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  #11  
Old 02-28-2023, 07:58 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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Now it’s time for the fun part, gluing all the external skin gores together. All 180 pieces plus their joining strips. There’s only one diagram in the instructions that shows how they go together. Basically they are labeled A1l to A18l for the left side, A1p to A18p for the left side. But it takes 5 parts to make the 47” strips to go from nose to tail and all 5 parts are labeled the same. Instead of gluing the parts together to make such long strips I chose to make up 5 fuselage ring sections and then glue these 5 rings together to form the outer skin. Luckily the parts for each of the rings are located on 4 adjoining pages once printed out. So it was fairly easy to keep the parts for the various rings organized.

My basic technique is to work from the top down, one side at a time. Then join the two halves together at the top, check that they fit the internal frame, then glue the bottom seam. The only glue joint between the inner frame and the outer skin is on the bottom seam.

To minimize the gap between the gore sections I glue the joining strip to the top piece. Then crease the joining strip using the seam ripper. I use a metal ruler to prebend the joining strip tabs. I then use the beveled edge of my workbench’s glass top to glue the lower gore to the upper gore as tight as I can at the correct angle. I use the handle of the crochet needle to firmly press the glue joint together. Have a paper towel handy to wipe up any glue that squeezes out from the joint. Then flip the pieces over and use a round tipped tool to press the seam from the back against the flat glass desk top to create a near gapless seam. Repeat 180 more times and you have the outer skins ready to mount.
Attached Thumbnails
This is how I do it.  My techniques-755175c5-e000-43cc-aefc-29c29c96de49.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-2878f257-8a4a-4cb9-a8c9-bde7da536b3e.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-003a99cc-f7a4-4191-b401-8f4d09bf3fd9.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-01b2fadd-fb3c-4289-a88b-e9bc30a5f4bd.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-2bc7a2f2-f43f-461e-ab9b-4b0d1bcf6db0.jpg  

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  #12  
Old 02-28-2023, 08:20 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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The model has a couple of sheets of joining strips but they are very thin and are completely straight. They can be used for the center ring only. I used the leftover space between the curving nose and tail parts once they are cut out to create curved joining strips. I then carefully glued about a third of the joining seam at a time to create a smooth curved joint.

I’m going to add lights to the interior compartments, so I spray painted some of the back of the skin and some of the frame black to prevent light bleed through.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-7312b2b8-92ae-484b-b4b5-84678aeb2a6d.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-04e0a139-1d55-47c2-881b-0b9064efc2cc.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-df9b76d1-8f81-4449-965b-0e0bc0628f38.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-a5722893-692c-44c5-a4a4-416893d3653a.jpg  
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  #13  
Old 02-28-2023, 09:08 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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I started attaching the skin to the frame at the tail and worked my way forward. For the tail section, one half of the fuselage skin was attached at a time so the stabilizer frame can protrude from the skin. Then the next ring section was fitted over the frame and pushed against the tail section and glued a few sections at a time. There is a small crew quarters area in this section. I built up a box of black construction paper in this area and added a micro LED lamp to provide illumination to the windows. I also put in a fiber optic rod off this light and fed it back to the tail cone to create a white position light. I don’t know if the zeppelins had a tail light but figured it was easier to install now rather than later.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-7708179a-f4af-46bf-8426-24fd44de2cae.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-60dd53d9-f82e-484f-9b4d-f0402bf95ed0.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-93a10b7b-ff0e-4703-b16a-01810e47ea03.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-893429c8-6a4b-4ed6-8598-e00a3769c0c7.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-3110ed73-3f24-4233-a438-868f231bb792.jpg  

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  #14  
Old 03-08-2023, 10:11 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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I keep damaging the foam tail components so I’m going to finish the tail section before moving on. I use a circle template to contract the fuselage gore panels to the proper size circle to match the tail cone. As noted before, the tail cone has a fiber optic filament to represent a tail position light. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers go together easily enough. The trailing edge has several parts to form the mounting tabs for the control surfaces.

