The Prussian Airship Project

[War In 15MM]

I'm new to this website so many of you may have already seen Bill Witthans' Prussian Airship.  If you haven't, you owe yourself the treat.  At www.historicalhobbies.com/OpeningFrame.htm he takes you through the project.  It is well worth your time.  Richard

[War In 15MM]

Apparently the address I gave above takes you to Bill's website but not directly to the Prussian Airship Project.  Once you are at the website, look down the left hand menu and click on Gaslight.  Scroll down and you'll see a selection of his projects.  Click on The Prussian Airship Project.  The fact is, you have a good time looking at all the projects posted there.  He's a talented guy.  Richard

[Tommy20]

Nice.  I have one of those lego dirigible bodies, but hadn't figured out how to make it work.  Some great ideas there!

[The_Beast]

The link is news to me, and most welcome!

The Airship looks smashing, but way more work than I'd ever give it. Many of the other projects are more accessible to me. For instance, the use of the Wild Wild West Tarantula, a common enough fixture in G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., in this case is positively inspiring!

Having recently come into possession of several of the Cobra IMP's, again certainly ballyhoo'd though not oft seen, I was delighted with the results Mr. Witthans has obtained. I'd about given up on trying to use the treads as is. I will still cut some down so I can build out gunner positions on the 'broadsides', but his looks great. Funny, I though I'd put the sun bonnet over the fore castle; who cares about the black gang, anyway? Okay, he used that space for gunners as well. ;->=

And, I KNEW those clips in front were gun ports!

And the Redoubt! THAT brings a tear to my eye, though the description of the labours required to make it come to pass will allow it to only be a distant dream.

Of course, it was a bit amusing to see the vagaries of Warhammer attributed to GDW, and the Arab Dhow identified as a dwarf vehicle, but I love a web page that lurches in fits to match the vehicles we love so much. ;->=

Doug

[Vonkluge]

Thank you all for your kind words and for looking at my site. Somtimes I wonder if anyone does and is it worth the time out of my projects to work on it. I have not worked on it for sometime and I have at least as many more vehicles completed and many many more figures and terrain done. I have thousands of figures painted and not photographed, someday... I have little time with a job in the film bussiness, wife, kids, dog, and being President of the Historical Miniature gaming Society / Pacific Southwest.

My love is the conceptualization of something and then figuring out how to build it.

Beasty, I pay close attention to balance and look when I build and I felt that the canopy in front would make the vehicle appear to high and somewhat silly looking and also cover the details in the control area. I put a lot of work into some areas and want people to see it. I did lots of work to the Prussian airship that most do not see but I know its there and it makes me happy.

I have a second "cobra" with light differances that is yet 50% done.

Was not the vehicle a warhammer mini? I know little about that except as items used for conversions...!

all of your comments have inspired me to finish some projects and get the photographed!

Regards,

Bill Witthans  (Vonkluge)

[Chairface]

Thank you all for your kind words and for looking at my site. Somtimes I wonder if anyone does and is it worth the time out of my projects to work on it. I have not worked on it for sometime and I have at least as many more vehicles completed and many many more figures and terrain done. I have thousands of figures painted and not photographed, someday... I have little time with a job in the film bussiness, wife, kids, dog, and being President of the Historical Miniature gaming Society / Pacific Southwest.

I love your site and it was one of the main, huge, inspirations for getting into VSF in the first place. I am currently finishing a landship inspired by your cobra imp conversion, and I revisit your conversions and battle reports often. Thank you! Please let us know of any updates to the site in the future. I really want to see the new figs and vehicles!

[carlos marighela]

Aren't pickelhaubes the natural enemy of dirigibles?

[Chairface]

Aren't pickelhaubes the natural enemy of dirigibles?

 

[The_Beast]

Thank you all for your kind words and for looking at my site. Somtimes I wonder if anyone does and is it worth the time out of my projects to work on it. I have not worked on it for sometime and I have at least as many more vehicles completed and many many more figures and terrain done. I have thousands of figures painted and not photographed, someday... I have little time with a job in the film bussiness, wife, kids, dog, and being President of the Historical Miniature gaming Society / Pacific Southwest.

