Piet

That keel came out great but so does the whole model. She already looks like going 45 mph! Cheers,

Very nicely done John. Lovely lines! Cheers,

That's becoming a lovely little boat Joe. Reminds me of my sailing days in Holland waaaaaayyyy back in the early '50's. I like the idea of cigar box mahogany, thanks for the hint, I made a note of it. Cheers,

Thanks everyone for dropping in and your comments and advice and of cours for the many likes. I could have said "I was testing all y'all to see who caught the wrong colors for the side lights," but I opted for the dyslexia bit Hey, it's all in fun and I enjoy the banter and all your help Having been active in aviation since 1956, maintaing, repairing, designing repairs and flying till my retirement with the Federal Aviation Administration in 2009 I should know what the left and right are called and what color the nav lights must be but sometimes we get a "brain fart." It's rather embarrassing, to say the least. But so what, I'll get over it before I turn into a girl - as my father used to say. @ Remco: Bold move? Nah, it has to be good and working around it wouldn't do. Redoing the paint at these small areas was really no problem at all, it was rather fun. Yes, I remember the Dutch way and to tell all yuns the truth, sometimes my brain can't think of English words but then Dutch words or even Indonesian just crops up. That's the problem with the brain having been programmed in one language from birth and then as an adult having to use another language presents some rather funny situations. Also, when I was growing up I also learned to speak the Java Indonesian language in the Surabaya dialect and accent. In that case left or port or bakboord would be kiri and has an R for red light. Right or starboard or stuurboord is kanan without an R. It's easier to remember it in Indonesian Okay, enough about left is red and right is green. The sidelight holders have the right colors now as we speak @ Brian: Yes, indeed, I used "RustOleum" enamel paint in a rattle can and it dries up semi glossy. What I do to dull it up some is wait till the paint id fully cured and then wipe it down with a damp rag with an enamel reducer. It really cuts down the gloss. I could have used "BonAmi" scouring powder too but's a lot of work and makes a mess in all the nooks and crannies. I don't want it to look glossy and so far it has worked for me. @ Jan: Yup, that's a problem with all these nice helps. Like everything, there is no substitute for memorizing it and uhhmmm - - - that also doesn't prevent us from having a brain fart. @ Joe: Yes, a good hint and it's still memorizing all this. I have now made a sticky note and pasted that on the wall at my work station - - - as long as I can remember it's there @ Carl: Hi buddy, good to see you here and thanks for the good words. No, I haven't had the pleasure of having worked at the Verolme yard. I don't even recognize the name I did work at Aviolanda by Dordrecht as an apprentice for my studies at the Anthony Fokker School but that was all aviation related. Whenever we come to visit the Netherlands Sjors is taking me to Wilton-Fijenoord in Schiedam to see the place where the O19 was build. @ Kees: Hoi and also good seeing you here at my shipyard. Thanks for the kind words my friend. Yeah, I may be an American citizen but still have Dutch blood in me and am drawn to Dutch ships and boats and many other things Dutch. Not that there is anything wrong withEnglish, French, Spanish or American build ships but the Dutch ships and boats are rather unique with a rich history. Of course this boat is very special to me. Well, today I painted the railing stanchions on the port side, wait - - let me check - - left side, yup, that's port I also touched up part of the center hull with green paint, also RustOleum enamel. When all the green paint is fully cured it'll get a wipe down to dull it a little. That's all she rode for today. I made a chili for dinner but this time I deviated from the standard cili con carny and made Cincinnati chili. It has different spices in it and served over spaghetti. It was yummo. Cheers,

Nice work there Popeye. I'm very intrigued by what you are cooking up with these builds. Nothing registers but then again I'm an airplane guy and nor very familiar with boats. Cheers,

Those gratings look rather neat Dave, very nice and precise work. Outstanding! Cheers,

