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I really like how your nav display came out. I can't free hand that small with a paint brush.
Do you have a plan as to where you will display this beast?


Speaking of which...FURRIES!!!

Impressive project, coming together nicely!

Thank you TommyGun1918 and Vejut- I appreciate you looking in and taking the time to comment. I'm afraid I can't take credit for the battle display at the navigation console- I found an image of a battlefield diagram, printed it and cut it to size to fit in the raised rim of a 40mm base. For a look at what my freehand looks like, the gunnery screen at the weapons console in the weapons gondola is my freehand, and using alcohol pens to boot. Everyone has their area of strength- unfortunately, mine is weathering armored vehicles- especially mudding them up. Not a strength that finds much call in an airship build!

Lots of fiddly work tonight yielding only one photo:



I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to attach the bridge to the hull and I think this will work:

* The half circle piece of foam board you see is the aft bulkhead of the bridge- that fits in place first into the actual bridge/nose section you see behind it. I've already realized there is a wrinkle in the paper (I just found a nice Hello Kitty image, slapped it into a power point doc, added the colored boxes and printed it out) so I flipped the bulkhead over, sprayed it with the off-white I've been using for the other areas, printed another banner and will glue it into place (diluted white glue) when the paint is dry. I'd have had to redo the piece anyway, since I didn't leave enough room to run the blue LED battle lamp through the aft bulkhead (its battery and switch are in the hull) with the banner being so high, so it all works out.

* The full circle will glue onto half circle piece and has seven magnets embedded into it. I'll add a cardboard strip for the lower magnets that won't be covered by the bulkhead and hopefully- with enough glue- they'll stay where they're supposed to.

Regretfully, I'm going to have to glue the whole foam board assembly in place into the nose section- not there is really any room to game, but you hate to take irrevocable steps when you've had such a long build. What if something breaks loose and needs repositioned? To meet that eventuality, I'm going to use a rubber mastic that I should be able to pry out if I absolutely have to. The LED actually pulls out backwards through the bulkhead, so it will be easy to replace if it burns out.

I built railings for the elevated command platforms out of left over sprue- they are painted and drying and will go in tomorrow. Actually, all the platform stuff should go in tomorrow, leaving only the crewcats to fish and then glue the bulkheads in place and done.

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

Excited to see more progress! Glad you found a solution to keeping them in place.

Thanks very much, blockade23- we'll see if it works!

Some very ingenious use of bitz Meer_Cat!

Thanks, Olthannon! Some of the most fun I've had posting to this thread/blog is showing how I've made use of some random piece of junk I've found (once, on the Athena build, literally something I picked up in the parking lot). The best example was probably the Unobtanium Mining Facility a few pages back- that was almost entirely found items, as well as the other mining settlement/research community that I've had fun making out of pieces of PVC pipe fittings.

Feeling a little under the weather tonight, so not sure if I'll get anything advanced on the poor old Chonky Kitty, which disappoints me as what I'm working on at the moment is very fun and I'm so close to finishing what turned out to be a massive project. Needs must, when the Devil drives, of course.

Hopefully, more follows soonest. Thank you all for looking in and especially for your comments.

Good work sir, keep at it! you must be nearly there, or at leat be able to see the finish line....

Thank you for looking in and the encouragement, PaddyMick! Yes, the finish line is in sight, I just have to stay a little focused and use the time I have as profitably as possible.

And not get sidetracked by last minute visits from the Bright Idea Fairy. For instance, it occurred to me just last night that it would be really mega cool to add galleries to the sides of the hull so that infantry could pour out and engage jet propelled aircraft with rifles and swords. I mean hey- it works on WH40K tanks, right? I was able to get over that with only a few hours of thinking about exactly how I would do that. 'Infantry Galleries' on zeppelins are for the next build- this one just needs to get finished!

More follows soonest.

I hope you feel better soon,Meer_Cat.

This just keeps getting better,, loving watching this come together,,,

Thank you both, Syro and Alaricuk, for your best wishes and encouragement.

