[THE DC]

Best detail or most challenging part of the build:

Peter explained that he built the Vickers as designed. He added a mooring ramp to fit the airship to the dock. He did share that the propellers and struts as tiny and delicate to form. The other part of the display was another story.

Peter resized the Empire State Building to match the scale of the Vickers. He did this by comparing the potential size of the unbuilt Vickers (some sources list as just over 650 feet, Peter suggests an eventual 800 feet) and the height of the Empire State Building at 1250, as he explained he found it had been before the addition of the antenna. This was not easy, as the parts didn’t always fit the 8x10 sheets, This required some of the larger parts to overlap onto other sheets. The fitting of these made maintaining accuracy a challenge when sacrifice to fit was required. He also shared that the mooring mast required modification to make it more appropriate to the design, and that yaw booms to further enhance the authenticity. He did lament not getting the top of the top of the mast flat, instead of conical, as he said would be more accurate.

He preferred the Fiddler’s Green kit over the larger Alan Rose kit, due to the color selection and detail in the latter. He felt the Fiddler’s Green was better for his purposes. After increasing the size to meet the scaling preferences, he reinforced the cardstock with foam-core board, to encourage structural stability and durability over time.

After ensuring the structural requirements, he described the next challenge to the final project, as attaching the airship to the building’s mast provided difficulty. Peter wanted the connection to look real, and natural, and not have to use support struts or wires that would be distracting to the display intent. To accomplish this, he used a wooden dowel that was affixed to the base, then run it up to the paper mast. To affix the airship to the mast, he used a metal rod, seated within the airship model, then attached to the supporting dowel. This design, of a pairing of these two different kits, he engineered himself. The effort was a challenge.

And he explained that it was real effort, taking months to build!

Though not his favorite build, there was another model, the Spirit of St. Louis, a kit by Peter Zorn, is worth inspecting…



Picture 1: Spirit of St. Louis 1-50sc Zorn

Picture 2: Spirit of St. Louis & truck Zorn

Picture 3: Spirit of St. Louis & truck 1-50/sc

Picture 4: A detailed look: Spirit of St. Louis window…