My love is the conceptualization of something and then figuring out how to build it.

Beasty, I pay close attention to balance and look when I build and I felt that the canopy in front would make the vehicle appear to high and somewhat silly looking and also cover the details in the control area. I put a lot of work into some areas and want people to see it. I did lots of work to the Prussian airship that most do not see but I know its there and it makes me happy.

Not challenging in the least your placement of the awning, merely admitting thinking it needed something similar, only visualized it up front. I am forever planning walkers. None of them look appropriate for balance, either.  

I have a second "cobra" with light differances that is yet 50% done.

Was not the vehicle a warhammer mini? I know little about that except as items used for conversions...!

all of your comments have inspired me to finish some projects and get the photographed!

Then my nefarious plot to let you know you were being discussed was successful! Not for naught am I known as the Napoleon of complements!

I can hardly wait for the comparison shots of the other cobra; Yo Joe! Oh, wait, Cobra, that's it...

As for the 'Land Dhow', yes it's Warhammer, and I'm ashamed that my part ownership of a store makes knowing a bit about that Evil Empire (tm) necessary as well. In the particular, it's a Imperial Steam Tank, indicating the Empire faction of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, which makes all of this paragraph rather confusing with twin Empire references. Suffice, I've been cogitating, and there may well be fluff in Games Workshop (GW), not to be confused with Games Designer Workshop(GDW) of Traveller fame, that makes it dwarvish in origin.

Just to complete the irony, of course, Games Workshop/Citadel pretty much got going with licensed material from Dungeons & Dragons, as well as, wait for it...

Traveller.  

If I didn't have this kind of fun from being old, I'd have to cry about it. ;->=

Doug

Edit/PS: And the occasional post here announcing an addition to your site would hardly be amiss! So say we all?

[Vonkluge]

Ok this is a post just to get my 100th post up! ! but I thought I might post a picture for those who expressed an interest in seeing more. This is one of three of these vehicles that I have purchased from Scheltrom miniatures and then added to and modified. All are Steam Walkers but done for various nationalities, the original (not shown here is British) I figure in my Sci Fi world that nations produce and sell successful vehicle designs to other countries in much the same way they do now. these vehicles are then painted in the colors of the new owners with some modifications to suit them.

Legs are cut, bent, steel pinned. 70 plus added rivets, new smokestack/smoke/flagpole/flag.

[The_Beast]

Excellent!

Also, a recurring question arises: What do YOU use for rivets?

Doug

[Chairface]

Now that is just lovely! 

[Vonkluge]

Some more pics just to practice posting them here…lol! They also show some of my riveting methods. This is another Sheltrom vehicle heavily modified. I like Sheltroms basic castings but I junk much of his parts and build my own. Humphries is a very nice chap and don’t get me wrong his stuff is nice; I just like making my vehicles unique. This war an Armored US war Wagon. I turned it into a steam powered land train engine (cars are yet to be made). The yellowed casting is the Sheltrom casting everything else is mine. Wheels were completly scratch built as the kits were sad.



The rivets are made/added CAREFULY with super glue and kicker. The straps have rivets made using a brass plate and steel ball press that embosses them into the plastic (I made mine but a place called Micro Tools sells something like it). I also use pinheads, tacks, beads, and other materials as I need.




This is the completed and painted Engine in a GASLIGHT game. The vehicles were built for a friend to be used with his American marines ala Spanish american War Peroid.



The flames and engine smoke are removeable to show different conditions "fired/engine out" during the game. sprayed cotton brushed to simulate flames from the flame thrower weapon! The writing on the side are decals made by me and then applied. One is the name of the vehicle "Shermans Iron Horse" after the famous American Civil War general who suggested a vehicle such as this to subdue the indians! It also has the US ARMY serial number with its weight and a message "Lock drum before transport" and the Union Shield.

[Ray Rivers]

 

Fantastic vehicles!

Great website!