Back in action tonight, things really are getting down to the wire:

Crew: Added hair color and some appointments, just need to finish small details like jacket collars (the enlisted have fur, the officers need to have their branch colors added to their waffenfarbe), earrings, tails and ears and some washes and they are pretty much done:



Bridge: Captain's and helmscat's stands are added, just need to add the railing and ladders when this glue dries; I do see those crinkles in the map display and am thinking how to hide them behind some trim, or a gadget or something; also started gluing up the aft bulkhead with its load of magnets, so this is nearing completion:



Hull: These are the strongest hook magnets I could find (K&J Magnetics) to replace the PVC pipe cradle I've been using- I have a tablet stand with weight added to the baseplate and will use chain to hang the zeppelin from, these magnets will let me remove it and go back to the cradle if needed; one at each end of the chain isn't enough lift, so they have to be doubled up- no more ordering new pieces to try to make it work, time to finish this and move on, so solutions from on-hand materials only:



The hull also needs its air-anchors attached and decals applied- I have a lot to stick on so will be a big job all by itself, but very satisfying as it will be the very last step.

Weapons Gondola: Its crewcats are nearly done, the new 3 inch magnets are attached fore and aft, just need to build the new cradling to block light from escaping once it is fitted back in place and it is done.

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

Quite a bit of progress tonight actually, but only one photo:



The safety rails are installed on the bridge and the ladders- all that remains for this section is the helm wheel, the captain's chair and the crewcats- and those are all complete or nearly so. Tomorrow should see that piece mostly complete. I didn't think to tonight, but will add a shot looking into the bridge from the front tomorrow.

I still hate the thought of gluing the aft bulkhead in place, but there's really no reason to make the interior of the bridge accessible, so the straightforward, easier method it probably will be.

I also spent some time tonight gluing up the aft bulkhead- cutting and gluing in place the styrene panels to (hopefully) keep the magnets in place, tacking down the Imperial Nekomimi banner- it will be ready tomorrow also. Just need to feed the blue battle lamp (LED) through the port in the bulkhead and stow the extra wire somewhere between the bridge bulkhead and the hull faceplate, and she's done. Then we'll see if the magnet trick is actually gonna work. Fingers crossed.

I've been looking at the clerestory for the weapons gondola as well- it only offsets the gondola by 1/4 inch- not enough to worry about and the ship's nickname is, after all, the Chonky Kitty. So, if I can still use it with the new magnets attached to the gondola itself, I probably will. It makes for a better seat and is nearly light-tight already, just need to add some tape internally to act as light blocks at the seams.

More follows soonest.

Finally enough done to make pictures worth looking at:

Crewcats are done, bridge furniture is done:









And the gunnery section is installed in the weapons gondola:









I also tested the hidden magnets in the aft bulkhead- I think they'll be strong enough to hold the entire bridge assembly to the flat metal front of the hull- I should be able to get that installed tomorrow (just have to figure out how to hide the wiring for the bridge blue LED battle lamp). I'll also attach the chin quad 40mm cannon turret to the bow and it's finished.

Then just reattaching the weapons gondola clerestory, decals and some paint on the maneuvering vanes/propellers and I guess this project is about done.

Thank you for looking in, more follows soonest.

I was able to stay on task and get some more done tonight:

This is another shot of the gunnery section- a guard on the access hatch:



Repaired and reinstalled the clerestory- added the painter's tape to act as light block when the red battle lights are illuminated:



Installed the aft bulkhead to the bridge, glued it in place and ran the wiring for the blue battle lamp:









Two things to touch up:

I see the artist's tape has slipped a bit around the perspex canopy- I'll trim that up and push it back into place.

There is a gap between the bridge and the hull, I didn't push the aft bulkhead in deep enough (didn't want to push my luck and break something going any further), so I'll hide the gap with an adjustable clamp- like for clothes dryer hose, suitably painted and covered with gubbins so it doesn't look like what it is.

I know how I'm going to mount the chin gun turret, and there are decals to start putting on.

Thank you for looking in, more follows soonest.

That looks fantastic! It's really coming together.
One random thought; shouldn't the emergency exit have a parachute next to it instead of a first aid kit?

