Piet

Beautiful work Nils,love the details and realism. Cheers,

Thank you all for visiting and your likes. Today, or at least this morning, I could spend some time in the shipyard. I managed to put the caps on 30 stanchions and started to make the diagonal braces for three of them, The most forward and aft stanchions need just one. Then the stanchion even with the forward edge of the con, about midship, needs a double brace, one facing forward and the other aft. That's the stanchion where the railing cable is tightened with turnbuckles. I'll have to simulate the turnbuckles with some pieces of tiny brass of tubing. There is some progress folks but we're getting there. I attached the diagonal brace to the most forward stanchion as well and prepped the one with the double braces. It is ready to be soldered, perhaps tomorrow afternoon???? If not then Sunday will do just fine. Gwen needs to go to the surgical clinic for her carpel tunnel cleaning operation in the morning and won't be home till about 13:00 hours. Looks like we'll have a late lunch. Here we have the most forward stanchion with its diagonal brace facing forward, of course. That's the stanchion where the railing cable is hooked to and tightened amidship with a turnbuckle. I was pondering whether to put the stanchion 90 degrees to the deck or to the waterline. I think that 90 degrees to the deck would look better. Right now they are all just stuck into the holes. They all have to be set at 25 mm above the deck and then secured with two part epoxy cement. Cheers,

Hello Pete and thank you for the compliment. But look who's talking about amazing detail. Have you looked lately at your Volvo racer Yeah, she's slowly taking shape but we are still a way off being finished. Hi Joe and thank you as well for your compliments, appreciate it very much. Well - - yeah - - a little extra dialog about the how never hurts. I appreciate your vitis and enjoying by build and banter Cheers,

Okay Boris, I'll bite The detail you are incorporating into the model at that scale is utterly amazing. How did you manage to make the railing so realistic? Hope all's well with you. Cheers,

I was unable to do any work on the O19 today. Had to get on the roof of my house and clean the gutters. I have neglected that job for too long and Gwen was threatening hiring a guy to do it. Yuns lnow what that means? Big bucks! And me being an old Dutchman (CHEAP) I could not see paying someone any of my hard earned money Thanks to all who visited and clicked like. Hi Brian, and thanks for your compliment. Hoi Jan, fish mouths eh? I guess I failed to add an explanation what they are and what for, but you figured it out allright And thanks for your compliment, much appreciated. I just didn't want to drill all those tiny holes into 60 tubes and it wouldn't look right. i could have also made eye bolts but then I still would have to drill the same hols. I think this was the best solution, it looks neat and is functional and makes for a strong solder joint. Yup, when welding a round tube to another round tube you'd want half tube diameter contact and as close as possible contact with all surfaces for the weld. A 90 degree joint is easiest to do. In my career as an aircraft mechanic I had to repair quite a few steel tube frame aircraft. For just a few welds I hand filed these fish mouth joints but when I was building my own airplane I made jigs for the several angled joints. I took a steel block and drilled holes into it at the desired angles to the tube size. Shove a tube into one hole and a hole saw of the tube size into the other and let her rip. Always accurate joints. Some cluster joints could have 8 tubes coming together. That makes for a rather interesting weld job, especially jigging it all up. The welding was done oxy-acetylene, much better control on penetration. Oh, yes, we had to demonstrate to the Fed inspector by cutting through a test joint. Then with another test joint a destructive test with a sledge hammer before approval. We have to use a "neutral" flame other wise there will be problems with the weld. Too much acetylene adds too much carbon into the weld making it brittle and too much oxy burns the weld. You'll know by looking at the flame whether you have a neutral flame. Hey Dave, thanks for dropping in, it's always a pleasure seeing you here. It's a pleasure seeing all of my friends here. Thank you for your complements Dave. It's a rather tedious job and believe me also time consuming. Cheers,

Great looking hawse timbers Mark. If one can see the hawser cable and capstan it would be like icing on the cake if you can lead the hawser cable through the hawse holes. You can still rig the anchors as you mentioned. Although, it would also look great to have one anchor hanging down on the hawser cable. A little extra drama. Just thinking mind you Cheers,

