texxn5

Piet, here's a picture of our humble abode, here in St. Augustine.

There are cannonball holes and bulllet holes in many of the walls. The first wall was where they held the firing squads....bad place to wind up....

This was an interesting item on the grounds of the fortress.  Read the sign for an explanation.....

Hello Sjors, well, today we got to meet one of your fellow Dutchmen....and his lovely Admiral.  We met with Piet and Gwen, and bent an elbow of fine Belgium Ale and exchanged sea stories...(or air stories in Piet's case).  Had a wonderful time and learned a lot of WWII history.  His story is remarkable.   His 0-19 is truly a work of art and I feel honored to have been able to see it and understand it's story.  Quite an expierience and only through MSW could this have been possible.  Once again the power of this Forum shines through. 

Hi Jason, this is really looking nice. I like the detail of the gun tackle.

Piet, here's a picture of our humble abode, here in St. Augustine.

This was an interesting item on the grounds of the fortress.  Read the sign for an explanation.....

This was an interesting item on the grounds of the fortress.  Read the sign for an explanation.....

I don't like the part of ……NO PICTURES.
 
Shame on you both !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 

Thank you John for the kind words.  Yes, we had a great time yacking about ships and airplanes and Belgian beer     John and Diane are the most gracious couple and it is indeed an honor and pleasure to have met them.  What a great group of folks here on MSW!  Where else can you meet people in person you have never seen yet feel like you have known each other for a long time?  
Now, I had my cameras, yes plural, all three, handy and plum forgot to take any pics, sorry Sjors   
 
Thanks again John for coming to our humble abode and visit my shipyard, hope to make it to Houston sometime and quaff a few brews on your porch!  In the meantime carry on with your Morgan build, she's really looking great.
 
Cheers 
 
 
 

Glad to hear of another great meeting John and Piet. Now just turn around and go back and take some pictures please!

John John John.  WONDERFUL!!    Took me a bit to catch up - but what wonderful pictures and what a terrific tour you are on!
 
Thank you for sharing.
 
-Adam

Hi Piet,
 
There is nothing wrong with Belgium beer….
But you are Dutch, and that's why you have to serve Dutch !!!!!! 
Then about the vase….. it's better to put the spare wood somewhere where we can found it if needed.
And because there are big planks, a high vase is a good solution.
Also the fact, I don't have to buy flowers because the vases are in use…….      
 
You are right about the pictures….
Still have to go to Vlaardingen…...
I'll be waiting for snow for a romantic picture   
 
The last thing….I think that we are all having the same problem…money…..
If I had enough, I come to the States to meet all off you !!!!!!!!
But the virus of meeting builders has already started…….
Who knows where it ends…….
 
 
@ Adam,
 
Thank you very much !
What about the ratlines….it's all experience...
After a few 1000 , you know how it works.
It's not that difficult.
Let me see if I can explain it for you .
 
You are using the clove hitch.
Also use a pair of tweezers.
Don't pull to hard so the shrouds are still in one line and not getting curved.
You have to practice to see how it goes.
Print the picture out and keep it next to the build.
Then it should work.
 

 
 

Hoi Sjors, what's wrong with GOOD belgian beer? Eh, eh? You gonna start something? Just watch it matey or I'll send Adriaan over to kick your but
John and I had a great time as well as with his lovely bride. Diane and I swapped art stories and she looked at some of my drawings and paintings, which she likes.
 
Yes, indeed, there are a few nice Dutch people and I am honored to know them
 
Cheers and stay in good health,

Again thanks to all who clicked "like," I do appreciate your visits and appreciation!
 
Well, no work was done yesterday in the shipyard.  We had a very delightful visit from John txxn5 and his lovely bride Diane.  
 
