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I like the dowel look too, but someone earlier suggested you glue your propeller blades on the shaft at a bit of an angle to look more realistic. I know that's sort of out of scope with your one-piece blades and all, but... (ducks)

Firstly love the look. Exactly what I was on about, Perfect.

Next.....Dowels brassed up??? or Green thingys brass with maybe rivets running around the bands?? Orange ...NO.

Oh and agree with Dave, maybe the dowels with a small saw cut in at an angle to take the blades!!

Initial impressions is that:
The orange spacers are too short and fat relative to the pod.
The green thingies are too long/tall relative to the rotors. Maybe if they were shortened?

And so the dowel is possibly the best.

However, to complicate matters, can I suggest that the upper rotor could perhaps have a thinner axle than the lower rotor (as it is on the Kamov helicopter)?

dsteingass wrote:I like the dowel look too, but someone earlier suggested you glue your propeller blades on the shaft at a bit of an angle to look more realistic. I know that's sort of out of scope with your one-piece blades and all, but... (ducks)

darn... I never get this done in this century it seems^^... I want this nightmare to be over^^

Camkierhi wrote:Firstly love the look. Exactly what I was on about, Perfect.

Next.....Dowels brassed up??? or Green thingys brass with maybe rivets running around the bands?? Orange ...NO.

Oh and agree with Dave, maybe the dowels with a small saw cut in at an angle to take the blades!!

yeah yeah... I agree... currently the blades of the propellers are too thin looking for a just flat gluejob... damn...

Dr H wrote:Initial impressions is that:
The orange spacers are too short and fat relative to the pod.
The green thingies are too long/tall relative to the rotors. Maybe if they were shortened?

And so the dowel is possibly the best.

However, to complicate matters, can I suggest that the upper rotor could perhaps have a thinner axle than the lower rotor (as it is on the Kamov helicopter)?

actually that would be the right thing to do... as the upper axle would be inside the lower one... so the lower one would have to be wider to hold the upper... am I right?...

this is me... getting even deeper into the rabbit hole you call airship...

you soon see the worst of it...

Please sir, you are soooooo close.

lol...I think if ever there was a project I would loose my sanity... this is where I will never find it again^^

by the way... I want to do a nose art/figurehead on the peak of the blimp... currently I want to do either a dragon or an eagle head... the tail will be on the ...er..tail of the blimp too...

I have currently only a little helpful pic of an eagle head done in PC... anyone else has some helpful pics? believe me, google didn´t help as intended...

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

actually that would be the right thing to do... as the upper axle would be inside the lower one... so the lower one would have to be wider to hold the upper... am I right?...

Yep, that's right.
You could explain the equal sized ones as just being aerodynamic housings and the axles are hidden inside. But exposed axles would have one inside the other and therefore the lower one would need to be larger.

by the way... I want to do a nose art/figurehead on the peak of the blimp... currently I want to do either a dragon or an eagle head... the tail will be on the ...er..tail of the blimp too...

As I'm quite into dragons, I would vote for a dragon.
Couple of thoughts along that line; with dragons, the main feature is the head and that gives the "look" for the whole (spiky head = spiky body, sleek head = sleek body...),
However, as they are not real there's no set style for how it should look and it's very much up to you as to what it looks like (I've found most dragon heads to be love or hate for me). The eagle, on the other hand, has to look like an eagle which is good for finding what it should look like but bad as people will notice if it doesn't look right.

At the other end, there's not a lot exciting you can do for a dragon's tail. It's usually a typical tapered/pointed lizard tail, although you can add spikes etc. to the end to add interest. With the eagle, you could do a nice fan of tail feathers on the tail and even on other fins of the blimp.

And that brings me to the middle bit. Something you could do with the dragon, is do the body/tail snaking along or around the body of the blimp (I did this on one arm of my old lab coat) and that would give the tail more interest as it joins it to the head, which is less important for the eagle.
And also, with dragon bodies you have to decide if it's got separate wings to it's legs (four arms/legs AND wings, or two legs AND two arms/wings).

Then you have to think, do I want to be painting lots of scales or lots of feathers?

Just keep building as-is, you can always come back and fiddle with the propellers later on. Momentum..Schnell!

I had a thought, what about propellers from one of those horribly flimsy model helicopters? I have extras if you want some.

And make sure the blades are not aligned at the same degree as each other, that way they will look contra-rotating

Dr H wrote:

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

actually that would be the right thing to do... as the upper axle would be inside the lower one... so the lower one would have to be wider to hold the upper... am I right?...

