Hr. Ms. O 19 1938 by Piet - FINISHED - scale 1:50 - submarine of the Royal Navy Netherlands in service 1939 - 1945

[NenadM]

That 1mm is no so big . Keep on

[ianmajor]

Piet,

 

The standard thin walled brass tube sizes generally telescope together well. I thought you might be interested in this photo of a handful of my tube stock slipped together. They are from smallest (outside diameters) 1.6mm, 2mm, 2.45mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 5.5mm.

 

In the main the telescopic sizes go up by 0.5mm in diameter, but my 4mm and 5mm came from a different source to the others and have slightly thicker walls. (something to watch for!)

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

[Piet]

Hello Nenad, Kevin, Mark, Jan and ian, thank you all for looking in and your comments.

 

@ Kevin, thanks for the hint!  I have tried e-bay once on bidding on "something" but gave up.  I found a source that sold me a brand new "something" for a lot less.  However, I understand they also sell outside the bidding process so I can give it a try.

 

@ Jan, WOW, some nice pics and good quality too.  They have gone into my O 19 file for future reference.  Thanks for your search on my behalf, REALLY appreciate it            I have a few pics of the O 19 and O 20 launcher tubes but they are poor quality and small.  My model of the side-launch tube assembly is not going to be an exact replica of the real thing though.  I plan to use only the most important visible items that can be seen on the top.  Most of the stuff you see on the pic I posted before.  That in itself will take me some time to make and will most likely be the last thing.

 

@ Nenad, yes, just one silly mm but that does cause a lot of extra work though.  Not as much as you are facing and I'm sure you will wind up with a much better looking model   

 

@ Ian, yes, that's what I need, some small brass tubing that can slide into each other. I was planning to use some of the stock of my local hardware store but they are running out and not reordering.  I'll have to go on the Internet and find a source.  I have bought some rod from one outfit and am pleased with their service, so I'll check with them again as soon as I know what sizes I need.  Fortunately that is still some time off but better get them now before our so-called government deprives me of an income 

 

Well, I ventured into the garage this morning and was looking at my torpedo tube dilemma and just thinking.  I was facing the port side and decided to remove the door and see what elseI I could do.  I rigged up a small grinding wheel in my Proxxon hand tool and started to carefully grind some wood away that is keeping the door from going far enough down.  I did a dry run with a few pieces of folded file card stock under the door and lo and behold I could put my brass tube in with just a little room to spare.  Hmmmm, that's a good sign    So I made some new paper hinges and proceeded to reassemble the door to the opening.  

 

I turned the build dock around and also removed the starboard door to the same thing.  Somehow that opening was less then 12 mm and had to remove some from the top of the opening.  That also means that I had to make a new door.  No problem.  The door was made at 1700 hours, just in time to clean up a little and go feed my 8 koi fish.

 

I was curious though how the port side door works so I tried it and it works as advertised, which made me a happy camper.  My 12 mm brass tube fits with just a little room to spare.  The door also fits a little better     

 

But - - - - I'm not really out of the woods yet.  Looking at the photos again the tubes have a hinge arrangement at the top that may stick out above the tubes enough to eat up the little play I now have. As I mentioned before, my brass tubes are little over my scale at 12 mm and scale works out to 11 mm.  So I'm still up the proverbial estuary without any means of propulsion.  Thus, with these brass tubes I cannot install the tube doors hinge mechanism.  

The only way out, no matter what, is to go with the styrene tube of 11.125 mm unless I can find a 11 mm brass tube somewhere.  I can machine that quarter mm off to accommodate the hinge mechanism and closing doors as is seen on the photo.

The reason for buying the 12 mm brass tube is that the torpedoes used on the O 19 were 21 plus inches in diameter, which is at my scale 10.7 mm or rounded out to 11 mm.  But there are reinforcing rings on the outside making the actually OD close to 11.5 mm.  The opening in the deck sides are actually a tiny bit larger then scale already hoping that these brass tubes would work.  But alas, it's not to be.   

 

As of right now the plan is to proceed with the rework I started today and order some .7 mm styrene sheet for the deck and this 11.125 mm styrene tube.  While I'm at it I will also check for 11 mm brass tubes and the smaller diameter tubes for the loading gantries  My 12 mm brass tube I can probably use for escape hatches, the waterproof A A gun storage tubes and the torpedo loading tubes in the forward and rear deck.  Fortunately all this is not a dire need for right now, I have some time to the research 

 

I guess I can cement all the brass hardware to the styrene tube with epoxy cement.  It'll be painted gray.

