Light Cruiser "Hr.Ms. de Ruyter" 1936-1942 waterline, camouflage

[Simplyred]

I guess it will have taken more work in real life back then, but both the cranes including the cabling are installed as the picture shows.

Yes, indeed Jos, the coloring is difficult for a beginner, but I go from the thought that experience will learn how to get the best results. As you said earlier, it proves that the color changes a bit when it dries as well. However, the color applied suits me, although there is room for improvement.

Another thing that I have always asked myself is how much "wear and tear" Hr. Ms. "The Ruyter" will have had when on its last fight in the Java Sea? Would there have been rust on the deck where the anchor chains were? Would there have been rust on the bow of the ship's outer hull from touching the anchor chains? How would the deck itself have looked like? Would there have been coloring of the deck wood? I really have no idea. Of course, Hr. Ms. "De Ruyter" was just from the builder, almost new. But the influence of sea water and the rough contact with the anchor chains must have been there?
On pictures of the real ship (which are all in black and white) I couldn't see anything.

Can someone offer some advice on that matter?

[scon10]

Nice build!
Wouldn't the sailors keep such a ship in constant good shape? In that case, it would have looked new right up to the end, is my guess.

[Longbow]

Simplyred,
You can find a lot of info on DutchFleet.
You will have to create an account, but that shouldn`t be a problem I presume.
From my knowledge (see my thread on the ship) the camouflage pattern was painted on in the Dutch East Indies in 1942, a few months before she went to battle..
Furthermore I know Dutch ships are very well maintained. My son was in the Dutch navy and he repeatedly mentioned the maintenance work the crew had to do.

Good build ! Thanks for sharing

[Simplyred]

Thanks Longbow !

I know, the Dutch take much pride in maintaining a good status of their navy vessels. I have witnessed that myself many times in the Caribic, being Dutch myself I took notice of their presence when travelling there.

However, at some places I could understand damage arises pretty easily, because of the anchor chains rattling alongside of it. And what gets damaged on sea easily attracts rust (but that is an assumption because I could also imagine there was anodic or cathodic protection).

I do have an account on DutchFleet. There is a thread there about Hr.Ms. "De Ruyter" from that era. I will ask there, many navy sailors frequent there who know first hand.

[legion]

From my knowledge (see my thread on the ship) the camouflage pattern was painted on in the Dutch East Indies in 1942, a few months before she went to battle..

The camouflage was removed sometime before she was sunk, iirc. On the Dutchfleet forum thread they mentioned it, I believe.

By the way, you should have made the corners of the boatdeck edges a little sharper, you have just enough of it to reach all the way around.

[Simplyred]

Hi Legion,

Yes, thank you, you are right I should have! I saw that one as well when looking at the cranes picture. The inside corner was not sharp enough. Although with the naked eye it shows not as pronounced as one the photo.

Nowadays, I work with a lighted magnifier glass and I found myself able to do the work much more precise that way. My eyes are not getting any younger over time :-) and this works a lot more pleasant with the magnifier.

Thank you for your advice. I value honesty. A Dutch trait as well I guess....

[Simplyred]

Construction of the protection cages at the stern of the ship.
The standing tube is constructed out of a plastic fiber and glued unto the cardboard cut cage.
Then painted. As you can see, the paint was still wet when the picture was taken.

On the photo, it looks like it that the angle of the standing tube is different between the both cages.
That is a trick of vision, they both have exactly the same angle.

[Simplyred]

Today I worked on the accommodating ladder to the main deck. Unfortunately, the kit supplied only a flat design of that, and to be honest I wanted a bit more than that. So, I decided to give it a try, and build one from scratch myself.
I had no idea whether this would work or not, but heck yeah, something came out of it that I feel satisfied with.

The part still has to be painted though, the glue needs to dry first.

If the part is complete, cabling to the deck to hold the ladder to its place must be added and it must be attached to the ship.

The picture shows my "product" between the ladders that the kit had in mind.
I added a macro picture for scale as well.

Having build this, my Respect for some of you has grown even more. How on earth are some of you able to create parts that are way smaller than this? Unbelievable if you ask me. For me, this seems to be just about the limit

[scon10]

Wow, great work! How do you get such a constant postion of the ladder steps? When I attempt such a thing, they are always irregular. Do you use a template?

[Simplyred]

Originally Posted by scon10

Wow, great work! How do you get such a constant postion of the ladder steps? When I attempt such a thing, they are always irregular. Do you use a template?

You give me way too much credit. I simply used a laser cut ladder for that. I ordered them from DrafModel from Poland (DRAF MODEL). They cost only 1,60 euros per sheet. With my skill level, I would never get these results if I tried to cut them myself. So I took the next best thing and used the laser cut ladders as a "half fabricate" and manufactured the accommodation ladders with them. I am now working on the cabling. Interesting is, how the cabling in real life was not straight down, but down under an angle as the picture of "the real thing" from the Hr.Ms. De Ruyter shows. So I need to think on how to accomplish that.