Cog '0' Two Airship

[Sardoo]

Cog 'o' Two are making mdf Airship frames. You have to cover the frames with some material and I have no idea what I would use. Any suggestions?

[zizi666]

paper ?
(I knew a guy who built wooden RC planes that got covered with (thick) paper.)

[Burnt65]

Those look pretty good!

[Dewbakuk]

I have one of each, so four I think... Still haven't got around to skinning them...

Options I thought of:

Decent paper (often used in RC as ziti said)
Thin plasticard
Fabric
A balloon skin.

When I have time I'll try them all.

[Gunbird]

Why not use the material RC guys use, you can shrink it on using a blowdryer, and can be painted.

[Sardoo]

That sounds like a plan! Any idea about suppliers? Thanks!

[PortCharmers]

Cheers,

nice project, although a little on the small side. I've been thinking about airships for some time now, and the skin is always the difficult bit. The paper RC-guys use is very light japan-paper, which can probably purchased at an arts-and-crafts store. It is glued to the framework using wallpaper-glue, and then made damp using a plant-sprayer. Then it will tighten itself around the structure. Once dried, it can be made a bit more durable by painting it with clear dope (not the kind you smoke). I haven't tried the method on a complicated, 3-D structure like an airship, but it worked fine on a glider-airplane, and it looks fantastic, it's half-transparent and shows off the inner skeleton when seen against the light, conveying a lot of the early-days-of-aviation feel.

[tin shed gamer]

I use paper decorating tape.I cut the tape after placing over the space between two ribs trimming back to the rib.Then repeat with each space between two ribs.the tape is low tac so you can fiddle around getting it right(but it does need tacking down with super glue when in position or it will lift over time.)I use the tape for a couple things but it is good for this type of project.
Mark.