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

[Piet]

Hello John and thank you.

 

Hi Jud, understand the arming thing.  I read that during WW II the Germans had event delay mines, i. e. it let a certain amount of ships pass and when that set amount had passed it would blow at the passage of the next one.  This deceived the mine sweepers in thinking the area was free of mines.  Tricky stuff.

 

Hello Popeye, thank you.

 

Cheers, 

[mtaylor]

Piet,

 

Looks sweet.. as for the mines.. I'm an old airplane guy too.  Bombs get dropped out the bottom of the plane so to me, mines have to drop out the bottom of the submarine. 

[Piet]

Hello Mark, thanks and you crack me up    Yeah, the dropping up thing wasn't invented yet till the ballistic missile subs     So - - - you're an airplane guy too eh?  Fixe'm, design'm, or fly'm?  Heavy orin?  Whirly gigs?   

But I have always had hunker'n for ships and boats though and now have the time to enjoy it.

 

Cheers, 

[mtaylor]

Did CH-34's and CH53's in the USMC.  Avionics, test flight pay as co-pilot (ah.. the stories), door gunner.  Jack of all trades as needed.    Also various bits and pieces of a/c and flight simulators as a tech writer.    As I said, jack of all trades.

[popeye the sailor]

mines had some amount of buoyancy.......I'm sure that there was some sort of mechanism to launch them from the top.   they were also tethered to the ocean floor by some means......an anchor system and chain to allow them to float,  but not reach the surface.  also the thought that they were able to launch them,  without hitting the detonation spikes / buttons on the outer casing of the mine. 

[Gino den Ridder]

The mine laying system was based on the French Normand-Fenaux system. This system has two mines in each tube. This system was safe and reliable, according to French naval records. A similar system was employed by the Germans in their UC1 class during WW1. (source: Submarine Operational Effectiveness in the 20th century: Part One (1900-1939) by Captain John F. O'connell)

Also, check this link for the patent from Vickers for an equivalent mine laying system: http://www.google.com/patents/US1777416

 

Both systems dropped the mines from the tubes. It makes no sense to launch them upwards toward the surface. During the mine laying operation you don't want to run the risk of mines surfacing, or dropping back on your boat when the launching system malfunctions. Also, it would make the already cramped space for the mines even tighter when also a launch system has to be built in, together with the depth setting system. 

[Piet]

Thanks Gino for the explanation, sources and the link.  I also did some reading via the web, quite interesting stuff.

 

All y'all may have been wondering why no updates in a few days   Well, I had to do some yard work and spend only the mornings in the shipyard    I have been cementing those crappy deck slats to the boat.  I started with the aft end thinking it would be the easiest part with fewer hatches.  I can only cement a few per day so the progress is quite slow.  This is all very tedious work making sure each slat is parallel to the centerline and 1 mm apart.  Needless to say that I had to reposition a few after eyeballing it and using a straightedge but overall they run nice and straight..  As far as that's concerned I'm quite happy with it.

Also, the dye I'm using decides to stain the slats unevenly, even though the wood is from the same board, go figure.  I'll finish the aft end first and then see if I can sand the top of the slats and carefully apply another coat of dye to even it all out.  If not - - - then I'll have to remove all the slats and get a few boards of cherry from Jeff but that'll bring me into May to continue with this project.

Tomorrow morning I'll try the sanding and dye touch up thing first before continuing to see of I can match the lighter brown colors.  If that works then I may just proceed with the decking.  If not - - - rip it all off.

 

Bottom line is, I'm not happy with the way it looks, too blotchy.  Below is a picture I took late this afternoon today.  It's not quite done yet but at least you can see what I'm talking about.  Of course we can say that they have weathered with the salt spray and sun but this model is to represent the boat as she was in June of 1939 when my father sailed on her to the Dutch East Indies.  Not much time to weather the deck or the boat.

One consolation is that I can still do a lot of other detail work IF I have to go and buy some wood from Jef.

