Your PE work looks great Carl. I now also know how trying it can be. I'm working on a 1:350 scale Dutch WW II sub. No, no build log yet, not enough time to start one and may have a problem setting it up. Sorry to hear about your back, no fun Cheers,

Wow, JesseLee, those carronades and tackle looks magnificent - as the rope coils. ice progress. Congrats with the negative cancer report. Cheers,

Checking in on your progress Anja. Nice work. Cheers,

Great progress Sjors. That's a lot of painting Cheers,

Wow Denis, you did a lot of work since my last visit. Nice progress, looking very good.

Looking good Hans and good luck in the show! Cheers,

Beautifully done Patrick. Nice color combos as well. Cheers,

Beautiful work Nils. Cheers,

Beautiful work Michael. Your tools reminds me of my own machinist training - a long time ago. Nostalgia is setting in ;-) Cheers,

I wish you all the best with all the things you are involved with. We'll be waiting patiently for your return with your CS. Cheers,

Very nice work Nils. Monkey island eh. In Dutch that'll be apen eiland. Cheers,

Hoi Sjors, Oh my, another beautiful ship to watch being build. Is there some space left for me, front row if possible? Cheers,