Piet

lovely work, you making the fish from fimo? (lol other air drying makes are available)

I meant to mention this the other day.   I was at work and was doing the repair work on the trailer.   they are equipped with GPS,  and I was in the process of inspecting and updating the firmware.  walking out of the trailer,  I noticed a clump on the floor.   I picked it up and found that it was a hair net......brown mesh and dirty,  with a bit of damage to the mesh.  fanning it out,  after picking out some of the debris,  I saw how small the mesh was.  it made me think that it would be perfect for a fishing net.  of course,  it ended up on my tool box......but I forgot to bring it home,  for further testing.   today,  we were in a local Wal Mart......I looked for one,  but they didn't have the color I had found.   we then went to the local grocery store,  and I found a three pack in brown.   I think by cutting off the elastic edging,  it might be useful.........my testing continues   

Very nice progress Denis.
 
Cheers,

thanks Pat    the bin didn't have much in it........I thought I had a couple from another project.   all I had in there was the railings form the Half Moon crow's nest.
    I didn't use them,  since half the parts were missing to make them {another project I was thinking of bringing back out}.   I'll think of something........then one more thing i want to add  
thanks for all the likes gents!

looking really great. they really start to come together once a few of the decks go on and they start to rise up don't they.
 
chris
 

Been catching up with this today Denis. Good stuff as usual!
 
Jesse

Your riverboat is coming along nicely. I am looking forward to seeing what is next. Your details have are quite good. 
 
Russ

thanks Carl!  I did a bit more.
 
I started to make some of the other parts for the lower deck.   if I get enough filled out,  I will be able to add the second level.   first were the hooks for the coral gates.

I made a bunch of them......stain the finished ones with mahogany,  and glue 'em in place.   I cut the coral gate bars as well and stained them too.......sprayed them with gloss lacquer.   where the smoke stacks are to originate from,  are the two large holes in the second level deck.   there are two pieces that will act as a stop for them.

the aft structure is not a wide as the forward structure.......to compensate for this,  I added two  posts.....one on each side,  of the aft structure.

as mentioned,  I also began to do the edge stripping around the deck    half of it is now done.

a canopy brace spans both sides of the area between the structures.   they were stained and given a couple coats of gloss lacquer.  here is one of them....they are both in place now

the bottom coral gate hooks are in place as well........the top pair will be added soon.  the resat of the edging was added to the deck.


I had to run out and get more lacquer.......tried to find it in a bottle or can,  but I guess I'll have to go to Hobby Lobby for that.  I'll settle for the rattle cans for the moment  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

That's a first!!!
 
Nice progress, I like the fish bone structure of the deck planking

thanks Mike.........I think it's more the metal they're made of.   it weirds me out     

I did my paddle wheels with ordinary brush on enamel. They came out OK.

there's a lot more than meets the eye Carl.......more involved than a work boat     ....like a lamb to slaughter   
 
I got to do some more on her yesterday......sub assemblies galore!     it's time to clean out the holes for the poles....I got the main ones.

there are two larger ones at the stern end of the deck.......one of them I botched and had to repair it.

the other side came out good though.......I tried to cut the affected one,  but the glue hadn't set long enough and had to repair it again.   I'll try again at a later time.   I tried to make a jig to drill the bar holes in the vents for the aft structure,  but gave up on that notion....darn thing kept breaking.   instead,  I did one of them by eye and drilled the others to match,  using the first one as a template.   came out reasonably well.

later they were painted to match the doors.

I had sprayed the paddle wheel brackets with a gloss lacquer........they came out with some degree of shine,  but it still sucked into the wood.   two seal coats before this........and it still did it?!?!?!?  .....some kind of thirsty wood !   good enough for me though,  and they were cemented into place.

