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

[Tallshiptragic]

Fantastic build Piet!

 

My fathers uncle was commander of the Dutch submarine K11 when she set off the charges at the Surabaya naval base in Indonesia before the Japanese landed. The K11 then sailed for Fremantle, though without the CO my fathers uncle - went ashore as some charges hadn't blown. The charges blew, and he never returned to the sub...

 

Will follow with great interest.

[Omega1234]

Fantastic build Piet!

My fathers uncle was commander of the Dutch submarine K11 when she set off the charges at the Surabaya naval base in Indonesia before the Japanese landed. The K11 then sailed for Fremantle, though without the CO my fathers uncle - went ashore as some charges hadn't blown. The charges blew, and he never returned to the sub...

Will follow with great interest.

 

My condolences to your father's uncle. It seems that there are a number of strong family connections that some builders on this Forum have with their models, (such as Piet and others). It also comes as no surprise that others such as yourself are also similarly connected by tragedy and history. It just shows how how precious life is, as well as how small a world this really is!

[Sjors]

Welcome home stranger     

I just want to called a rescue party for you ......

 

Sjors

[GLakie]

The 019's going to stand proud on that display-board Piet!

 

Cheers

[popeye the sailor]

that's a very nice stand your making.......if you can get the rest of the concaves to mimic the left one shown in the picture above,  you'll be in good shape.  you've done a superb job Piet.....and it surely deserves to be shown in all her splendor!

 

believe me......there isn't anything that could distract from your build.  it's simply too awesome! 

Edited March 12, 2015 by popeye the sailor

[cog]

Yep, you're not just a sub builder ... You're a carpenter too!!!

[Piet]

Thank you all, John (Texxn5), Jan, Tallship, Patrick, Sjors, George, Popeye and Carl and of course all those who clicked the like button.  Yuns are just too kind heaping all those praises on me but I really appreciate them.

 

@ John: Yup, I understand you being busy, mostly with your Morgan.  She's really looking very nice.

 

@ Jan:  When I started the build I made the so called dock keel first with the vertical center keel frame on top of it.  In order to secure the build to the build dock I drilled two 1/4 inch holes through te dock keel and the vertical frame.  Then I installed two corresponding 1/4 dowels in the dock frame and planted the model on it.  The holes in the sub are about 1/2 inch deep and when the sub sits on it she's nice and secure.  The mounting blocks will mate up with the holes in the sub keel.

 

@ Tallship:  Welcome to my build.  Thanks for the info on your dad and uncle, sorry to hear he didn't make out in time.  I'm sure that your dad and uncle had known my father.  He was rather well known in the submarine service, some would say "infamous"  .  It's also possible that my father served on the K XII sometime in his navy career.   It looks like our lives are connected through your dad's and uncle's.  Small world indeed    What's your given name?  Your uncle's actions are appreciated as well as what so many others did.   I hope the Dutch government awarded him a citation of sorts.  There is a story about a sailor who gabbed a machine gun at the end of the wharf in Soerabaja harbor and started shooting at the Jab Zeros, ignoring them shooting back at him.  Needles to say he was killed in doing so.  I take it you must still speak Dutch?

 

@ Patrick:  And to top it all off, as I mentioned to Tallship, that he and I are personally connected through his and my father, not only being in the Navy but submarine service.  I just remembered the story about that sailor shooting at the Japs, that at that same time a bunch of buildings and "stuf" blew up behind him.  The actions of Tallship's uncle perhaps?  

 

@ Sjors:  Yeah, sorry for having been absent but certain domestic chores seemed to have taken priority.

 

@ George:  Always good hearing from you and yes, I think she'll look pretty on that "cheapy" display board.

 

@ Popeye:  Well, as I mentioned to George, it's not fancy wood but I think that when it's finished it'll look presentable.  Perhaps not museum quality but so what, it's for me.  When i showed Gwen how I made those concave ends to the blocks, she just nodded her head and said, yeah, that'll work.  I have completed both blocks today and they look pretty good, they are 98% mirror image of each other, lucked out again  . 

 

@ Carl:  A sub builder and a carpenter???  and I'm a metal guy    One has to to what one has to do to achieve the end result.  A little Dutch ingenuity helps   Thank you for the compliments, I try.  Not too bad for an airplane fixer 

 

I'll be plodding along with the display board in the next coming days and will report back to all yuns.  Be good and happy modeling.

 

Cheers,

Edited March 14, 2015 by Piet

[Tallshiptragic]

Thanks Piet, he was awarded the Militaire Willems-Orde by the Dutch and an OBE or Order of the British Empire posthumously awarded. The Dutch navy also commissioned a Van Stralen klase minesweeper in his honour the Van Well Groeneveld which his wife was at the commissioning ceremony. The greatest tribute though was his son also Carel, who was a teenager through the war and a 'guest' of the japs like my father and his family, went on to join the Dutch navy and became the commander of Dutch submarines in the 70's and 80's.

I've attached a photo of Carel senior and junior plus the minesweeper.

