GuntherMT

hello all, 
 
This morning I did some more touch-up painting and some other minor adjustments.  I seem to be forever fiddling with things here and there.
I also installed version 2.0 of the flags.  Thanks to Remco these flags are the cat's meow, just superb.  i'm glad he send me a several sheets for possible oopsies because I had a few that didn't turn out just right.
 
Okay, we are coming close to the final part.  I don't know if I want to bore all yuns with the last parts such as the boarding ladder, the mine bun lid hinges and the dingy.  And of course the figures to crew the boat. These I can always make in between other projects.  
 
I'm leaving the build log active for the final final photos when the model is mounted on her display board.  This'll be another head scratcher but I'll overcome that one as well.
 
Here are a few pics I pulled out of my picture archive of today's work.
 

Here I have attached the Geus flag to the bow flag post and lowered the anchor for those to see who have not seen the pics when I made it.  This'll also be one one of the extra items I want to make together with a few more mines, torpedoes and deck gun shells.
 

This is version 2 of the main flag.  The white spots are from the flash glare.
 

This is version 2.0 of the stern flag.
 

Reworked the torpedo to make the sling look like it has some weight.
 

I also took a pic of the mine in it's bin.  Yeah, yeah, I know, the hinges must still be made.
 
Cheers,

Thank you all for "enduring" my story of one of the crazy escapades my father told me and your likes, it's much appreciated.
 
@ Joe, Omega, Vivian and others, a special thanks to you for your most kind words about my father.  Yeah, I guess he could be classified as a hero but so were thousands of others with him.  He felt it was his duty , the same way he felt it was his duty to go out with the fleet to battle the Jap fleet on January 1942.  He knew that the chances of surviving it were very slim.  Needles to say that I am proud of him and all the others who served with him in the fight against a common enemy.  Yup, he's still very much alive in my mind.
 
Actually Omega and Joe here is my plan for the near future.  I plan to assemble a sort of log with photos of the actual build in the Netherlands with pictures of the build of my model at the appropriate places.  I'll also write a few anecdotes about what he did, at least to the best of my recollection.  It'll end with a picture of his grave marker, 70 meters down on the bottom of the Java Sea.  
It'll be in a loose leaf format but can also be put on a CD and / or thumb drive.  The paper copy will be bequeathed to my youngest daughter and grandson together with the model.  The digital issues are free for the asking, I don't know how much a [a[er copy will run but my guess is mucho dinari 
 
Thank you all so very much for very kind words and encouragement.
 
Cheers, 

My sincerest and heartfelt thanks to all who visited and showed your appreciation by your likes!
 
Hoi Remco, thank you and yes, I'm also very pleased with how the launcher came out and worked.  The decals are super!
 
Hello Popeye, thank you for your compliments.  Actually I closed the starboard door for this shot but I'll try to remember to open it for another picture.  I think that Remco used a bunch of little elfs to paint the white on the transparent decal paper 
 
Hello Vivian, welcome to my shipyard, it's certainly great seeing you here.  Thank you so very much for your kind words.  Yeah, I guess I put a little more "of something" into this build and glad it shows.  I hope to see you resume your build soon, stay in good health. 
 
Hi Nenad, great seeing you here too, welcome my friend and thank you as well for your kind words.
 
Okay Omega, I'll now relate the story my father told me when I was about six or seven years old.  This was before the war with the Japs started and we lived in Surabaya, in the Dutch east indies.
Well, y'all must know that my father was also a certificated and fully trained hardhead Navy diver but also a "soft" diver using air supplied by a small serving boat.  He could swim like a fish and hold his breath for a long time, no smoking for him.  
He was young and not married with a lot of "loose hairs" as an old Dutch saying goes, wild and crazy.  Being young he also had that youth syndrome of eternal life, nothing can happen to me idea.
 