Yep, that's right.
You could explain the equal sized ones as just being aerodynamic housings and the axles are hidden inside. But exposed axles would have one inside the other and therefore the lower one would need to be larger.

by the way... I want to do a nose art/figurehead on the peak of the blimp... currently I want to do either a dragon or an eagle head... the tail will be on the ...er..tail of the blimp too...

As I'm quite into dragons, I would vote for a dragon.
Couple of thoughts along that line; with dragons, the main feature is the head and that gives the "look" for the whole (spiky head = spiky body, sleek head = sleek body...),
However, as they are not real there's no set style for how it should look and it's very much up to you as to what it looks like (I've found most dragon heads to be love or hate for me). The eagle, on the other hand, has to look like an eagle which is good for finding what it should look like but bad as people will notice if it doesn't look right.

At the other end, there's not a lot exciting you can do for a dragon's tail. It's usually a typical tapered/pointed lizard tail, although you can add spikes etc. to the end to add interest. With the eagle, you could do a nice fan of tail feathers on the tail and even on other fins of the blimp.

And that brings me to the middle bit. Something you could do with the dragon, is do the body/tail snaking along or around the body of the blimp (I did this on one arm of my old lab coat) and that would give the tail more interest as it joins it to the head, which is less important for the eagle.
And also, with dragon bodies you have to decide if it's got separate wings to it's legs (four arms/legs AND wings, or two legs AND two arms/wings).

Then you have to think, do I want to be painting lots of scales or lots of feathers?

well... if you have some cool metal looking dragon concepts that could be translated to cardboard.... i aim for the metal riveted look of course... so a bit like the heldrake... only much bigger... and it will still have the helikopter propeller engines on each sides... tho i today finsihed the last three of them and they look rubbish... i think i need to fix that soon...
currently i have made an eagle head i´ve found on the webways... but i could easily do a new dragon one as i think the dragon idea is more fitting for this airship... as for scales... well... even for that idea i had some thoughts already... i think some ornamental scales made with my ever trusty holepunch would be in order...

dsteingass wrote:Just keep building as-is, you can always come back and fiddle with the propellers later on. Momentum..Schnell!

understood... but we don´t want to rush these things and make a foolish job out of it on a side note... we went shoping for groceries... and we accidentaly found a holepunch set like this:


now i am able to make 5mm to 32mm holes ... ^^

inmygravenimage wrote:I had a thought, what about propellers from one of those horribly flimsy model helicopters? I have extras if you want some.

currently i wont need these... also... that whole project is strict cardboard and wood related... so no plastics!... none whatsoever^^ but thanks for the offer

shasolenzabi wrote:And make sure the blades are not aligned at the same degree as each other, that way they will look contra-rotating

my wife asked me as i explained the contra rotating issue how the heli would stay in the air...? and i have to add... i am a little puzzled too... if the one propeller turns clockwise and the other the other way around... wont this affect the airstreams?

It was proven to improve speed/

And it negates the need for a tail rotor, I think.

I think the idea of the dragon is nice, the idea of it snaking down the body of the ship and tail out back sounds impressive, and with your skills, very do-able. I had a thought, the tail instead of being long and thin, look to the movies, the Nightfury's tail from "How to train your dragon", is a nice fan arangement that would lend itself well to the airship.

Have to agree with Dave "the Master" though less distraction, more modelling.

Cheers

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

well... if you have some cool metal looking dragon concepts that could be translated to cardboard.... i aim for the metal riveted look of course... so a bit like the heldrake... only much bigger...

I've had a bit of a google, looked through my "dragon" pictures folder on my computer and even had a look at the sketches I've done for various pictures, but can't find much to help.

However, I thought that a good profile picture might help you:
Dragon head profile
and a few examples I picked out (but there is more there, it's just a matter of taste as to what you like):

I think whatever I find is still going to need a fair bit of work from you to translate to card, but if you pick out the main shapes of some of those pictures and cut them from card, they could work...

as for scales... well... even for that idea i had some thoughts already... i think some ornamental scales made with my ever trusty holepunch would be in order...

Good idea

my wife asked me as i explained the contra rotating issue how the heli would stay in the air...? and i have to add... i am a little puzzled too... if the one propeller turns clockwise and the other the other way around... wont this affect the airstreams?

They are both pushing air straight down, the direction of rotation of the blades doesn't make the air rotate.
The opposite rotations is just to stop the torque acting on the aircraft and making that spin in the opposite direction to the rotors.