 

My father built a beautiful 1/24 scale model of the minesweeper in the 90's which is now somewhere in holland, though not sure where.

 

Anton

[Tallshiptragic]

The K XXI was actually used to power Perth during the war! The hull was towed up the swan river a and she was moored off what's now Barrack street jetty and her generators where used as emergency power her main gun is still here mounted as a memorial at one of the yacht clubs on the river. I have been there just can't remember which one - we have quite a few yacht clubs here. Also the deck of the conning tower was used to repair a pilot boat which is now in the new WA maritime museum.

A very small world we live in!

[SawdustDave]

I really love the beautifully simple profile you have chosen to give those mounting blocks Piet. Just another very classy touch from the master of detail.

[Piet]

Thanks for the pics Anton and the history.  Yes, my father also received the Willems Order, personally given to my mother by Queen Juliana.  She managed to tell the Queen "this doesn't bring my husband back."  Yeah, there was some bitterness but a short time later Queen Juliana personally bailed us out of a difficult situation.

 

Cheers,

 

 

[Piet]

Hey Dave, thanks for dropping in.  Yeah, I figured to play the KISS game, keep it simple stupid 

First I was toying with turning fancy brass stanchions on the Unimat or buy them.  But I wanted to be able to lift the boat off the display and these blocks will give her some steady footing and look nice enough but not distracting. 

 

I glued the top cover plate on to the frame and did use "liquid nails" or - - as it is officially called "Structural Adhesive."  It's water proof and weather proof.  Right now it's resting on the garage floor with a bunch of 12 X 12 X 1 inch pavers on top.

I'll check it out Sunday and prep it for cementing and screwing the blocks to it.  Then I'll cement the bottom cover plate to it.  

 

Cheers to all,

[amateur]

I was born long after the war, but due to your stories, I more and more realize what young men like your fathers, uncles, and their families went through to make Europe a safer place.... (and also: how very young they actually were at the time...)

Thanks for telling us our history!

 

Jan

Edited March 14, 2015 by amateur

[Piet]

Hoi Jan, I really appreciate your comments.  Yes, much of my and those in similar circumstances,  experiences are becoming or may already have become forgotten history by many.  Only through stories, biographies, books and film can they be preserved.  But then, who will actually read what is already published?  Even the average Dutch population today knows very little, if any, what happened to their fellow citizens in their former colony.

 

Thanks for "listening" to me and caring!

 

Cheers,

 

[GLakie]

Always been something of a history buff myself Piet, and even though these stories are printed in books and found in computers, it's still left up to those of us interested in historical events, to pass these stories along to the younger ones verbally, because as long as there's a story to be told about us, or our ancestors, they never really die. They live on in those stories.

[Piet]

Hello all,

 

I have been busy with other things in the last few days and had very little time to spend in the shipyard.

 

I did manage to finish gluing the mounting blocks to the display board though.  After the glue had cured enough I also put a few brass woods crews into them from the bottom side, just to be sure they are secured.

Next is to cement the bottom piece of plywood to the board frame.  Right now I am battling a slight bow in the board I don't like.  I hope that with the other plywood sheet on it that it'll straighten out.  This funky weather we are having is also not very helpful.  

 

I have also bought some nice pine molding for the sides today.  I'll most likely have to use small finishing nails  to secure them to the board with PVA glue.  I'll set them in some and fill the holes with wood putty.  

 

After that it's sanding, prepping for stain and finishing with poly.

 

Well, here are a few pics on how I glued the mounting blocks to the board.  The 1/4 inch dowels prevented me from placing the weights on them, so I had to improvise.  Please don't laugh about my crude "clamping" arrangement, the main thing is that it works.

 

I used a few of my rivet bucking bars as spacers next to the posts in the mounting blocks.  I had no other way to put some weight on these blocks so the glue could take a good hold.  I put the glue on the blocks between this pic and the next.  To position the blocks accurately, I temporarily put the model on them and then placed the model on the board and positioned the blocks over the center of the cross pieces.  I then marked the location of each one on the board.  Yeah, I didn't take any pics of that work.

 

Here you see the steel bucking bars on the blocks and ready for the concrete pavers for weight.  Crude but effective.

 

Here you see the weights on top of the mounting blocks.

 

Cheers, 

Edited March 17, 2015 by Piet

[dgbot]

At work we did not have clamps big enough for a pad that we were putting up so we put in between two pieces of dieboard maple and and put a forklift on top of for the night that did the job.  Kudos for your ingenuity.

David B

[Piet]

Hello everyone, just to let all yuns know that I didn't fall off the edge of the world 

I have been busy with yard work but did manage to cement the bottom plate to the display board frame.  It's looking okay, so far.  I hope to glue the side moldings on tomorrow.  Then I have to stain it and varnish.

I have already put the O19 on it and boy does it fit nice and looks great.  So, just stay tuned for the next episode.

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

Can't wait for the official unveiling Piet! 

