G'day from Down Under

[RonC]

G’day from Down Under
I live in Melbourne, Australia, and in the last few years have revived a boyhood interest in scale modelling. There is not much paper card modelling done in Australia, apart from a few model railway buildings, so the ships I have been building recently have generated some interest at the local plastic model show.
I discovered paper card modelling seven or eight years ago through the internet. The range of available models is outstanding, with examples available from all over the world. I have a family interest in the colonial navy ship HMVS Cerberus and it was the availability of a card model of same that drew me in. I have attached a photo of the Cerberus (papershipwright 1895 version) along with some of the others I have built.
After building a few castles, aeroplanes and motorbikes, I now focus mainly on steamships of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, around 1880 to 1910 because I love the symmetrical, upright, neo-gothic lines of many of the ships of that era … and back then, not all battleships had to be grey!
All my ship models are built to a common scale of 1/250. This often involves re-scaling models down from 1/200 but the ability vary the scale either up or down from the original is one of the many advantages of card.
My current project is the Retvisan – a little known but rather heroic Russian battleship that was actually built for them by an American firm around 1902.

[Uyraell]

Welcome Aboard RonC.
A wave to you from a fellow Anzac across the ditch.
You'll find many good folk here, several of whom are interested in ships of your preferred era.
Quite a few build in 1:250 scale, and create very fine models indeed.
One member, Golden Bear, is building the Royal Sovereign (1891), and Barry is a designer of ship kits, as is CT Ertz. Yu Gyokubun is another noted builder of ship kits, as are many others here.

I'm sure you'll find good company and much to read and enjoy here.

Kind and Respectful Regards, RonC, Uyraell/

[RonC]

Thanks Uyraell,

Thanks for drawing my attention to Golden Bear's threads. It has alerted me to the amazing work he is doing in designing kits. I have recently built his version of HMS Victoria and from viewing his build threads on this site I find that he has added the French ships Massena and Iena, as well as the USS Iowa. Those two French ships in particular will go on my "must build" list.
Meanwhile, I am working on "Retvisan" , which like the Iowa was built in the USA by William Cramp & Sons - but supplied to the Russian Navy. Same characteristic lightweight open superstructure - very tricky to get an acceptable result.

Regards,
Ron C

[doctormax]

Welcome to the forum ron

[Uyraell]

You are more than welcome, RonC.

I've seen pictures of Retvisan, and agree regarding the open superstructure.
It is certainly beyond my present level of skill.

I'm new to paper modelling, but have found this forum to be a great education in both design and construction technique.
I look forward to seeing your work when it is posted.

Kind and Respectful Regards RonC, Uyraell.

[Klaus H. Brodeck]

RonC,
thou shalt not be alone, here is another retired old f..t from Melbourne. I borrowed the old f..t bit from MajorTerry. I hope I spelled that "word" politically correct. Anyhow. Hello to all the newies.
Klaus H.