Piet

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,.

Thanks Denis and Carl for dropping in and your kind words.
Not quite close for her maiden voyage Carl. I think that the biggest challenge is still ahead of me, the diorama frame and sea. I bought a piece of molding today for the base sides and to retain the sea material. I have a 1/2 inch thick panel from an old cabinet that'll serve as the base. I think I'll make it 24 X 8 inches, that'll give the ship ample room. I plan to place her in a somewhat diagonal position allowing me to add two missed shell bursts in the areas of more sea space. 
Wish me luck with it.
 
Cheers,

Hello all and thanks to those who visited and clicked the like button.
 
This post is for Day 58, which brings us to March 16, 2018.
This day I cemented all ten 15 cm guns to the model as I perceived them to be positioned.
I also cemented the 4 paravanes to the locations as shown on several photos.
Today's work didn't take much time so I also started to assemble the two propeller guards.
 
I have attached a bunch of pictures of this day's progress.
 

The number 10 gun that holds special interest to me. More about that in a future post. Yep, also some paint tough-ups.
 

A close-up of the number 10 gun. The light overhead puts a lot of shimmering on the uneven glue spots.
 
 

 
The Dutch National flag made from a decal. I may remake it from thin paper. The Bofors gun in the left back will be repaired. Accidentally hit it when handling the model.
 

All four paravanes cemented to the deck.
 

An actual photograph of a paravane. I painted mine in light grey.
 

Another actual photograph of the crew handling a paravane.
 

This is a photo Kevin Denlay took, showing the tail fins of a paravane, on one of his dives on the wreck. He stated that tihs one was on the sea floor amidships.
 

Overhead shot of the model howing all 10 guns cemented to "Java."
 

Another overhead shot.

The two parts for the propeller guards being cemented together.

The completed propeller guards ready for dressing. This job was like shoving two wet noodles together.
 
Cheers,
 

Thank you Lawrence for visiting and your kind words. Also my thanks to all who clicked the like button,
 
This post is for days 54, 55 56 and 57, which brings us to March 12.
All these days involve mainly the installation of all the deck railings with some associated items.
Day 54 on March 6 I planned on cementing the stern deck railing but needed to think about it a little first. You see, the PE parts are made to fit between the aft main deck gun platform and the depth charge launching ramps at the fantail. Here then is my dilemma, None of my photos of "Java" show these ramps, nor the flagpole at the fantail. I already looked for a longer PE railing I can use to close the fantail. But then I thought, why not cement the railing meant for it and add a simulated cable type addition as I have seen on a few photos. These railings are foldable anyway so my thinking makes sense. 
I need to do some more thinking on it.
 
That brought my attention to the bow railing but before I can install any railing i needed to install the refueling rig on the main deck. It would otherwise make it too difficult to do. I needed to drill a small hole in the deck for the supplied brass rod where the PY support rigging is to be attached to. In reality this is quite a complicated rig but at this scale Boris did a real nice job simulating it. A shame that it kinda gets lost due it's small size.
 
Day 55 on March 9, I started to cement the forward railing. I started at the bow first with a small dab of cement and let it harden, then slowly bending the railing following the curve of the bow and tack cemented it as I went along to the end of that railing. Next I followed through with the thin CA along the bottom of the railing. I used the same method for all the railings, which proved to be working real fine for me. At least I had no damage to the railing. 
I also cemented the small flagpole against the forward side of the AA gun deck rangefinder house.
Now the flag. Boris supplied two small decals with the kit but can't use them as a flag - - - or can I?  So okay I tried and soaked the decal in some water and slid it off the paper, folded it around the flagpole and bingo I had the flag. Problem is that it's just too delicate and I can't make the flag wave in the breeze. So I gently brushed some thin CA on it, let it harden a little and then made a few folds in it. As long as nobody touches it it'll be fine.
 
Days 56 and 57 were occupied with cemented the rest of the railings to the ship. The # 9 gun deck was a little difficult due to the ladders going up. I had to improvise with some spare longer pieces because of the gaps for the ladders but in the end it worked out just fine. Next was painting them following the camouflage scheme on the hull.
I'm rather pleased with the railings. Below are a few pics of the railing project. The next installment will show more on how they look.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,
 

Thank you Denis and Nils for your visit and comments. Also to those who clicked the like button, thanks.
 
Yes Nils, this scale has been a challenge, mainly due to the very delicate PE. I'm not afraid working at a small scale but this PE stuff is difficult.
 
Here is another photo of "Java" taken from the Australian cruiser "Hobart." This was most likely in Lampung Bay on February 14, 1942, one day before the action in the Gaspar Straits. (From the collection of J.A.Dorlas).

Cheers,

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,
 

This post will be days 38 and 39, which brings us to January 18, 2018.
 