When assigned to a submarine and on one particular training trip, the boat he was on got tangled in fishing nets that got wrapped around one of the props, rudder and dive planes.  No matter what the captain tried nothing worked.  As a matter of fact she became even more entangled.  
Now, this was sometime in the late twenties, early thirteis and as I recall telling me, there was no floating telephone either.  The captain was about to order abandon ship even though that would be a risky business at the depth they were in.  Soooh, my father told him that he was a trained diver and could go outside to cut the boat loose.  After some debate, the captain reluctantly agreed.  My father then prepped himself with two "third lungs" devices, a clothespin on his nose , a big sharp knife and bolt cutter.  Then, in his skivvies went into one of the stern torpedo tubes.  
They closed the door behind him, opened the outer door that promptly flooded the tube and he clawed his way outside.  He proceeded to cut the fishing net away from the prop, the rudder and dive planes but checked also above and there he had to cut some more free.
He just held his breath for a minute, then took a deep swig of air from his air supply.  That way it lasted long enough for him to do the job.
When he was reasonably sure that the boat was free, he crawled back into the tube, all the while taking a swig of air every minute.  He knocked on the inner door as a sign he was back, the crew closed the outer door and carefully blew the water out and opened the inside door.  
 
A thank you and a pad on the back from the crew and captain.  Well done mister.  Yes, the boat was free and could move again.
 
When my grandson and I visited the USS Cod in Cleveland I told this story to my grandson when we were in the aft torpedo room and one of the doors was open.  Yup, my then 17 year old grandson could fit alright.  
 
Well, that was my crazy father and I'm glad he told me all kinds of stories of his escapades and that I can still remember after all those years. 
 
I hope I haven't bored anyone with this tale.  Hope to see all yuns later for the next parts to be made for the O19.
 
Cheers,
 
 

Hello again everyone and thank all who visited and give your thumbs up with the likes, much appreciated.
 
This morning I started out replacing some of the bothersome decals.  Remco PM'd me telling me that there are smaller bow numbers on the decal sheets.  And yes, there are so I replaced the bow decals and also the load numbers decals.  They are now in the correct place, both bow and stern.  Much better looking, I'm a happy camper     
 
After that was done I started with redoing the aft deck railings, making them look like in the ones in the commissioning photo.  Not as easy as I hoped for in trying not to damage the boat in any way.  The epoxy cement did a good job holding the stanchions in.  I was trying to safe them - - - being the frugal Dutchman ) but then I decided "to hell with it" and put a 4 X 4 - - - mm that is   - - - slat on the deck and pried them up with a small pair of pliers.  I filled the holes, soldered the angled side braces on in situe, soldered the tops on and restrung the cable.
After I was happy with the result I touched up the paint that was removed.  There was no damage that I could see.  Lucked out again 
 
So, I took a few pics for my records of today's work and share them with all yuns below.  Oh yeah, I installed the deck torpedo launcher as well, works great and so do the doors.
 

Self explanatory.  That little divot in the cable has been straightened.  I left one stanchion at the aft crew hatch.  There was one according to the commissioning  photo.  I think it served as a handhold for the crew getting in and out.   
 

This shows the new decals I received from Remco.  They are white on transparent decal paper so the paint can be seen through it, no messing mismatching colors or painting around them.  They are perfect!      
 

I couldn't resist taking a shot of the torpedo launcher inside the deck structure.  I closed the starboard side door to prevent back glare.  It swings freely out and in.
 
Cheers,
    

Hoi Carl, - - -           
Okay, I'm off the floor.  Drunken sailors indeed.  That reminds me of another story my father told us when he was fancy free and footloose, i.e. before being married to my mom.  You want to hear it ????  Oh, okay you twisted my arm   
 
After shore leave he was boarding the boat (no not the O19) and the officer of the deck stopped him and said, "mister you are drunk."  My dad said, "no, I'm not."  with that the officer of the deck told my father to walk the deck-slat."  Now one thing he could do was walk in a straight line when snookered.  So, the officer of the deck said, "well, I guess I made a mistake, carry on."  My father then, in his drunken mind was rather peeked at the officer of the deck and said, "like hell you say, I am drunk and I think you also need a drink."  With that he heaved the officer of the deck overboard.  Well now, that sobered him up enough to realize that that was not a very smart thing to do.  So, he got himself a broom, a rope and one of his shoes tied to the rope that he tied to the broom and proceeded to go "fishing."  
That got him to a visit to the psychiatrist instead of being thrown out of the Navy.  
The doctor had a hearty laugh about his story and made a note in the records of 'temporary insanity.'
 