However, today I did some work and will post a few pics knowing that a certain Dutchman in Schiedam likes pictures     
The very first thing was to glue the dingy hatch hinges to the side stringers of the dingy compartment.
While the glue was drying on the hinges I moved forward again to remove the small forward and aft portions of the deck at the deck torpedo launcher.  John told me to remove them so I'll do as he told me      No, he didn't tell me, I mentioned to him that I was planning on doing it and he agreed.  
So, I did some more surgery and removed the two sections, without doing any damage to the rest 
Then I got some 2 X 4 mm planks to make stringers to glue against the deck beam studs left behind from my cuts.  This'll strengthen the sides of the deck and affords a place for the new deck plates to rest on.
Slots were chiseled in the forward and aft deck bulkheads for these stringers to rest on.
 
In the meantime the glue for dingy hatch hinges had cured enough for me to attempt to glue the hatches to the hinges. I also had to cement a small brass support shelf for the port side hatch to rest on.  I used 5 minute epoxy glue for that.  So I started with the aft starboard hatch and it went very smooth.  Next was it's mate, the forward starboard hatch, that too went off like greased lightning     I must be living right today 
 
While the glue was curing I moved forward again and glued the torpedo compartment deck side stringers in place.
 
Back again to the back and started with the port side dingy hatches. Here too, everything worked as advertise, making me a happy camper 
 
So what next?  I soaked my glued up blocks of basswood overnight and tried to twist them to fit the shape of the deck sides where the engine exhaust shrouds are to be cemented.  I clamped them in my wood vice on the workbench and with my "watchmaker's" water pump pliers and a piece of 12 gauge electrical wire I secured this Rube Goldberg setup to the electrical conduit on the wall.  I hope it'll work, we'll find out tomorrow.  If it does I'll have to do the same thing with the second one.  keep our fingers crossed.
 
Well, that was it for today, it was 17:30 and my legs were getting tired, been standing in the dockyard for a good four hours.
Okay, pics below, here you go Sjors     
 

I cut small strips of file folder paper and folded them with a sharp crease in the center.  I try not to get any glue on the crease area to keep it flexible.
 

I used the same technique as the previous operation.  It worked just fine and didn't damage anything else.  The cuts were about 1mm outside the lines so now I trimmed them to the line and filed them as straight as possible. 
 

These are the 2 X 4 mm stringers to serve as supports for the deck as well as strengthening the sides of the deck.
 

Here they are ready to be glued.
 

Side stringers are glued and clamped.  I used a piece of scrap plywood to position them so the deck plates are all at the same level.
 

I attacked the torpedo side doors - - - again.  I cut the hand holds in and added the center pull bar. To do this I had to remove the paper.  That'll be replaced tomorrow and checked for fit - - - again. If they fit correctly then I'll install the hinges on the bottom.  These will again be made from file folder stock.
 

All dingy compartment hatch hinges are now glued in place.
 

This shows the hatches in open position. There is some spring in the hinges that pull them up some. I may have to find something like a piece of equipment to place on them to keep them on the deck.
 

Here I started with making the T stringers for the deck plate supports and the center hatches.
 

Here is my Rube Goldberg rig to twist the basswood blocks for the exhaust shrouds.
 
 
Cheers,    

Thanks everyone for your "like" votes, very much appreciated.
 
@ John, yes, it seems so, I keep changing my initial intend for this model and start adding things I had not planned to do.  There is something that seems to drive me in doing it, but then again, I'm retired and really feel the need to add a few extra details.
 
