Thursday, August 8, 2013

WHFB Empire Airship - WIP +2

Started on the balloon. Two Styrofoam cones have been blued together with yarn glued along the length to replicated the seams. The ends of the cones have Lego parts from a kit long forgotten, but odd pieces fortuitously kept in a bin.
Tissue paper will be added over the foam once the yarn dries. Netting will then be draped over the balloon to accept the rigging coming up from the ship itself. Well, that's the plan anyway. Oh, and fins will also be added to the rear and possibly the front top. More to follow shortly.

12 comments:

  1. Its a cool concept Dean, but I think to pull it off, the balloon part will need to be much bigger ... I'd go at at least twice as big again in terms of length and girth of the balloon.... I realise of course that no doubt 'magic' will be involved, so you could explain away the size that way, but I think a bigger balloon will look infinitely more impressive...

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  2. I don't know about Scott's comment as I'm not versed in these things. But if you went double the girth, the balloon would have to be higher up or it would impede on the deck. I don't think I'd go double the length though.

    All that aside, it is an impressive build and watching it unfold will be instructive and enjoyable.

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  3. I do like how this is coming along. Don't worry about the balloon size if it looks right to you then it is right. It is for a fantasy game so who can tell if it is right other than you.

    Keep going it's looking great.

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  4. Depends, is he going for physics or effect? I think making the balloon much larger will kind of impede the utility in-game. Either way, looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

    FMB

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  5. Coming along nicely. How well does it balance?

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  6. Wow - thanks for the great comments and ideas, everyone. Truly appreciate the interest and advice.

    I agree that the size - or lack thereof - of the balloon proportionate with the ship. In fact, I had a difficult time deciding to go with the current 3" diameter cones or just up to 4" diameter cones. I think larger would look good, but I didn't want the balloon to overshadow the ship. And as Anne mentioned the larger balloon would somewhat overwhelm the deck/crew.

    I do however plan to add some fins to the rear and possibly the forward area - which may give impression of a larger balloon - yet still allow more room beneath for the deck.

    We shall see though :) Warm regards to all and thanks for visiting the blog. Dean

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  7. Dean,

    You should make the balloon removable. Then make a steam tank/wheeled contraption to give you a Marienburg Class Land Ship option.

    They have rules on the forgeworld site.

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  8. Thanks, James - that is sort of what I was planning - as long as the balloon can rest atop without falling off. I did see the pdf rules for the Landship - nowhere near as good as the Steam Tank, but interesting.

    @ SimonQ - I'm still figuring out how to add the balloon on properly, but I'm keeping it as light as possible to aid in balancing the entire model.


    Warm regards, Dean

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  9. Looks great Dean. Like the idea of the fins. Will be awesome when its finished.

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  10. An excellent bit of kit Dean, but where and how do you store it???

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  11. Thanks for the nice comments, Gentlemen.

    Ray: That is something I'm working on - hopefully I can make the balloon removable for easier storage.

    Warm regards, Dean

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