Martian Airships sighted...

   Our intelligence reports indicate that the Martians have obtained two additional airships to menace the good people of Victoria's Landing.

   Made by RedVectors in the UK, these skiffs were custom adjusted a bit to work for 15mm. I am in the process of assembling and painting the first of the pair. The price was quite reasonable, I thought, and the shipment was dashed quick.

   Not quite done. It needs a gun on that forward platform, and a crew. I suppose this calls for a visit to Scale Creep for minis...

Reading on Zeppelin Raids

   I picked this up on sale at the Imperial War Museum in London a couple of weeks ago. Why? Because zeppelins! So far - and I am only about 30-40 pages into it - it's a good read.

From blackpowdergames.blogspot.com

More Federated States and Aethergraph Update

   The enclosed photostats provide evidence of the great deal of work which has been going on behind the scenes, as it were. The LP delayed my issuance of these photos, although they have appeared elsewhere on the telephonic differencing web. 

   I'm beginning to think that I should, perhaps, roll this blog into my other, more general blog. I see that many of the subscribers are the same. It would reduce the amount of work, and probably therefore increase the frequency of posts. Posting has become a bit of a slog for me on VBIR lately.

   In other news, I am still working on the next issue of Aethergraph, after a lengthy hiatus for professional reasons. Upon returning, I saw that in fact, I had more to do than I had previously believed. This is causing additional delays, of course. Should any of you dear readers have ideas, articles, photos, or whatever that might be of assistance, I would appreciate it if you would contact me at aethergraph@gmail.com. I still need four or five pages, I think.

An Interesting Airship Model

http://www.shapeways.com/model/298649/airship-frigate.html?li=productBox-search

   I particularly like the twin ducted fans on it, and the heavy broadside armament. Possible for Dystopian Wars, or just 6mm VSF in general.

Zeppelin of Zombies!

Good for either Pulp or VSF gmaing, and inspired by photos of this 28mm zeppelin table:

It's quite big, isn't it?

Notice the model of the zeppelin - epic touch of detail!

The Scenario:

  On your way home from an safari in the picturesque highlands of Bongolesia, a problem arises aboard the zeppelin carrying your group. One of the servants was apparently infected with a terrible tropical disease, and has died. Sadly, he did not stay dead, but has risen as a zombie. Infecting several passengers and crewmembers, the plague has spread throughout the vessel. Now, they all suffer from an insatiable hunger for flesh. Your flesh. Your tasks, in order, are:

1. Gather weapons. Luckily, you have just returned from safari, so there are guns in the baggage.
2. Keep the control cabin zombie-free until the pilots land the airship.
3. Make your way out of the zeppelin.
4. Finally, to prevent the spread of the infection, you must destroy the zeppelin and kill any zombies which escape the burning wreckage.

Good luck. You're going to need it.

HMAS Dragonfly... almost there...

   Almost finished... so, a few more pictures.

View from portside. Notice porthole in lower deck.

View from aft. Propeller shaft and rope railings clearly visible.

Portside. Embarkation point.

Starboard view of deckhouse. Note white ensign and Nordenfelt gun.

Main deck gun. (Not permanently attached yet)

Doctor Vardu's assistant, finished. I like the sunflower apron.

15mm Peter Pig Heliograph team (part of it), nearing completion.

   I threw in a couple of other pictures of stuff I am working on while I was at it.

The People Have Spoken!

   And thus, the heretofore unnamed scout Aeronef shall henceforth be known in the RNAS rolls as...

HMAS DRAGONFLY

   Work is nearing completion on this project. I have installed the rope railing around the entire deck, attached the lower hull to the upper, and the tail section as well. The Nordenfelt has been mounted, the white ensign attached, and very little still waiting completion.

   What is left to do? I need to attach the scratchbuilt hatch onto the superstructure. I need to touch up some spots where handling has rubbed the paint thin. I need to attach the deck gun. I need to print a decal with the ship's name and attach it. The whole model needs to be clear-coated. Finally, I need to devise a flying stand of some sort. To the Dollar Store!

DRAGONFLY              Dragonfly                          (Stencil)

DRAGONFLY             Dragonfly                         (Algerian)

DRAGONFLY                          Dragonfly                             (Black Adder)

DRAGONFLY               Dragonfly                                    (Brush Script)

DRAGONFLY                   Dragonfly           (Copperplate Gothic)

DRAGONFLY           Dragonfly (Engravers)

DRAGONFLY              Dragonfly           (Lucida Calligraphy)

DRAGONFLY                  Dragonfly                    (Old English Text)

Name the Scout Aeronef

   She needs a name! I've started a poll to help, but not sure I have all the names that I liked on it.

   Wikipedia lists all the gunboats of the Royal Navy here.

   Vote in the poll, and if you chose "Other", give me the name in the comments here, please.

