Krieg Display Board 2023 Pt 3 - More 40k Zeppelin Construction
Entry posted by Captain Caine 24th in 2023
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Warhammer 40k Zeppelin...
So, the Rob Hawkins blog entry from 2013 (appropriately entitled "Oh the Humanity") really remains the key inspiration.
Length
You can see it's actually fairly big. It's also then a pain to transport on it's own. Lots of fiddly bits on the bottom. Unfortunately I also wanted double heavy stubber emplacements on the top, matching old WW1 artwork. This doesn't really work for transport. It needs to lay on one side. And though it does stand upright... I also wanted to add a left to right rudder (presently I only have up and down). I suppose again here that if I were to keep the project sectionalized/modular then separate pieces could be transported and put together at location. If (a big "if") I make a bigger one, I'd certainly figure out a way to make it in separate sections.
Texture
Here is one area where I departed from the inspiration. I tried to paper mache a texture, or more specifically a cloth mache. So I got some cheese cloth and used wood glue. The cheese cloth was too unwieldy. It streches when cut, and doesn't like being cut to the point it clings on stretches out in unexpected ways. In short, it worked, but was really uneven. Fixing it was going to be a terribly long endeavor. On a whim, I'd previously thought to look for athletic/cloth tape, thinking that would make it easier to cover gaps. This however turned out to be the better solution for the whole blimp. It's hard to cut really uniform lines on the curved rear and front sections, but it's good enough. Also, 100x easier than cloth mache. 100x.
Lines.
I wasn't sure that I really needed to run a pattern of supports like the Hawkins blimp. Also it was going to take a lot of time. I decided to just run a few lengthwise, and abandoned the plan to run them widthwise too. In the immediate run up to Adepticon there just wasn't time. I used evergreen #175 styrene strips (square shaped). I did this instead of balsa, as I found much the same as in the Hawkins blimp that balsa just didn't bend well. To be sure, styrene also doesn't like to bend too much. It was a pain to glue. With more time I'd have run some caulk down each lateral styrene strip to blend it in more with the texture (glue spots are obvious at present).
Engines.
Part of where this project came from was seeing the engine bits on that new ork buggie. Shokk jumpa or whatever. I saw that and thought I could make a blimp engine. An odd thought, but it stayed with me. Notably, styrene is not really that strong, so this design is not recommended. Some kind of brazed brass cage would be much better. The Sharpie marker design isn't necessarily what I wanted, but it was in the ballpark, easily reproducible, and saved me several hours of custom fabrication on each engine. I'd imagine many household items might have stood in here just fine - small bottles or travel bottles. The fins are from RC/drones, I found on ebay for fairly cheap.
Steering.
The old WW1 artwork had some really cool designs for steering, that wouldn't make much sense with modern innovation. But, 40k isn't about engineering efficiency, it should look a little crazy. So we're doing four fins - elevators controlling pitch, up and down. I'm not a pilot. I'm learning this. This was a bit of a catastrophe to get straight and aligned. Brass rod and plates might have been much stronger and reliable. Also, it still needs a lot of detailing. I'm not satisfied, but i'm out of time.
Painting.
I wanted grey, I think, but didn't have any on me in the time crunch. So, I went green. I then realized I had created a giant pickle. Facing a literal and metaphorical pickle, I went and found some brown and black. So, camo it is. In hindsight I should have sealed the whole thing with a spray varnish first as the cloth didn't take paint well at all. Also, since it's so big, I just used craft paint through the airbrush. This is not really a great way of doing it, cheap though it may be. I think a couple of cans of spray paint would do just fine. I should mention since this is foam... I did worry it would melt with spray paint so that was a limiting factor I did consider (but I'm not sure what all melts this particular foam and it certainly could work - I just couldn't risk melting my project this far in and days before the tournament). Burning the midnight oil!
Edited by Captain Caine 24th
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