Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition - The Fenian Airship Toucan

Back in early March 2008 the 'Yours in white wine sauce' Blog launched a competition to produce a Victorian Science Fiction or VSF model in 80 days, called "Around the World in 80 models". I pledged to produce two separate entries - a group of German Steam Tanks (available as a separate Blog entry) and an Irish/Fenian Airship.

One of the rules of the competition was that photos should not be posted until the end date, but regular written up-dates were allowed. These up-dates have been posted on both this Blog and the 'Yours in white wine sauce' Blog.

This first photo shows the finished model - The first Fenian Airship 'Toucan' with its distinctive gold harp and black envelope. The model is 130mm long and built to a scale of 1/300th or 1mm = 1foot and is based on a 50mm round base.

It was my intention to produce an airship to support the two Fenial Hullcutters I had already produced for my Space 1889/Aeronef collection and use techniques that were first used to produce the Airship Hyperion (see earlier posts).

I also wanted to have sone fun with the colour scheme, naming and background of this particular airship. Details can be found in earlier Blog entries.

This photo show most of the construction completed, a 'blue foam' blimp, was first cut and then sanded to shape before being covered with a mixture of PVA glue, filler and acrylic paint. The envelope was further shaped and sanded smooth before the whole thing was painted with acrylic white paint to achieve a smooth finish.

The envelope shape was achieved trough trial-and-error and checking with 'blimp' airship shapes found via GOOGLE searches.

The gondola is thick plastic sheeting used by builders to clad uPVC double glazing units, first cut and then sanded to shape. The tail sections are plastic card and the propellor shaft is a section of metal rod. Additional detailing is plastic rod, plastic card and sticky-back plastic.


These next photos shows the first stages of painting. The envelope was painted 'linen' by Foundry (or Cote d'Arms), while the black is Vallejo 'black' and Foundry 'charcoal'. (sorry about the quality of the photo, but I have added it to show the progress that has been made.)


The airship is intended to be an aerial bomber - and defensive armament is resticted to two small calibre machine guns, one to each side firing from an open window or gun port in the lower envelope.

The harp motif was hand painted, and copies the Guinness harp design and colours. The name 'Toucan' was initially intended as a joke or nickname, but as the built continued, the name stuck!


The tail has the Irish tricolour - green, white and orange. You can also see the clear plastic disc added to the propellor shaft, which was cut with an 'OLFA' circle cutter from clear packaging material.


The built was easy, allthough I feel the whole model is a little too large or bulbous when compared to my other Space 1889/Aeronef models.

The painting of the harp motif, was a great deal of fun and not too difficult - just take your time. I started with a pencil sketch, then watered down 'spearshaft brown' from GW and built up the gold colour with successive lighter and more detailed coats, finally highlighting with pure white.

The Gondola was painted dark brown, then areas were picked out with lighter brown to look like varnished wood and finally the windows were painted dark blue, mid blue and highlighted up to pure white.

I am not sure that this is a model I will keep, but as a project it was fun to do - thank you to 'Yours in white wine sauce' for the impetus to start this project. A project that I can confirm came close to not being finished at all! I think I had given myself a very tough challenge to complete both entries.

Tony

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition - German Steam Tanks and Steam Walker

Back in early March 2008 and to celebrate there second anniversary, the Blog 'Yours in white wine sauce' proposed a competition where suitably minded gentlemen would agree to produce a Victorian Science Fiction (VSF) model within an eighty day time frame. The competition was called - 'Around the World in 80 Models' and I agreed to two separate entries, an Irish or Fenian Airship called the 'Toucan' (please see separate entry) and a set of German Steam Tanks.

The German Steam Tanks were successfully completed on time and budget and can be seen below.

One of the conditions of the competition was that photos of the finished models could not be up-loaded until after the 80 days were up, however regular written reports were allowed and these are available here and on the 'Yours in white wine sauce' Blog. I hope you enjoy reading about all the different projects.

The idea of the competition was to tempt readers to start or more interestingly finish projects that had laid dormant. One such project was this set of steam tanks and a steam walker, which I had started making some time ago, but which had been overtaken by other more pressing modelling projects.

