How to build a Steampunk Airship

     The children are all grown and an empty bedroom has become a craft room for me and my lovely wife.  She is a pretty good seamstress while I am a modeler.  With no common theme we decided to decorate the room in a steam punk motif.  In the corner gathering dust, I found an old ship model I had purchased on sale, and thought it would make a great steam punk pirate airship to hang from the ceiling. Thinking of a name I came upon the Hindu goddess of destruction Kalika Devi and thought it fit the bill.  Many of the parts I used in the build came from spares accumulated over the years, however I have provided alternative materials readily available to build the elements with quite the same results. With a little imagination I think you can have a lot of fun and turn out a model that will be sure to evoke conversation if not admiration.
                                         How to build the Steam punk Airship AS  Kalika Devi

Step one: The Hull
      I have seen drawings where all types of ships modern or ancient are used but, I wanted a sailing ship. I started with a 1/75 scale Heller plastic model of the Santa Maria  but any sailing ship of any scale would work
   

. Since this is an airship and sails are not required, the build is pretty straight forward and quick.  All we are concerned with is the hull so it is not necessary to build the masts, spars, launches, etc.  I did use one mast and a spar to fashion a cargo crane.  In the first pictures I mounted the lookout atop the bowsprit.  After a little thought I decided that since my lookout had all the altitude he needed and there was no requirement for a bowsprit so I removed it. I then used the crow’s nest make a bow pulpit. Although not really needed the anchors were kept as “emergency brakes” and to add a little dimension. Once it was assembled, I dry brushed the hull and decks with several different colors of acrylics to give it an aged, well weathered appearance then sealed it with dull coat.

Now, to make it “steam punk.” For those unfamiliar with this genre, a brief explanation is that Steam punk takes ideas of the present and future and endeavors to make them happen with steam age technologies.  Think of Jules Verne’s Nautilus or even Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In this case, man has always wanted to fly and the balloon or dirigible was the technology of the day.  What better vehicle to carry a vast amount of cargo and  the crew to handle it than a ship?  Ergo, the next logical step was to marry the two and the “airship“ was born.
Hint: I am pretty good at visualizing the finished product but sometime I find it easier to see it on paper and make changes there so I downloaded a line drawing of the Santa Maria and just used the paint program to test designs.

Step two:  The boiler and walking beam steam engine.
     In order to propel our airship we need to find a way to turn the airscrew and since steam was the power of the day the next step is to build a steam engine. To make the boiler I used a couple of plastic test tubes left over from some science lab at school. One had a conical end the other round.  You could use PVC cap, a ball point pen,  craft stick, ¼“ hex head bolt , three fender washers and leftover sprue (the plastic tree that the parts are attached to.) Because of the tremendous heat the boiler can not sit directly on the wooden deck, cut a piece of bass wood or card stock about 2 inches by 2 ½ inches and paint/color it to resemble bricks.  Mount the boiler and engine on this base. For the boiler, drill a hole into the side of the PVC cap and insert the hex head bolt to simulate a door. Next drill a hole the size of the pen tube centered in the top for the stack. Cut the pen tube in three pieces, one about 2 1/2 inches, one ¾ -1 inch, and the third 1/2 -¾. Now heat a piece of sprue over a candle and stretch it. As it stretches the ends will become pointed. Use one of the pointed ends to make a steam whistle and mount it in the top of the boiler. You will need to drill two small holes the size of the paperclip in the side of the cap to install the steam lines. Put It all together and you have a boiler.  Now that we have steam, we need to convert it to locomotion.  I liked the looks of a walking beam engine. To make the engine, cut a piece of the largest sprue about an inch and a half long and cut a slot in the top. This slot is where the beam will rest.  Fashion the beam from a craft stick by cutting it about two inches long and diamond shaped. Drill three holes in each side of the beam making them progressively smaller. Now mount it in the slot atop the pedestal you made from the sprue. One side of the beam is connected to the accumulator feeding steam into a piston. The other end drives a wheel.  To make the piston take the longer of the two remaining tubes fill the ends and drill a small hole in one end to accept the paperclip steam line. It will be laid horizontally and a paperclip steam line gets connected from the end you drilled to one of the holes in the side of the cap. Glue the last piece of tube vertically along the end of the piston.  Now we need a wheel. I found a card of different shaped wheels and gears in the scrap booking section of our local craft store but it might come from your scrap box, old buttons or you can use the fender washers. Two ¾ inch washers with a ½ inch washer sandwiched between them would work well. The wheel gets attached to the upright piece of tube glued to the piston and drives the machinery (in this case the propeller) via a drive belt made from a strip of masking tape blackened with a marker.
                                                                 required material

                                                                   pieces ready to assemble    

                                         

                                                        completed boiler looking aft  

                                                       completed boiler looking fwd.