Hello everyone, and my thanks to all who visited and clicked the like button, it means a lot to me. This morning was taken up with yacking with the landscaper who was to trim my crape myrtle trees in the front yard and trim a bunch of other bushes. Gwen didn't like to see me on a wobbly ladder with a chainsaw. Then I did some more research on natural healing for cancer, lyme disease and bone infections. Yes, there are at least two methods. A good friend of ours has severe diabetes and hardly any circulation in his legs and he has now an infection in the bone. The prescribed anti-biotics don't work. I just like to help people be healed naturally without devastating drugs. After lunch though I could venture back into the garage and work on the railing stanchions. I cut 2 mm lengths of the 1 mm brass tubing to solder into the fish mouths on top of the stanchions. I was only able to complete 10 out of the 60 stanchions. This'll be a long project but it's a fun job. I'm actually quite anxious to see how it'll look. Strange idea having a railing on a submarine. No wonder these things were so slow under water. At the refit in Scotland in 1943 they removed the railing altogether and also the torpedo loading gantries. They gave the boat a portable loading crane they could stick onto a fixture on the deck. I don't know how much it increased the submerged speed. Oh yeah, I need to make a note to provide a place for the boarding ladder! Yup, there was one that could be attached to a receptacle on the deck. It's located on the forward part where the deck gun is. You'l see it when I get to it. Hey Jud, talking about more stuff to be added Okay, I did make two pics for my archive and post them below. This shows a completed stanchion with a # 11 blade for scale. The railing cable will be strung through the hole in the top. I guess I could have just drilled a hole through the tube but this looks more "professional" and finished. Why do it the easy way if a more difficult and time consuming way is also possible Here I have stuck the stanchion to the deck. Evening out the lengths of the stanchions above the deck will come when I have all of them made. I may even try to tap the small top tubes oval. Cheers,

Hey Jud, so good seeing you here again in my shipyard. Thank you for your thoughts and reminding me of the inevitable, the completion of this build. But sooner or later I'll have to call it - - done. Yeah, perhaps with a sense of sadness but I hope with the feeling of an accomplishment to finally have done something tangible to remember and honor my father by. Well, I guess that yes, there are several areas I could still play with, such as the mine depositing rigging but that may never take place. If I had set out to make that happen I would certainly have planned that from the outset but as I have mentioned so often in my posts, the original plan was just a static model exterior of a smaller scale without anything workable. It kinda got a life of its own and grew to a scale of 1:50 and then the why nots, like a workable anchor, AA guns, a deck gun, retractable periscopes, workable doors in the con. If I had planned it i could have made the rudder and dive planes workable but alas, this must be good enough. There is still the dingy to be made and a few crew members, including my father topside on the bridge. She'll be displayed in my studio and passed on to our grandson Troy. Cheers,

Hi Dave, thank you for your most kind words, you make me blush Yup, I know that you have been very bust with your magnificent Halve Maen. I love the little tutorials you add and I shiver with you and taking a deep breath drilling a hole into the deck for the bowsprit. There are times when fear has to make way to finally doing it. Yeah, I guess I am a gabber and like to add some extra dialog to the build, it livens it up a little, rather then just telling folks what you have done. Hoi Remco, don't you know that thinking can be dangerous???? Hmmmm, plastic card or brass shim - - - both could work with decals or paint directly to them. Your paper idea also has merit. I can also paint directly on the paper with gouache or acrylic paint. It's also easier to mask off the lines. When the gouache is dry the paper can be wetted and shaped. It's worth a try but like I mentioned before, I'm not in a real big hurry. I'll keep yuns posted and cheers,

Thanks Popeye for your input. Me and Paint shop? I'm an airplane guy, not a complicated computer program operator Yes, I have a very early version of the cheapy paint shop version but never even tried using it. When i find that very fine weave cloth would I attach it to paper first to prevent the cloth from going every which way? Would my HP inkjet work? I just went through Doris' Royal Caroline and she has a friend print the flag on a lazer printer on very fine cloth. She stiffens it with a spray poly. That's the look I'm after. Hand painting is possible. I have done some very fine painting with tempera and oil paints but that was on paper and stiff artist canvas. I can try to use my printer if the fabric won't give me a problem. Thank you for looking in and your help. All you guys are just a great bunch. Cheers,

Hi Michael, thanks for dropping in and your comment, much appreciated. Instead of diluted white glue I sprayed poly urethane on the fabric to seal the cotton and make it a little stiff. The acrylic paint I used adheres very nicely to it. I may have overdone it with the poly urethane though, it could have sufficed with one coat. The real problem is the coarseness of the weave. If I pile up the paint to fill the small openings between the threads then the flag becomes as stiff as a board and difficult to mold into a wind blown flag. If I'm sticking with cloth then I need a much finer weave that is also very thin. Jan and Mark gave me some ideas and I'll check with Doris as well. I'm so thrilled and happy for you with your beautiful boat, what a joy it must be. Cheers,