 

Aft of the to be painted emergency telephone is completed.  At first glance there are a few apparent bare spots but there are tracks for the dolly and a few hatches.  Space must be made for the hatch hinges, the tracks have a curve and the deck slats must run parallel with the centerline.  This will cause the slats to hit the tracks with an angle and cannot abut the tracks on the inside, there must be enough space for the dolly wheels.  This will become quite noticeable when it's all done.  

 

Cheers,  

[Senior ole salt]

It's fun to watch this build.  Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.

 

S.os

[Remcohe]

I wonder why the dye stains unevenly, I assume you took extra care to apply it evenly so there is no overlap on the layers? Is it the structure of the wood then, maybe an other type of wood will take the stain better and more evenly. I tested the same dye, although a darker color, on boxwood and that worked out just fine. 

 

Remco

[Piet]

Thanks to everyone for visiting and your likes, it's much appreciated.

 

@ Anthony:  Thank you for your comments.  Ah yes, the Rijksmuseum, I have been there many times when visiting family.  Lot's of treasures there and spend many hours just ogling and reading stuff.  I seriously doubt they would be interested in my model though.  Right now I have no idea what'll happen with it when I kick the bucket    The Admiral?  Daughter?  Grandson?  The Dutch Navy museum?

 

@ Senior O S:  Thanks for dropping in and your kind words, come again please.

 

@ Remco:  Thanks for your interest and suggestions.  Yes, it's definitely the structure of the wood.  Wood has naturally hard and soft strands in it and when not cut right they can run every-which-way.  The stain or dye doesn't soak into the harder sections as much as into the softer parts.  Yes, I almost gave the slats a bath in the stuff and wiped the excess off and let it dry.  Then I put a coat of poly on them to seal the dye.  I am using poplar with the idea of staining it to look like teak.  Too expensive to buy from Jeff therefore this route.  

Boxwood would have been ideal and I may have enough but it's all in two big chunks so I'll have to rip it into planks of 1 mm so I can finish it to 0.8 mm.  So I went the easy way and am using up the poplar I still have.  I did some experimenting this morning by slightly sanding down the tops of the slats to remove the poly and then reapplying the dye with a rag.  It seems to be working in my favor and with some additional touching up here and there with a small brush it may just be acceptable.  It looks more even now with a few slight differences.

I asked Gwen, the Admiral, to give her opinion and she likes it very much.  She opined that it now looks more like a slight weathering from being out for almost one year for sea trials.  

 

See next post with pics of the completed aft deck.

 

Cheers,

[JPZ66]

Piet,

 

Glad to hear that the plank color is working out better for you. Can't wait to see it. You are doing a magnificent job on this submarine.

 

 

Joe

[Piet]

Okay, after reworking the top of the deck slats they are now looking more like slightly weathered teak and as mentioned above, the Admiral likes it very much.  Soooohhhh, I continued cementing the rest of the slats to finish the aft deck.  There is still need for a few touch-ups here and there but overall it doesn't look half bad.

I invite all yuns to give me your thoughts on it, and don't be polite     I can always rip them off and go the boxwood route.

 

Here are the pics I took at 17:00 hours when I punched out of the dockyard for a much needed libation, a cool glass of belgian ale   

 

 

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

Well hello Joe, thanks for dropping in and your kind words.  My, you are quick, if you had waited another minute you would have seen the pics     Well, they are right below your post.

 

Well, the Admiral likes it and she's rather critical in things I do, so this is a good sign.  Like I said, a few minor touch-ups here and there.

 

Cheers,

 

[JPZ66]

Piet,

 

I think it looks outstanding.

 

I will say this though, and you already know it.....you must build it to YOUR satisfaction.....if you don't, no matter what anyone else has to say, you will not be happy.

 

Cheers,

 

Joe

[WackoWolf]

You are the BOSS. Do it your way, you are the one building her. You can't please everyone all the time, so why not just please yourself.  "Very famous words that are worth there weight in gold".

[mtaylor]

Piet,

 

What Joe and Joe (Joe-Joe?) said goes for me too.  I like what you've done.  Will  you be shooting some dull coat on her? 

