Wirelizard's BS2017 Entry - Der Bloodyear Blomp (Crew conversions, 8 Feb)

[Wirelizard]

It flies!

Well, getting there. Got four rare earth magnets embedded in the base of the big prepainted troll who acts as Grund Cru for the goblins, and sorted out a length of heavy steel wire for the flying part.



A slightly out-of-focus closeup of the base:


After this photo was taken I added a steel base under that barrel; there's another rare earth magnet embedded in the bottom of the barrel.

The plan for the big troll is to add a harness around his shoulders and back to hold the tow cable. The Blomp isn't technically self-propelled, it relies on the legendary density of trolls to hold it near the ground and tow it along!

I also started adding piping out of the Improved Non-Exploding Flautulator Engine on the gondola. The lower piping is basically decorative but the upper set will provide the structural connection between the gondola and the balloon envelope overhead.

I've also got all but one small section of the balloon covered in fabric, finally, but no pic of that currently.

Next up is a round of greenstuff work on the troll, the piping, and the base to clean things up.

I should be able to prime the gondola early this week and start getting some paint on it.

I also need to start converting the various Reaper goblin figures into camera-gobs, flight crew, and the legendary Gobb Cherry, loudly-dressed, loudmouth host of BB Nite In Gobada, who broadcasts from the Bloodyear Blomp! His conversion is going to consist mostly of a gigantic necktie and suit coat, which will be painted gold and purple or some suitably outlandish colour.

Canadians familiar with one of our most famous ice hockey announcers will understand the previous paragraph. The rest of you should hit Google Image Search and look up "Don Cherry suits" for an education!

[Andym]

Ohhhh!.....that's fantastic!

[Mason]

Ohhhh!.....that's fantastic!

I have to agree.
Mad and brilliant at the same time.
Love it!
 

[von Lucky]

Some nice progress, it's really starting to take shape (!). And Don Cherry is certainly... special.

[Mason]

And Don Cherry is certainly... special.

Just checked that out myself.
'Special' he certainly is!
 

[Overlord]

Another smile-inducing build.  Definitely looking very Gobilin-y

[Wirelizard]

Apparently I forgot to post this photo last night, the closeup of the gloriously goblinesque mess of wire coming out of the top of the midships Engine.



The four top wires will connect to the four balloonettes of the blimp envelope for structural support; they're embedded into fairly deep holes drilled into the wooden sphere of the Engine and should make the whole thing pretty solid.

The lower wires are all less structural but do provide some bracing for the Engine and side tanks on the hull. The Engine is also held together with wire pins between the hull and bottom sphere and between the two spheres. The greenstuff between the two spheres is also a pretty solid mass.

This thing should actually be fairly gamer-proof when it's done... I hope!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Absolutely brilliant!         

[Wirelizard]

Moar greenstuff!

The troll has the start of his blomp-towing harness on, and the base has greenstuff to secure and properly locate various parts. I'll need at least one more greenstuff round on the base to get it to where it needs to be, but ran out of mixed greenstuff and time last night!

In the background, the underside of the bridge wings have been filled with greenstuff, roughly sculpted to look like planks, to secure the three rigging eyelets on each side.


The eyelets are a craft store find meant for ear-ring making at home, incidentally. Turns out jewelry sections are full of interesting bits and pieces!

The Engine has most of it's piping joins puttied up. I'll be painting them up to look like leather (used for a lot of early sealing and still in use today in some applications!) and wrapping cord around a few to fill them out.


Forgot to get a photo because my hands were covered in glue, but I've also finally finished covering the envelope in fabric and will be starting to paint it soon.

Up next will be priming the gondola and the blimp envelope, and starting conversions of the half dozen goblin crew members. I'm going to be painting the goblins as I convert them, so I'm not sure how many pics I should be posting here but I'll try to get some to share after the contest is over.

[AKULA]

Looking good - keep going

 

[Andym]

Inspirational!

[mikedemana]

I agree -- you can find all kinds of stuff in the jewelry section of the craft store!

Mike Demana 

[Wirelizard]

Gondola and blimp envelope primed, so no more photos of them here until the contest ends in 14 (!) days!



Haven't started on the gobbo crew yet, but that'll be this week's task, along with finishing the base and finishing the already-started paint on the blimp.

Onward and  blompward!

[von Lucky]

Aaaaaaahahahahahaha THANK YOU!* I thought entries were due THIS Sunday and was starting to lose my mojo in getting all the painting done.

Looking good.

*More than anything making me check the contest rules.

[Wirelizard]

Meet the crew!



Bottom left we have Gobb Cherry, with a tie bigger than he is. Suit coat to come when I break out the greenstuff. The mic in his right hand needs a bigger foam head on it, too.

Centre bottom is the Captain of the Bloodyear Blomp, with his loudhailer. Fun fact, in Vulgar Goblish (all goblin-speak is vulgar...), the word for "captain" translates literally as "waker-from-hangovers", which in the feminine version can also mean "mother-in-law".

Centre right is the Engineer in his googles, with his reinforced "hittin' stuff til it works gooder" wrench.

Top row are the three camera-gobs and their cameras. Happily, primitive real-world movie and TV cameras turn out to be super simple boxes so these were quick to build.

Finally, top right we have the lookout. This position is traditionally given to the most horribly hung-over member of the Blomp's crew every morning, as wobbling around in a barrel on top of the balloons makes most goblins throw up anyway, so why not get it over with?

Greenstuff needed on all of them, then paint!

Onward and blompward!