Martian

No! Not @corsaircorp! Anything but that. We will end up being in debt to the cryptanalysts of both Bletchley Park and GCHQ until the end of the universe! Worried (Extremely) of Mars 👽 PS: That conjures up the kind of image that makes it more essential than ever that we get a wibble emoticon.

Good point Ian. Or, the L.11 was used for Navy camouflage trials. The Bundesarchiv pictures all seem to have been taken in November/December 1916 after the L.11 had been withdrawn from front line service and shortly before she was scrapped in April 1917. To my mind as least, it would make more sense to use a ship that was in a training/trials role and coming to the end of its useful life than taking one out of the front line and weakening one's strength. I think that the absence of the cloud car is telling in so far as the Fuhrer der Luftshiffe, Peter Strasser, did not believe in the things, considering them to be both inefficient and a waste of carrying capacity. It may also be significant that all the camouflaged L.11 pictures originated from the German Institute of Ocean Sciences, suggesting an original Naval source? The Navy were obviously thinking about camouflage for their Zeppelins as is demonstrated by the later appearance of the black and grey 2Raiding Scheme". I can see where this is going: I will end upmaking both ships and letting people make their own minds up!* I did notice at he show that one trader had a stock of Takom Zeppelins for sale and that he had sold out of them by the end of the day. Coincidence? maybe but I probably should have at least tried to extract some commission from him! Martian 👽 *I have already ordered another Takom Q Class to cater for that very enevtuality!

That is even worse than one of @Pete in Lincs's jokes and that's going something! Martian 👽

Sorry, I meant the only one that was used for camouflage trials. My gut feeling is that we are looking at two different ships but I want to be as sure as I possibly can be before I start lobbing paint about and potentially ruin a model. Martian 👽

Lovely work! You are making me want tackle another Wessex/SH-34 kit. Someone save me from myself! Easily Led of Mars 👽

Thanks Pete, you are a very silly Earthling. But as one of the "Usual Suspects" you will doubtless wear that as a badge of honour. Thanks Gondor, I managed to get the doors out without damaging them so all I have to do is add a bead of plastic stock round the outside of them to return them to their original size. The second kit will definitely, err possibly, err maybe not be having its waist hatches opened. Doubtful of Mars 👽

Thanks Ian, I think we are getting there.. I thought I ought to demonstrate that I have not been idle at the Luftschiffbau Martian. Yesterday, to get a break from the Mariner build I decided to tackle the outriggers on the latest Takom P Class. I'm not sure why but I feel that they came out better than usual. I do have a slight conundrum however, I was intending to finish this one as the L.11 in camouflage. However, I was reading Ray Rimell's Zeppelin volume one the other day and in it he states that the Q Class army ship LZ.107 was the only one used for camouflage trials. The problem is that I have five pictures from the Bundesarchiv showing a camouflaged Zeppelin which is listed as the L.11. The camouflage pattern is different from the pictures in Ray's book and the ship does not seem to be carrying the cloud car, which appears in all the pictures in the book. It is probable that different patterns were tried out but some of the changes would have to have had the dark colours painted over with a light colour. I checked the Bundesarchiv pictures to see if the ship in question was carrying the P Class rear gondola and it seems to have the Q Class type. However, it transpires that some of the P Class were fitted with the later style as well. Could the Bundesarchiv have got the captions wrong on all five pictures or is it the case, that I originally thought, that the German Navy also carried out trials with camouflage? I would post the pictures but that will cost me £225 for the right to post them here. Any thoughts before I go and start lobbing paint at this one? If it turns out that we are talking about one airship here, I can always get another Q Class and there are still a few important P Class ships that would benefit the display. A camouflaged one would look good though. In other news a sizeable chunk of one of the Schütte-Lanz SL.11's engines docked at Martin Towers this afternoon. I'm off to lay down in a very dark room and thanks for looking. Wibble. Exhausted of Mars 👽