As a young lad I pictured all this in my mind and thought it rather funny.  As you can see I still remember many things about my father, which I treasure.
 
Yeah, it's a shame that I was behind that flag otherwise all y'all could have seen one handsome 5 year old    and say, aaaahhhhh, how cute. 
 
Cheers,

Hello all, again - very little done on the O19 today.  Just a little more paint touch-ups.  I'll also need to redo the load nummers, they are too high.  Fortunately I have enough of them so there is no problem.
I didn't take any pics of the decals being placed on the model for that very reason.  After that's done I'll put the edge sealer on the decals and then maybe take a few pics of her.
 
There is still plenty little piddl'n stuff to do before we can truly call the model completed.  I need to make one torpedo from aluminum rod so the loading sling looks like it has some weight on it.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Then I need to make the boarding ladder, hinges for the mine bun lid, new flags and the dingy.  My real challenge will be to make a few members of the crew.  I'll start with my father of course and at a scale of 1:50 he would be about 35 mm.  That seems about right when looking at the photo where he is standing next to the con.  I like to place him in the "bathtub" or the bridge with another figure.  This can always be done after the model is completed.
 
I also cleaned up my build dock and put new paper on the board, it looks neater that way 
 
Okay, we had a little discussion about the railing and I went to my photo archive and dug up a bunch of photos with the O19 having railings.  I mainly used the official Wilton-Feijenoord drawings for my railing.  It shows the railing and from where to where it was placed.   I may have to remove a few stanchions on the aft deck when taking a closer look at the photos.  This is okay, no problem.  Looks like the builder deviated from the plans.
 
The railings were still on the boat on her voyage to the Netherlands East Indies from Holland in 1939.  I have two pics with the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt, one of her stops for fuel.  Before arriving in Alexandria though they performed magnetometer tests in the Mediterranean Sea, submerged.  This shows that the O19 did go submerged for quite some time with the railings installed.  Unless, as Freek pointed out, they removed them and stowed them before diving.  Seems like a lot of work each time she comes up and goes down again.
 
In any case, the reason for my model is to show how the boat actually looked like with everything on it, including the things that may be temporarily stowed for underwater cruising.  Obviously they wouldn't load torpedoes, have the AA guns out or the dingy out and neither the boarding ladder.  It's for static display and show and tell 
 
I hope all yuns don't mind me having the railings on a submarine 
 
Let me add a few pics for you to see a submarine with railings 
 

This is the official drawing from WF.  Here you can see from where to where the railing runs.  On the last photo below of the commissioning in 1939, you can see that they didn't run the railing as far back as the drawing shows.  Well, one more small alteration to make.  Yes, the drawing still shows the original identification number, K XIX, which was changed to O 19.
 

This picture shows the O19 docked and presumably in the Navy base Den Helder sometime in 1939.  Here you can see the railing stanchions.
 

This shows the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt on her way to the Netherlands East Indies in July, 1939.  The railing is clearly visible here.
 

Here is another photo of the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt on July 1939.  The railing is clearly visible.  Yes, it was common practice to span tarps over the deck for shade.
 

This is a picture of the O19 going out to sea for proving runs.  My father was on board for each one of course.  Oh, I remember one hair-raising story he told us about what happened on one of these proving runs    Shudder, shudder.
 

