Thanks for the Rep guysOriginally Posted by Flying Helmut
Lovely job on the balloon & trucks, Craig!
Thanks
Thanks for the Rep guysLovely job on the balloon & trucks, Craig!
Two more AIM drachen - enjoy them Pete
Cleaned the molds with a bit of dishsoap and water and let dry. glued 'em together. Sealed some voids/gaps with Tamiya white putty. Lightly sanded. Inserted a drywall screw at an angle in the steering bag mouth.
Bases: cut from 1/4" plexiglass, drilled shallow hole with 3/8" forstner bit then center hole with 5/32" drill bit. Telescoping magnet tool and flat top machine screw secure the Litko alt indicator. Applied a "28 boom" decal then matte varnish sealed it.
I made some homemade sepia and black washes which are also useful (cheaper) for terrain. It takes a few minutes of tweaking to get the desired shade but now have tons of it. Followed this video almost exactly:
Better Black Wash Recipe
Soaked the ropes in homemade sepia wash and let dry then sealed their ends with superglue.
Brown one
Primed with Rust-oleum camouflage khaki.
Washed with homemade sepia wash.
Heavy drybrush with Vallejo MC english uniform then
Progressively lighter highlights drybrushed with Scalecolor Iroko, Vallejo MC Iraqui Sand, Vallejo MC Buff.
Pin-washed seams with Army Painter Quickshade Mid Brown.
Gray one
Primed with a Rust-oleum gray.
Washed with homemade black wash.
Heavy drybrush with Vallejo GC cold grey then
Progressively lighter highlights drybrushed with Vallejo MC light grey, Vallejo MC deck tan, Vallejo MC ivory.
Pin-washed seams with Citadel Nuln Oil.
Baskets
carefully drilled the top holes larger with small bit
Top: Citadel mournfang brown
Sides: Vallejo MC US Field Drab
"windows" glazed with Reaper MSP surf aqua
Washed with Army Painter Quickshade mid brown
Superglued the ropes and my thumb to the basket and sausage, then secured with 5 minute epoxy.
Clear coated with Rust-oleum matte clear spray.
Last edited by malachi; 12-06-2020 at 11:31.
super drachens!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Gorgeous balloons.
Here's to them what are like us. Damn few and they're all dead.
Thanks, guys! They're fun to make and even more fun to shoot down.
Chris my friend, those are amazing!!!!!!!! Wonderful work!
They are amazing blimps, well done Chris
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
very nice work Chris
Very nice Chris. Reminds me of a Pup I have to get on....
....more things for my list .....
They look great.
Ironically Pups are easier to store than sausages. No rush, Peter
Aaand I'm on to the next one, a Red Eagle miniatures AE/Caquot. Will be a fun one
Great work Chris. The photography is very nice too.
Great work I wish I had the patience to do that.
Outstanding Drachens and the photo is great as well ! Rep coming.
Nice one Chris. Good job there and thanks for the painting guide too
Rep-worthy effort, Chris!
The kind comments and the rep are much appreciated, guys.
My French caquot from Red Eagle Miniatures. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Florist wire for the ropes -- if doing it over I would make more belly on those in the center. It worked pretty well to drill through the resin skin then glue the wires/ropes.
The basket detail is pretty cool, and various ways to create it.
I've been searching everywhere for a winch wagon, a common solution used throughout most of the war on both sides, but was coming up empty. This one was kit-bashed from a Red Eagle winch lorry and a shapeways model. A few more are in progress as well as some AA and mobile MG trucks.
Last edited by malachi; 02-20-2022 at 02:18.
Awesome looking! Rep guns are jammed, I will have to check the Rep ammo!!! Awesome job!!!
My REP gun isn't jammed.
Nice Chris. Now if you are using a white and blue cable attaching the balloon to the winch, the spool should also be white and blue?
lol that fishing braid is black and white mon ami.My REP gun isn't jammed.
Nice Chris. Now if you are using a white and blue cable attaching the balloon to the winch, the spool should also be white and blue?