Scout Aeronef, Part I

   I recently obtained a 25mm scale Scout Aeronef, made by Ironclad Miniatures, from someone on TMP. The casting looks very nice, but has a few flaws. The worst of these was the portholes on one side of the lower hull were about half gone. I don't know if it was a casting problem, or if they were chipped at some point afterwards. Either way, they were not going to work. So, I got creative.

Stock, primed gray.

   Here is my 'creative' solution: I cut off all four of the lower hull portholes and replaced them with these plastic fittings. The fittings are from my wife's O2 tanks, and I have been saving them as I could for something just like this! However, these do not match the perfectly good portholes on the upper hull or superstructure. So I decided they would be gunports instead!

   The plan is to make a set of four revolving barrel cannons to protrude from the gunports. 3-pdr Hotchkiss Revolving Cannons for a broadside armament! Huzzah!

As you can see, it needs more rivets. And some replacement rivets.

Starting to paint the upper hull and deck. Not glued yet.

   I had to do a few other minor repairs to get started, but the project is on! I should finish in a few weeks, as I am easily distracted by other projects and a massive "Honey-Do" list from the memsahib. Silly me, I thought that I had the summer off from work, being a teacher and all!

   Oh, does anyone recognize that piece in the background? It is not going to be fitted to the scout aeronef - too heavy. But it will see use.

Railing poll for the Unnamed Aeronef

   Ladies and gents, as I am suffering from over-analysis of a minor detail, I turn to you for assistance. At the top of the journal, you should see a poll. Please choose which option you think might look best for the scout aeronef. A few pictures here should help with your visualizations.

Roped Stantions. From Baron Von J.

Stantions available from Reviresco - with solid rails

  Any other thoughts, please feel free to comment!

Now on the Table: Scout Aeronef

   I have just primed (in dark grey, if you must know) the casting of the Ironclads Miniatures Scout Aeronef that I purchased last month from Messer Skrapwelder. Soon it will be receiving the attentions of a brush!

Ironclad Miniatures's File Photo

   I like the model, but it has some casting flaws, especially around the portholes where it is thin. I am going to remedy this on the lower deck by making the portholes into gunports! A pair of Hotchkiss Revolviing Cannon in each broadside will teach Johnny Martian a bit of respect for Her Majesty's imperial authority!

   I also want to install a railing around the deck, a QF deck gun, another railing around the superstructure, possibly armoring the (currently) open superstructure instead. Maybe add a Nordenfelt up there as well? Any tips on how to do the railing would be appreciated.

"Z" is for...

ZEPPELIN

   Zeppelin (n.): a rigid cylindrical airship consisting of a covered frame containing multiple gas cells, and with a suspended compartment for passengers and engines.

   There was, of course, no way not to mention the Zeppelin and other forms of flying ships when discussing Victorian Science Fiction. You may as well leave out Her Majesty (God Bless Her!) as flying vessels! The idea of flying ships was written about by Victorian writers (Jules Verne published Master of the World in 1904, just a few years after Edward took the throne).

   Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin started designing the style of airship which would bear his name in the 1870s after seeing airships used by the Union in the American Civil War and the French during the short-lived Franco-Prussian War. The first real zeppelin (LZ-1) was built in 1899. Zeppelins were used as bombers in World War I and as commercial vehicles after the war until the Hindenberg crash in 1937 ended their popularity. (Oh, the humanity!) In my VSF universe, I have Zeppelin retiring from the military at a younger age due to injuries sustained, and getting into the development of airships sooner as a result. Zeppelins fitted with more powerful engines and using a wondrous lifting gas (hydrium, an idea copied from Kenneth Opel's Airborn novels) are commonplace in the late 19th century of my little universe.

   Besides zeppelins, which are just really cool, the VSF enthusiast has a variety of airships to choose from. Most use some for of lighter-than-air technology, which is often non-gaseous in nature, thus eliminating the need for huge gas bags to provide lift. Liftwood, cavorite, and unobtainite are some examples of this. The problem with massive gas cells is that they are, well, massive. Big, relatively slow targets, which can't be significantly armoured due to weight considerations. Using liftwood, etc., eliminates that liability and makes armoured airships much more practical.

A small 6-man gunboat
[Laughing Ferret, 25mm conversion]

    Some airships are small gunboats, intended to swiftly enforce the will of the Great Powers which build them. The British Naval Air Service's ubiquitous Aphid-class is a prime example of this type. Others are massive behemoths of armourplate and turreted 14" naval guns, bristling with batteries of quick-firing light guns, and cruising slowly through the air, dominating the sky. The Class IV dreadnought is one of these types of airship.