They are both pushing air straight down, the direction of rotation of the blades doesn't make the air rotate.
The opposite rotations is just to stop the torque acting on the aircraft and making that spin in the opposite direction to the rotors.

ah.... ok... i think i´ve understood that...thanks for that insight!
and also thanks for the inspirational pics...
i really need to think some more about this...pics later on will show what i have done in that direction...

and thanks cam... and also i am still thinking of only making a purist airship this time as the down below pics will show you... the blimp really is rather stocky looking and thus an elegant bird or dragon it will never be... the snaking dragon idea tho has its merits...

also... i have caught a tummy bug it seesm that had me out of order yesterday... but i am recovering already...

as for some updates... well i was experimenting with cardboard the last days... made and eagle head just to try and this made me rather sad as it showe how stocky the blimp is... i need to see how this could be fixed...speaking of fixing... i need to devise a new engine casings as the last three one didn´t look as the frist one... so i am currently thinking up another way to do them... remember..scratchbuilding is all about doing things from scratch









if i don´t use this head this time i will make some terrain from it...

cheers, vik

Vik, the eagle head turned out superb, it'll be a shame not to use it. Maybe you can use it in the gondola?
I can think of a modular zeppelin made from two parts: the gondola itself and the baloon. If the balloon is damaged, the eagle-shaped gondola is detached and the folded wings spread allowing it to glide like a giant bird to make a soft landing.

 storag wrote:
Vik, the eagle head turned out superb, it'll be a shame not to use it. Maybe you can use it in the gondola?
I can think of a modular zeppelin made from two parts: the gondola itself and the baloon. If the balloon is damaged, the eagle-shaped gondola is detached and the folded wings spread allowing it to glide like a giant bird to make a soft landing.

Awesome idea Storag!

Ahh! Inspired from Klaus's Athena eh Vik? Nice Job! I can't help but think that head would be a great ship prow or a boarding ram of some kind!
Glad you're better, it was quiet here yesterday

Wow, that eagle head is A.C.E.!
It would be a shame not to use it. I really like storags idea with the detachable gondola.
Nevertheless, I have to say, just from a size comparison, the blimp body is too small for the eagle head...
Well, I've been there too.
Remember when I had to extend the entire ATHENA hull by a section in the early stage, and when I later had to chenge her from aircraft carrier to destroyer...
I don't envy your position right now. It's a tough choice.
But at least your tummy is better
Best wishes!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, you could use the eagle head in a landing tower instead!
You know blimps need a tower to dock - and the eagle strongly reminds me of the Empire State Building ornaments - which top was originally designed to dock blimps

That eagle head is fantastic vik , maybe if you angle it downward slightly you could place gun barrels in the eyes. It looks lage enough to be a separate gun deck for the airship. That way as the ship soars above the battlefield he eagle's eyes can dispense justice on the heretics.

Glad your stomachs on the mend, that can quickly ruin a day.

Also it's a really nice hole punch set you have. I'm jealous of ha larger 32mm punch, largest I saw here without going to a different set is 25mm.

Yeah! THat holepunch set looks useful! Even a built-in poker tool for removing the discs.

 dsteingass wrote:
Yeah! THat holepunch set looks useful! Even a built-in poker tool for removing the discs.

That's one thin I wish he set I have would have had. I've messed up so many discs its not funny.

Heh, I use an aluminum rod and a hammer to get mine out

 dsteingass wrote:
Heh, I use an aluminum rod and a hammer to get mine out

Even on the really narrow ones? I have a small carbon rod that I use, but the end has enough of a point that it cuts into them.

Yeah, It has a flat cylinder end, it mars some, but then I usually punch 2 or 3 before I poke them out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8p9JpDuQ-o

Thought about It right away, great job mate, absolutely TOP

Really love the eagle head, and completely agree on the need for frickin laser beams in its eyes. Also, if you pm Me your email address at no point will I send you a scanned page.

Nice work on the eagle head.

If it's positioning you're having problems with maybe...*thinks*...
You could stick it on a frame that sticks out the front and not flush to the surface of the blimp....
Or, attach it slightly higher up so the tip of the blimp is into the chin of the eagle and the head extends up the upper slope of the front of the blimp...

I'll come back if I have any other ideas.

Hi Vic, haven't been round for a while, seems like I've missed a lot, time for a catch up me thinks

I really like the eagle head you've done, and I think it looks great on front there.
And you said your were going insane... well don't forget some of the most creative people in history were totally nuts,
so this is probably a good sign

And you said your were going insane... well don't forget some of the most creative people in history were totally nuts,
so this is probably a good sign

that is probabyl one of the sig worthiest things i´ve read here^^

thanks to all the nice comments towards the eagle head...i will answer in detail tonight my friends!

cheers, vik