Too true, Tommygun1918!

Believe it or not, I did first try to make those packs into parachutes- but there's not a lot you can do to them so they tell the story of what they are save write 'parachute' on them, and I can't nearly begin to do that. So they became team medkits!




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Tonight's work:

Started painting the propeller vanes for the drive and maneuvering engines:



The maneuvering vanes have two black and one white vane each; the drive vanes have two white, two black and one 'eccentric' (yellow) that forms a striped blur when in motion: a part of the engine black gang's duties would be to periodically observe the eccentric blur to ensure that it was steady and smooth- if it wasn't, they were to shut the engine down pronto before it flew apart or set fire to the ship. Learned about that practice studying the USS Akron and Macon. These real history US Navy dirigibles were literally lighter-than-air aircraft carriers! Each could hold six fighter biplanes inside and the method of launching and recovering them in the air was incredible. Why there isn't a movie about this already I don't know.

Note to self: don't be in such a hurry to assemble, next time- paint 'em up first. In fairness, I wasn't sure if this idea was going to work, so didn't want to invest a lot of time painting only to have to throw it all away. It made for a lot of weird stooping and arm angles to get this first coat on, though.

And mounted the chin gun turret:





This turned out to be easier than I was initially making it out to be: I was going to use a Forstner bit and cut a circle in the bow, all kinds of things. In the end I just used JB Kwik Weld to fasten a BAM (Big A** Magnet) to the bow and drilled a cavity in the base of the turret and inserted a basing magnet and it worked fine.

Photos are nice for seeing things the Mark I Eyeball misses: for instance, I never realized there was a lens for an optic between the two pairs of guns; now I must paint them (on all three turrets- chin and the two dorsal).

I won't get a chance to work again until Monday, then it's more paint for the props, test the lights again, and apply decals. Then finish the alternate stand (which is a hanger) and photos and high fives for everyone.

Thank you for looking in.

Some good work tonight:

Assembled the Patented Danforth Air Anchors:



These were small kits from a company that sells kits and accoutrements for scale wooden ships consisting of the anchor shank, the spades and a tiny brass shackle and pin. They were a bit of a bear to assemble, but my clumsy hands managed. I also drilled out holes for the anchor chain hawse and the anchor cathead, you'ns will hopefully see those tomorrow when I attach the anchor assemblies to the ship.

Also primered/base colored the hawse pipe covers (two sizes of small washers):



And primered/colored the adjustable clamp that will form the coupling between the hull and the bridge, and by 'form the coupling' I mean: "hide the gap":



I added another layer of paint to the propeller vanes and started painting on some details.

Lastly, I started applying the first of many decals- beginning with the 'flying tiger' teeth and eyes on the bow (like on the P40 Warhawks in Claire Chenault's Flying Tiger Squadron). I only got the teeth on today, not the eyes, so a photo tomorrow, hopefully.

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

Tonight was mostly applying decals, so far- although I did add the adjustable clamp to help hide the gap between the bridge and the hull (it is partially successful); no close up pics because I'm not pleased/proud at having to do that. I was going to box the adjustment knurl with gubbins to hide it, but it looks like a landing cable winch, so it stays as is for now.

First decals up- the nose section with its P40 Warhawk regalia:



Next, the Great Warrior Neko In the Sky:



I used a metric crap-ton of Solvaset to help this snuggle down over the rivets- I think that helped. I'll also be hitting this- and all the decals- with matt varnish to help hide the edges. I like the look- wasn't sure if this was going to work at all.

And then each of the engine nacelles got each their own 'lady luck charm':

Number 1 Engine- Baroness West



Number 2 Engine- Radio Girl



Number 3 Engine- Miss Sounder



Number 4 Engine- Call Me



I have some more to add, to include a couple that I have to try printing using MicroMark's ink jet printer decal sheets- we'll see how that works. The only 'modeling' piece yet to dois to add the Patented Danforth Air Anchors and hawses and then some touch up paint and I guess I'm done. Then I want to take the size comparison photo and make a little video to really show her off.

Thank you for looking in.