 

Okay that's it for today.  Tomorrow we'll complete the deck doors and hopefully also decking rework.  Then it's off to the rudders and propellers. 

 

Cheers,

 

 

[Remcohe]

Piet, have you considered turning the torpedo tubes from a nice piece of hardwood?

 

Remco

[Piet]

Hoi Remco, yes I did when I first decided to add the side launch torpedoes.  Thanks for reminding me, I kinda rejected the idea because I wanted to have real tubes with opening/closing doors on them and stick a fake torpedo in them       

Then I decided I can make the tubes from my handy dandy file folder stock and didn't think more about it till I saw this nice 12 mm brass tube at the hardware store, problem solved.  Hmmm I guess not.

Well, the options are again making a slit in the 12 mm tube and squeezing them down to 10.5 mm; looking for a thin walled brass tube of 10.5 or 11 mm; an 11 mm styrene tube; making them from the file folder stock or hardwood dowels as my very original plan was.

 

I checked on the Internet and so far I have not found 10.5 or 11 mm thin walled brass tubes. 

 

Oh sure, I could make them from some boxwood dowels and not make workable tube closing doors. It would perhaps be the simple way out and still look very acceptable to the eye.   Hmmmmm - - - I'm thinking.

 

Fortunately I still have the time before I reach that point.  This way I can mull things over and weigh the options, perhaps the boxwood dowels my just be the way to go    

 

Okay, I'm going to leave it at this and in due time I'll come up with a decision and surprise everybody   

 

Cheers, 

 

 

[Piet]

Hello all y'all,

 

Today I completed the new starboard door for the side launch torpedo launcher.  Booth doors are now hinged and operable.  I checked wether that troublesome 12 mm tube will fit and yes, but barely.  It is still a no go with that tube and will have to come up with a viable and practical alternative.

Perhaps my sights were set too high, that's what you get when you are "an airplane man"           So - - - perhaps it's time to come down to the ground and think about something else and use the kiss method (keep it simple stupid).  As I said in my previous post, I have the time to think about it.  

 

I started on the deck rework above the side launch torpedoes.  I'll try to make that entire section removable but it may just not work.

So far I'm pretty satisfied with what has been accomplished.

 

Here are a few pics of what's done in the last few days.

 

Here I have both doors open and stuck the 12 mm brass tube through both doors.  There is not much room to spare between the tube and the upper and lower edges of the opening.  Needles to say, this is a no go.

 

The new port side door is finished and installed.  Both doors work just fine and close much better then the previous ones. It may appear that there is a gap on the bottom but it's pencil marks left on the card.  Once the boat is painted it'll look much better.  As they say, paint hides a lot of errors   

 

Cheers, 

[Jim Lad]

She continues to grow beautifully, mate!

 

John

[Piet]

Thanks to everyone who "liked" my post.

 

Hello John, thank you for your kind and encouraging words and congrats with your finished model, she's a beauty!  

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

Hello everyone,

 

Today was a good day,made good progress.  I first fiddled with the small deck pieces and rails over the torpedo launch are to try and make them lay nice without a wiggle and even with the rest of the deck.  After some scraping here and there and twisting they seemed to fit quite nice.  I then cemented the wood decking to the rails .  I used a slow curing epoxy cement so I could position the 1 mm deck pieces to the rails in situ and then remove them from the boat to clamp the wood to the rails.  The cure time was 3 hours which gave me the chance to paint the launcher area with gray enamel.  It's looking really nice but is still in need of some touchup.

Tomorrow we'll check the deck pieces for fit, again.  One never knows what the paint will do.

 

I also finished installing the dock bumpers and put the poly urethane to the deck structure sides and the top side of the ballast tanks.  I put two coats on but it needs at least one more coat to seal the paper really good.  It got rid of some of the "fuzzies" from sanding and scraping the paper.

 

I also started with the dive planes and rudder.  I am making them from a three layer sandwich of 1 mm plywood.  That way I shouldn't be afraid of warping.  They are cut out and being glued and clamped till tomorrow.  Then they'll be finalized and checked for fit.  Then they need to be shaped a little like an airfoil.  Installing them with the hinge pins will be a challenge.

 

I don't know how much time I'll have tomorrow and how I'll feel after a two hour dental visit for a double tooth implant.  Cut the gum, drill two holes in the upper jaw and screw the titanium studs in.  Sow it all up and presto, done         I am actually looking forward to it, these two will be the last ones and then I'm done with the restoration.  