A start was made with the standing rigging of the aft mast. I elected to use the thinnest polyester sowing thread for its non sagging properties. Scale wise it is still a little oversize but it does give the impression of some sturdiness. I needed to be extra cautious not to make it too taught or too loose. I didn't want to pull the mast out of plumb or with a sagging cable.  
The two forward stays were fastened to the top of the aft funnel vent housing first. I used the forward vent pipe cable fastening device - a tiny drop of CA - as the attaching point. As the CA was curing I carefully brought the thread to it with tweezers till they got a hold of it. This way I could slide the thread just enough to make it appear taught. When cured I simply cut thee excess off with the Exacto # 11 blade.
 
For the side stay, which is fastened to a deck fixture, like an eye bold, with turnbuckle. I made en eye bold from brass wire, drilled holes into the deck and used the same thread. A little tricky in that the eye in the eye bold was a just enough to let the thread pass trough. Doubling back to the stay made it look too lumpy so I just put a dab of CA on it and cut the excess of.
In the enlarged photos these "cables" do look like actual steel cables, which makes me a happy camper.
 
Next I cemented the two ship's boats to their cradles but held off with the motor launches.  I am not sure yet about it's involvement with the 15 cm gun next to it.  With the guns in active firing positions would the hot powder gasses damage them? So I need to think about this a little before making a decision whether to mount them or not. If not, then what do I do with them? Hanging them in the davits is not an option because none of the photos I have with "Java" in action shows them there.
I have the same thoughts about the gun between the two davits.
 
Next I cemented the two support beams for the machine gun deck. These also serve as the supports for the seaplane crane gantries. 
This concludes the aft mast rigging.
 
Day 39, 02/18/2018: Not much was done this day. I cemented all three anchors to their locations. Made and cemented the turnbuckles for the center vent pipes to their bracing cables and cemented the boarding ladders to the ship's side, where indicted.

The forward stays are cemented on. The side stay wires are waiting. You can see my scratch build eye bold cemented to the deck just aft of the aft davit attach point at the edge of the deck.
 

The side stay cemented to the eye bolt.
 

The machine gun deck support posts are cemented in place. Just to the left on the hull you'll see the place for the PE boarding ladder.
 

Bow anchor cemented in place.
 

Stern anchor cemented in place.  Looking at the 1:50 scale drawing it seems to be a little too large. I can either leave things alone or make a new anchor. The one shown in this photo is also a scratch build anchor.
 
 
 

 

Close up vies of the seaplane deck with cradles and the forward vent pipe bracing cables attached to the forward funnel vent housing. That's the point I used for the aft mast forward stays.
 

Bird's eye view of the aft mast deck. Here you can also see the dummy turnbuckles on the vent pipe bracing cables.
 
Cheers,

Thanks to all for the best wishes for Gwen and she says tanks. The surgery was a great success. The doctor had to spend an extra 20 minutes on her hand because of so much scar tissue from the previous surgery a few years back. They wrapped her hand much too tight, which made it quite uncomfortable. She only took two pain pills yesterday, slept okay and is beginning to use her swaddled hand again, against doctor's instructions. She claims it's good exercise for the fingers. Stubborn Dutchman she is 
So I made a genuine Indo Chinese fried noodle dish, called bami goreng, our made in Indonesia used to make for my father and me, totally awesome. Even these seemingly random things do remind me of him.  For tomorrow I'll make herb stuffed salt water fish and hope they have sea bass or orange roughy, with herbed quinoa, asparagus with special sauce, and carrots. Probably have leftovers for Saturday that'll give me a break from cooing. Yes, I'll get an extra fish, hey, my mom didn't raise a dummy   For Sunday I plan on  a dry-rub roast brisket or flank steak with roasted root veggies, real rustic food.
 
Okay, back to updates of the "Java" build.
This will be days 36 and 37, which brings us to January 10, 2018.
On day 36 I shaped the seaplane cradles. A most trying job. Folding them into a box from a straight piece of PE and make them come out true was not easy. I managed to mangle two of them. I'm fortunate in having a spare PE. In the end I produced 4 fairly decent cradles. Only when we look close we can see some unevenness but we'll chalk that up to age and handling rash 
I cemented them to to deck and after the CA had cured enough I could carefully straighten some of the unevenness out.
Next I installed the vent pipe cables with fake turnbuckles so they can be unhitched when loading or launching the seaplanes.
 
I then started on the aft mass stays but got only as far as getting the thread for them ready. More on the standing rigging on another day.
 