I also repaired and finished the end on the second level structure.   sanded,  it will pass muster......I thought it would have a flat spot because of the break,  but it rounded up fairly well.

the other end still needs to be done,  and then I can start to plank it over,  along with the third level.   I'm not going to use the metal windows......I will either try to remove the panes in them,  or I'll make the windows for them.......weighing out the possibilities      the vents are dry.........they are now in place on the aft structure.

I gave the second level deck a second application of stain,  to spruce it up and get rid of the tiny nicks.   I also started to put the banding around the edges.  it will be ready for sealing at that point,  later to be cemented to the model.   the decorative lattice that goes between the two structures has been stained with the mahogany.   it will need to be fitted later.......the coral bar hooks are in the process of being created.

still more to go on the first level     I've been looking at the frames for the paddle wheels.........the more I look at them,  the more I'm not liking the paint work ahead.   thinking on this..........

good god its its time for another update

the bridge

the last big module and i messed up

the lower middle windows dont need to be there, but being a fool i put them in as they are on the plans, it appears they were moved at the time the B turret was replaced by the Exocet missile system, as a result the two outer ones were bang on top of the supports forming the shape and there is a notch missing where the knife slipped, oh hum







the blast deflectors will cover the two lower windows



so i added two more


   

yes they may be a little on the thick side, but the strips are 0,25mm by 1.0mm anything any thinner would have been difficult to add using styrene glue, maybe a light sanding will not make it so ovious, lol just so that i can weather them and make them stand out again

bottoms up !!
 
He nearly is since he started making tiny dioramas, does it all by touch (pullin' yer leg) He does a tremendous job on it. I did the O16 he has done, and know a bit what he's up against, I am in awe at what he presents right now

Piet,
Kudos impressive   added touches give it pop. I would go blind working at that scale

But you can’t see the bottom! 

It all depends on shape, square will be hard to place, but rectangle wouldn't be much bigger than the ground plates of your ships, Greg

There is some fantastic stuff on Facebook of all places for sea dioramas. It seems everyone is doing them now, but I don’t know how well they would go on a bookshelf. 

Thanks Carl for your faith inn my "prowess." Actually due to the added lower half of the hull will make this a little more - - ummm, challenging. Normally the sea part is about 1/4 or so inch thick but in my case it's a half inch from the keel to the waterline. My plan is to use a smidg'n over 1/4 inch of white caulking compound first, then lay the ship in it and let it cure. Then follow up with an epoxy fake water with a blue dye mixed in it to form the sea. It is supposed to allow time for some modeling but needs to be followed with another two part epoxy to model the waves.
 
In any case it'll be an experience and keep my fingers crossed.  Boris has send me a bunch of pics and URL's of dioramas. All look very good. There are plenty on the internet too. Yeah, I read that article in the NRG. That would not work for me because I need an opaque sea due to the lower hull.
 
Cheers,.

This post takes us to Day 45, February 18, 2018.
 
This day I started with the assembly of the four 40 mm twin Bofors anti aircraft guns. Before I show and chat about the actual work I though giving you a little background history about how "Java" acquired these particular guns.
At the end of WW I the British Vickers Company developed a revolutionary new gun that could fire several rounds per second.  The sound of this rapid firing earned this gun the moniker "Pom-Pom." The idea was to lay a cloud of grenades in the air that made it a certainty of hitting an attacking airplane. This was good for that day because the airplanes were slow and flew low. It reminds of the flak idea used during WW II.
 
England made these gun available to any nation who wanted them. Even the Japanese acquired them for a while for their heavy cruisers Nachi and Haguro.
In 1937 the Royal Dutch Navy also acquired a set of six for the "Java" and "Sumatra," replacing the two 5.7 cm AA guns. The idea of "laying down a curtain of bullets" proved to be ineffective against the modern (for that day, 30s and 40s) aircraft and in 1938 both "Java" and "De Ruyter" replaced the Pom-poms with the 40 mm Bofors L.60 Hazemeyer-twin barrel AA guns. These are three-axis balanced to afford the gun freedom from the ship's movements and a steady aim on the target. They were centrally controlled via an analog "computer" of sorts but could also be independently fire at will. These guns were the state of the art at that time. I will depict my model in the independent controlled state. They could fire two rounds per second.
 
