Cowboy themed Airships!
Why?
I have no idea!
Really, I don't have any particular use for them. I have no games that use them, and I'm not particularly planning any. So...no use. But I had the idea in my head, and it seemed like something fun to do. And it really was fun!
I think they came out nicely. I spent time building them, but without any real plan. Just "put that there", "that looks cool there", etc. It's sometimes fun to do freeform like that.
I was constantly stopping myself and saying "It's a Cowboy Airship, don't overthink it" when I would come to a question of realistic function or something.
This is the first one. I just sat down with a hot glue gun, and started building. It's cardboard, foam core, pink foam, wire and wood scraps.
The ships wheel is a wagon wheel from a small wagon, the nose cap from a plastic egg. The sail is plastic sheet with paper towel on it, as is the back cover and the fabric thing hanging on the front.
It took forever to paint the thing. I couldn't settle on a color I liked for the balloon. Eventually I went with the tan color. The stippled lighter bits added the visual texture that it was missing, and I'm finally happy with it. Sort of. It's good enough.
The finished balloon airship with some figures on it. It holds 4 nicely, 6 if if you push them back into the covered area.
The second ship is a "rider" variety. (it rides on the balloons rather than hanging from them).
I was kind of thinking of a river barge when building it, but I wasn't married to the idea.
The ship wheel and wagon cover are both from the toy wagon, though the little door is made from balsa and plastic.
Primed, it all sort of comes together rather nicely!
The wood block "hood" on the front is just visual interest. It looked too plain without something there.
The horse head "hood ornament" I drew and cut out on the scroll saw. It's realistically ridiculous, but I like it. It adds a visual balance the ship was lacking.
All finished. I chose a darker color for the balloons, and a green for the trim. I think it looks rather nice.
These sails are glue soaked fabric, not paper towel like the other ship. It was easier to handle when drying, but there was no difference in sewing them on.
I painted the horse head 4 times before just settling on the bark brown I originally used.
This ship has a lot more figure space than the other, but doesn't have that much bigger of a footprint.
As you can see, quite a lot can fit on the deck.
I added the hoist in the back corner as a detail, it seemed too empty without something there.
All in all, I'm happy with how they came out. I even have a few ideas for a couple more. I still don't know what to actually do with them, but eh, they're fun.
Comments