Step three: The propeller
     First, determine how large you want the propeller or “air screw” to be and how many you will need. I considered having twin props but in the end chose to use a single one. Next decide on how many blades you need.  You could go with as few as two or as many as you can fit on a hub.  Mine has six and a 6“ diameter. It’s a bit oversized but is more visible and looks like it will allow me to overtake most prey or successfully evade capture.  Speaking of the hub, I have six blades so instead of a circular hub I made mine a hexagon.  I used a template (you could use most any drawing program) and drew the size I needed onto a craft stick.  I made three of them to get the thickness I required.  Using a razor saw or craft knife cut out the three hexagons and glue them together.  Give them enough time to dry completely.  Next I sanded the hub to ensure the sides were all dimensional.  With a small toothpick sized drill bit ( I am sure there is a number but my old eyes can‘t make it out) drill a hole in the center of each of the six sides and through middle of the face. Now for the blades. These can be simple paddles or complex batwings but draw them onto a piece of thin card stock and then cut the shape out to make a template you can transfer ensuring all the blades are identical. After transferring the shape onto six of the ubiquitous craft sticks I carefully carved them out. Sand the leading and trailing edges to make them look aerodynamic.  Notch the bottom of each blade about a half inch. Now cut the proper number of toothpicks about ¾ of an inch long. Glue the toothpick to the blade and let sit.  Once the blades are dry insert them into the holes previously drilled into hub at an angle of thirty or so degrees. A little stain or diluted ink to color the blades and there you have it.
                                                           Put design on index card

                                                                     
                                                      transfer design to craft stick

                                                           complete three bladed propeller    

 On this model I could have mounted the propeller and drive shaft either on top or inside.  I would have been much simpler to run the driveshaft inside the hull and let it extend out the hole in the fantail that is already provided for the tiller. I wanted mine to be more visible so I elected to support it externally on two derricks made from some scrap girders I had laying around in the train room.  I could have just as easily used sprue or craft sticks once again.
                                                                  craft stick girder  

            
                                                  propeller, drive shaft & frame looking aft

                                                               from the stbd side

Step four:  The cargo crane
     How to plunder if I can’t transfer the booty to my holds. The cargo crane is relatively simple but took awhile to build.  I took a portion of the main mast and stepped it in the hole provided for the foremast.  This became my kingpost.  I then took one of the spars and used it for the boom. Using three of the pulleys provided in the kit I rigged the boom to the kingpost so it could be raised or lowered.  I then took four of the pulleys glued two of them together to make a block and tackle and did the same with the other two to make a pair.  I rigged the block and tackle with a hook fashioned from a piece of wire on one end and the other end wrapped around the windlass. If you do not have pulleys in the kit you can make some with sprue.  Take a piece of sprue and drill six small holes with a pin vise.  Next take a pencil and divide the sprue into sections, two with two holes and two with one.  Now separate the sections with a craft knife and with a little sanding you have what you need to make
a believable block and tackle.
                                                     sprue drilled with a pin vise

                                                                                                                                       
                                                      sectioned and separated

                   
                                                        mast, spar, and pulleys

                                                               competed cargo crane

                                                            rigged boom and pulleys

Step five: Weapons
     Standard weapons included bows, arrows, swords, sabres and the like as well as black powder and cannon. After some consideration I decided that cannon were not cost effective so to speak.  The weight of the shot not only affected the size and lifting capacity of my ballon but took away from space that could be used to store loot.
Rockets are lighter weight, can provide significant damage and could also be used to propel grappling hooks when along side the adversary. For the rocket launchers, I took three pieces of toothpick glued them together in the manner of an airborne rocket launcher or torpedo tubes and stuck them out of the two ports on each side of the hull. As in whaling, when prey is encountered something is required to keep it attached so the harpoon comes to mind.  A steam powered harpoon cannon mounted on the bow pulpit seems to be a good idea. ..  For the harpoon canon I made the barrel from a piece of coffee stir stick glued it to a rectangular piece of craft stick for the breach and stock then onto a toothpick for the base.
                                                           Parts for a harpoon canon