 

Okay, we are now ready to look at a few pics of the progress of today.  Sorry no pics of all the small pieces for the rudder and dive planes, forgot 

 

After a lot of fiddling, scraping and twisting these pieces I got them to lay down very nicely.  It may just work to have them removable      But I'll wait till the paint has dried and see what it did, if any, to change the nice fit.

 

Another shot of the deck area, still unpainted.

 

This shows the dock bumper strip, sorry for the out of focus pic.

 

Here we see the painted launcher area.  Yes, there are a few spots that need touchup.

 

Another shot of the launcher area with the port door open.

 

Cheers,

 

[ianmajor]

Piet,

 

Nice work. When you are at the dentist you will have to think about your next moves on the model - perhaps it will take your mind off what the dentist is doing.        

 

Many years ago dentists were a good source of drills and burrs for modelers in the UK - they were worn be still good for what we did - then along came AIDS - after that they were not allowed to give them away.

[popeye the sailor]

sweet looking work Piet..........wish I could share your enthusiasm for dentists...........had a few bad experiences in my past.

[texxn5]

Hi Piet, just catching up. Things shaping up quite nicely. We're done with Mickey, and headed to Talahassee and then over to Ft. Walton Beach. Probably going to start our venture back towards Texas and maybe be back home in 2-3 weeks. Not sure yet. Glad all of this is working out so nice. It really is looking good. Had some Leffe Blond yesterday at Epcot. Quite nice....cheers!

[riverboat]

Just now went thru your log Piet...... what an outstanding build this is. and I'm sure a real meaningful one for you too, looking forward to it's completion

Frank

[Piet]

Thank you everyone for the "like" votes, really appreciated!

 

Re the dentist, there is a history behind it that ties in with the O 19 model.  Allow me to explain: a few years ago the Dutch Government passed a law to offer a restoration for physical and mental damage people incurred during the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands east indies and the incarceration of its citizens.  My wife and I applied and we both send in about seven problems.  My wife's requests were denied and I was only offered one, the restoration of my mouth.  Due to severe malnutrition and debilitating tropical diseases my bones and brain took the greatest hit.  Ergo - - - teeth problems and some brain damage.

So, I am now in the final phase of my dental restoration of $30.000 paid for by the Netherlands's Government.  That's the reason for my excitement, to have a full set of teeth again with added bone in my jaws.

 

My apologies for my long sob story.  Today's dental project took 2 and a half hours and all went extremely well, no pain yet in the jaw, even with an inch and quarter cut in the gums     

 

@ Ian, my dentist and I have become good friends and yes, he has given me a whole bunch of nice tools, including scalpels.

 

@ Popeye, thanks for your kind words and sorry to hear about your bad experiences with dentists.  I have lucked out with some very good ones.

 

@ John - texxn5, Good to hear from you and your kind words.  Good for you finding some Leffe blond, good stuff.  Take care and stay safe on your travels.

 

@ Frank, thank you for visiting my shipyard and your kind words.  Yes, this build has special meaning to me and she is more then half way completed.  I'm also looking forward to seeing her as my father saw her.  Come and stop by again.

 

Cheers to all,

[Piet]

Hello friends,  after my return from the dentist's office and after a light lunch of soup and yogurt I ventured back into the the garage aka shipyard.  I took the glued up dive planes and rudder out of the clamps and shaved them to close to the correct size. 

The final shaping and sizing will be done on the boat.

I started with the rudder and installed two small pieces of copper tubing to support the hinge pin and act as bearings.  This can be seen in the first pic.  I did manage to drill a 1.3 mm hole through the rudder for the brass hinge rod but changed my mind in how to hinge the rudder.  I'll make two slits on the side instead, to install small pieces of rod as hinge pins, which will be epoxy cemented in.  I'll cover the pin centerline with strips of wood, actually kinda made into half-rouns or half ovals.  Needles to say that this must be done when everything else in that area is completed.

 

I also started with the installation of the dive planes.  This too will get the copper tube treatment for the hinges.  I am using 1.2 mm brass rod for all the hinges.

 

The rudder and dive planes still need to be shaped like an airfoil.

 

I still need to shorten the propeller hubs a little because they stick into cutouts of the dive planes and I want to be able to install the props after the propeller shaft support structure is mounted to the hull and the dive planes are in the way.

 

It's now a matter of noting the sequence of assembly before I run into a snag and have to tear things apart - - - again 

 

Here are two pics I took this afternoon.

 

the port and starboard dive planes shaped to my sketch.  Final shaping will have to be done on the boat but that requires that I also permanently install the propeller shaft assembly, which requires that they must be perfectly horizontal.