As good as these guns were there are a few disadvantages as well. !. the central control system. If damaged or failed it became a handicap and the guns must resort to manual control. "De Ruyter" experienced such an event during the battle in the Bali Sea earlier in February of 1942. A piece of shrapnel from a near miss of a Japanese bomb knocked it out.  2. Placing all four of these guns in one central location prevented forward firing due to the placement of the smoke stacks and masts. 3. The placement around the ammo supply tubes. This connected the AA deck with the aft ammunition magazine below it. This proved fatal when the Japanese torpedo hit the magazine. Fire and exploding shells came up the supply tube and caused heavy damage and death of the gun crews. 4. Enterprising attacking aircraft learned to rake the AA deck with great success. 5. With a central control system only one target could be aimed at, which hints at the old "cloud barrage" idea.
 
So then, having said all that we'll now commence with the build.
First order of business was to assemble all the parts for one gun that I'll use as a prototype. I will omit the shield in front of the gun because none of my photos show this installed on "Java." I will also try to cement the receiver with barrels pointing skyward.
In order to cement the barrels into the receiver I have to drill holes in the respective spots, next to each other.  Measuring the machined end of the gun barrels I selected a #85 drill bit. The problem is that it as way too small for the smallest collet for my pencil drill motor.  My Proxxon drill motor could be used but a little bulky and less control because I have to hold the receiver in my left hand and handle the drill motor with the right. So, I mixed some epoxy cement and dabbed it around the drill shank and let it harden up. I'll later smooth it out some to fit the collet. 
Next I pre-bend the aft railing and the receiver guide
 
This is all I could do today. Hopefully more tomorrow.

The AA gun deck with the four Bofors guns, looking forward. Here you can see the forward firing obstructions of the masts and funnels. This picture shows that the AA gun deck has a railing. The kit instructions show no railing and I'll go with that. It does have a raised side though.
 

The specific Bofors twin barrel gun on "Java."
 

A copy of the installation guide for the Bofors gun. #24 not used; #12 manual eye sight; #11 seat/foot rest; #15 crew platform; #16 receiver guide; #17 railing. I'll try to cement the lower railing rod to the edge of the platform.
 

Here are all pertinent parts laid out. The receiver is still attached to it's mold base and the part below it is the actual base. You can make out where the receiver is to be cemented to. Fortunately I don't have to modify it to cement the gun pointing up. At the ends of each barrel you can see the machined pins that'll be cemented into the receiver. That A looking thingy is the receiver guide that'll be curved. Next to it is the hand crank for moving the receiver up or down, I think. Above the receiver is the seat and footrest. The barrels actually have the recoil springs machined into them, really good.
 

The "Java" crew in action during a gun drill. A 5 man crew for each gun. You can see that no shield is used. There usually was a senior non-com or an officer on deck.
 

My modified drill bit, waiting for the epoxy to harden. A little filing and it should work.
 

The pre-bend railing, all the unevenness and wrinkles I'll try to straighten out as much as possible after it's cemented to the platform. This PE is very soft and the slightest touch moves it out of shape. Not easy to work with.
 

The gun-sight.
 
Cheers,
 

Thank you Denis and Carl. Hey Carl, I have never used this holy stone but a lot of polishing compound on airplanes though, does that count?? 
 
Okay, we are now at day 44, which brings us to January 29, 2018.
I finally tackled that difficult job, the ship's boats loading and unloading boom. Before cementing the boom to the mast I started with cementing the top most static support cable and the lifting/lowering pulley tackle rig. Then cemented the hook cable from the front of the boom with a piece of silk tread. I'll attach it later to the motor driven winch.
I did not have the PE cable assembly that runs from the end of the boom to the deck. Instead I used two silk threads for this that will be fastened to scratch build eyelets on the deck next to the aft vent pipes. This will be done after the boom is cemented to the deck. 
The PE boom swing tackle and hook will also be cemented on after the boom is secured to the mast. They will be fastened to the same eyelets for the mast side stays.
It was now time to cement the boom to the mast, which proceeded rather well in spite of all these loose pieces of rigging. Next came the task to secure all the loose cables and ropes to their assigned places.
It was now also time to paint everything in medium grey except the cabling is dome in dark grey.
 
