HMVS Cerberus - First Card Build

[Dan Vadas]

Hi all,

I've been building wooden ship models for the past 20 years or so, and I've decided to expand my skill set to include Card Modelling. For a look at some of my ships (and other wooden models) click THIS LINK.

My first card build is a free download of HMVS Cerberus (1870). I only have about another week's work to finish her, so this won't be a full Build Log. To see the complete log on Model Ship World click THIS LINK.

Below are a couple of pics of my work to date. I haven't worked out how to insert the pics into the post yet.

Cheers, Danny

[PhantomCruiser]

Excellent craftsmanship!

[Doug J]

Stellar work as always Dan!! Good to see you!

[Don Boose]

Clean, precise work. Your previous model-building experience is clearly standing you in good stead.

Don

[Michael Mash]

Hello Danny,

Nice work with your Cerebus. Paper Shipwright has quite few attractive models, this being one of them.

You mentioned you are a wood ship builder, and desired to try your hand at paper ship building.
Do you have time to tell us a little bit about your wood ship building experience? In the years I have been a member here on Papermodelers.com, there have been one or two wood ship builders try their hand at paper modeling. I am curious to find out the pros and cons of wood ship building. And how does it compare to paper building, based on your experience here so far?
Thanks and good luck with Cerebus.
Mike

[VinceM]

I can't find the free paper model of Cerberus. Paper Shipwright has a model for sale.

[ct ertz]

Originally Posted by VinceM

I can't find the free paper model of Cerberus. Paper Shipwright has a model for sale.

They Change up their "free" models from time to time. If this one is no longer free then one of their others probably is...

[ccoyle]

Hey, Danny! I didn't know you were a member over here. I will vouch for Danny's wood modeling skills. He has some very fine work on display over at Model Ship World.

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for all the encouraging comments guys, much appreciated .

Do you have time to tell us a little bit about your wood ship building experience?

Michael I started (and finished) my first wooden ship about 40 years ago, an Artesania Latina model of the whaling ship "Charles W. Morgan". It turned out as you would expect from a guy who had no idea of building wooden ships, lots of mistakes with the hull planking and rigging. I still have the model in it's case.

Then I built a Billings "Norske Lowe" which turned out a bit better despite terrible instructions. I actually sold the model for $1,500 to a guy who had a very fancy Resort which featured "theme rooms". He put it in the Mariners Suite.

Then I built several more models, all Kits - a Mississippi Riverboat, a fictional 18th century French ship named "Mirage", and a Corel "HMS Victory". Each of these finished up better than the last . Also in the mix was a wooden Hasegawa Sopwith Camel.

Then I had a break for about 10 years while "life" got in the way. I hadn't actually finished "Victory", so that was first on the list when I resumed the hobby. Then I built a model of "HMS Bounty" which I gave to my mother.

Looking for something relatively easy to fill in time I made the mistake of buying Artesania Latina's "HMS Supply", figuring that a Brig would only take me about 6 months to build. How wrong I was.

About this time I finally connected to the Internet and discovered "Model Ship World" and it's fantastic members who were a tremendous help in improving my skills. One of those skills was Researching the actual ship I was building, something I'd never bothered with before. I found that the model of "Supply" was totally inaccurate. I had already finished the hull, which came out rather well and was one of the few things that AL had got right. Fortunately I hadn't started any of the woeful inaccuracies of the kit, so I started Scratchbuilding the rest of it to make it as accurate as I could. The model now resides in the Pier Museum on Norfolk Island, a place that it had a major part in her history.

The Scratchbuilding bug had hit hard, so my next was a (almost, I used the unseen hull framing from a kit) scratchbuilt "Norfolk Sloop", a small boat that had a history with the early settlement of New South Wales. She was wrecked at the entrance to Newcastle harbour, so it's appropriate that my model is now in the Newcastle Maritime Museum about 200 metres from the wreck site.

I'd always wanted to take a step up and build a Fully Framed ship, so my next effort was the 16-gun sloop "HMS Vulture" which had a lot of original plans and documentation from which to build it accurately. This model is my crowning glory so far. It took me 4 1/2 years to build, working on it nearly every day. When I finished it I built a Cross-section model of the middle of the ship to show off some of the interior details which were rather difficult to see on the full model (but were there none-the-less). Both these models are now in the Maritime Museum at Port Macquarie.

For a bit of fun I built a Ship's Longboat in a Bottle, also a couple of motorbikes in bottles for my young grandsons. My last model before starting "Cerberus" was a "Wells Fargo" Stagecoach made from a Kit. Of course, I couldn't help myself so I modified the kit with working door locks, and changed the livery to the Australian "Cobb & Co".

Looking for a new challenge, I decided on attempting a ship from Card - and here I am .

I am curious to find out the pros and cons of wood ship building. And how does it compare to paper building

Wooden ship building requires some different skills to paper modelling - learning how to accurately cut,sand and finish timber are probably the main ones. Specialist Power Tools (mini Table Saw, Scroll Saw, Lathe etc) make the job easier, but are not absolutely necessary.

So far I've found working with timber is easier than paper, but that's only due to the different skill sets needed with handling paper. I guess once I've spent 40 years working with paper I might have a different view . In fact I've "cheated" in both disciplines - I've used paper for making small things like the "iron" bands on a (wooden) ships anchor stock, and also used it for Mast Bands. Conversely, I used wood to make the tiny (0.8mm diameter) Bollards rather than try to roll 17 of them from paper. I've actually (successfully) rolled one the same size for the centre of the Ship's Wheel for Cerberus, just to see if I could do it .

I can't find the free paper model of Cerberus.

Vince, try THIS Link. If you click on the "Add to Cart" button it gives you the option of either buying the pre-printed model or a Free Download version.

Cheers, Danny

[Robert Woolley]

Hi Danny. I live over in Raymond Terrace, so we are practically neighbours! I almost bought a house in Abermain, until the owner decided not to sell.I must get into the maritime museum to have a look at your model.
I clicked on the links but it seems we need to be a member to look at the site.
And nice work on the Cerberus. It certainly doesn't look like a first paper model.

Robert