In addition I am intrigued by WW1 German aircraft - the brightly coloured 'Flying Circus' mounts of Richtofen and others aces. I had begun to wonder if the same colour schemes could be used on tanks, this project has proven that they can be and I think they look very good.

The following photos show firstly how the models were constructed and secondly how they were painted, but first, some background.

Each of the models are constructed to the scale of 1/180th or 10mm = 6foot. A scale I came to as I had just purchased some GHQ 10mm ACW CSA cannon crew for use as crew in a test model of a Space 1889 Airship from the game Sky Galleons of Mars. The figures dictated the scale of the models and the shape was dictated by a cheap novelty pencil sharpener bought from Wilkinsons, a home wares group of stores in the UK for 39p each.

Each pencil sharpener is 66mm long.

I had always planned that this group would include a variety of Assault Tanks and Command Tanks. The actual group of four models ended up being;

Two Steam Powered Assault Tanks, a Steam Powered Command Tank and a Steam Powered Assault Walker.

First we have the two Assault Tanks;

Construction was based around the pencil sharpeners, with plastic card wrapped around the outside and various bits of plastic card and plastic rod added to the structure. The catapillar sections of all the tracked models were cast with car repair resin in a home made mould from a scratch built model which used the wheels from a toy train. The whole process from making the master, preparing the mould and casting the track sections was very easy and quick - I would recommend that anyone tempted should give it a try.

This photo show the construction completed. I have tried to achieve a 'busy' feel to the whole model, separate panels, rivet detail and even an exit ladder. The funnels are sections of plastic tube which are the handles of sweet lollipops.

The main gun is a section of plastic rod, sanded to a taper, the secondary gun mounts are sections of half round sprue which were first drilled and then plastic rod was added. The search lights (mounted on two of the control houses) are thin slices of plastic rod and the flag pole on the Command Tank is a piece of cocktail stick.

The next two photos show painting begun, but still far from finished, the 'Red Baron' Steam Tank was first undercoated grey, washed with Klear (Future in the US) and black ink and then drybrushed with a slighty lighter grey, before the control tower was painted red. The second 'Blue' Tank used a made up colour scheme that just developed as I painted. The colour was first added with watered down dark blue, then highlighted and further refined with lighter blue.



The photo below shows the finished 'Red' Tank on a game display base. Note the 1/180th scale figure to the side.


While this photo shows the finished 'Blue' Tank. Note the naval anchor on the main entrance doors. The transfers on all of these models came from either an Airfix 1/72nd Gannet or a set of GW knights transfer sheet.


Next we have the Command Tank;


Photo one, shows initial construction - two separate pencil sharpeners stacked on top of one another, but otherwise as the assault tanks.


This photo shows the model completed and ready for paint.


Here we have the painting begun but still not finished, once again the colour scheme was just developed on the model, I was aware of a German WW1 Albatross fighter that had a similar colour scheme, but there was no pre-planning with the painting of this model.

The finished model on a display base and flying the German Naval ensign! See comments in earlier Blog entries.

Finally in this build-up report we have the Steam Walker;


The first photo shows the initial build - a fighting compartment made from another pencil sharpener on a Wild, Wild West toy. The second photo shows the construction complete.

The next two photos show the initial painting and then the finished model. This time there was a plan behind the colours used - After undercoating with grey, a wash of Klear and black ink the model was drybrushed with lighter grey. I had read that German WW1 aircraft were sometimes painted Violet and Green on their upper surfaces, I used acrylic paints to copy this scheme.


That completes the 'how I did it' article. I hope that you enjoyed the earlier Blog articles as well as this tutorial. I really enjoyed painting VSF Steam Tanks in bright Flying Circus colour shemes and would recommend the idea to either VSF or Sci Fi modellers as a great distraction from all-over green and grey schemes.

Tony

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition

German steam powered land-ironclad squad – Chapter Five
The main construction is completed and active field testing has begun, the Holt caterpillar mechanisms have proved to be very reliable and easy to maintain, achieving speeds of nearly four miles and hour. The walker engine and steam hydraulics are proving difficult to operate, however tests have been carried out and the progress has been positive.