Day 37 started with a minor setback, no big problem but my own oversight. I send a progress photo to Boris Mulanko from Pacific Cross Roads and he almost immediately send me a message back that the life rafts I cemented to the #9 gun deck are in the wrong place. I placed them more in the center instead of at the edge. I failed to look at the overhead view of the instruction sheet.
He did mention though that I am not the only one who made this error. Well, at least that didn't make me feel too bad. Now, how am I going to get them off the deck without destroying it.  I used a box cutter to gently wriggle under them and they popped off without too much damage. Most of the residue cement I could remove with my #11 Exacto blade and a knife file.  How can we explain the damaged deck to the viewer? Maybe hauling cases of gun shells across the deck?? 
I cemented the life rafts back to the deck in the right places and painted the deck again.
 
This made me wonder though how these rafts fared during the firing of that 15 cm gun so close by. I guess we'll never know, unless someone has the experience in that.
 
Okay, here are a few pics of the progress so far.
 

Seaplane cradles cemented to the deck. Now you can also see the vent pipes. Some of the unevenness in the paint is from glare of the lamp. However, I suspect the I'll have to do some touch-up after painting the cradles.
 

A more overhead shot. You can also see my fake turnbuckle at the right vents. That bare round spot is where a 15 cm gun will be placed.
 

The erroneous placing of the life rafts. You can see how close they would be to that #9 gun. But even at thair assigned location it still would seem rather close that gun barrel. Here too, that bare spot is the gun location.

All life raft relocated to where they are supposed to be. Yep, there is some damage but really difficult to see from an arm's length. This picture is at 5X magnification. Oh well, it is what it is. No sense in crying over spilled milk, eh what?  This particular location on the ship has great significance for me. It happens to be near my Father's battle station and this particular section of the ship is missing from the wreckage on the sea floor.
 
Cheers,

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,.

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,.

It sounds like you have been looking at an other diorama here at MSW! It sounds interesting, I do wish you luck, although I think you hardly need it with your prowess'

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!

Nice idea with the planking Denis. Staring at the center seems to draw me into a hole - - - lucky for me that spread-eagled myself
 
Cheers,

Nice progress Denis, the end caps look really good.
Thanks also to Ken and you Denis, for the little people info. Z gauge may work but I too have to watch my expenditures.
 
Cheers,

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

Nice assortment of figures Denis. They'll surely dress up your model.
Would there be figures available in scale 1:350?  Just asking, no plans at the moment. Although I would be nice to get at least 6 figures to man one of the guns on "Java."
 
Cheers,

A lot of progress Denis. The smaller beads look much better for the doorknobs.
 
Cheers,

Great little tutorial on your mast hole jig JesseLee.  That'll make life a lot easier for you later on.  And a wow on the gratings, great job.
Cheers,

Hey JesseLee, I'll echo Jason's advice, don't get discouraged now and that after you have done such an outstanding job in hand-making those carronades.  If the final paint job looks a little rough try to twirl them in some fine sandpaper, like 360 grit or so.  Then put another coat or two of thinned enamel.
Actually, a little roughness to the finish may simulate cast iron and once on the ship it should look just fine.
On the photo they look quite nice, great job so far.
 
Cheers, 

Great job on the wooden cannonade JesseLee, perfection.  Give Sawdust Dave a PM and ask him for assistance on mold making and casting.  Hobby lobby and any arts and crafts store have these kits in stock and are rather inexpensive.
On the other hand though, making them from wood is a fun thing to do, hmmm, I'm smiling as I say that    After a few you'll get the hang of it and can turn them out in a hurry.  Satisfaction of a job well done is worth it's weight in gold.  Keep plugging at it my friend, you are now in the scratch build world.
 
Cheers,

Very nice work JesseLee.
 
Cheers,

Thanks Denis and Carl for dropping in and your kind words.
Not quite close for her maiden voyage Carl. I think that the biggest challenge is still ahead of me, the diorama frame and sea. I bought a piece of molding today for the base sides and to retain the sea material. I have a 1/2 inch thick panel from an old cabinet that'll serve as the base. I think I'll make it 24 X 8 inches, that'll give the ship ample room. I plan to place her in a somewhat diagonal position allowing me to add two missed shell bursts in the areas of more sea space. 
Wish me luck with it.
 
Cheers,

Very nice work JesseLee.
 
Cheers,

Very nice work JesseLee.
 
Cheers,

Thanks Denis and Carl for dropping in and your kind words.
Not quite close for her maiden voyage Carl. I think that the biggest challenge is still ahead of me, the diorama frame and sea. I bought a piece of molding today for the base sides and to retain the sea material. I have a 1/2 inch thick panel from an old cabinet that'll serve as the base. I think I'll make it 24 X 8 inches, that'll give the ship ample room. I plan to place her in a somewhat diagonal position allowing me to add two missed shell bursts in the areas of more sea space. 
Wish me luck with it.
 
Cheers,