Hello again. This morning I took the bull by the horns and removed all the old decals. If I have to repaint the effected areas then so be it. As it turned out I only had to repaint both sides of the con and the starboard bow. The paint on the con was discolored under the decals and with placing one before, the paint just looked terrible because i used a brush to repaint it. Just a sanding with some fine sandpaper, then wiping with a damp rag with enamel paint thinner, masking the area and shoot with a few coats of enamel paint. Sorry Remco, I was going to send you a personal message regarding this but got so wrapped up with this that it was your bedtime by the time I finally had a minute. Had to help Gwen too, well you understand how that goes. It only took an hour or so and I now have a good looking finish for the decals. As the paint was drying I started to paint the railing stanchions and could only complete the starboard side. The port side will come tomorrow and then I need to give the railing cable a coat of dark grey paint. I have no clue what color they used way back then but the dark grey may off-set it nicely with the light grey. I made a few before and after pics of the repainting project for my own records and archive. This shows the masking off of the forward part of the bow. I could use the hull plating lines to prevent a paint ridge. I have added three coats of enamel paint. This shows the masking of the con. Here I could not prevent a paint ridge at the aft end but it worked out that the very thin ridge kinda looks like a weld seam. Here I have just removed all the masking. This pic was taken with flash and it shows the ridge at the red bottom and a few specs I need to address yet. I want the paint to dry and harden for a few days before i can work with it. It looks very good op close and I'm happy. Yes Andy, the nav lights or side light as you call them, will get their correct colors and perhaps a lamp too. Here is the con with all masking removed. Both sides look very good, better then before I must say. The sanding helped smooth it out quite nice. Now comes the tricky part, putting the decals on - - - correctly! Cheers,

Thanks to everyone who visited and your like votes and all those who commented. Hi Andy, Okay, it's dyslexia I tell you, dyslexia you understand- - - and I'm sticking to that excuse Hey, stupid is as stupid does. Thanks for the find. It'll be fixed tomorrow morning. Hoi Remco, thanks for the compliment and re the decals? They are history my friend. I removed all the old decals this morning. The only areas I needed to repaint were the con. The decals kinda bleached the paint underneath, so I just sanded it down with extra fine sandpaper, masked it out and resprayed it. I did the same with the starboard bow section. The port bow and both sides on the stern are okay. I'll let the enamel paint cure for a day or so before I put the new decals on. Hi Wacko Joe, that's a very nifty way of remembering what's port and what's starboard. That doesn't work in Dutch though Hmmmm, can I use that for an excuse - - - nah, I'll stick with dyslexia - - - to safe face Hello Harvey, good seeing you here again and thanks for the compliment. Yup, the torpedo that's hanging in the sling is from wood and is a little light. Actually, I'm way ahead of you. I just happen to have purchased an aluminum rod for that purpose. I'll be making an aluminum torpedo to hang in that sling so it'll look more realistic. The wooden ones are for display on the final display board with some other stuff I already have two torpedoes loaded in the deck launcher. Hmmm, that means that the dingy may also be too light. ummm, a brass dingy???? Hi Piper Joe, thank you for the compliment and you are always welcome here in my shipyard. Yes, I like to think that my father would approve of the model. Of course there are a few folks here who have helped in this effort and also keeping me straight on errors. Well hello Andrieke, it's so good seeing you here, we missed you greatly. We even send an APB out to find you. Looking forward to updates on your build. Thank you for the compliments my fiend. Stay well. Hi Popeye, thank you for the compliments, appreciate it very much. Hello Michael, thank you as well and also for the URL. I may just buy a few items from them. Some of the things I didn't make because it's just too difficult and time consuming can still be replaced with store-bought parts to enhance authenticity. As I mentioned in several posts, I strived to making everything myself or have friends make them, rather then buying parts from vendors. It's perhaps my stubborn streak in using only "homemade" parts. Raw material is of course understandable. Hoi Hans, van harte dank voor de compliment - - you are most kind. Hallo Sjors - - Piet op de O19 rapporteert, over. Hell Sjors, Piet on the O19 checking in, do you read? Thank you my friend, she's slowly taking shape. Hi Pete, thank you !!! Hello Dave, also my thanks to you for your kind words. Yes, it was / is indeed a fun and challenging build. There's still a lot more planned for her, we are not done yet but those things will be on the back burner. Cheers to all,

Thanks for the explanation Pete, very compact indeed and yours looks VERY realistic. Does your homemade GPS work Kidding! Cheers,

Hello Boris, I'm looking forward seeing the real 3D model coming together. She's one very impressive model of a brave ship. Cheers,

That's one awesome looking model Pete! I really like the color combination with the logos, vivid and eye catching. Question if you don't mind my ignorance on boats, what's that thingy at the stern that looks like a lemonade cooler? Forgive me, I'm an airplane guy and they don't have those thingies. Is that perhaps for GPS navigation? Cheers,