 

After I epoxied the two small copper tubes in I carefully and slowly filed them down so that rudder fits snug between the copper tubes I already installed into the keel.  Still needs a lot of work as noted above.

 

Cheers,

[WackoWolf]

She is coming along Beautifully, I love the attention you have taken to the detail. Keep the pictures coming.

[Piet]

To the many who liked my last two posts, thank you!!!

 

@ Wacko Joe, thank you for dropping in and your kind words, really appreciate it.  Sorry no pics today.

 

I spend some time nit-picking the boat in preparation for the polyurethane coating of the entire hull.  I have to finish the stern end with poly before I can proceed with installing the prop shafts and the rest of the paraphernalia in that area.  So why not the rest of the boat.

The entire hull is now coated with two coats of poly.  It really soaked nicely into the paper and I can now start lightly sanding the hull and nit-pick again to remove some of the fuzz from the paper.

Then another coat or two of poly and a light sanding to prep for the paint.

 

I cut a groove on the hinge lineof the rudder and put two brass rods in the previously installed copper tubes.  These pins can now be pushed into the hinge pin receptacles in the keel and locked into place with either epoxy cement or just filling the groove with wood putty.  Then the rudder will be covered with paper to close the groove.  I think this is the simplest way to make the hinges work without any evidence from the outside.

 

I also shaped both dive dive planes and the rudder to look more streamlined.

 

Making the dive plane hinges is still a head-scratcher for now.  I need to think about whether to make the propellers removable or not.  They will be able to rotate though.  If I want to remove the props I can do that by not cementing the hub to the shaft and with the dive plane moved up or down there may be enough space to remove the hub.  I don't know yet if this'll work other wise everything will be fixed in place but with the props being able to rotate and the dive planes also movable.

 

I'll make some close-up pics to show what I'm talking about.

 

I also lucked out with the position of the prop shaft assembly.  With the added file folder card as simulated steel plating they seem to fit just about right, parallel to the water line and vertically to the centerline of the boat.

 

Well, this is it for today, I'm taking tomorrow off for a day of rest.  We'll continue with the build and a few pics Sunday.

 

Cheers to all, 

[Jim Lad]

I seem to have missed an update, Piet!  Very nice work around the dive planes and props.

 

John

[amateur]

So, I am now in the final phase of my dental restoration of $30.000 paid for by the Netherlands's Government.  That's the reason for my excitement, to have a full set of teeth again with added bone in my jaws.

 

 

Aaaahhh, thats were my money ends up

Doesn't happen often, but that is tax-money well spent!

 

Jan

Edited October 19, 2013 by amateur

[WackoWolf]

amateur,

 

     Glad your happy with your new teeth. Can't stand mine, had them all taken out and bone remove so that I could get the new ones. I am so use to not having them that I can't stand to wear them. But without them you have to slow down when you talk or the words don't sound right. And so far I am out a little over $6000.00. Oh well life goes on. And believe me even without them in I can still destroy a big steak without thinking about it LOL.

[amateur]

amateur,

 

     Glad your happy with your new teeth. Can't stand mine, had them all taken out and bone remove so that I could get the new ones. I am so use to not having them that I can't stand to wear them. But without them you have to slow down when you talk or the words don't sound right. And so far I am out a little over $6000.00. Oh well life goes on. And believe me even without them in I can still destroy a big steak without thinking about it LOL.

Not my teeth: Piet's teeth!

[WackoWolf]

Sorry about that.

[texxn5]

Looking good as usual Piet....the props will really look good and add fine detail.

[Piet]

Aaaahhh, thats were my money ends up

Doesn't happen often, but that is tax-money well spent!

 

Jan

 

Yes, Jan and it's much appreciated !!!!!!.  A healthy set of teeth is crucial for our physical health.  There is no restitution though for our bank account and all personal belongings the Japanese took away from us.  They have given us half the peace sign about that, if you know what I mean.

[Piet]

Hello everyone from on and off sunny Florida, at least we are still having nice warm weather.

 

To everyone who clicked on "like," thank you very much.

 

Did not spend a lot of time in the shipyard, mowed the front lawn and after lunch I watched the US soccer team play against Australia, very nice game, US won 4 to 0.

 

All I actually accomplished today was sanding the first two coats of poly and going over each seam with my #11 blade and a small chisel to dress it all up nice and neat.  I think it's looking acceptable.

Two more coats of poly should do it and then sanding again with fine sandpaper.  Then paint    

I'll wait for the final painting till I have completed everything that'll go onto the hull so I can still remove the boat from it's build dock without worrying about the paint.

 

Then we can leave her on the build dock and work on the topside, yeeeeah      

 

Sorry, no pics today either, perhaps tomorrow.

