[Simplyred]

To begin with.....
Having just introduced myself on this forum and this being my first ever cardboard build, I feel a bit embarrassed starting this thread. But hey, who does not dare never wins! So here it goes....

Please remember that I am an absolute cardboard rookie here. So don't think "Ah, he will know that!" since I probably don't. Please feel free to comment the way you see fit, and please learn me the ropes of this craft since it ain't going to happen all by itself and I am for a great deal depending on what you guys have to learn me in order to get better at this.

The kit
I am building the kit: light cruiser "De Ruyter" 1942, scale 1:250, 4-color camouflage waterline model.
It is from Scaldis who provided great service during choice and purchase.
Besides the main kit, I have also treated myself on the available two laser-cut enhancement packs, which are one lc-pack for detailed parts, and one lc-pack for railings.
The price of the main kit was € 17,50 which I think is not too expensive, the laser cut pack for the details was € 14,75 and the one for the railings was € 20,25. All together this was not cheap, but for that one can expect some quality I guess. However, being used to resin/plastic builds, pe-sets for those cost a bit more most of the time.

What surprised me a bit was, that there was no laser cut pack for the frames/framework, which would have offered the possibility to use thicker cardboard and made a more solid frame for the ship. But that is only my thought, and being a complete rookie what do I know?

The ship
Of course, the ship has been named after one of our all-time National Dutch navy heroes: Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (1607-1676). As a vice-commander he beat admiral Ayscue in 1652 at the sea-battle of Plymouth. This was the first Dutch victory in this war and it made de Ruyter an instant Dutch hero. Many, many victories would follow the most well known of them being the battle at Chatham England, where Marines were deployed for the very first time. At that occasion he managed to capture the British flagship HMS Royal Charles and take it back with him to Holland. He was awarded the title "luitenant-admiraal-generaal" a title especially created for him.

There have been many "de Ruyters" as it is good tradition to always have navy vessels which honor the names of the well know National sea heroes. This started with a yacht in the year 1665 carrying the name "de Ruyter" and it has proceeded until this very day, where we have a fregat of the "Zeven Provinciën"-class at sea with the name "de Ruyter".

The cruiser from which this model is built has the following details:
* 170,92 meters long, 15,7 meters width, 5 meters deep.
* 6442 tons water placement empty
* 66000 horsepower engines delivering a topspeed of 32 knots.
* crew of 437 sailors.
* main armament of 7 pieces 150mm guns, in 3 double towers and 1 single tower.
* secondary armament of 10 pieces 40mm machineguns

It was said, that budget was of too much influence on this vessel, and that although it had some good design points it was armed and armored a bit lightly.

The build
Begin a complete beginner I found myself a bit intimidated by the details of the kit, and the lack of building instruction pictures. However, there is a good instruction in writing and it is available in 3 languages so no complaints there. It just takes some research for a beginner to find a begin and end, but then there were the magnificent pictures of Legion that made much clear. Would have been great if the building instructions had such pictures in them.
However, I guess doing that research and finding things out is just part of the fun?

So I started today by laying the beam and dry-fitting the frames of the first two parts of the beam as the picture shows. I want to stay sharp on this one since I have no clue what I will encounter and a mistake is quickly made. So, this is phase one, and the publication on this forum is a nice reminder of what has been done until now for me as well.
Here are some pictures.