Hello friends, I have been quietly and slowly working on the O19. I finished the starboard railing, which worked out better then the port side. At least I didn't have to go back and redo two stanchions All of them are as close to being correct as possible, at least I'm happy with the results. Then it was off to installing the sense antenna. This one is laced to a steel cable that runs from the port side of the con to the bow and back to the starboard side. I used 0.2 mm brass wire for the support cable and stretched it to make it harder and stiff. I had already made the bow attaching hook a few months ago but now I had to put both ends of the support cable into the hook assembly and solder them. I also cut a bunch of 1 mm brass tubing into 0.5 mm pieces to act as simulated tension devices. (sorry Amateur Jan, just simulated ) The antenna cable tensioners I used when I was running an aircraft repair facility were some ver nifty gizmos. The were internally spring loaded and the cable is attached at one end and the other end to the airframe. These were all soldered to the support cable at their appropriate locations per the drawings I have. I took the finest black sewing thread for the actual antenna cable and laced that to the support cable at set intervals. The lacing cords I made up from splitting the sewing thread and used the two nylon filaments inside the tread. This is thinner then fly-tying thread and strong too. I used clear nail polish to secure the lacing to the support cable with the antenna cable and tried to leave a few sagging like loops. In real life the weight of the antenna cable will sag naturally between the lacings. Well, it looks like that most of the hard work is done except for painting the railing and general paint touch-up, the replacement of the ship's numbers, the boarding ladder and the dingy. Remco was able to obtain new white numbers with black outlines that are printed on clear decal paper. I am mighty obliged to him for his help. He was not happy himself with the color mismatch and now I can just put these new decals right over the paint, awesome That'll be my next project before painting. I don't know how much damage I may occur by removing the decals. I did already spray them with a sealer so soaking with water may not work. But then again, touching up paint is not a big problem for me. After I'm done no one will ever notice Okay, here are a few pics of my efforts of the last few days. This shows the antenna installation and the starboard railing. Emphasis is on the antenna. The details I mentioned above may be visible when you enlarge the picture. We can now find our way by using radio beacons or low frequency broadcast stations. On the last picture you'll see the DF antenna. I made a close-up for a more detailed look at where the support cable is attached to the torpedo loading boom bridge. Those two and three little humps are the tensioners. This is a detail pic of the con side antenna hoop-up. You can see where the antenna cable is routed through a conduit down to the radio / navigation room. That round black thingy is the Direction Finder antenna or DF for short. It works real well after you get used to it, "flying the nul" as we called it. When I learned to fly I learned how to operate it and of course the VOR. Things have evolved to Satellite Navigation and now to GPS. But when my father sailed on this boat this was the best available with "shooting the sun or the stars." If anyone sees anything that needs attention or fixing please tell me now or forever hold your peace Cheers,

Very impressive Boris. Cheers,

Congratulations Freek, she looks stupendous! What a great milestone and I'm sure that she'll perform well bot on the surface as under. Am anxiously awaiting the videos and stills of the runs next week! Cheers,

Hello Nenad, first of all congrats to Princes and my condolences for the loss of good friends. Keep a stiff upper lip and keep trucking. Your CS is looking great and good therapy. Cheers,

Wow and a double wow, I'm overwhelmed by all your likes and responses. Where do I begin by thanking all of you, Omega, Wacko Joe, Ian, Jan, John Lad, Dave, Mark and Popeye. Okay, Omega asked about the speed submerged. Top speed underwater is 9 knots but can only be sustained for 20 minutes thill the batteries die. Top speed on the surface is 19 knots. Naturally, they would use much lower speeds under water, like 3 to 5 knots. Jan, you certainly are a joker - - - making turnbuckles he says and that with a straight face and at this scale no less There are limits to anyone's abilities - - - but it's possible. All we need to do is make the tap and dies to cut the threads in the barrels and ends, then we need some REAL fine steel for the ends, then we need really small safety clips - - - hmmm, I like to see somebody make the tools. Keep dreaming my friend but thanks for your confidence in me and for your compliments - - I love it. . . . Turnbuckles - - - Turnbuckles . . . . . . I'm going to dream about turnbuckles Hey Dave, I can see them subs racing with my sonar vision - - - it's a dead heat, nose to nose, photo finish. And thans for your compliments as well. Ian, that sepia pic looks great. I didn't think about trying to make a few in black and white. I am striving to make the model look as close as I can to the way my father knew her and with all the comments I have received about the likeness that makes me very happy with the result. After all, that was the aim with this project and am glad that some of you have challenged me to add more detail. As soon as the deck railings are completed I'll take her outside and make a few good pics with my big Cannon camera. I don't mean to ignore the rest of yuns that commented but I'm on overtime now, i.e. it's way past my bed time. I'm thankful for having all of you as friends. Did not accomplish much today. I did manage to correct the two stanchions that were too tall. It looks much better now. I completed making the starboard stanchions in the rough state. Had to take Gwen out to the drugstore and then the grocery store for stuff. Then I prepped for dinner, Gwen wanted nasi goreng, that's fried rice Indonesian style - - - yummo Cheers,