Coming very close to done with tonight's work- much progress, one set back:

I assembled the Patented Danforth Air Anchors (anchor, chain scope, threaded through the hawse covers and a fixing pin added):



I drilled a hole through the hull and the pin feeds through and prevents the chain from slipping back out. Then affixed the anchors:



I added a 3mm magnet to the back of the anchor so that it can hang free, as pictured, or be attached to the hull to stop it flinging around.

Not pictured: The Great Neko in the Sky vinyl decals were not staying adhered to the hull, so I pulled them off, sprayed Gorilla Glue Contact Adhesive and repositioned them- this seems to have worked.

I also have these mooring cleats left over- turned out they were too fine a detail and there just wasn't room to use them anywhere, so now I have to scratch build either an amphibious tank or a riverine warfare patrol boat so I can justify having bought them in the first place.



When I went to lay out and print the last decals I needed (hull numbers and ship's name) I discovered that MicroMark sent me the wrong thing- not the "print your own decal" sheets for use with an inkjet printer, but several sheets of railroad car graffiti. I'll use 'em, but they were not what I needed for today. I found some of the proper thing online and have placed an order, as soon as they arrive I can make my final decals, slap 'em in place and the ship is done. Then I can get some pics and video sorted out and move on to the next project.

Thank you for looking in. More follows as soon as I get my decal sheets.

Amazing. Just amazing.

Thanks very much, Not Online!!! A couple more decals and then its just formal photo and video time!

Love the Kitty Chan!

Thank you for looking Kid_Kyoto! It's been a long time comin', but the end is nearly here for this project. I almost feel like Inigo Montoyo in The Princess Bride: "I've been in the revenge business for so long, I don't know what to do with myself." "You'd make a good Dread Pirate Roberts."

For tonight's modeling time I cleaned up all my working debris/litter of the past several months (per the historical record that is Dakka, I started this build on 22 FEB 2024) so as to start fresh on what comes next. Behold, one of two times I've actually put everything away (mostly) on my little painting desk:



The job isn't quite done- I've got a couple of custom decals to print out and affix, then some fun photos and hopefully a little video to show her off. I'm thinking a future project to enhance the Chonky Kitty is to add some 'balloon jacks' (I want to give proper attribution for the source of that character class, but I can't remember where I saw it- it's a game, or line of miniatures, I think- please chime in if you know): these would be Nekomimi conversions from something like Elysian drop troopers, or something like that. I have the Neko asteroid miners, they would form the basis (and hopefully Resin Munitorium starts printing again- fingers crossed).

But there is a job 'way overdue and it starts tonight. This is Chip Marshal:



He was a rescue of ours, came as a pair with his buddy Sandtracker (whom we call 'Sammy'). Chip started as a harness racer and was fairly successful- won several hundred thousand dollars in purses. When he started to slow down, he was purchased for agricultural use and badly overworked and poorly treated. He came to us at age 20, still wanting to keep company with humans (the capacity of animals to love amazes me, sometimes) but broken in body. We were able to give him more than a year of good food, good medicine, attention and love- when he passed he wasn't in pain, he wasn't hungry and he wasn't alone. Our tradition is to build a shadow box for the critters we try to help and who end their time with us, so I've had some of the makings for his box on hand for some time (we lost him last April) but the zeppelin was underway, now it's time to get it done:



The box will be for both Chip Marshal and Sammy- he's the black bay. I've got some photos to print out and some more gubbins to add, but I'll get Chip's part done and will add Sammy when the time comes.

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

Been woikin', got a couple a pix to show:

I found my print-your-own decal paper, misfiled, is why couldn't find it earlier:



It comes with white backing, or transparent- this is white. I can use it if I cut close around the images, but I ordered transparent backing so I'll probably print another set and use most of those. I filled the bulk of the sheet with horse pictures we've taken over the years to make some custom photo mugs.

This is the part of the sheet that mostly has the decals for the zep:



I used a Canon 2592 (I think) cheap inkjet printer and adjusted the settings for Standard Print, Photo Paper, 8.5" x 11, that's it. Printed nice and crisp, they cut out clean and they only need to soak for about 30 seconds to apply- and they stay loose for several seconds, easy to reposition.

