Hr. Ms. O 19 by Piet - 1939 - 1945, scale 1:50, submarine Royal Navy Netherlands - Finished

[Piet]

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, 

 

 

[cog]

I'm glad you pointed out where you and your mum are in that last picture, I wouldn't have recognised you

 

I would say that the time to take off and remount the railing depends entirely on the system used. If its just pushing a rod in a sleeve it's a fast fit, besides the railing is only to avoid a drunken sailer falling overboard right ...( )

[Piet]

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,

[popeye the sailor]

awesome!    bet he made'um walk the margin after that one!

[Piet]

Hey Joe, yeah man, working on this model worked great on my memory.  Things from 76 years ago pop into my mind.  I remember snippets from when I was 4 years old.  Oh yes, there is also a story attached to that one, at 5 when we just got back to the Colonies in 1939.  

What's doubly amazing is that my brain damage (thanks to the Japs) seems to have healed to some extend.  I still have problems memorizing stuff and recalling things.  I need a trigger it seems.

 

Being also an airplane man is the word piper in your handle related to that?

 

Sorry to hear that you and your father were not close.  I have a friend in the same boat, a WW II PBY crew member.  Very sad.

 

Hi Popeye, thank you for liking my story, actually his story.  Yeah, he was a riot but after that incident he kinda was more careful staying out of trouble.  Did I ever tell yuns about him going out of a submerged sub that got tangled up in a fishing net?  Besides being a "wild and crazy guy" when he was young and unattached, he was also fearless.

 

 

If yuns like to hear it let me know and I'll tell you something not many men or women have done.

 

Cheers,

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet.

 

Please tell!!!

 

All the best.

[Piet]

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,

    

[Remcohe]

The stored launcher looks really neat Piet. Glad you like the Decals 3.0

 

Remco

[popeye the sailor]

she looks great Piet!  did you put on the port door.....I don't see it there    fantastic workmanship! 

 

 

how did you do white on transparent paper Remco.........oh,  Louis Pasteur of decals ?   

[Vivian Galad]

Piet, I love the story behind your build and the care you´ve been taking with all details. It´s not only a beautiful model to show, but a love demonstration. It´s an inspiration to us all, for sure.

 

:wub:

[NenadM]

Realy and true building with a soul. It is something realy valuable

[Piet]

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,

 

 

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

That's a marvellous story of heroism and bravery, which exemplifies how brave your father was.  Your model is a fitting tribute!

 

Just a thought...have you considered writing a book on how you've built your sub and interspersing it with stories and memories of your dad and his fellow submariners?

 

What do you think?

 

All the very best!

Edited September 26, 2014 by Omega1234

[Piet]

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, 

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

That's a great idea and what a wonderful family treasure the model and the build log will be.  Another thought - have you considered doing a  small plaque with your name, build date and a small photo of yourself and mini autobiography (maybe a paragraph)  inscribed on it?  The plaque could then be secreted somewhere inside the hull or conning tower, for future generations of your family to uncover.  This would be akin to a time capsule.  No doubt, at some stage in the far future, a future generation of your family will want to have the model restored (to rectify the ravages over time, e.g. dust, cracks due to changes in humidity, etc).  Imagine the surprise and delight as the modeller doing the restoration uncovers your plaque and hands it to your descendents.  What a tribute and memory that would be.

 

By the way, I have read of some historical models having similar memories of the original builder being secreted in their hulls, only to be uncovered in a similar fashion generations later.

 

Just a thought.

 

All the best.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Omega1234

[Piet]

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,

[Piet]

Hi Omega and Joe, thanks for the ideas but I'm again way ahead of you   Yes, I'm planning to make a brass plaque with some personal information on it but can't hide it somewhere inside the hull.  It'll be mounted to the bottom of the dock keel.  Then I'm making another brass plaque to mount on the display board with the KM emblem (KM being the short for Koninklijke Marine or Royal Navy in English) , the date of laying the keel to the date of her being scuttled by her crew.  The date and finish of the model build and what ever comes to mind.  I'll have both engraved being that I don't own an engraving machine anymore, that stayed with the business when I sold out.

All this'll take some thinking time about what and etc.

 

Come to think of it, I may be able to write a short log on a piece of paper, roll it up and shove it through an opening somewhere, like in in front or aft of the dingy compartment.  Could also be inside the lower part of the conning tower.  Nice thought there fellows.  You see - there still is a lot of work to do, a good reason to keep this log alive.  It may slowly move way back here though.

 

Cheers, 

[mtaylor]

Keep on "boring" us, Piet.  It ain't done until it's done and this has been a trip I would not have wanted to miss.  

[dgbot]

Nothing you have done has been boring. More a teaching seminar on building this sub type.