I may have shown this one before but this is a photo of the commissioning of the O19 on July 3, 1939.  My mother, sister and I were there to witness the event.  I have annotated the picture where it shows my mother holding my hand  but my sister and I are hidden by the Geus, the flag at the bow.  Hey, I was only 5 years old then but I still remember quite a bit, it must have made a big impression on me, I guess     Remco directed me to a website where I copied newspaper articles about the commissioning where my father's name is mentioned.  This was his third trip to the colonies.  Oh, sweet memories
 
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,
 
 

build is based on the premiss that she was a 20 year old merchant ship
 
                                                                  
 
                                                                       
 
                                                                  
 
                                                                      
 
                                                                 
 
The hull has had its base coat applied and the start of ageing.
                                                                 
                                                                  
 
                                                                  
 
                                                                  
 
                                                                    
 
 
The rails have been dry fitted
 
                                                                     
 
                                                                    
 
                                                                     
 
                                                                     
 
Just a couple of odds and ends
 
 
Tony
 
 
 
Previous build  MAYFLOWER - AL 
 
 
 
                                                                        
 
                                                                     
 
                                                                
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                  
 
                                                              
 
                                                                
 
                                                                    
 
                                                                    
 
 
 
                                                                    
 
                                                                   
 
    
 
                                                              

Made some more progress today.  Weekends with no plans are pretty good for getting stuff done if I actually work on stuff!
 
Began by fairing the poop deck, which was pretty easy, just a sanding block needed here.
 

 
The notches were not correct in the sub-deck, so I had to adjust them.  The deck was too short as well, but looking ahead to the deck finishing, you end up cutting the leading edge of the sub deck off later to place a trim piece there, so I just shifted the sub-deck rearward and adjusted the notches accordingly, rather than having to trim it off later.
 
Used more pieces of the basswood deck planking material that I won't use for the build to 'clamp' the sub deck rather than using nails or pins.
 


 
Then installed the support beams for the quarter deck and the rear of the main deck.  Used a little collar pin that I think I got from Micro-Mark to hold the forward quarter deck beam in place while the glue dried.  Got them sometime after I could have used them on the Carmen because they looked like they might be pretty useful, and this is the first time I've used one.
 




 
After this, the fun part began.  Fairing the main deck.  This was quite a challenge, as the bulkhead extensions really get in the way of doing much work with a reasonable sized sanding block, and I was quite worried I'd break one off.  I ended up putting a fine grinding stone on the Dremel tool, and held it vertically using the 'flat' face of the stone (cylindrical shaped stone) to grind away on each bulkwark top, and measuring with a plank that extended most of the length of the deck.
 
The bulkhead F that I had shimmed up, I ended up completely sanding down the shim back to the bulkhead material, and then ended up shimming the other side of that bulkhead.  The best laid plans and all.  At the end I had added full shims to the top of 4 bulkheads, and half-shims to another couple before I was happy with how the plank laid from the center line out to each set of extensions.
 

 
After a lot of notch trimming, and breaking off a few pieces of the edge of the very fragile sub deck, I got it glued on, and clamped with the same 'plank & rubber band' system I used on the other sub-decks.
 

 
The odd streak near the center line of the main deck is just a dark spot in the wood.  When I first saw that on the pictures, I do admit to having a bit of a panic moment, wondering how I had a big split in the deck without noticing it.
 

 
Next I'll begin fairing work on the hull, and working on the stern transom.

Thanks Rich, and I got your message and sent him an email.
 
Alistair, thanks for the tip - I could probably use that same filler that messed up the Carmen hull so much, as it's very light colored (which was the problem with it in that scenario on walnut).  I'll do some testing with that.
 
Fairly brief update tonight, spent most of the day at a charity event so not much time on the ship.
 
I finished gluing in all the bulkheads, and I have started placing reinforcing blocks between the bulkheads.  I'm using 5/16" square basswood for the blocks.  I was going to use balsa, but it's just as expensive as basswood, so I just got basswood figuring it will always be useful to have extra basswood bits around.
 
After last nights update, I decided to do "one more bulkhead" before bed.  Yea, I'm dumb that way.  I managed to get distracted after gluing it in place and setting the blocks against it, and left it so long that the excess glue got onto the blocks and glued the bulkhead to both blocks.  I broke both sides of the bulkhead trying to get them apart.  Because the center slot was solid, and the breaks were both clean, I drilled a hole through the center of the now solid slot, drilled a hole into both sides and pinned the broken pieces all back together with a single long pin made from a toothpick.  After the glue dried, I think it's the strongest bulkhead I have now.
 