Having been quiet for a few days; well quietish on BM. The same could not be said for the Martian cave where I have been trying to juggle this beast with soldering another Zeppelin. Mrs Martian says that some of the expressions emanating from my room would make a Vogon blush. However, further reading has established that these as a bulkhead either end of the bunk compartment and that the same had a deckhead which supported a stool for the astrodome. This lets me off having to detail the entire interior of the hull. Most of the time has been spent sorting out the bulkhead and adding structure to the starboard side of the hull, all the time trying to ensure that it meets up with the portside structure. It did: eventually. I have some tidying up of the bulkhead and partition that goes just aft of it to do, so I am going to have to let the glue cure for a day or two. After a final push, you know, the one @general melchett is always going on about, we can then begin to think about adding equipment to the hull. No Melchett! not your secret "chum" Miss Lucy 'Quipment! Anyone up for helping his Generalship with an ice cold shower? The bit I am not looking forward to is the equipment rack that fits in what had been the galley on the dedicated flying boat versions of the Mariner. I keep thinking that it would be fun to do an Operation High Jump boat used for the aerial mapping of Antarctica....... Anyhow, I'm waffling now so let's have some pictures and thanks for looking. Martian 👽

You, getting out of the Naughty Corner CC? The only chance you have of getting out of the Naughty Corner is by opening up a portal to another dimension; and then you would probably find Mme CC waiting for you with a Naughty Corner of her own devising. Sill want to escape? No? I thought not! Cynical of Mars 👽

I made a bad mistake with this project a few days ago. Since the start of the build I had been eyeing up those large waist hatches and trying to convince myself that opening them up was a bad idea as it would lead to a ton of extra work that I didn't really want to do and would add more weight aft of the kit's centre of gravity when doing all the work on the bow compartments was reducing the space available for nose weight. So when I found myself talking to @general melchett the other day, I asked him to talk some sense into me and keep me out of this particular dose of trouble. He chuntered something about weedy boys with a note from Matron, went on about putting a pair of battle y-fronts on my head and a newly sharpened pencil up each nostril, went BEAH! and promised to do his best. You will be able to tell from the following pictures that he has failed miserably as the next thing I knew I was chain drilling out the doors with a 0.3mm drill bit, which kept on drilling into my tentacles far too many times, in order to preserve the doors. It would be very difficult to scratch build them due to their complex compound curves. next up, I made the rear bulkhead for the waist compartment, followed by the floor and forward partition. The structure is now complete on the port side. After I have followed suit with the starboard structure, I have to make a decision as to how far forward I want to go as with the hull taped together and the hole for the dorsal turret covered over, it is possible to see into what was the bunk compartment, both looking forward from the waist hatches and through the side windows. They are quite large on the Mariner. Anyway, here are the pictures as to where I am at as of moment. Whatever happened to that quick and simple build? Thanks for looking and remember not to rely on certain members of the Imperial General Staff to keep you out of trouble! Martian 👽

Thank you sir, you are most kind. Thanks Pete it was a great day only marred by the staff on the door having to turn away a certain Phantom Raspberry Blower. I wondered why we didn't see you in the hall? Thank you , We felt that the hard work revamping the look of the display during the close season was worth the effort. I now really need to put the Martin Mariner down for a bit and press on with the L.11 and l.49 builds as well as getting at least Leefe Robinson's BE2c built. We are at the Hornchurch museum's Battle of Britain weekend in September and not to have at least one of the "opposition" represented would be criminal as Hornchurch was the site of Suttons Farm from whence Robinson, Wulstan Tempest and Frederick Sowery off to destroy the SL.11, L.31 and L.32 respectively. Soon to be Overworked (Again)of Mars 👽

Some pictures of the first show of the year for the display. I think the new banner is very effective. Pictures courtesy of Mrs Martian. Thanks for looking. Martian 👽

I think I will settle for "Dracula, The True Story" followed by "The Beach Girls and the Monster", 23.00H on Talking Pictures tonight. Both presented by Caroline Munro: what's not to like? I am given to understand that my cousin Splot, is playing the part of the monster. I thought I would mention that before any scurrilous accusations are aimed at this wholly innocent alien. I won't be there and whatever is being done, it won't be me doing it; OK? Blameless of Mars 👽

The seat covers look good to me from where I'm sitting, even if it is 140,000000 miles away! I sometimes make the cover out of Miliput, wet the surface and then pat at it with Mrs Martian's tooth brush, , I mean an old tooth brush. That gives quite a nice effect. The downside of course is the wait for wet Miliput to dry, not to mention the aggravation I get from Mrs Martian if I get caught! Battered and Bruised of Mars 👽