I added a 1mm piece at the base of the stabilizers to shape the bottom of the stabs and create a stronger joint. Then glued the stabilizers to the model. Slight trimming of the bottom edge was required for a tight fit.

The control surfaces are built similar to the stabs. I used .02mm carbon rods to form the control horn tripod. Metallic silver thread was then added for reinforcing and control cables. And that pretty much finishes the tail section.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-e20c4252-d345-41d1-9cd6-4ac07c21724b.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-4020bb14-a7a8-4063-9264-1f72e050f322.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-cbe96b0b-15e6-418e-8941-3c2ed1934940.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-897765ae-938e-43bd-a2d2-93f1d1df1f1b.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-e385a47f-a550-46dc-b529-357aeab0a02c.jpg  

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  #15  
Old 03-09-2023, 08:14 AM
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Don Boose Don Boose is offline
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This is master craftsmanship of a very high level.

Most intriguing and enlightening to watch.

Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to share your artisanship and experience with us.

Don
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Old 03-09-2023, 09:08 AM
Siwi Siwi is offline
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Circle template is going on the list of things I should add to my modelling toolbox. Thanks for sharing these tips.
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  #17  
Old 03-09-2023, 10:42 AM
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wow what a build great craftmanship awesome well done
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  #18  
Old 03-10-2023, 10:50 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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Next part to work on are the motor pods. The skin for each pod is a single piece that must be carefully cut out and folded to provide the final shape. The pod has two inner bulkheads and an outer end plate at the back, parts 1, 2, and 3. I cut out the inner portion of 1 and 2, then applied superglue to the back of 1, 2, and 3. This makes them stiffer so they don’t crush when shaping the skin. I then cut out all 3 pieces. I use a round mini file (from Harbor Freight) to create the rounded bends in the skin. The file has a bit of a bite on the paper which helps the paper bend. I put the bulkheads in before I close up the pod skin. I built up the engines after I closed up the pod skin, they fit through bulkhead 2. I used a leather punch to create holes for the propeller shafts to fit through in the engine end pieces. I trimmed up some wooden skewers for the shafts themselves. Toothpicks would also work. I found some cheap markers at the Dollar Tree to edge mark the props. Then the propellers were glued to the end of the skewer and soaked with superglue to stiffen them up. Finally I punched a hole with a needle for the fiber optic cable to pass through the pod. I also made up a pod from the Schreiber-Bogan Hindenburg model just to see how it compares to this model. It uses 2 pieces to form the skin.
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  #19  
Old 03-10-2023, 10:52 PM
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And these are the photos that didn’t make the last post.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-157629be-1de6-419e-8a1f-37d6d118cd2d.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-af91a8ee-1700-462d-b8a7-62d6e70d7ef4.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-44dfbae0-510a-4be1-87a9-d8c5abcd3877.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-d8206ebc-0736-4e83-87a4-19f51105a5eb.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-5d36f4ca-8d46-4fd1-b266-3654afab0739.jpg  

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  #20  
Old 03-10-2023, 11:11 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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. . . And once again my photos decided to rotate sideways. Sigh. I mounted the engine pod using the struts from the kit. But they didn’t fit quite right. The pod was too high and tilted. So I scrapped that idea and made up some struts from carbon fiber rods. I used a needle to punch through the fuselage skin and stuck the rod into the holes. This allowed me to slide the struts in and out slightly to get the right lengths and angles. I also made up the access ladder and handrails from carbon fiber. I still need to add the cabling associated with the engine pods, which will be with some silver thread. But that is enough for tonight. Final shot shows the position light and the aft crew quarters lighting.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-bd72ee94-1834-4745-824b-5edc5ee82617.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-fa0c3c03-8246-4a79-a923-40ca8c5e57c3.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-924da04a-668a-465f-8145-22d69b444924.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-44d8361d-8d28-4021-ae59-c923a7ffe7d1.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-5c9d966e-8465-4ab1-99f2-07e9f29672ce.jpg  

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