Hi all
 
Sorry to bore you all with the flags ha ha.
 
I have just finished the last of the flags, but they need a bit of improvement .
 
Will try and take better photos when she is all finished :'( ha ha.
 
Denis.

Hi ,a quick report. I have managed to finish the captain's office and the fore deck. It takes a lot of time but the results do not seem to be so obnoxious, I hope...

Finally completed the quarterdeck planking at the end of last week. I have been spending a bit of time planning the next build phase, and constructing some of the quarterdeck fittings. Here are some pictures of the work to date. I used a very thin nibbed felt tipped pen to add the caulking effect to each plank prior to fitting, I'm very pleased with the end result.
 
Here is a picture showing bow end.

 
A picture showing the view down to the upper gun deck

 
Here is a picture showing stern end, the screen assembly is only dry fitted, I do not plan to fit until later on.

 
Spot the difference in the next two pictures, the fittings shown are dry fitted.


 
 

How did Chris De Burgh say? The lady in red is dancing with me.

I had a box on the door this evening.  The replacement bulkhead arrived from Model Shipways exactly 1 week after they responded saying they would replace it, so pretty happy with their service.  They sent the entire sheet, and the bulkhead "F" is perfectly cut, so my kit part was an anomaly, not an issue with their pattern.
 
Obviously I won't be using it at this point, but it's nice to know they support their product and if I ever do get stuck with a bad part, I won't have to wait too long for a replacement.
 
I got the hull faired with 120 grit, but it was a long day at work and I'm not going to finish it tonight, so no real update or pictures.

I had a box on the door this evening.  The replacement bulkhead arrived from Model Shipways exactly 1 week after they responded saying they would replace it, so pretty happy with their service.  They sent the entire sheet, and the bulkhead "F" is perfectly cut, so my kit part was an anomaly, not an issue with their pattern.
 
Obviously I won't be using it at this point, but it's nice to know they support their product and if I ever do get stuck with a bad part, I won't have to wait too long for a replacement.
 
I got the hull faired with 120 grit, but it was a long day at work and I'm not going to finish it tonight, so no real update or pictures.

Hi Back again.
 
Some photos re flags.
 
1, is the can that has been bent.
2, is the flag with the little crocodile clips.
3, is the shape of the flag.
 
Denis.

Hi.
My story of a solid hull.
Me at the time was at the tender age of 10.. Doing my normal thing in the morning befor school I would look around our local coves for any driftwood that might have come in during the night.
In doing this one day I found a hull of a ship made out of solid wood.
I picked it up as it was the only thing that got washed in that night.
One of the locals was a model ship builder and spotted me walking through the village with it and called me over.
This turned out to be a very good carving that he insisted that I should continue building it.
With his help this model was completed and is now on display in the local pob.
Solid hulls are not easy and are used by masters for model ship building.
 
The hull was just over 27 inches long and had all the decks shaped ready.
This was my start into this hobby.
 
Regards Antony.

I picked up some gears at the local RC Hobby store ad built mine. The only thing I would do differently next time would be to reverse the gears.

Joe,
 
OOOPPPSSSS,
 
You asked about my other obsession. I apologize as this one response is totally OFF within my log, but I could not help myself since you asked J
 
I have enjoyed collecting for about 25 years. And over that time the amount of incorporated details have gone to the point of  “the incredible”. My upstairs case are for all of the extras. Downstairs is my other more formal case. I have about 250 cars.
 
The first three a 71 Mustang is not an important car, but is reflective of details for a 1/24th scale precision diecast. Note the manual trans gear linkage.
 
The other cars the Maserati, Bugatti, and the Panera are current releases in 1/18th scale. 
 
Regarding the Maserati if you look carefully just inside the water hose loop you will see that even the chassis number has been included. Yes the door pulls articulate and work, as well as the suspensions in almost all of my collection. These are for-all-intense-and-purposes miniatures of real cars. Some have over 1000 parts.
 