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who visited and your like votes, its much appreciated. Between mowing the lawn and some other chores around the house I managed to spend some time on the O19. The first thing I did was remove the number 19 from the port side of the conning tower in preparation for another decal. I'm just playing with it mind you. The decals I had left over and painted a few weeks ago I doctored them up a little more and thought to replace the port one. It doesn't look al that bad, at least it's better then the one that was on there. The photo shows that I could put a little more grey pain on the area to the left of the 1. Next I cut 60 railing stanchions out of the 1 mm brass tubing. Then I filed "fishmouths" in one end so I can solder small pieces of tubing to them to lead the railing cable through them. That'll be a challenging job. I have to make a holding jig so these small pieces don't blow away when I'm soldering. Here are a few pics of my efforts for today. This is the spare decal I had left over and prepped a few weeks ago and replaced it for the one I attached to the con some time ago. It looks a lot better and with some additional grey paint not too bad. I also played with the one on the starboard side. For now I leave it as is and wait for a better solution. This shows the 58 stanchions for the railing. They are 1 mm in diameter and 28 mm long. I filed "fishmouths" into one end on all of them. Actually, I made a few extras. Filing fishmouths in all 58 of them??? Okay, I cheated, I have a tiny diamond covered rotary file that's "lozenge" shaped and then I spread them out a little with my large rib-stitching needle. That thing comes in handy so once in a while. This shows the fishmouths a little better. Cheers,

Thank you Jan and Mark for your suggestions. It was worth a try to see how the flags would come out using a worn out hanky. In real life they don't look half bad but they are still not satisfactory to me. It was kinda for killing time waiting for the brass tubing for the railing stanchions, at least it kept me busy. I have no idea if decals will stick to cloth Jan but I doubt it tough. Decals on metal foil would work. I have some very thin brass shim stock. Now comes the problem, can I print decals to start with and then with an inkjet printer. I am no computer hero It's a thought I can ponder on. Like I mentioned, I'm not yet in any particular hurry with it. Thanks Mark, not too bad for hand painted flags. I'll look into silkspan as well. Problem is that I only need a few square inches and am not sure what the minimum purchase requirement is. Paper seems to be the easiest route to go if I want to make my own flags. Yes, I have found a website that sells flags except for the geus. But, as I mentioned some time ago and being a stubborn Dutchman, I really like to make everything myself or through the hands of friends, rather then a faceless store. This is not an ordinary model. Cheers to all,

She's looking really very good Dave and the bamboo veneer idea sounds like a doable "fix". Cheers,

Hello everyone, hope all y'all are doing fine. Last evening I tried to add a post with a few pics but the confuser didn't let me. So, this morning I tried again and wonders will never cease, it let's me write a short post. In any case, I made all three flags for the O19 but am not happy with the way they look. Even though the hanky cloth is fine it's not fine enough for my scale and the paint job is terrible. The demarkation lines are not crisp and they are difficult to shape because they are very stiff. I'll make a trip to Jo-Ann's fabric store in Daytona Beach to see if they have a VERY fine weave cloth - - - whenever Gwen and I need to go there. It may be soon because I most likely need to see the computer geeks there at BestBuy. The flags can wait for now. I may wind up making them from paper, who knows. Soooooohhh, I'll proceed with making the railing stanchions and try to post a few progress report pics. Here are the pics of the flags so you can see why I'm not in the least happy with them. Here you can see what I mean, the warp and weave does'n allow me to make crisp lines and in many places it doesn't fill the holes with paint. If I add more paint then te flags will become as stiff as a plank. I did touch them up a little more after these pics were taken. I need to review how Doris does her flags and see if I can mimic hers. The "Dubbele Prinsen Geus" at the bow. The main ensign aft of the conning tower. The stern flag. Cheers,

Very nice work Hans. You can rightly be very pleased with her, bravo. Cheers,

Very nice looking job on the rigging and don't fret the deadeyes Nils. In real life they never lined up either, but I can't see the unevenness from her. Must be very little. Cheers,

Looking really nice Dave and a wise decision on leaving the pumps till later, they'll just get in the way when rigging. Very inventive on using a brass wood screw for making your bell. Cheers,

Thanks again everyone for dropping in and your likes and commiserating with me. Hello Pete, thanks for your compliments, it's much appreciated. Temps here in Palm Coast are still around 90 F, but I love it. I actually did some work on the O19, just damp ironed the hanky for the flag material and sprayed clear poly on it to stiffen the cloth so I start painting flags. I cut out a few pieces and am ready to apply paint. I need to think how to simulate a light breeze in them. The 1 mm brass tubes also arrived in the mail and can start on the railings. That'll be a fun project, a lot of soldering to attach the end caps. I plan to run the railing cable through them. My happy dilemma is what to do first or do a Popeye, do both together. Work on one in the morning and the other in de afternoon. Cheers,

Lovely work Pete and thanks for showing us the action pcs of these magnificent boats. I just can't get over the speed they reach, the thinking behind it all, the engineering, the hydrodynamics. It reminds me of Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works at Lockheed. The giant leeps in technology. Cheers,