Naval and Army engineers have begun to ‘customise’ individual elements of the equipment and guns, which has led to a number of mishaps as teams swap between vehicles. The obvious answer is to allocate individual vehicles to one or the other of the main arms, however senior commanders cannot agree and as such these little problems look like they will continue.

Following a mishap late last week, where one of the assault tanks, was miss-identified it has been decided that each of the four steam vehicles, the two Assault Tanks, the one Command Tank and the Assault Walker will be painted in very distinctive heraldry, and following this decision the individual vehicle commanders have also been agreed on as well as a simple allocation of overall command responsibility. One of the Assault Tanks and the Command Tank have been allocated to the Army Engineers Corps, while the second Assault Tank has been allocated to the Armed Naval Development Division. The Steam Walker has by necessity been allocated to the new and experimental ‘Q’ Division. In an attempt to integrate, the remaining crews will be a mix of Naval and Army personnel and each vehicle will display army numbers and identification as well as Naval ensigns!

The Fenian Airship (Toucan) – Chapter Five
Although construction is completed, there has been nothing but niggling issues with the whole project, tempers have flared and arguments have been seen to erupt in to fights and sulks. A noted independent American observer commented that The Fennian Irish are perhaps not best suited to such engineering feats! The same observer has now been admitted to a high security hospital while his injuries are treated.

Flight tests have once again been delayed and it is noted by those in the know that although the envelope has successfully been inflated and flown in tethered flight, the gondola, engines and equipment has not yet become airborne.

Development is painfully slow - there is even talk that the 80 day deadline may no longer be feasible! For the honour of the Fenian’s and Ireland we all hope that the Toucan can be operational in time.

A side effect of these recent setbacks is that candidates for the position of airship commander are disappearing fast. Nobody wants the responsibility of commanding a new and un-proven airship while the pressure and expectation of success is so palpable. It will be a brave man or a fool who volunteers for such a position. Test crews were initially recruited from amongst volunteers, however as the technical difficulties of this new form or warfare grow, the selection process that was initially envisaged has had to be modified, in fact there are now mercenary elements that have been recruited to fill key roles. Of special interest is the revised plan for crewing this Aeronef. The initial plan was to have two separate crews each training alongside one another and competing for the honour of becoming the ‘A Crew' and a dedicated ground team with engineering support. There now seams to be a core crew (with some dubious mercenary elements) and a very small back up team!

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition

German steam powered land-ironclad squad – Chapter Four
Construction has progressed well since the last update. The armoured compartments have been built and await roofs, which will be added once the guns have been tested and installed. The Holt inspired caterpillar mechanisms are already installed, but await final testing and the management and engineers are happy that they will remain within the planned 80 days deadline.

Naval engineers and specialists from the new Luft force have helped in weight reduction and new ideas.

The only negative is the balancing giros on the armoured walker, as expected this new technology is causing some concern, scale models of the walker mechanism and giros have already been tested, however the greater mass and weight of the actual battle walker has raised additional problems and experts are being recruited to help sort out this issue before it starts to hold up production. One train of thought is to increase the power available in the additional boiler and steam engine being built in the walker body as well as the original one in the fighting compartment, thereby increasing the overall steam power. We await more details.

It is expected that two specialist operators plus reserves will be needed to synchronise the mechanics of walking. The ‘in house’ joke – loosely translated is that these specialists are not allowed to drink any strong alcohol for fear that they will cause the new walker to stumble and fall!

The Fenian Airship (Toucan) – Chapter Four
Additional gas bags have been added to the main envelope, which now gives the impression of a ‘fleshy fish wife in young maiden’s clothes’. It is sincerely hoped that the new pride of the Fenian Aeronef Force (or FAFers) handles better than it looks. The envelope has had to be strengthened as a precaution against tearing and the gondola yet again lightened!

The Shillelagh stick bombs have proven successful and are now being refined to aid stability when dropped. One point of humour is the fact that one of the biggest arguments has been about the colour the bombs should be painted, the test bombs were initially made from compressed card and paper (to keep the weight as low as possible). The next batch were painted green, however there has been talk in the production factory that they should be black with a white or cream head! Senior managers have tried to remain out of this petty argument, however, as the project moves forward this subject looks like it could prove a sticking point.