 

Cheers to all,

[Piet]

Hello everyone, and thank you all for your "like" votes!

 

Woke up this morning at oh dark hundred due to heavy rain pounding on the roof.  Hmmmm, what the hey is going on with this crazy weather anyhow.  Would like to send some to Andriaan, they can certainly use a lot of it right now.

 

Soooooh, I might as well get up and have some breakfast, ran out the front to get my newspaper and darted back in, got the coffee going and had a leisurely and quiet breakfast.

I then mozied into the garage aka shipyard, and decided to jump right in and install the prop shaft assembly, rudder and dive planes.  

But first I had to make and install the hinge support bushings in the dive planes and the parts these hinges fit in on the boat.  I used 1.5 mm copper tubing for the bushings and 0.8 mm brass pins for the hinge pins.  I dry-assembled everything to locate the the hinge points on the keel and the outer dive plane support, which are also the base for the cable/net cutter that's attached to the prop shaft bearing housing.  

 

I drilled the appropriate holes in the right places and cemented small pieces of the copper tubing to the dive planes, keel and outer supports with epoxy cement.  After the cement had cured I assembled everything again and had to file the copper tubes to make the dive planes fit.

When I was sure that everything fit and worked I took the big step and epoxy cemented everything to the boat with a slow cure epoxy cement.  This gave me the time to fiddle with it to make sure that everything was level to the waterline.

The center hinge bushing goes through the vertical keel portion and the center hinge pin for the dive planes should rotate freely inside it because the pins are cemented to the inboard parts of the dive planes.  I hope that the epoxy cement lives up to it's name of cementing anything to anything 

 

I also installed the rudder, which is now ready to be finished on the outside to cover the slot I had to make for the hinge pins.  It works like a charm.  

 

That's where this project stands right now because I wanted to give the epoxy enough time to cure, I won't know till tomorrow whether the hinge pins are securely glued to the dive planes.

 

In the meantime I also touched up the paint in the side launch torpedo area and I'm sure I'll find some other spots that need a touch of paint.  I may ask the Admiral to put her eagle eyes on it, she is also a stickler for details 

 

Next project will be the propeller blades.  I'll make them from brass sheet material of 0.9 mm.  That'll be fun, trying to shape them little buggers     

I checked and there should be no problem in installing and removing the propeller hub with the dive planes installed.

 

All hinge pins sit in small copper bushings, which are cemented into the rudder and both dive planes. Final fitting for length will be done when ready to assemble. I wanted metal to metal contact via the copper bushings more or less acting as bearings

 

This shows how I solved the problem of installing the rudder because there was no other way to put the pins in on either end.  This shows both pins retracted so I can slide the rudder into place between their receptacle bushings.

 

This shows the pins pushed out as they will sit inside their receptacle bushings. Once the rudder is in place I can now fill the slot behind them and lock them in. I'll cover that side of the rudder with thin paper to finish it off.

 

This shows the dive plane hinge receptacles in the keel and outer hinge support, also acting as the cable/net cutter brace.

 

Here is another view of the dive plane receptacle bushings.

 

The rudder is now installed and swings both ways nice and smooth.  A little wood putty in the slots and a paper cover will finish the job, ready for paint.

 

This shows the rudder deflected to port.

 

Here the rudder is deflected to starboard

 

Here the dive planes are temporarily installed as a dry-fit.  All seems to be a go at this point.  They are level with the water line.

 

This is a head-on shot of the temporarily installed dive planes. I had to prop the port one up with one of the exhaust pipes    Note that nothing is cemented into place yet.

 

Cheers 

 

[Adrieke]

really looking great Piet and yes please send any rain over here

[Piet]

Hoi Adriaan, good to hear from you and yes, I'm worried for you and your families house and the so many people who are effected.  I'm following the news about the fires yuns are having.

 

Am also following your builds, looking nice.  Sorry about the magnet problem not working too well. Anything I can do to help solve the removable deck issue?

 

Cheers,

[Adrieke]

thank you Piet . today is overcast so a bit of reprieval for all the hard workign firemen but tomorrow might bring disaster. hoping the forecasted heat and strong winds will not come through

 

popeye gave me some suggestion with locating pins will look into that but i am open for suggestions . i wil take some pictures of the top so youc an have an idea what i am workign with

[Jim Lad]

Looking very good, Piet!

 

Thanks for your good wishes to people over here affected by the fires.  Sydney and suburbs are fine, but there are a couple of hundred families up in the Blue Mountains who don't have homes anymore as of right now!

 

John