ATHENA - Steampunk airship (98)

Hi all you patient followers and readers,

I think today is one of the last build posts for the ATHENA!

I'm sure that she's now 95% complete and all that is left are some gaps and then millions of rivets :)

But I still owe you some work in progress updates.

Last I asked what some of you would think if I added wooden planks to the rear deck, and if the carved plastic card I had made was good enough for this purpose.

Well, the response was in unison in favour of the idea :)

 

So I cut some .7mm wide PC strips as framework on the deck

 

It also serves to keep the bridge section in position (remember it is removable)

 

Some gap filling with green putty,

 

and then I started with the wood PC.

 

Here the first sections are glued in position.

 

Detail shot of the "wood"

 

 

I can tell you, carving the wood pattern is kind of meditation :)
I did it while watching the Formula One race in Hungary.

The wood sections on deck.

and also for the actual landing platform/elevator piece.

With the deck sections it looks just great :)

As Eyescream on WIP suggested I definitely need some railings to keep my drunken sailors on board :D

This build was a bit fiddly, as I couldn't glue it in place (it has to be removable for painting)

But once the top railing was glued onto the wooden posts it got very sturdy.

 

The upper railing with the corner was a challenge - I cursed a LOT

 

But now that it's complete I am absolutely proud of it!

As said, the sections are removable :)

 

Then I had to add "a few" rivets :P

 

Top view

 

Side shot

 

The next to last item on the to-do-list was this access ramp on the underside of the body

 

 

And the final item was the support frame for the lower gondola

 

 

It now keeps everything aligned and in position.

Well, that's it!

Oh, well, I have a "little" video of her again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbA4l7-HQ8U&feature=youtu.be 

(Upload should be completed in the next hour)

And now its

RIVETS, RIVETS, RIVETS

and a bit of gap filling and

RIVETS, RIVETS, RIVETS

and then some

RIVETS

:)

I hope you like it.

I'm all with Atreides that its a funny moment, realizing that this project is coming to an end.

Its with one crying eye that I look at her.

But hey, I'll have plenty of hours painting her ahead of me :)

Cheers

Klaus

ATHENA - Steampunk airship (97)

While the list of to-do's IS shrinking, there are still many items to do :)

The first thing was to complete the covers around the duct fans.

 

And even though they were not 100% finished I couldn't resist to take some nice shoots with the 4 duct fans in position...

 

 

 

 

 

But the rear is not yet completed...

 

Also it was time to do another weight check.

 

I'm really proud of my little Queen, she hardly gained weight. Despite all the nice curves and add-ons she's only 2,42 Kg ( 4.8 pounds) - including two block batteries!

Well, the rear....

 

This is the "balcony" I had originally build and painted for this rear area, with an observation periscope and another plotting table.

 

But since I now need a good position for the two NEMESIS CIWS, I decided to rather build a new structure.

 

Rounded and "steampunked"

 

it will give the two CIWS a nice field of fire.

 

But to really fit the ATHENA it needs some ornaments.

 

I can tell you it was some tough cutting !

 

But I think it was worth the effort :)

 

 

What do you guys think?

Oh and here are two photoshopped goodies for you :)

Cheers

Klaus

ATHENA - Steampunk airship (96)

Thanks guys!

@Tuskar - when you're in the Heidelberg-Karlsruhe area give a shout and we can arrange for a little tour of the workshop :)

 

While I do like the general apearance of the duct fans, I realized I need some more decorations or steampunk elements to make them work with the overall style of the ATHENA.

So I reworked the initial duct fan, built a slightly larger rotor, added a driveshaft, and a rear ornament.

The front also got an ornament - in hindsight I realize it looks a bit Batman stylish....

Pleased with the apearance of the test rotor I build the remaining 3 rotors (they are now larger than the actual opening) and positioned the spacers.

 

While these cured I used my famous rivet scale and marked the rivet positions for the first fan.

 

I really like the look on the ATHENA.

 

 

While only the lower left one is complete, the other 3 ducted fans got their ornaments in place and now "only" need the outside cover and rivets.

 

Yeah!

Another item off my list.

Cheers

Klaus