David B

[WackoWolf]

Boring what is that. This is not boring by any means. Keep this alive, like Mark said it isn't done till it's done. Thank you for taking the time in sharing this with all of us.

[Remcohe]

Yes do keep boring us Piet

 

Popeye, I found a guy in North Dakota and he has an Alps printer and was willing to do a one of print job. It's a dye sublimation printer that has white ink, ideal to print decals with. 

 

Remco

[Sjors]

This is so boring !!!!!

Why do I still looking at that ?

Because I like it ?

Keep on going Piet !!!

 

Sjors

[Piet]

Thank you fellows for your vote of encouragement.  The log'll be epen and kept current but I'll slow down a bit.  I may just add an original photo of the O19 once in a while, if that's okay with yuns 

 

I was busy all day cleaning up our yard.  We have had two days of severe rain with T storms and it left a mess.  Gwen was very concerned that water would enter the house but luckily we stayed dry.   If this begins to be a habit I may have to build a dike around the house   

 

I plan to start with making the boarding ladder tomorrow.  Need to make a few sketches first, I think.

 

Okay, that's it for today babes.  Hopefully some more stuff tomorrow or day after, who knows.  I need to get 1 ½ cubic yard of vegetable growing dirt for my new veggie garden and worms.  

 

Cheers,

[cog]

Piet,

 

Great work mate. If this is boring us, what will be entertaining us!!!

 

Keep it up

 

P.s. I've got some pony menure with nice big worms if you need some ... happy shov'lin'

Edited September 29, 2014 by cog

[Piet]

Hey, thanks Carl.  Okaaaaay - - - boring you want - boring you'll get 

 

Yeah, I can use a handful of your worms, can you fax them over?????    

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

Hello everyone,

 

I started making sketches for the boarding ladder by using the photograph of the O19 when docked in Alexandria, Egypt.  First I thought that it seemed to have a fold-down lower section to board over the mine bin section.  So, I designed a ladder with a foldable lower section that would work just fine.  However, when I blew the picture up (no, not with dynamite    i.e. enlarged it) I realized that they stuck a board under the lowest rung, at least according to the shadow on top of the mine bins.  So, all my efforts of this morning are for naught, at least for the foldable part.  It will make it a lot simpler for me, which is welcome.

 

With the boat not fully loaded she'll naturally ride a lot higher and being clever Dutchmen they improvised.  I also have a nice photo of the KVIII with the crew posing and there is also a boarding ladder.  I think that I have enough info to make a passable ladder     

 

Well, while we must wait for pictures of the building process I figured I'd "bore" all yuns with some pictures of the O19 snorkeling.  You may have heard it said that this system was a German invention but that would be wrong.  They copied this innovation and used on their U boats.  

 

​This also reminds me of a story my father told me about what happened during one of the proving runs.

 

They were coming up to surface and as is customary the CO peeked through the periscope and to his horror he saw a close and very speedy Navy vessel boring down on them.  There was no way avoiding a collision!  So he yelled "dive, dive, emergency dive."  They got the boat down real fast but not quite fast enough because that eager beaver Navy ship thundered right over them, with a goodly down bubble and full ahead, even shaking the boat by the turbulence.  Fortunately it didn't hit the boat just hit the periscope the CO was looking through       Talking about one shook-up CO.

That was a close call but excellent performance of the crew.

 

 

I made a picture this afternoon of the O19 in snorkel mode and add a few pics of her actually snorkeling.  Hope you like them.

 

This is a copy about "trimmed dieseling" as it's officially called, from a book by van Jalhay.  I have translated the Dutch text so all you non Dutchies can understand what it says.

"An invention by a Netherlands Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander 1^st Class J.J. Wichers, that would play a great role in the Second World War.  The officer of the Navy Steamship Service 1st class J.C. van Pappelendam tasked himself with the technical execution and the result was a pipe through which air was sucked in so that the boat could use the diesels when sailing under water and the batteries would thus not have to be used.  Naturally the boat was committed to a specific depth but she could practically remain submerged continuously.  The sniffer or snorkel did its entry. 

 

This shows my model of the O19 that I configured in snorkel mode.  Sometimes they would leave the communications antenna up but I elected to retract it and the battle periscope into the boat.  I have annotated the exhaust and intake pipes.  I didn't stow the dingy loading boom and tackle, too much trouble for now.  Will do that when I'm making the "official" photographs.  I love it when I can do a show and tell with this model.

 

This shows the O19 at the builder, Wilton-Fijenoord in Schiedam, the Netherlands in 1939.  The reason for the Dutch national flag on the con is that the Kingdom of the Netherlands declared neutrality as in the first world war.  They had all ships in Dutch registry paint the national flag on the sides.  This didn't help because Herr Hitler had other ideas.  In any case, you can see the exhaust pipe extended in this shot. 