[popeye the sailor]

to get a uniform color on a deck,  is a very hard thing to do.    gee........I see how some folks filter darker planks into their decks,  make me wish  I could get them to look that way       perhaps there is a way to even out the color.....anything that will prevent ripping any of it up.

 

your build looks superb! 

[Jim Lad]

Looks good to me, Piet!  Your dad would have been proud!

 

John

[Piet]

Thanks everyone for your comments and also my thanks to to all who visited and clicked "like."

 

@ Anthony:  Thank you for your kind words and so far I have been able to keep the grim Reaper at bay.  I have actually looked him in the eyes a few times in the past, scary.  I'll have to make an amendment to my last will and testament.  Gino did mention that he knows of a group who may be interested in having the model.

 

@ Joe:  Thanks Joe for liking the way the deck looks as of yesterday.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, it's me who has to be happy with it but it doesn't hurt asking for all your thoughts.  Right now it looks doable to me and the Admiral thinks it looks great.  But that doesn't mean it'll stay.  I may change my mind at a later date, who knows.

 

@ Wacko Joe: Same answer, I know that I have to be happy.  

 

@ Mark:  Same answer,  and thanks for liking it, that's a daring but positive comment        Dull coat??  Hmmmm, I did think about it but right now I have no idea yet.  If I can find a protective clear but mat finish I may consider it.

 

@ Popeye:  Thanks for your input and kind comments.  Ripping these slats off and starting over is really not a big deal, not as big a deal as Mark did anyway      It's just time and now that the "grim Reaper" is still making himself shy it could very well happen at some time     

 

@ Jim:  Thank you, thank you, you are most kind!

 

Now for a few thoughts on the subject of the deck slats.  I have been corresponding with Remco and boxwood came up.  Yes, I could have used boxwood but decided not to and use poplar because of having to rip 1 mm planks out of a few big blocks.  Long story short, his afternoon I did some additional tweaking on the slats with a tiny brush and dye and the slats are looking better and better.  I'll continue with that process till I'm happy with the looks.  I like the color and it is evening out quite nicely.  

What i really would like is to get away from is stain and dye and use real teak.  If I can get real teak for the slats without going broke, I may just go that route in the future.  

Now that I have figured out a workable formula I'll continue with laying on the deck slats.  I mentioned to Remco that I can always replace these at a later date.   Come to think about it - - - oh boy, thinking - - - can get one into trouble - - - but - - - do I dare mention it - - - the Admiral has a small bench made from - - - you guessed it - - - teak!  Hmmmm, - - - - - -            

 

  Cheers to all,

[popeye the sailor]

oh man!     don't be doing that............you'll meet the reaper for sure! :D     good to hear that your touch ups are working.   you have to remember now,  that you haven't done the sealer yet.........that could also have a positive effect.

[FreekS]

In some of the books about Dutch submarines I think I read that the deck was regularly scoured with sand, resulting in a white look. This would have been common practice before the war when the boats were receiving visitors in harbour. When I made my deck planking on the K-XVIII the objective was to be fully wat proof so I choose 0.8mm by 1 mm waterproof birch triplex and added some clear, matt varnish.

 

Freek

[Piet]

Hoi Freek, good to hear from you and thanks for your input.  Well, I guess you may be right about scouring of the deck.  What I was after was a little contrast against the light grey steel deck and a little artistic licence    The deck scouring may have been done on the surface ships but maybe not on subs.  When I visited the USS Cod in Cleveland last year her deck slats were also plain teakwood.  Not that should be an indication that the O19 was also plain teak.

Let's imagine that this deck is brand new and they didn't have the time to scour the deck yet   The few pics I have from the commissioning ceremony I can make out the deck slats clearly being somewhat dark, making me believe that they were still in natural teak color.  

I hope all y'all can go along with my reasoning       If yuns feel that it's still too dark I can try to lighten it up more with some 360 sandpaper before I seal it.