Hi Mark, you know, thread never came up in my mind. I have only been thinking about brass rod or wire. Reason is, I guess, that originally steel cable or rod was used so I wanted to stick with metal. It turned out to be just shy of 0.4 mm which works out to be a little less than 20 mm in diameter. Perhaps a little big for my scale but we need to keep the crew safe Hello Joe, and thanks again. Yeah, the "cable" is nice and tight, no sagging. Will probably paint it dark grey. The stanchions will be light grey. Hi Omega, thank you for your kind words, much appreciated. Ah yes, I do imagine that all the time. As a matter of fact, there are several images floating in my mind for a painting of the O19. I don't know yet what I'll choose. There may be a few I'll sketch out. re the sawtoothed gizmos, and not only on the bow but also the trim plane guards at the bow and the dive plane fixtures at the stern. Yes, this was explained when I made them and put them on the boat. That was a long time ago, somewhere midway or earlier. They are primarily net cutters to cut through harbor protection netting. There is also a possibility that they could cut mine cables but I won't swear to it. Snagging a mine cable, hmmmm, you could run the chance of dragging the mine to the boat and that could ruin the rest of the day for the crew. Cheers,

Ataboy Dave, stick with it and you'll lick this one too. It's a challenge! You could also do a show and tell in how to make small gratings Cheers,

Hello all, again, and thanks to those who dropped in and clicked like. I redid the main midship stanchion because it was not quite right and set all of them on the port side to 25 mm above deck. Most are pretty close to 90 degrees to the deck but the final adjustments will be made after they are all cemented in with two part epoxy. After I mowed that backyard and lunch I proceeded to cement them all in place and while I waited for the cement to cure I made the railing cable. Instead of a solid rod or wire for the railing handhold I tried something else. I would think that they had used a twisted steel cable so I wanted to simulate that. I took two lengths 0.2 mm brass wire, the total length of the railing plus some extra and twisted them together. I used my aircraft safety-wire twisting tool and it was done in no time flat. Then also pulled the twisted wire to stretch it and harden it some. That way it's nice and stiff. Now it looks more like 7 X 7 steel cable. It passed through the stanchion tops real fine, without a hitch. I also put a few small pieced of tubing on the cable where the tension turnbuckles would be. These may not show up on the photos but they are there. This finishes the port side railing. I still need to make the boarding ladder but that one can go either side, it's removable and most likely stowed in the lower part of the con or below deck. Well, now on the starboard side. I have already rotated the build board but first I need to solder all the small top tube pieces to the stanchion posts. Tomorrow, I hope. Okay, here are a few pics from my archive. I think they are self explanatory. I removed the deck gun, it was in the way and I see one stanchion popped up a little. Hmmm, now is the question 'how to fix it without doing any damage. Here you can see the two small pieces of brass tube to simulate the turnbuckles. There is one at the most forward and most aft stanchion s well. Cheers,

Thank you all for your kind words and comments. Gwen's doing great, she took the bandage off, against doctor's orders, because they were too tight and even rubbed a blister between thumb and index finger. I helped putting another bandage on the wound so she can let the blister heal and have some freedom of movement. Hi Joe, well, the railing was part of the original build when my father served on her from 1938 till January 1941. It looks strange having a railing on a submarine but when we consider that in those days they were still considered primarily surface vessels that could submerge for a short period of time. Most of the time they would be on the surface and needed a railing to protect the crew from washing overboard. Hello Pete, thanks you and thank you. Hi Mark, thank you and thank you. Cheers,

Beautiful work on the crows feet Nills. The model looks quite impressive. Congrats with the new granddaughter, now go spoil her Cheers,

Wow Kevin, that's one handsome looking ship, congrats! Your copper plating looks superb, high quality workmanship. Cheers,

Wowsy babe, that's a handsome looking cradle! I thought you may want to copper plate that one - - - after all, it's below the waterline Har dehar har harr. Oooooh, I crack me up Really nice job Sjors and your coopering, as Nenad would say, looks terif. Cheers,

WOW, really great looking beak head Dave. Colors really stand out. Cheers,

Thanks everyone for dropping in and your likes!! Before taking Gwen to the surgery center for her carpel tunnel ops I could spend a few hours in the shipyard. btw, we came home about 15:00 hours and she came through with flying colors. I soldered on the diagonal; braces for the midship railing stanchion and the aft most railing stanchion. Hopefully I can finish the port side railing Sunday or Monday. I have an idea on the railing cable and see if that works out Here are a few pics. This is the midship rail stanchion where the cable tensioning takes place. Between it and the one just forward of it will be the removable boarding ladder. I still have to make it, another one of those "oh, I almost forgot" things. I'm glad all yuns help reminding me This is the most aft railing stanchion with it's diagonal brace. Cheers,