Mistakes???? What mistakes - - - pfffffff She's looking VERY nice in that shiny new dress. Stuurboord will be as good if not better. Hmmmm, a Dutch word here? Guess where starboard came from Cheers,

Thanks everyone for dropping in and your likes. Hey Ian, great to "see" you again. Interesting goodies eh. Well, I try add a few extra things in here and there. Thank you for your interest but what else can I expect from a submariner! You'r also doing great with your model! Yeah, 100 pages in my log, who would have thunk it, eh? I'll do my best with the run around thing. It's the nurses I need to be careful with. I can still run faster then they do and when I catch one then I don't know what to with them I took today off. After a much interrupted night's sleep I slept in till 9 this morning, which felt really good. Everything is back to normal and I feel great. I made lasagna and a peculiar ground beef roll, stuffed with leek. It's in the fridge and I'll fry them tomorrow on medium heat in butter with olive oil. I was hoping for my order of 1 mm brass tubing to arrive in the mail but no such luck. Thus - - - tomorrow I'll start doing some serious flag work. Cheers,

Thank you all for visiting and your likes and comments. Today was my last BCGI treatment and it threw me for a loop, for some reason. Hope I'll have a restful night but expect having to get out of bed every hour or so, not much rest. I'm due a biopsy in 6 weeks, till then things'll be just fine. Hoi Remco, actually I never thought about the KM having a different flag then the Dutch national flag. I always thought them to be the same. And hoi Sjors, hmmm, you think they are different too? I guess I'll have look into it like I did with the Geus. You folks seem to have more confidence in my abilities then I do, but thanks for encouraging me, I'll try my best. Hi Popeye, easy for you to say "piece of cake," you don't have to make one But, like I mentioned to Sjors, I'll do my best. Don't want to disappoint all yuns. Hello Gino, thanks for looking up the dimensions and explanation. There is quite some history attached to that word "Geus." When I read some of the history I remembered a few things from my school years in Holland. My model being at a simulated mooring I'll add the Geus to it. Hey, I have the time and can male flags at my leisure till the cows come home. Cheers to all,

Hello everyone, I have been busy with other stuff and playing with flag research and trying a few things making them. I bought the three colors needed in acrylic paint, bright vermilion, white and cobalt blue. At least that's what the specs call for. I cut a small piece out of an old worn handkerchief and first coated it with a clear poly urethane and let it dry. I folded one one end over to reinforce it for the flag tackle. I used clear nail polish for this which worked fine, after holding it till the nail polish had dried. I only diluted the paint a little and it went on quite nicely. Did the white first, let it cure and then the colors, one after the other had cured. I did mask the white first though. It's a little crude and need to be more careful with the masking but by doing this on a trial basis we'll find out what not to do and how to do it better. I should have no problem with the actual Ensign or National flag but when it comes to the Jack I may have to make several or many before I have one that's acceptable. That brings up a question. According to the official Dutch flag info I have, the Dutch Naval Jack has quite a few fields in red, white and blue that radiate out from the center. This is what maks it so difficult to paint. The black and white photo I have of the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1939 when she was on the way to the Netherlands East Indies, the jack seems to be more like the civilian jack. It's hard to see on the photo but the colors on the corners seem to be the same. However, red and blue will most likely look the same on a black and white photo. It would be easier of course to use the civilian jack but - - - that would not be correct and cheating. Oh well, all I can do is the best I can and let my artistic painting ability come through. Do any of the Dutch members have the flag dimensions? That too needs to be accurate. The jack looks like a 4 X 5 ratio. In the meantime I'm still waiting for the 1 mm tubing for the railing. No mail today due to Labor day. Hopefully tomorrow but I won't be in the garage then, I'll have my last BCGI treatment and be rather miserable with it for the rest of the day. Well, here are a few pics of my first trial. I know, it's not the greatest and it's not long enough but it's just a trial piece. This shows the ensign in a straight on shot. Yes, it's a little short and a bit to wide. It's just to get an idea how it'll look. Here is a copy of the photo of the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1939. Yes, my father was on board then and told us some great stories of his visit. You can clearly see the jack with the dark colored corners. This is a picture of the Dutch Naval Ensign or National flag. This is the official KM (Koninklijke Marine - Royal Navy) jack called the "Geus" or "Dubbele Prinsen Geus." You can see how difficult this'll be to paint. This is a picture of the civilian jack. Cheers,

Thanks Popeye and Andy for your helpful hints, that'll be plan C or D. Right now I'm sitting tight till I hear what Remco has in mind. When push comes to shove I can send Remco a piece of painted wood so he can scan the color in and take it from there. I can work with what I have with the "just the black outline" decals Remco has originally send me. It's close but that only counts in hors shoes Cheers,