Here I thought this was going to be a real challenge but it went surprisingly rather quick. Next up will be assembling the 4 Bofors. I'll have to kit-bash these because I want to have the barrels pointing skyward attempting tho get the Japanese observation planes but these clever guys kept out of range. 
 

This is a copy from my 1:50 scale scratch build drawing. It shows how everything runs from here to there.
 

This shows the boom cemented to the mast with all the loose rigging.
 

Here the installation is completed and painted.
 

A bird's eye view of the boat deck.
 

A close-up view of the boom and ship's boats.
 

Overall view of the jobs completed in the last few days.
 
Cheers,

Thanks Carl, yeas, she's slowly progressing. I am very close to getting to the current date. A few more installments. Currently I am still occupied with most in-house chores like cooking, dish-washing, floor scrubbing etc. besides the never ending yard work.  Gwen's hand is healing very nicely and can now straighten all her fingers out without them locking up. Still some discomfort when making a fist though, which is a good thing - - for me 
 
Okay then, today's post is for days 41, 42 and 43, which brings us to January 29, 2018.
On day 41 I started with assembling the seaplane loading/unloading gantries. First was removing them from the PE sheet with their associated PE parts. The gantry boom is etched in one piece and had to be folded double to make the complete beam. Another sticky job in not damaging the support cables that are part of the whole. Once I had them perfectly aligned I used a drop of CA to keep them together,
Next was cementing the traveling hook and pulley assembly for at the end and cemented them to the beam. I added a few strands of silk thread to the ends of the beams to simulate the mooring ropes, preventing the beams from swinging. These ropes will be fastened to the top of the rear funnel vent housing.
 
On day 42 I cut two small pieces of brass rod to simulate the observation plane refueling supply pipes at the sides of the hull and cemented them into place. Yeah, I had to scrape away some paint but I'll touch it up later.  there is a lot of touch-up work to do anyhow.  Looking at the 1:50 scale scratch build drawings there is a ladder from the deck down to the pivot part of the pipe so I got a piece from my spare PE and cemented that to the hull. My guess is for access to that point for the crew to attach the fuel hose and unlatch the pipe. There is also a gantry from the deck to the end of the pipe but I'll wait with cementing that on when I install the railing.
After lunch I installed both the aircraft loading gantries and started with the forward support stays. To simulate them being fastened to the deck I made two cleats and cemented them to the deck. No time to install the stays.
 
On day 43 I cemented both front stays. Them being from extremely thin PE it was a rather delicate operation but turned out rather good. Next I painted all the installed PE and some touch-up work.
 

A copy of my 1:50 scale drawing showing the aircraft loading gantry installation. This would be a rather fun project to tackle if I ever have the time to do so.
 

These are the main parts for the gantries. I have placed my Exacto #11 blade in te picture to give you an idea of size. I did not attempt to add the chains to the traveling hook assembly. I guess I could have used one of my hears - - -
 

This shows bothe gantries installed. Both the securing ropes will be replaced.

Both stays are installed and the securing ropes replaced, now they are taut. I guess You can also see the cleats I made for the stay.
 

Another look at the finished gantry installation.
 

This is that aircraft refueling pipe arrangement. That little bump below the ladder is a hinge assembly to allow the boom to swing out. Ah yes, I goofed on the ladder, that'll be straightened out before long and painted of course. According the drawings I have there is a rope attached to the pivot support brace at the end of this pipe to the ladder serving as a handhold. Seems rather tricky to walk across that pipe with the ship pitching.
 

