THE PRUSSIAN AIRSHIP PROJECT PAGE 3

At this point I started to work on the main gondola section of the airship. I wanted enough detail to give a rich look to the area without being to cluttered to allow a fair amount of  figures room to move about. I had been collecting controls and gathering ideas for this section for over a year so it came together fairly quickly. I had several controls from the "Airships that Float and Fly" line from the London War room and built some other pieces like the ships wheel and "flying gondola" winch and chain setup. The ships wheel is made from hobby styrene and another Warhammer bit from the parts box. Some of the control levers were mounted on the ceiling of the gondola area instead of the floor for a more unusual look. That top mounting also seemed more sensible since the controls were operating equipment located in the upper section of the Airship. A set of stairs was added to the deck that lead up into the main internal area of the ship. At this point I decided that the main gondola was just right and any more detail would just clutter the area without much more visual impact. After all it is a "wargaming piece"

The "Flying Gondola" was an idea that I came up with while working out how the ship would take on or off passengers or equipment while out on a mission were landing or getting close enough to the ground for rope ladders would be too dangerous. It consist of a "steel" bucket that is lowered through the rear of the main gondola floor by means of a large mechanical winch. The winch was obtained from a Warhammer ork vehicle and the gondola was a 3/4 in PVC pipe fitting. The hook and gondola hook carrying frame were hand soldiered out of brass.

I did not do the inside of the blimp but did work out the physical layout and how it works so as to be able to developed "stats" and capabilities for gaming purposes. 

The Airship has a carrying capacity of 20 people and 3500 lbs or 1590 kilos. This breaks down into 8 man crew, 10 man luftmarine squad, and 2 miscellaneous passengers usually scientist or expedition leaders heading up the ships mission. The ship can forego the Luftmarine's for more cargo and cables maybe rigged to the bottom of the ship to lift and transport cargo / vehicles that will not fit into the hold.

You might ask how this Airship can carry such a large load given its size. Well that comes from the fact that the Prussian most closely guarded secret is the discovery and development of the element "Zeelium" a gas 10 times lighter than Helium! It is also not flammable.

This space saving Zeelium gas allows for the majority of the inside of the airship to be used for engines, boilers, pumps, living area, and cargo. The gas is held is a layer about 1 foot thick at the outside of the airships skin. Two internal steam boilers provide power to turn the electric turbines generating electric current for the electric motors powering the ships propellers and all other apparatus on the airship. 

At this point I felt that the blimp was ready for paint. This was the real scary part for me as the colors and design would have a huge impact on the look and feel of the finished project. I needed colors that would both be pleasing and have the look of a Prussian Victorian era Airship.

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