 

This is one of the action pics of the sub snorkelen.

 

Here is another action shot of the O19 snorkelen.

 

Cheers,

[PacificCrossRoads]

Hi Piet. 

Your model is worthy of being exhibited in the Central Naval Museum Holland !!! 

  In Den Helder !!!! 

Especially because submarines are poorly represented there:-(

You're the best !!! 

[FreekS]

Hi Piet. 

Your model is worthy of being exhibited in the Central Naval Museum Holland !!! 

  In Den Helder !!!! 

Especially because submarines are poorly represented there:-(

You're the best !!! 

Boris there is nice model of the O-1 and two of KXVIII in Den Helder. I agree Piets model competes well with them, but musea are not that keen on static model displays anymore, nowadays it has to have buttons, a screen and a theme!

 

Freek

[Piet]

Thanks to the many who came to visit and showed your appreciation by clicking like.

 

Hello Boris, thank you very much for your kind words, you make me blush    I don't know what is exhibited in the various musea in the Netherlands or other countries but if the USA is a guideline, not much.  Gino den Ridder mentioned a group in the Netherlands that may be interested but they have no connection with any museum.  For now I'll keep her in house and enjoy looking at her 

 

Ho Joe, glad you like the stories about my father's escapades, it keeps my memory alive.  It's not much I remember and besides, he didn't talk "shop" that much.  He didn't want me to go to sea, he encouraged me to go the airplane route. At age six the "airplane bug" bit me and that's all I talked about.

I wish all of you could stop buy and have some fun conversations.  John Fleming and his wife Diane did and we had a great time.

 

Hoi Freek, thank you as well for your compliment, putting my model next to museum models.  It is a good thing that they do have at least the first Dutch sub and then one of the last pre WW II subs with a rich history.  Submarines are not very exiting subjects for static display models in the first place and yes, I guess people, especially the young people like interaction and puch buttons.

 

Cheers, 

[Piet]

Hello all,

 

This morning I made a new sketch for the boarding ladder.  I did this more for my own build archive then a plan to work from.  Once I have the idea in mind with the basic measurement I just work on "the fly."  Reminds me how our friend Popeye works 

 

So after lunch I started cutting the parts and pieces for the boarding ladder.  This was easy enough but in trying to jig them up posed a problem.  Making the treads or rungs from 0.2 mm brash shim turned out too thin and flimsy.  I'll have to make them from 0.4 mm brass shim.

I also need to make a jig to bend the small "feet" at the ends of the rungs so that each one is of the same length.  Not much of a set-back but I should have known before trying it.  Being impatient I guess.

Holding the parts of the ladder together for soldering is like trying to hold a house made from cards together.  So, I'll have to make a better soldering jig to get everything square and evenly spaced.  It'll work out, I hope.

 

You know, working on this little ladder model reminded me of my father taking me to see his boat.  That was early January, 1941, when he was promoted and had to get off the boat and was transferred to the cruise Hr. Ms. Java.  He wanted to visit the O19 one more time and say goodbye to the crew.  It also happened to be an open day like bring your kids to work.

 

This was in Surabaya, the Dutch Navy base in the Colonies.  I remember that the boat was tied to a floating like dock and we had to first get down a gangway, cross this wooden dock and then up onto the O19 by means of this steel ladder.  

Let's see, I was six going on being seven that April and my father wanted to help me.  Hmmmm, wrong thing to do with a seven year old boy.  I had to jump first from the wooden dock onto the mine tube lids and grap the handhold, then just climb on board, no problem.  Hey, I used to climb in the tall kanarie trees in front of our house and the tjimara trees (cimara = Malay spelling), this little ladder posed no problem for me.  My father was just smiling.

 

Okay, enough reminiscing.  It's close to my bedtime and I need to put an end to this.  Here are a few pics of my efforts of today.

 

I have already decided to make two changes.  One is the size of the step rungs from 0.2 to 0.4 mm and the other is the size of the two small hooks that hold the ladder to the deck from 0.8 to 0.4 mm brass rod.  I'll amend the drawing later with red ink 

 

Here are all the parts laid out.  You can see how flimsy the rungs are and not even.  The deck hooks will also be remade.  The railing handhold is not finished yet.  It has to be pushed through the two stanchions first before I can bend the lover hook on it.

I will secure it to the handhold to the stanchions with epoxy and I am making it removable - as you can see I have soldered pins to the bottom of the stanchions that'll fit into the sockets that'll be soldered to the ladder side.

 

Cheers,