Martian

Bad General, Naughty General, Wicked General! Like I haven't got my tentacles full with anything else at the moment! Let's see shall we? Four Zeppelins in build, nearly one hundred photographs to annotate for the Zeppelin photo library, this kit underway, the daily search for suitable artifacts for the display and on top of all that, I have the Fair Elaine pestering me to get the Zeppelin book finished, like they can be conjured out of thin air! Would a thorough blurglecruncheoning speed thigs up? Or maybe beaming some Vogon poetry into the home of every citizen of Oz until the batch appears would be more effective? Helpful of Mars 👽

I thought I had identified and come up with solutions for the problems with these kits but I have hit on a new fix for the panels in the lower hull that Takom would have one attach the gondolas to and then drop into place on the lower hull. We have long since, like when we first looked at the instructions,(Yes, contrary to popular opinion, I do look at kit instructions. Silence in the cheap seats!) decided that that is a really pants idea and ditched it. What has been a problem is the rubbish fit of the panels, the filling and sanding of which invariably destroys the bomb door details on the panels. I was getting started on the Q Class hull for the LZ.107 and having got the halves of the bow section joined together, was thinking as to whether there is a better way of fitting the panels. I wondered whether things would be any better if I tried sliding them into the rebates on the lower hull. Hey presto! a far better fit was achieved and with minimal effort too! I have also marked out and drilled all the strut attachment points for the outriggers. I found this much easier and less destructive on 0.5mm drill bits by doing it before the front and rear sections of the hull are joined to the centre section. Obviously this is because it is much easier to hold the hull assemblies steady. Hopefully this will be of help to anyone building these kits. Helpful of Mars 👽

Evil Child! I have never set tentacle in Belgium in my life! I wasn't there so I couldn't possibly have done it! Cutting off all beer supplies to the Naughty Corner is now under serious consideration. Martian 👽 Martian 👽

Thanks Ed. haven't looked at the areas you mention yet so I don't know if I can live with them or not. This build was meant to be a quick and relaxing project as a diversion from the Zeppelin production line and although I am still enjoying it, I can see that I am not careful, it could well become a millstone around my neck. I therefore need to limit extra work to the bits I enjoy doing, such as building up airframe structures. This boat will be finished as a Dutch machine, hence the sub-title "A flying boat with clogs on" and the utility variant probably as a US cab. That one will be much more out of the box. The kit supplies both types of radome but both the types I intend to make have the later "torpedo" shaped domes. One unexpected benefit of this build is that I am now enjoying working on the modelling side of the Zeppelin project more. So, in a way, it has already fulfilled its purpose. Martian 👽

Just a quickie(fnar, fnar), the Q Class kit arrived this morning and will be making an appearance in these pages in the very near future. I shall try and see what further refinements I can make to the kit to entertain you further. Martian 👽

A Martian's white bits are his own private kingdom to which only Mrs Martian has access . Blame the member for Abu Dhabi, what goes on his head is well known as being the stuff of nightmares. We have sent for the BM shrink. This is what happens when senile members of the Imperial General Staff don't pay attention. As for micro-soldiering, go back to planning the next big push. Airfix did some really good WW1 figures back in the day. Helpful of Mars 👽

I'm sure the General will have some sort of cream for it, Failing that either Captain Darling or Lady Melchett will have. I draw the line at any kind of "ointment" that Baldrick might be pedalling. I heard that he has been experimenting with some sort of concoction made out of pig poo and turnip peelings. Just thinking about it makes me feel better already Sorry I forgot that slight miscalculation. Something to do with appointing Slackbladder as head of security? Martian 👽

There is something at the back of my mind that says it is Beaumaris, although I stand to be corrected on this point. Martian 👽 Edit: I have checked and it is indeed Beaumaris on Anglesey.

Yesterday was very much a day of two parts. In the morning I was doing micro-soldering and solving problems that had kept my brains taxed ever since I began the Zeppelin project. However, in the afternoon, I was feeling quite grotty and it seemed to take an age to get even the simplest task on the Mariner right. In the end, I decided to cut my losses before I ended up ruining the model. Before that, I did ,manage to get the portside structure finished and the main frames fitted to the starboard interior. So, we now just have the stringers on the starboard side to do an a limited amount of detail to the deckheads. Hopefully I will feel a bit better tomorrow and be able to get this phase of the interior put to bed. Where's Nurse Mary when you need her? @general melchett, put her down! Thanks for looking. Under The Weather of Mars 👽

So, whist I am still trying to figure out the identity of the "mystery ship" I hit on a problem regarding finishing it as the L.11. The ship in the pictures sports the later style of rear gondola. I have as will be seen in the accompanying pictures, I have built the model with the early style rear gondola. Building the kit with this in mind from the start is a relatively easy conversion. Less so at this stage of the build. It would involve the very high risk of ruining the extra detail I have put into the model. As I am very happy with what I have achieved thus far to the point that I feel that the gondolas are the best that I have achieved to date, I am naturally reluctant to do this. The amended plan is to do the Q Class that I have on order as the camouflaged army ship, finish the current P Class as an alternative ship, possibly the LZ.38, the first ship to bomb London and do the L.11 at a later date, perhaps using the Snowman 1/700 kit. So, what have I been up to? Although the exhausts that I have fitted out my previous Takom builds are a considerable improvement to what you get in the box, I have not been too happy with the way of mounting them. This time round I decided to try soldering brass mounts to the exhausts so that they can be mounted in very much that their 1/1 scale counterparts were. Two days, a lot of swear words and burnt tentacles later I think we have got there. It's a good job that I enjoy building these Takom kits. Better start thinking of how to make a 1/350 scale cloud car. Wibble (yet again!). Martian 👽

Wretched Earthling! Naughty Corner, quick march! @corsaircorp awaits. Vengeful of Mars 👽 PS: Sorry CJP, they followed me here, honest!

|A fat lot of use you two are! Exasperated of Mars 👽

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 Raiding 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 👽