                                                          harpoon cannon on deck

                                                          toothpick rocket launcher

                                                         


Step six: the Balloon
     I took two, three liter soda bottles (the size of course depends on the scale of the model you use for the hull.) the first I left complete and filled it with expanding foam by drilling a ¼” hole in the cap to insert the tube from the can of foam.  By leaving the cap on when filling you provide enough constriction for the foam to expand completely inside but not allow a lot to come through the top. I cut the bottom off the second bottle and force fit it over the bottom of the first then drilled the top like the other but left it off at first because it provided enough compression to separate the two while filling. Once it was about seventy-five percent filled I screwed on the cap and finished with the foam.  The foam when cured effectively glues both bottles together and provides the rigidity required to work with the thin plastic without adding appreciable weight. After 24 hours or so the bottles are now joined and ready to turn into a balloon.  I cut the ends off and rounded them to resemble the ends of the dirigible. I sanded the bottles to remove any foam, label remnants, and to roughen the surface in preparation for paint.  I made three fins from balsa wood and attached them 120 degrees apart using toothpicks and construction adhesive. I first sprayed it with gray primer then used thin tape to create seams.  I then brushed on the shades off off white acrylic on random panels and added a few pieces of tape to represent patches painting then a lighter shade to show they were newer. A little dry brushing of grey and brown to add weathering and a final coat of dull coat to seal it.
                                                   bottles married and filled with foam

                                                           primed, lines and fins attached

 complete weathered dirigible

                                                         

Step seven:  The rigging
     First we can start at the bow and attach the anchors.  I ran a short piece of chain from an inexpensive necklace I got at the dollar store through the hawse holes in the bow and attached it to the eyes of the anchor to simulate the rode. The flukes of the anchors then get lashed to a post on the port and starboard sides of the fo’c’sle that I made from two cocktail toothpicks.  Next I moved aft and fabricated a rudder. As air is considerably less dense than water the rudder must be proportionately larger to displace enough air to allow for steerageway. This is an opportunity to add a bit of your own style. I wanted my rudder to resemble a birds wing.  I drew the design out on a 3X5 index card then cut it out to use as a template. I transferred the design onto a piece of scrap bass wood and cut out the rudder. On old ships the rudder had a chain that attached it to the hull to keep it from sinking and getting lost if it became loose during a storm.  Since it might be even more difficult to retrieve a rudder when lost from altitude I made sure to add a short piece of chain from the same necklace to mine as well. 1/16 oz bullet fishing weights sprayed tan and tied to the rail, make nice bags of sand for ballast.
                                                                     anchor  secured

                                                              rudder keeper

 ballast

                                                                             
Since there are no masts or spars, there is neither standing nor running rigging required.  I am not sure why I would want to get on top of the dirigible except maybe to patch it but, every airship I have seen has at least some sort of ratlines present. In this case they will not only add visual appeal but will be functional as well by providing support for the balloon.  The vertical “lines” are made of floral wire while the horizontal ones are thread affixed with a drop of superglue. On a piece of foam core board draw an outline of the ratlines.  Your model will probably have predrilled holes where the ratline attach to the hull. Measure these and transfer them to the board at the base. Now measure the height of the ratlines from where they attach to the hull to half way up the side of the balloon. The ratlines will be wider at the top. Draw a line from each mark at the bottom to each at the top.  I added drilled craft stick spreaders to maintain the proper separation and give further support to the wires. Put a ninety degree bend at the top of the wire.   Measure the top of the ratlines like you did at the base and transfer that to the side of the balloon about halfway up.   Put a ninety degree bend at the top of each wire and glue them into the holes in the side of the balloon. Now you can affix the ratlines to the side of the hull by inserting the wires into the holes  provided. This was by far the most tedious and time consuming portion of the build but worth it I hope. I attached two wires fwd. and two aft. On both sides which also added stability.  I am now ready to plunder,  
                                                          Ratlines drawn on foam core board

                                                      spreaders inserted , ready for the wires

The Tropospherical raider A S Kaliki Devi