It almost looks like the guy on the wagon is doing a facepalm.
lol well now I can't unsee that. He may have to lose an arm
Maybe he's shielding his eyes as he looks up into the sun? He's better than the front gunner in the HP 0/400 that's waving to the oncoming enemy.lol well now I can't unsee that. He may have to lose an arm
He thanks you... amputation temporarily averted.
That winch wagon is a great job. The balloons are outstanding.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
Well done. Waiting for a Red Eagle drachen to make its way across the pond. I also ordered their new winch lorry. Hope mine comes out as good as yours.
Chris you've posted some lovely looking sausages on here, very inspiring.
Thanks for that.
Last edited by Vagabond; 01-03-2021 at 04:24.
I think the observer in the balloon had to pee and the guy on the wagon just happened to be in the way!!!
Thank you gents.
Hector, there a bit of thin flash on the lorries but easily cleaned up with a craft knife.
Dan,This poor guy can't catch a break.
Of course not - he's not even looking!
Super job on the winch wagon!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Have just finished the first of two 3D printed (PLA) 1/144 Barrage Balloon conversion (Dragonbadger models) to a German AE 800 Observation balloon. Whilst waiting for the Ares balloon reprints which don’t seem to be on the horizon yet, I thought I would get a couple of these at a cheap price (Ł11.50 each) to practice balloon busting. Have added observers to the basket and although on a smaller scale to the Nexus drachens think they work ok, and look ok on the game mat, with the added bonus they could double up as WWII barrage balloons if I played DoW.
Looks rugged and very cool! Love the crew as well! Will have to look into these if I get back on the flight line . . . .
Looking good, Barrie -- now to shoot them down!
Nice work Barrie. Since I’m primarily interested in WWII, the thought of barrage balloons in the game is intriguing to me. Thanks for the idea.
Thanks David,
I don’t think they would be pristine condition in the muddy French fields by the time they had been lowered and raised a few times so my imperfect paint and rope scheme adds to the theatre and won’t look amiss.
Ok, now that You've WOW'D us with your talent, PLEASE tell us how you pulled it off???
If you wanted to use them as barrage balloons in WWII stuff it would take out a lot of the stages and be very easy.
Nice German Balloon Barrie
Nice job, Barrie!
I'll probably eventually use mine as barrage balloons.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Probably good as the size is a bit smaller than the Nexus balloons. I did see when I was reading though that the German AE balloons were based on the Caquot balloon, and have read that the normal type M and R also had smaller versions P and P2.Nice job, Barrie!
I'll probably eventually use mine as barrage balloons.
...and balloon number 2 finished in yellow caquot P style. Would add French Roundels but don’t have any that size and information says that many did not carry insignia in any case.
Now to look up the balloon busting scenarios.
Baz
Good job!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Great Job!!!
Zeppelin model from the sixties that flies
Baz, that balloon looks pretty amazing!
exceptional gasbags baz!
That guy does look goofy. I recently finished Airfields and Airmen: Ypres (O'Connor) learned something I didn't know. At the end is a section where a Handley-Page pilot describes nightbombing Bruges. I didn't know this, but the bomb sight was located in the front cockpit so the navigator would move up there through a small door then use hand signals to guide the pilot after power to the engines was cut for the bomb run. A charitable interpretation for our Ares hero, maybe that's what he's doing. Or maybe he's just an idiot and his crewmates are yelling for him to get down!
Next-to-last AIM drachen (the mold finally died), enjoy it camelbeagle
I tried a bit different approach this time and happy with the results. Primed in khaki then thin basecoat of Vallejo MC flat brown. Homemade sepia wash then sort of a thin glaze of basecoat to create the weathering and some smoother effects in panels.
Vallejo MC burnt umber, Vallejo Game Color Parasite Brown (mixed with some base), Flames of War Flat Earth, some Vallejo yellows mixed in occasionally. Pin washed with homemade black wash.
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