HMS Aphid

<> 

Dreadnought Class IV Airship

   I know of several good rules sets that exist for VSF airship fleet battles, in alphabetical order:

• Aeronef, by Wessex Games
• Dystopian Wars, by Spartan Games
• GASLIGHT Compendium, by Palmer and Surdu
• Sky Galleons of Mars, by GDW (and Heliograph)
• When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Skies (not commercially published that I know of)
• When the Navy Walked, by The Arm Chair General (I helped write these rules).

   I have played in games using all of the above rules except for Dystopian Wars, and enjoyed them all. Except for When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Skies, all of them also have associated ground forces rules suitable for playing air-to-ground engagements and mixed actions. If I have inadvertently left any systems you are aware of out of the above list, please let me know and I will be happy to add it!

Naval Zeppelin

Frank Chadwick's Space:1889: Ship Design Worksheet From Savage Troll

Frank Chadwick's Space:1889: Ship Design Worksheet From Savage Troll: The Savage troll has a free download available -- an Excel ship design spreadsheet for Space: 1889 cloudships, gunboats, and aether ships ...

Dead useful, that Chadwick fellow.

New Devices for Airpirates

   Manufactured by Fiendish Fabrications, and available here. I think the Admiralty will be purchasing some of these for their airships as well.

   Fiendish Fabrications has been making some very interesting items lately. Definitely a company to watch if you are a steampunk or VSF (as I prefer) fan.

WTNW Artwork Teaser

A teaser of the artwork for the upcoming When the Navy Walked supplement, WTNW: Airships and Skypirates. Thanks to the Armchair General for putting it out there, because I think it is a great piece of art. And I am not just saying that because I am editor and part-author of this book.

Colonel Thorne's Aeromobile Forces

   I believe the redoubtable Colonel Thorne has been mentioned previously in this journal. If not, I have been sadly remiss in my duty towards pointing my fellows towards great works accomplished in our field of endeavours.

  At any case, the latest work from the good Colonel is a new aerocraft with an array of interchangeable payloads for mission specific tasks.

   I especially like that the pilot has a silk scarf to avoid chafing as he scans the skies and the ground below for the dastardly Hun!

  Find more information here.

Procuring Equipment for Vessels

  While waiting in queue at the Government office in charge of registration of vehicle operators for my nephew's, I took the opportunity to peruse the telephonic differencing network via my mobile aetheric communications device. At a favorite location of mine, I noticed a posting regarding a new manufacturer of weapons and equipment for Her Majesty's naval and aeronaval forces: Grand Manner.

   They have on offer a variety of pieces, and they look quite well made. These include:

• 3pdr (37mm) Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon on Naval Mount (WWI-28-38)
• 6 pdr (47mm) Hotchkiss QF Gun on Naval Mount (WWI-28-39)
• Gardner Gun on Pedestal (WWI-28-41)
• Controls (SM31) suitable for large vessels
• Ventilator Funnels, Cleats, and Life Bouys (SM30)
• and more...

   Grand Manner also apparently has a shipyard I was unaware of, and are creating several ships (look in their network catalog in the "Sudan" section). They look quite nice, if pricey. If they come pre-painted and assembled, they seem like good value for the money.

The Entire Gun Collection (to Date)

Emerald Racing Team Ready for Historicon Race Day

 

   With only a few weeks to go before Race Day, the Emerald Racing team has finished work on their first scudder. You can see photostats of the racer being put through time trials below.

[Editor's Note: This is the Skyrunners racing game craft I bought at Historicon last year. I plan on using it as a light airship in wargaming as well. It is made by Parroom Station, and can be had via Brigade Games. I came in third last year using one of Bob Charrette's scudders. I hope that my own racer will move a bit faster, turn a bit tighter, and avoid doing quite so much swooping up and down, thus earning the nickname "Vomit Comet."]

For Fans of Aerial Warfare

   Here is an interesting telephonic connection location to peruse: Dirigibles and Dreadnoughts. While it is sadly not a very active sort of place, there are some lovely things to see there. For example, this German torpedo cruiser, built by the owner of the site:

   Odd sort of cloud cover below that cruiser, what?

Airship Project, stage 1

   I am currently working on about a dozen projects, as usual. This one has stalled temporarily as I try to figure out how to make a few details work the way I want them. However, I thought I would throw out one tantalizing photo.



   As you can probably tell, the basic gasbag enclosure and rudder vanes come from the Denny's shipyards. Obviously there is a good deal of painting to be done, the weapons systems (including the massive spinal mount Tesla cannon!), engines, and gondolas need attachment as well. But it is at least started.

  I also finished another vehicle recently, a steam picket boat, with a quick firing 4-inch gun in the bow. She was laid down by Peter Pigg, and purchased second hand through connections in the telephonic differencing interchange. I think she'll look good on either the canals of Mars or on one of the myriad waterways of Venus. Gadzooks, she'd even be at home back on Old Earth.

Interchangeable flag - easy swap from British to German to French. An otherwise very neutral paintjob.