Another test inflation and tethered flight of the newly increased envelope has been booked for later this week, weather permitting.

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition

German steam powered land-ironclad squad – Chapter Three
In chapter three I thought I would update readers on the progress to date of the models. My plan was to produce a squad of Landships, or ‘Land Ironclads’, two assault tanks, one command tank and an assault walker.

(Please note that as one of the competition rules is not to post photos, I will hold back posting images of the models until the end of the 80 days).

So far the models are nearing completion the main fighting compartment is made from an oval shaped, plastic pencil sharpener bought from Wilkinsons for less than 50 pence each. The command tank uses two pencil sharpeners stacked on top of each other. The tracks on the two assault tanks and the command tank were constructed by me with wheels from a toy train and tracks from plastic card. Once the master was made I cast six sets in resin. The steam walker uses the same pencil sharpener – fighting compartment and the legs from a Wild, Wild, West Dr. Loveless steam walker, additional detail is from plastic card and plastic sprue.

The models are built to a scale of 1/180th, simply because I had some 10mm ACW artillery crew and I will be using them as crew.

In addition I was able to pick up some German WW1 crosses at the WMMS show earlier this month. My plan is to paint at least one of the models in a Flying Circus colour scheme as seen on German WW1 aircraft Jastas – for example the Red Baron!

The Fenian Airship (Toucan) – Chapter Three
As with the German Landships, I will be talking about the construction to date of the model airship ‘Toucan’. The envelope has been carved and sanded to shape from ‘blue foam’ then layers of paint, glue and filler are added and sanded, the process is then repeated until the shape is correct and the surface is smooth. The gondola area and control housing has been greatly reduced in size from my initial plan, with windows, detail and two gun ports already modelled.

The shape is very similar to a Goodyear Blimp!

I have also added the tail assembly, which follows the practice of early Zeppelins where the horizontal control surfaces are built as bi-plane assemblies rather than single surfaces. My immediate reaction is that the tail surfaces are a little too large but as I ‘Googled’ early airships I see that if anything they are too small!

Late in to the construction phase I saw pictures of an early airship that had noticeable fabric patches on the centre envelope section and I have tried to copy this texture by adding small sections sticky-back-plastic and paper labels across the main envelope. Having under-coated this section I believe the effect has been achieved.

I intent painting the centre section black (or at least very dark grey) and the nose and tail cream with a golden harp motif in the black section. I would expect the gondola to be painted brown to represent varnished wood with brass detail.

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition

Around the World in 80 models - part two

German steam powered land-ironclad squad – Chapter Two
The construction and testing of the Holt caterpillar mechanism has gone well and although there is some disagreement as to whether the steam engine has enough horse power, the general agreement is that the project is progressing well. Further up the chain of command the situation is not so good. The American Government has lodged a complaint against ‘under-hand business practices’ and the American Patent office have started proceeding against the German Special Projects division for breach of Patent AS 12867/1887 ‘Chain Track’ Held by The Holts Tractor Company of Ohio.

One point of interest to the reader is that the Holt patent track laying system is the basis of both the German A7V, and the French Renault tanks.

This is not the only issues affecting the project as the German Navy is still refusing to release any armour platting and now Krupps have written to Herr Dr. Lacher to suggest that they are being put under pressure to refuse to supply the naval designed guns! The political intrigue surrounding this project is growing by the day and it will take all of Dr. Lacker’s skills to negotiate a suitable outcome.

We have a compromise – The German Navy have agreed to allow the steel plate and naval guns to be used, provided that the project is now a joint venture and the Land Ironclads are now referred to as Land Ships! Herr Lacher is said to be ‘delighted at the combined expertise of the Imperial German Army and Navy working together. It is hoped that this amalgamation will speed up both development and construction times.’

The Fenian Airship (Toucan) – Chapter Two
The airships envelope has been successfully test filled and although the event went without a hitch, there is concern that the existing envelope may need to be increased in size, or at the very least altered to include one extra gas bag – a similar experience has been encountered in a number of dirigible builds, and the usual way around this is to extend the envelope in the centre section. O’Driscall is against such actions and it might be that the gondola will have to be reduced in size and/or the maximum load reduced.

