Is the project scrapped or are you going to continue with a different material for the ribs?

Starting over with foam core formers and sheet styrene for the stringers

yeah, I thought you had said that on LJ. Good luck with that, I'll be curious to see the finished work.

Where full discs necessary? Try inner rings next time perhaps, made of foamcore instead of house insulation. Good luck.

Need full rings to align with the center and for spacing. It is only the centered rings and their correct intervals that define the shape of the thing. Using foam core for 2.0 for its surfaces that can be cut and positioned more accuractly. 2.0 has been assembled to about 2mm slop over 2meters in length and about .5mm in diameter, ring to ring intervals are within .5mm too. 2.0 is being done in halves, laid flat.

spars?

Spars??

Thats too bad, I would have loved to see that finished.

same here

In little more than a week, I'll have 2.2 done enough to start skinning.

I'd suggest internally-braced rings rather than the solid cores you're using here. My own thoughts would be two internal braces at right angles to each other and a reasonable, but not overdone, rim, for each frame. You might want to use something other than just flat styrene for the stringers, my own thoughts would be either a C-section or an I-section styrene extrusion from someone like Evergreen.

The stringers will be deep sections of .040, about 1.5 - 2 inch wide, cut to the ship's profile, rather than simple strips. As I'll need 36 stringers that are nearly 11 feet long, I was trying other methods first. The foam core rings are working just fine for 2.0, and are fairly quickly made. Again, I need a lot of them, done as accurately as possible. Any unnessisary work or anything that could complicate the accuracy would be undesireable.

I can understand that and I like the approach you're taking for stringers. As for the cores, solid foam cores shouldn't be too heavy and do, as you said, eliminate extra cutting that might destroy accuracy. I'm more used to seeing contoured, sometimes intricately so, foam cores in the middle of composite parts such as cowl doors and fairings.

My... that's a big one...!


I can't wait to see the fin al version darkening the skies and bringing the under-classes to their knees in fear!

what scale would that have been?

1/72. The Museum of Flight in Seattle is having a "100 years of US Navy Aviation" display and I volunteered to do the Macon.

Oh wow. Were you going to include any sparrowhawks?

A guy has offered the loan of a scratch-built Sparrowhawk. I don't have time to do one right now.

I would have thought that they have kits in 1/72 scale. I have one in 1/48th, but haven't built it yet. One hanging from the trapese below the Macon would look super.

Only rather awful and out of production kits. A 48th kit?? Who by? There is a 1/32 kit and I have thought about doing the Macon as a flying beast to go with it.

My mistake-- it's 1/32nd.

Ouch! Better luck with take two!

Should be impressive when 2.2 is done!

That's a mighty big Zeppelin! And the USS Macon is an awesome subject for such a large model. I've always been fascinated with the "flying aircraft carrier" idea. Too bad they didn't succeed.

Depends on your definition. The Navy had some unrealisitic expectations early on, and any airship is too vunrible for offensive combat operations, but as later proved in WWII, they could have made great ASW platforms as well as special logistics support machines.

Reuse for a Hindenburg-themed bonfire and barbecue?