@ Popeye, thanks for your approval of my methods in this madness    No, not a surgeon, just an airplane doctor with very steady hands    The trick is to start scoring with an Exacto knife along a steel straightedge.  This morning I was staring at the "surgery" I did yesterday and thought I should actually continue removing more deck to the next deck frame bulkheads fore and aft.  Reason is that the center of the deck is all small hatches that rest on T beams.  This gives me the way to fasten the fixed deck pieces in the port and starboard side as well as the means for the hatches to rest on.  All I have to do is make a couple of T bars from brass.  I showed John texxn5 how I made the one for dingy "hangar."  So what are a few more hours of extra work?  
The doors are giving me a fit, hard to get them in the right shape, but they will, sooner or later.  This stubborn Dutchman doesn't give up easy.
Yes, indeed, most of this detail work was not in the original plan and now I am "struggling" with trying to add things after the fact.
Yes, Popeye, in the end it'll be a pleasure looking at the boat and showing her off 
The only official plans I have are just the lines of the boat and a few more detail drawings of the interior and the deck plan.  Remco was able to get inside the Navy Archive and sweet talked them into letting him search for the drawings and make copies.  It took him quite some time but he found the drawer with the O 19 microfiche and made the necessary copies.  They were now of course of an unknown scale but fortunately the measurements were on them in mm!  All I had to do was doing some math and I got them to my scale of 1:50 and then redraw them.  The rest was duck-soup and I could loft the frames I needed.
The rest is al from looking at photographs I have, most through Gino den Ridder and Remco.  From these pics I have to interpolate the details and guess where they are located.  I have posted pictures of the line drawing at the start of this build.  For me that was really the main thing to have.
 
Remco also bought the model building plans for the O 21 but she is not quite the same boat as the O 19, many differences, except for "close enough" details.
All in all, I am quite pleased with the way she is beginning to look.  John texxn5 also thought that the paper "steel plates" did mimic steel plates and i tried to match them to the photos as much as I can see.
Thank you Popeye for your very kind thoughts.
 
@ John texxn5, thank you for plowing through my log.  A special thanks to you and Diane for coming to visit us in Palm Coast and listening to my stories.  Gwen and I had a most delightful time and it is indeed an honor and pleasure getting to know yuns.  Hopefully Gwen and I can make a trip out your way some time soon.
 
Well, that's all for today dear friends.  Tomorrow we may find more decking removed   
 
Cheers, 

Piet,
 
I think the T-bar/boom modelled in the raised,rigged position lifting out the dingy would be a delightful and probably unique feature on a model submarine.

Well, today is our last day in Charleston, and we had a most wonderful day.  It seems that Dave (lambsk) from the MSW Forum, whom many of you know lives here in Charleston.  We managed to connect and had lunch with him and his lovely Admiral Fran at one of Charleston's quaint and very old restaurants in Historic Charleston.  What a wonderful and delightflul time it was.  Once again, the power of this Forum has shown through, bringing people together from all parts of the world because of a common interest....model ships.  It was like reuniting with an old friend.  We have been communicating with each other for months and to be able to put a face with the person as well as his ship is quite remarkable indeed.  Many thanks to Dave & Fran you are most gracious hosts, and we are very happy to have made some new friends. 

Hi Mobsie,
Thanks for looking in, and welcome aboard.  I am humbled and flattered that you did so.  Yes, it is a shame that the skills of the craft are being lost on the youth of a technological generation.  I really enjoyed observing the operation at Mystic.  It is fortunate that there are still some skilled craftsmen both in the US and the UK., and that they could be utilized for these restorations, and hopefully to educate another generation or generations to come.  At least some of these mighty vessels are being preserved.  There are still many more though.  Here are some photos of the process here.  It appears that you, Sjors, and Grant had an outstanding visit, oh yes and your Admiral's too.  That model museum looks like an outstanding place to be able to visit with collegues.  Thank you again for stopping by.

A couple of nice line drawings of the rigging and profiles

I found this pile of chainplates interesting.....being careful to replace exactly as they came off.

Anyone ever see deck prisms??  Here are the ones on board forward offsetting the fore mast.

I have a little time, so I will post a couple of pictures. Here are some of a whaleboat being restored and fitted out for the restoration.

this drawing was actually taped to the bulkhead next to the wheel and tiller to show the person restoring it how it is supposed to look.

You're welcome Augie. There will be more to follow, and I will be posting a separate set of pictures of my journey in the Museums and other ships section of the forum soon. Too time consuming right now, but that way other people can view them than just the ones following my log. Just time for a couple of more, then I have to hook up and head to Gettysburg, Pa. today. these were in the Collections and Research building, which is a fascinating place all by itself.