The high pressure steam engine has also been delivered and is undergoing trials, to confirm its maximum pressure out-put and to investigate ways that the whole assembly can have its weight reduced. On this point a new member and specialist engineer has been brought in to the project to oversee the mechanical specifications and build, Robert Lock, a Welshman, who has worked in Italy and been involved in many similar project’s will also help with the building of the gondola. ‘Bob’ Lock has also expressed an interest in piloting the airship, a position that has already had a number of candidates and should prove a ‘delightful aside’ to the more serious project of construction!

The ‘Fenian Ram’ and ‘Irish Folly’ are both engaged in testing the new Shillelagh stick bombs. The bomb is shaped like the British Congreve Rocket, but intended to be dropped rather than rocket propelled. Many civilised nations have reportedly tested such devices, few will admit to owning any!

Tony

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition - cont.

Around the World in 80 models

German steam powered land-ironclad squad – Chapter One
Progress has been very slow, following the surprising dismissal of the German project leader, Herr Trotter caused by a blazing argument between the Special Projects Commissioner, Chancellor Sachs and Herr Trotter over the best way forward and who should be chosen as the lead designer.

The mild mannered Austrian, the good Herr Dr. Lacher – a proven manager and visionary was given the job of ‘pulling the project back on track’. He has employed the very special talents of the gifted Italian designer A. Angellon to design the land-tanks and Krupp’s the German engineering company to supply the weapons and specialised equipment. The Initial designs have been supplemented by some additional design blueprints that were ‘acquired’* from the American tractor company Holts! While a Scottish engineer called Professor Souter has been working with Angellon on the mechanical problems associated with the steam walker.

Mechanically all is moving forward and although slightly behind plan the 80 day deadline is still very achievable.

One issue that is beyond the control of the project team is the lack of steel plating that will be needed for the armoured compartments of each of the fighting turrets, the German Navy has placed a ban on all non-essential requests for armour platting and something will have to be done soon to make sure that this project is ready on time and up-holds the fine reputation of the German Army.

* ‘acquired’ is a euphemism for the black arts of international espionage!

The Fenian Airship (Toucan) – Chapter One
Fenian revolutionary forces on Mars have through the very generous contributions of American sympathisers been able to buy and re-equip two Martian Hullcutter; ‘The Fenian Ram’ and ‘The Irish Folly’. However the inability to procure any other ‘liftwood’ vessels has led the leaders to look elsewhere.

The Fenian engineer O’Driscall has managed to produce the envelope and gas bags for his first dirigible ‘Ireland One’, based on the French ‘Clement-Bayard airship No1,’ and is now looking to American fund raising to supply additional money to allow O’Driscall to continue with his ground breaking attempts to produce the first ever home-grown Irish airship, a bomber!

Some critics are dismayed that O’Driscall has stooped to the level he has in accepting a form of sponsorship from a well know producer of alcoholic beverages and produced the envelope in the company colours of black and cream, a quick witted worker at the factory has volunteer to paint a golden harp motif on each side of the gas-bag! And the airship has acquired the nick-name ‘Toucan’ in reference to an advertising logo used by the brewery.

The construction is proceeding to plans and should, provided that the funding is forthcoming, be proven and flying for the planned celebrations in 80 days time.

Yours in white wine sauce Blog competition

I've entered the 'Around the World in 80 Models' competition launched on the Yours in white wine sauce Blog. see;

http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2008/03/around-world-in-80-models.html

I'll try to submit two entries;

A German squad of Land Ironclads, to include a pair of assault tanks, a command tank and an assault walker. I've been thinking about and planning this squad for some time and should have the modelling complete well in time. The issue will be the painting as I am also thinking of experimenting with a 'Flying Circus' colour scheme as seen on WW1 German Jasta aircraft. The scale will be slightly different to my usual 1/300th as I have some 10mm ACW figures I might use.

The second;

A 1/300th scale airship dirigible to support my Irish fleet of 'the Fenian Ram' and 'the Irish Folly' hullcutters. I have successfully modelled the airship Hyperion using the carved foam technique and thought that a second airship painted black and cream with a golden harp motif might have some Irish imagery I could use. If it works, I would think it might be called 'the Toucan'.

Tony