My other collection is of 1/400th aircraft 97% airliners, with just a few very important military aircraft such as the SR71
 
Cheers, thanks for asking.
 
I’ll stay on topic next time. Hope the pics are not too over the top, I know that I'm way off topic (:-) If the Moderators need to remove this post I understand....
 
Michael

Hi Steve
 
Re Flags.
 
This is for polyester type flags only ( not paper ones ).
 
I cut a beer can or Coca Cola can, bent it to shape (please over bend the can, as when you take it off it tends to flatten out ).
 
I then put the flag on top and sprayed it with hair lacquer till the flag was soaking wet.
 
I then put some small crocodile clips to hold the flag to the can, stand the flag up to let the surplus hair spray drip off onto some paper.
 
Leave to dry for 12 hours.
 
What I did next some people will not like.
I did try and put the flag on to some rope but it did not work, the flag just fell over.
 
I got some 1mm x 1mm walnut from my stock and glued some each side of the flag, then trimmed the flag off.
I then glued it to the flag poles.
 
Will post some photos soon.
 
Denis.

Thanks folks, now the blunt end! The Mizzen is now complete with the Mizzen Topsail. I've added the railing now which I fabricated early last year.

The first cut at the cherubs installed, plus the medieval knights.  I had to be careful and measure the knights before I built out the quarter gallery framing, and they still didn't fit perfectly because one side of the planking above their heads was ever so slightly lower.  Luckily the planking was flexible.
 

 
Once I looked at the installed figures for a while, I found various things I didn't like, so I added a bunch of detail and changed a few things.  The cherubs have more highlighting and accents in the crevices to bring out detail.  The knights have some added highlighting on their capes as well.
 
I'm still not happy with the Gideons above the knights.  They are the same sculptures as the small-size Roman emperors on the beak, and look totally different from what's on the ship.  I think I'm going to remove them, add more detail, and then replace a few of them with sculptures from the upper quarter gallery, which have the correct musical instruments.  We'll see how that turns out.
 

 
The kit models the knights differently from the actual ship, particularly on their heads.  The ship sculptures have feathered caps, and the kit sculptures have turbans.  This is a recurring theme on other sculptures too - seems like the kit sculptor had a thing for turbans.  So trying to emulate feathers on turbans was a little interesting, but the result isn't too bad.
 

 
Next up, some photos of the large transom sculpture...
 
 

After watching all my teams lose this weekend, I decided to get back on the build today to take my mind off of the losses.
 
Started by gluing in the ladders. Then the stern step. Finished gluing the stringers in. Now here comes the but. According to the plans, the layout and the pictures the stringers go all the way along the deck. If you were going to put in a deck the same thickness as the stringer I can see that, but the scuppers are there to drain the water coming over the bulwarks while at sea and for rain in port. So to me the scupper have to be at deck height. Looking at the plans and the ratio, the decks would have 4-6" of water on them before going out the scuppers.
 
I cut the stringers at the edges of the first and last scupper and beveled for drainage. My question now is, how to finish it ?
 
 

 
Here are two small beveled pieces of stringer between scuppers, then add timberheads ( futtocks ) ? above
 

 
Or leave out pieces of stringer and just go from the deck.
 
I still have to do some finish work on the scuppers, but these will give you an idea.
 

 
Also ran into problems with the stern brackets. They didn't fit right, so had to make two new ones out of some scrap wood left over from the dinghy. Then I'll stain them.

Greetings all
Well I expected to have my victory encased in a few days time, and have tidied the ship up, and touched up the paintwork. At the moment I am painting the oars and anchors for the two small boats which fit on the davits. The two final replacement acrylic sheets for my case appear to have been lost in transit . I got a call today to tell me they had been dispatched last Wednesday, and I should have received them the next day, but TNT appear to of lost them. I have been told it will be sorted tomorrow, and I will be sent two more sheets. I expect to start the royal caroline in a few weeks time, and I have just had a keel clamp made. I have just noticed that the horizontal bar may need lengthened . See what think of it. Thanks for your comments and for viewing. DAVID