Painted with some touch-ups.
 
 

This post is for day 40, which brings us to January 23, 2018.
 
In looking the model over I determined that the life rafts on the stern deck still have too much of the casting material to the undersides. I decided to remove them and shave off some more of the material. They fortunately popped right off without much damage to the deck. After I removed enough material I cemented them back on, looks much better.
 
I also decided to cement the motor launches to the intended cradles. I may move these guns a few millimeters further aft, perhaps.
 
In the previous post I mentioned the davits, so I figured why not cement them on.  First I rigged the tackles and secured them to the davit posts to tie them out of the way of gun action. I used a few filaments of silk sewing thread for the rigging ropes.
 

This and the next three pictures are copies I made from my 1:50 scale drawing of the davit arrangement.

 

 

 

These are the kit davits I rigged with the supplied PE hardware. As mentioned, the ropes are just a few strands of silk from a very fine sewing thread.
 

The davits cemented to the kit assigned places, which are accurate per my drawings. next to aft (right) davit you can see my scratch build eye bolt for the aft mast side stays and to the left is the boarding ladder.
 

An overhead view. That round bare spot ir for the 15 cm gun.  The motor launch is also cemented to its cradle. You would think that the aft mast side stays should be rigged aft of the mast center line. I did check up on this and found that Boris has it correct.
 

Another overhead view looking aft.
 
Cheers,
 

Thanks Denis and thanks to all liking my progress.
 
This post will contain several days of work due to the many extra curricular activities around the house and other things, progress is rather slow.
So, I'll combine Days 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35, which brings us to January 7, 2018.
 
I forgot to mention yesterday that I also prepped a bunch of life rafts and separated a few more ladders from the PE sheet and cemented them to their appropriate locations.
Okay, on day 31 I painted the ladders I installed the previous day. That's all I could do.
Before cementing the life rafts to the ship I looked for any additional parts I can install before they are in the way. I want to work from the inside out you see. There are 6 vent pipes on the center deck but the ones in the kit seem to be rather small.  I checked with my scratch build drawings and see that the tops of the pipes come about half way op the AA gun deck railing.
On day 32 I tried to lengthen the kit parts with a toothpick but gave op on that because one of the kit parts broke.  I decided to make my own to fit the drawings.
On day 33 I rummaged through my pile of small pieces of wood and found a square piece of boxwood, about 5 mm. It was too cold in the garage and my lather drive belts are broken anyhow so I used my trusty #11 Execto knife blade and some sandpaper to whittle 6 new pipes as per the drawings. The proto type didn't come out to bad, a little paint and we wont see the difference.
Continued on day 34 with the whittling of the vent pipes. I also whittled a 0.5 mm pin on the bottom for extra strength when cementing them to the deck. 
On day 35 the weather warmed up enough for me to go into the garage to drill the holes for the vent pipes. I then cemented the vent pipes to the deck, making sure they were all square to the deck. In the meantime I removed the ship's boat cradles from the PE as well as those for the seaplanes. The latter will be challenging because they have to be bend into a box shape and act like wet spaghetti   I did manage to cement the boat cradles though before calling it quits, it was way past beer thirty 
 

The large rafts with wooden floors and oars.
 

Rafts completed and read for paint.
 

This is a copy of part of my drawing showing the vent pipes  As you can see they stand rather tall on the deck and are also braced with removable cables. I intend to use a few strands of silk thread I have and a small sliver of wood for the turnbuckles.
 

This shows the comparison between my scratch build pipe and the kit pipe. The background is my very dark green polished granite kitchen counter top. It actually looks black when just casually looking at it. Gwen's choice.
 

Coming close to what I am looking for on the prototype.
 

6 vent pipes ready to install. Like I said, with a little heavy paint - - -
 

All 6 vent pipes installed and started with the bracing wires. You can aslo see a few life rafts cemented to the deck.
 
Cheers,