Any interest in a 1/32(!) Zeppelin?

[MoFo]

https://www.elegoo.com/en-ca/pages/elegoo-orangestorm-giga

There's a new 800 x 800 x 1000mm (nearly a cubic metre!) FDM printer coming soon via kickstarter.  Core X/Y*, runs Klipper, can be upgraded to multiple nozzles...  $1250 - $1500 via Kickstarter; $2500 retail.


Kinda tempting.  I could do some absolutely MASSIVE airships - I think the Hindenburg would max out at 1/54, and I could print most of the WWI airships at upwards of 1/27 (so, they'd safely print at 1/32)!


*not strictly a core x/y geometry, but not a bedslinger.

[KiwiZac]

As an RC model I could be tempted!

[Davos522]

Sounds reasonable to me... I've been wanting to put an addition on the house anyway (I can just imagine the look on my wife's face...)

IIRC there's a museum in California that commissioned a 1:72 Zepp for a diorama, which was around ten feet long, although I can't find any pictures of it.

Dutch

[Berman]

 It has been many years since I visited the San Diego Air and Space Museum. They have a 1/72nd scale early war Zeppelin finished in CDL displayed in a glass case.

[MoFo]

Just measuring some models in CAD.  If I stick to relatively standard scales and go for the biggest they would print (which is limited by the circumference of the airship)...

The N Class would be 1/24 - 6.7m long x 70 cm diameter (or a little less than 22' long x 28" diameter) (it would print at 1/22, but that's a pretty unusual scale)
The P Class would be 1/24 - 6.8m long x 77 cm diameter (or a little more than 22' long x 30" diameter)
The Q Class would be 1/24 - 7.4m long x 77 cm diameter (24.5' long x 30" diameter)
The R Class would be 1/32 - 6.2m long x 77 cm diameter (20' long x 30" diameter)
The Africa Schiffe would be 1/32 - 7.1m long x 77 cm diameter (23' long x 30" diameter)
The Hindenburg is tricky.  It's slightly too big to print each section in one piece at 1/48, but I think I could section it to make it work, which would be 5.1m long x 86cm diameter (16.7' x 34")  Otherwise, it would be 1/56 - 4.4m long x 74 cm diameter (or a little more than 14' long x 29" diameter) (1/56 is a bit of a weird scale - it's popular for wargaming, but 1/64 would probably be a more realistic 'real' scale, since it's used for Hot Wheels and S scale)


Is it wrong that I'm actually kind of tempted?     

(I'm reminded of this old BBC video about a guy who built a large scale model boat in his flat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMS6p3tIz3A )

[Davos522]

I was friends with Leo Opdycke, who in addition to publishing WWI Aero magazine for many years, also built a full-scale repro of a Bristol Scout in his basement, complete with an original 80hp Le Rhône (he couldn't find a Gnome). We were down there one day rummaging around for a copy of the Harleyford Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War that I was going to buy from him, and, noticing that there wasn't any access to the outside, asked how he managed to get the Scout up into the driveway. He stood up and pointed to a newish-looking section of the foundation and said "See that new section of wall? I had to knock a hole in it and shoehorn the fuselage and wings out, then brick it back up again..."

[Berman]

         In a 1/48th scale non-flying model, it would be more practical to print the gondolas and engine pods. The hull could be constructed of laser cut 1/8 inch (3mm) plywood bulkheads having lightening openings with a square one inch (25mm) center hole. This would be all connected with a central one inch aluminum tube. The outer longerons would be composed of 1/16 inch (1,5mm) welding wire. All covered with Ceconite or similar fabric.

[KiwiZac]

IIRC there's a museum in California that commissioned a 1:72 Zepp for a diorama, which was around ten feet long, although I can't find any pictures of it.

The Museum of Flight in Seattle has this 1/48th behemoth:
DSC00261 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC00262 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC00263 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC00264 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC00264 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Davos522]

That's the one I was thinking of! I also have a magazine article from the 1971 with the model they built for the not-so-classic film Zeppelin with Michael York and Elke Sommer, I'll have to see if I can find it, it was at least 1:48 ...

Dutch

[MoFo]

1/48?  Pffft! If you don't require, like, a logging truck to move it, then what is even the point?

[Borsos]

Puh, a 1:32 scale Zeppelin… I’d be in, but my wife just forbade me my 1:32 scale IJN Akagi model…

[KiwiZac]

It is a beautiful build with terrific detailing. The lighting really makes it (the whole gallery's rather dark as it is).

Puh, a 1:32 scale Zeppelin… I’d be in, but my wife just forbade me my 1:32 scale IJN Akagi model…

"We can sail it on the lake in the summer..."

[guitarfool]

And then there was the 1:40 scale flying model of the Macon!

https://www.airships.net/blog/giant-radio-controlled-model-uss-macon/

[Davos522]

That's hilarious! I especially liked the part about his first version being destroyed by his cat Roscoe... is he a Siberian tiger, or what, do you suppose?

Dutch