Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| In the early 1800's Europeans began to
settle on the continent of Australia. In 1851 Victoria became an independent
colony. Being on the other side of the world so far from allies, the need
for a modern navy was evident with each visit of a foreign naval vessel.
The HMVS Cerberus was one of the first steam driven ships. She was the
first in a line of Breast Monitors built in the United Kingdom. She was
a twin turreted ironclad monitor armed with four muzzle loading naval rifles.
For normal cruising she had a freeboard of about six feet. When she went
into battle she would flood her ballast tanks until her deck was barely
two feet above the water. This gave her a low silhouette and made for a
smaller target. Other than her transit from the UK, through the Suez canal
to Port Phillip bay. The Cerberus never left home waters. Her career was
unremarkable as she never fired her guns in anger. But her mere presence
was a deterrent to any aggressor nation with designs upon the land down
under.
Today the Cerberus is one of only three surviving monitors on earth. She was sunk as a breakwater in Port Phillip Bay in 1926. There is currently an effort underway to "Save the Cerberus". Check their website for all kinds historical and technical info. |
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SPECIFICATIONS:
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| HULL | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Hull on this kit is yet another example of state of the art casting. The deck is nicely planked and includes some extremely sharp detailing. |
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| SUPERSTRUCTURE AND DETAILS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Combrig continues setting the standards for kit quality with it's other parts. The superstructure, turrets and and ships boats are very well cast. The turrets have the guns cast in place and the barrels are even cast hollow. |  |
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| Boat davits are extremely thin and delicate. The air intake pipes are also extremely well done and well cast. I am constantly amazed by these extremely fine parts. These parts are so well done that only a light amount of cleanup will be needed. |  |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Instructions are pretty basic consisting of a plan
and elevation and an exploded view with parts list. These are adequate
for this kit as it is pretty simple.
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| CONCLUSIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This is a yet another example of a great subject being offered by the resin kit company that continues to set the bar for quality. With the exception of the mediocre instructions, everything about this kit is amazing. Priced at $20 in Pacific Front Hobbies latest update this is an amazing value for the modeler. |
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