[Piet]

Hello everyone.  I have had a few very busy days that kept me out of the dockyard but today was rainy so I spend quite some time cutting, fitting and gluing the side trim moldings on, at least those for the sides.  The top finishing pieces may come tomorrow.  

 

I made a picture of the board so you get an idea how it'll look like.  It was a little cramped working there because Gwen's car was inside and it was raining.  Not a big problem, it worked out okay.

 

Before I can glue the top trim pieces on I have to do some sanding.  I have hammered small finishing brads into the side pieces to secure them to the board frame and to act as clamps for the glue.  I tapped them in with a nail-set.  I have used some fine wood putty to fill these dimples and all that need to be dressed. 

At least we are making progress.

 

The dark spots on the wood is from water where I wiped excess glue away.  I laid out the final top trim pieces to show where they go, the one on the left side is laid loosely on the board.  

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

That'll make a nice base Piet.  By looking at the sledge, I'd guess around 5 feet? It's a big'n.

 

Cheers

[SawdustDave]

Put some wheels on that puppy and you can tow it behind your truck.... Just one thought....

Edited March 24, 2015 by SawdustDave

[chevygrunt]

That wasn't the tack hammer you used for the brads in the top left corner of the photo, was it?

[harvey1847]

Looking good Piet! I am with George... Can´t wait to see her on and the beautyful pictures you´ll take!

 

Best wishes!

 

p.s. Beautyful hammer. If we were neighbours I would borrow it for sure from you.

[popeye the sailor]

stand is looking really nice Piet........I'm looking forward to the pictures as well! 

[Piet]

Thanks everybody for the comments and also to all who clicked the like button.

 

The board is (surprisingly) beginning to look fairly decent.  It's taking more time then I figured for such a simple thing.  The side trim pieces needed to be shaved down in width which took quite some time.  First on the table saw to get it close to the width of the board and then today I used a small plane and sandpaper.  

There is still some more sanding and fiddling here and there before I can glue the top trim pieces on.

 

Yeah, that sledge is my go to tool for delicate work    You should see my watchmaker's screwdriver though 

 

Hopefully I can make a start with gluing these top trim slats on tomorrow.  I'll have to do it one side at a time because I don't have enough claps to hold them down.  But that's okay, I'm not going anywhere except for the usual chores around the house and yard.

 

 

[GLakie]

For some of those clamping and gluing projects, what I found that works pretty good is drywall screws, just until the glue dries. Then I'll run them back out and bore a 1/4 in hole and plug it with a darker, or lighter dowel for contrast. Looks good and adds a little extra holding power. Could also leave 'em proud and round them off just a little for that tree-nailed look. Just a thought.  

[dgbot]

I did a solid hull one time and used drywall screws to old everything together.  Once the glue dried I then removed them and hammered in some wooden dowels I am a firm believer in screwing lifts together forget nails use a screw then you can remove it when needed.

David B

[Piet]

Hello friends and thank you George and Dave for the screw advice.  Yup, I'm also a firm believer in gluing and screwing.  Now to put drywall or deck screws into these delicate pieces would be problematic.  

In the end it worked out okay with the tiny brats and some putty, it was hardly noticeable.   

 

I had more trouble with staining then the gluing.  Not so much with the oak plywood but with the pine trim pieces.  I used a Golden oak stain for the oak plywood and Provençal for the trim.  I wanted the trim in a darker color them the plywood to set it off, like picture frame.

 

It didn't turn out that way, to me it's not even and blotchy.  The pictures my not show it but in real life it's quite noticeable.  I have stained wood before when Gwen and I were refurbishing furniture so I'm not inexperienced with the use of stain.  One thing comes to mind though, I was recommended to use a wood conditioner for soft wood to open the pores for the stain to penetrate.  I have never had to use this stuff and my gut feeling is that it may have done just the opposite.  The pine trim should have soaked the stain up like a sponge but it actually just laid on top of the wood and even ran off the high spots to the gullies.  

 

What I should have done is to use a cut-off piece to test it both ways, with the conditioner and without.  I'll have to try tomorrow without the conditioner and see if the stain penetrates evenly before I rip these pieces off and start over.  I don't know yet if these stained trim pieces can take a coat or two  of paint.  Maybe an oil base.

 

I like the form of the trim pieces and so does Gwen.  If I still get blotchy results then my only recourse will be paint - - - that'll be plan C 

 

Okay, that's my problem for today.  Here are a few pics of the display board as it is today.  I took the pics outside the garage where I have been staining them.

 

This side shows more of blotches then the port side, go figure. 

 

This is semi closeup of the trim pieces.   The top piece is only 1/2 inch wide, not much room for drywall screw   This side doesn't look too bad but you can see that's not even or dark enough.

 

 

Cheers,  

[GLakie]

Your baseboard will be great when you get her done Piet! Love that trim molding. I remember just recently when I used MinWax's Golden Oak that I got that same blotchy look on some oak trim that was part of a drafting table-top I'm making, but the birch plywood I used seemed to take it just fine. Still can't figure it out. It did seem to look better after the second application. I'm thinking sometimes it's just a bad batch or something.