Even the style of mounting the radarscope for the pilot and co-pilot varied considerably. See how easy it is to get confused? I am beginning to wonder if even the guys at Martin could keep track of what was going on. Did the word wibble exist in those days? Muddled of Mars 👽

There are more in the Nava Fighters book. I think I know now why some have curtains or partitions. The scopes of these early radars did not glow very brightly and I think it was to reduce the amount of background light that could interfere. Whether the was a curtain or partition at all may well have depended upon where the radar scope was fitted. It seems that on some Mariners it was between the two pilots rather than the more normal position behind the lefthand seat. Where it was positioned on the two pictures SNAFU posted is unclear as we can see it in neither position, unless they are of an early boat, some of these did not have radar fitted. All this is indicative of the Mariner as there seem to be multiple variations in equipment fit and locations of the same. and not just between marks. The more you read the Naval Fighters book, the easier it seems to become confused. For now though the partition stays as it is, although that may change as I have seen a style of partition that I like better. Decisions, decisions.... Undecided of Mars 👽

Thanks Guys. I think I have worked out why the hatches were still there on the amphibians. They are there for the more old fashioned crew members who the can't stand those dirty indoor things and prefer to c*&p out of the window. Helpful of Mars 👽

It seems to vary between boats, The Naval Fighters book shows nothing; as in your pictures, some had curtains there as in your pictures, some had curtains and some had partitions of differing shapes. I will most likely do something different on the next build. Martian 👽

Thanks Pete, anything would be an improvement over the kit as there is nothing there whatsoever.! To my surprise though, carving the plastic card to those awkward shapes didn't prove to be too onerous. One feature that I forgot to mention was having to drill two large holes in the front bulkhead of the flightdeck. These represent two windows that seem to open up into the bow compartment; handy as they let more light into it. Martian 👽

It just had to be you didn't it Pete, well, you or @general melchett but fair's fair, congratulations, you pipped him at the post. On somewhat less weighty matters, this is how I sorted the fit of the wing centre section out. The issue lies with the inboard end of the flap channel fouling the saddle that the wing sits on. Grind this level with the rest of the wing root and the fit is greatly improved. I also ground off a bit more of the inside of the wing part where it sits on the hull just to allow myself a bit of wriggle room should I need it. The top of the centre section features a hole where there is a hatch and porthole or astrodome (it seems to vary from aircraft to aircraft) and to give the im pression of it opening out into the hull rather that just being backed by a bit of plastic, I drilled out a hole larger than the diameter of the porthole: There is no getting away from the fact that if you have the bomb aimer's window exposed and/or the bow door open, you are going to see quite a bit of the inside of the bow compartment. This also holds true if you are fitting the utility nose that has windows. This being the case, and not being happy with level that I had originally set the deck at, I raised the deck and carved a frame for where the deck ends. This is very prominent in photos of the real aircraft. I finished up by adding the remaining structure to the bow compartment, constantly testing to ensure that the structure did not interfere with the fit of the ring forthe bow turret: Thanks for looking. Martian 👽

It's your model; go with the colour scheme you like. Don't worry about what other people have done. Supportive of Mars 👽

I managed to turn up an old review of the kit which said where the problem is. Some grinding action with the Dremel and a bit of carving soon sorted that out. More to follow with the next update. Martian 👽 "Be afraid of a deranged alien with a Dremel and grinder in tentacle: be very, very afraid!"

Thanks Chris, I think it is just a reflection of my interest in aero-structures. There will be another heads up very soon as I have discovered that the kit wing centre section part is very reluctant to sit down over the top of the fuselage. I shall report back as soon as I have worked out a fix. Martian 👽

Word is that the General's cooking is worse then even Baldrick's. However, having had to taste some of Baldrick's cooking during our last visit to Melchett Towers during our last visit, when Lady Melchett was out for the evening, I can confirm that it definitely does not help keep up one's, strength or mental agility! 🤮 Still Traumatised of Mars 👽

Those pictures are great Eric, thank you so much for posting them, they are going to be very usefulindeed . Martian 👽