Building Martian skyships and Pijlie's Skyship rules: Action pictures!!!!!!!!

[Sinewgrab]

Oh, dear.  Well done!  Scratchbuild heaven...

[Pijlie]

Some more progress today on the Martian Skyships.

[Furt]

Very nice!

How do you propose the Martians control/steer their skyships?

Where is that balustrade from?

[Pijlie]

Oh that's the easy question! The platform at the rear will (if all goes well) carry a transparent dome housing the steering wheel. This will control the wings and tailfins that function as steering sails by manipulating the airflow during flight.

Lift will come from liftwood panels built into the hull. As you might know, liftwood gains its anti-gravitational properties by aligning the wood grain in a certain way. Through this the helmsman can control altitude.

With steering and lift taken care of, there is the question of propulsion. Now that is a brain-wracker, as I don't want to ruin the streamline by adding screws and such.....  

The balustrade is made by a friend of mine who does lasercut work. See http://www.patslasercuttings.nl/

[The Dozing Dragon]

Loving this.

[Pijlie]

I am considering something like the screws of Nemo's Nautilus from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie.

As of yet no idea how to make those, btw.....

If anyone has a better idea, I am open to suggestions! 

[Furt]

If anyone has a better idea, I am open to suggestions! 

For native Martian craft I've always thought I'd use some kind of "solar" sail that mimics traditional sailing vessels but catches some "ethereal" alien current.

Could be problematic for purposes of play although.

[Pijlie]

Hmmm. Interesting concept. I might be able to use the wing hardpoints in a different way. Must not become too heavy though. Drawing board time.... 

[YPU]

Could be problematic for purposes of play although.

That part would really concern me, I love the look but where can you put them without them getting in the way. The first picture with the wings to the back might be best I guess.

[OSHIROmodels]

Interesting thread 

cheers

James

[Pijlie]

That part would really concern me, I love the look but where can you put them without them getting in the way. The first picture with the wings to the back might be best I guess.

The wings would need to be to the rear and lower half of the model, or the deck would be inaccesssible. Since they "fly" on their standards that should not be a problem. But the challenge is to make them look like sails without making them too flimsy.

[YPU]

I've found tissue paper drenched in PVA dries very sturdy and thin, getting it to dry in the right orientation might be a challenge.

[Pijlie]

I've found tissue paper drenched in PVA dries very sturdy and thin, getting it to dry in the right orientation might be a challenge.

I used it before to make tents and such, but even dry it is not very sturdy, especially such a large surface as a sail on one of these ships. The same trick with cloth (cotton or something) would be possible I think.

I build them with the wings they have now and, since these are fixed to be removed for transport, will experiment with sails  afterwards.

[fastolfrus]

If you are going for cloth, try silk. That may be your lightest option.
If you did the sails with spines, like a Chinese junk (or a bat wing) you could put in something relatively thin and lightweight - bamboo skewers perhaps - to aid stability.

[Furt]

If you are going for cloth, try silk. That may be your lightest option.

I've used calico material successfully as sails before.

Also I would consider light gauge wire to support the shape of the sails or act as guide lines for hanging them.

Regardless I always make my masts/sails detachable for storage so I would use small hooks as anchors, positioned around the ship, for the wires to attach to - again makes the piece less friendly for the placement of figures.

Hard to see but this is an example of how I've used "hooks" to attach sails before. There is enough give to detach the hook, but generally the line remains taunt.