It costs about US$12 for a pack of 5 8.5 x 11 inch sheets.

I'll slap the last decals on probably Monday and hopefully start my little video on Tuesday next.

Thank you for looking in.

So, finished, but mixed results.

One thing I figured out is that every time I glued something into the bridge, the fumes from the cyano-acrylate glue etched the inside of the perspex canopy- I should have used Aileen's Tacky Glue to avoid this problem.

The final decals are in place:









The print-your-own decal sheets with transparent backing came in, but no matter what I tried, the edges kept curling up; I truly cannot recommend them. Same manufacturer as the sheets with the white/matte backing, but absolutely worthless. If I blotted them dry, they curled. If I left them to dry naturally, they curled. If I used Solvaset, the ink bled, and they curled. If I sprayed them with matte varnish, they smelled funny, and curled.

The white/matte worked just fine, and I added a matte varnish coat just to make sure they stayed in place. I just had to cut them out a little more neatly, as the outline of the backing would be easily visible against the color of the skin of the ship, but that was easily done.

Fun fact: The Coast Guard emblem and 'racing stripes' on the bow of every Coastie vessel (to include USCGC Eagle) is one huge decal, applied by specialists from the company that makes them.

Also Fun Fact: Z59 is the hull number for the zeppelin in Tom Kratman's novel The Romanov Rescue

I have one more unknown to deal with and that's the hanger stand I intend to replace the cradle- the cradle is too small for the weapons gondola as it turned out, so I want something that shows off the model better. I'll tackle that, and finishing unpacking all my vehicles and miniatures from the move last year so I can get some size comparison shots, and I am truly moving on.

Just as a quick summary:

* The bridge is half a make-your-own Christmas ornament ball
* The hull is a piece of 8" diameter stove pipe with an 8-4" reducer at the tail
* The sides of the weapons gondola are two key fob hangers
The battery gondola is a parts sorting dish from Kobalt Keep
* The tail section is a circular electrical receptacle installation
* The tail fins are cut down plastic spatulas from the dollar store
* The engine pods are used refrigerator water filter cartridges
* The engine hangers are broom hangers from the dollar store
* Three aft navigation lights, four blinking running lights, two wepps gondola red battle lights and one bridge blue battle light (all working)
* Nine feet of wiring
* Five concealed battery boxes
* Six crewcat figures

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

I can't believe you're coming to the end of this project. I can't wait for the final photodump with pictures from every conceivable angle.

Thanks very much for looking in, Josh! I didn't realize it had been so long since the beginning, until I checked the log.

I made a start on getting the video clips I want tonight, after a quick stop at the local thrift store to get a particular item:



The tablet stand was what I had originally envisioned hanging the Kittyhawk from as a permanent display- but it is far too light, even with the extra 10 pounds of weights on the base, so I got something different for the hanger. But you put the tablet stand and its weights on the little kids' pull-wagon I got from Goodwill for US$3, and you've got a pretty good dolly mount for a cellphone camera. I just mount the phone, hit 'go' on the video record and draw the dolly along as evenly as I can.

I ran into one snag though: the hook magnets I was going to use to attach the hanging chain to the hull (so it could be removed easily if I wanted to put it back on the cradle stand) just aren't strong enough, no matter what I tried. So, the heck with it- I'm going to pick up two sheet metal eyelets tomorrow and drill holes in the hull and permanently mount those suckers. That'll put paid to the problem once and for all. And the eyelets are, in fact, lifting shackles for when the Chonky Kat is in drydock and needs to be lifted in and out of repair bays.

I hope to get the rest of the video clips shot tomorrow and a start on editing the vid, then some good scenic still shots.

Thank you all for looking in, your encouragement and advice. More follows soonest.

Congratulations of the completion of a huge project, Meer'. Good job.

Thanks Doc! I've gotten a fair number of short video shots, as soon as I can find some of that mythical 'spare time' lying about I'll get it cobbled together into something that gives an idea of what the whole ship looks like!