 

Not much done today, had to do some, well actually a lot of trimming of our crape myrtle trees in de front yard.  I did manage to cement a few slats to the forward deck though    This'll be slow going because there are many hatches that require individual slats and they are all on an angle 

 

Cheers,

 

[JPZ66]

I think the argument for a darker color deck is reasonable...it's still fresh and not weathered out. Not sure that using real teak would be the way to go....would depend on the density and grain for scale purposes. I think that is always a trade off in scale models. We know something in real life was made of , say, oak, but it just doesn't scale down well if you really use oak in the model...so...we always have to find something tighter, that works and can be stained or colored to give the appearence of oak (in my example). Or, in this case of your submarine, fresh teak wood.

 

The same is true of things like sails. And all of this has to be done for the scale we are working in. Some things that look great for 1/48 scale just won't work for 1/96 scale !

 

Anyhow, I think the O-19 is coming along really nicely, and looking great.

 

Joe

[Piet]

Hello Joe, thanks for your comments, they are of course quite correct.  Yes, sometimes what our mind sees is not always possible to use in reality.  Wishing to get away from stains and or dyes may all be well and good but in model building not always practical.  The upshot is that a nice dense grained light colored wood may be the logical answer, like boxwood or pear that can be stained to the desired color.  Although walnut could also be a consideration to get away from stain,  in my case.

I'm familiar with the scale issue with wood and cloth for ship models,  When I can finally get back to my VOC ship and the VOC yacht in a lamp I'll have to do some research in finding the right fabric for the sails.  

 

Right now I'm quite satisfied with the results I'm getting with the dye, as long as I rinse some of it off and lightly sand it with a fine grit sandpaper.  

 

Thank you for your positive opinion on how the model is coming along.  Between some yard work I can only manage to cement a few deck slats to the model.  But even a few is progress.  Before we know it I'll have the deck all done and go to hatch hinges and other things.

 

Cheers,

 

 

[texxn5]

Hi Piet, I haven't missed following your log. Looks like a real boat. Your "teak" looks quite well, don't let Gwen catch you stripping her furniture....Bent an elbow of good Leffe Blonde to the nice weather...looking forward to seeing that mine...I know you can do it.

[Piet]

Hello John and thanks for visiting !!  The fake teak slats are satisfactory - - for now.  There is still a possibility that I may replace them with something else, like what Remco suggested to use either box or castelo (sp ?) or pear and stain it.  Like I mentioned before, walnut could also be used as is.

 

My surgeon has ordered me not to imbibe in any alcoholic beverages and aspirin for the next two days - - - thus we'll have to wait with the Leffe till the weekend.  He doesn't want the blood any thinner as it is.  Had a biopsy out of the bladder done this morning and am on medication for the rest of the week.  Bladder liner is inflamed, most likely due to the radiation treatment I underwent a few years ago.  He calls it radiation induced cystitis.

 

The port side of the forward deck is now planked and I have rotated the build dock so I can work on the starboard side.  Then it's a final finishing of the deck and on to hatches.  The mines will be coming in the future as well as torpedoes and an extra anchor to be placed on the display board.

 

Cheers,

 

 

[texxn5]

Well my friend, rest assured I'll drink one for ya! Our prayers are with you in your medical situation. Hope all is well. Take care and know we'll be praying for whatever your proceedure is. Keep us all posted....inquiring minds want to know. The shipyard will be there....looking forward to mines and torpedoes.

[popeye the sailor]

wishing you the best,  and a speedy recovery......take care,  and will look forward in seeing an update when your feeling better

[Piet]

Thanks everyone for your best wishes and prayers.  We'll keep plugging along, what else can we do - - - right?

 

I do spend a few hours in the dockyard but it's slow going.  As soon as the deck is planked I'll take a few pics.

 

Cheers,

[flying_dutchman2]

thus we'll have to wait with the Leffe till the weekend.

Piet "knows" his beer and as I would say in Dutch, "Hou je taai". Which roughly means in English - Be well and strong.

 

The boat is looking good and I like the color of the green. I have not read the complete log, but is the green the final color?

 

Marc