R100,R101 available free paper models

[wag]

Currell graphics (http://www.currell.net/models/mod_free.htm) has free downloadable models of the R100 and R101 as well as their shed and mooring mast in 1/700 scale (approx 13" long).They also have a proposed Vickers transatlantic airship in the same scale and the Russian Giant in 1/350th(also approx.13" long).Check'em out!
Wayne

[Andreas Horn]

Dear Ralph,

As there already is a thread on your cute models of R 100 and R 101, I post my request here.

The picture below shows R 100 and R 101 in both sheds in Cardington in April 1930.
Because I want to build this scene with the models you provide, I would appreciate if there is a base plate available to put both sheds on.
I tried to put two of your beautifully (artistically) fashioned base plates side by side but it didn't work. There is no way to make the two identical plates fit.

So, please could you provide a base plate (several sheets) for both sheds with the correct distance between them?
I would highly appreciate it - and many thanks in advance... ;)

Kindest regards,
Andreas

[Ralph Currell]

Hi Andreas,

I have to confess when I designed the shed model I didn't consider anyone building two of them! But that's a great idea for a model display. I'll have to do a bit of digging to find the illustration files for the display base, but it ought to be possible to draw a new set to fit side-by-side with the originals.

One thing I should mention (you probably knew this anyway) is that the two Cardington sheds are not quite identical. The attached pic reveals the major differences in the shape of the building sides. My model represents shed No. 1 (which housed R101).

It may be a week or two before I can get around to the new base drawings. I'll post here with any updates.

Regards,
Ralph

[Andreas Horn]

Ralph,

Though I was in Cardington in the mid 1980's, I didn't remember that the sheds were that much different in shape. I just recalled the different color. I must confess, that (so far) I did not put much emphasis on the sheds, as this would be a completely different area of research - and I have enough to do with the technical aspects of the rigid airships themselves...

So, you must (!!! ;)) also come up with a kit for the shed No. 2. The two models side by side, housing these two beautiful airships would really make a nice display.
BTW, how far away from the sheds was the mooring tower? And - by accident - do you know which color(s) the tower at Cardington had? (I am glad to have some questions to you.)

And please, there is no need to hurry - except, if you have nothing else to do...

Kindest regards,
Andreas

[Ralph Currell]

Hi Andreas,

:eek: A model of Shed No. 2? Well, I'll certainly have a look at it. The dimensions were substantially the same as No. 1, and I think the doors were the same, so it would not be as if I was starting from scratch.

The mooring mast was some distance from the sheds as you can see in the attached photo (approx 800 m according to one source). As to the colour, I'm not exactly sure. Photos suggest a uniform colour, perhaps green, with a darker colour on the top housing sides. I'll have a look through my references tomorrow and see if I can get some better answers.

Regards,
Ralph

[Ralph Currell]

Andreas,

Here's what I was able to dig up on the Cardington buildings.

Thanks to the miracle of Google Maps I have a better idea of the distance between the mast and the nearest shed, roughly 840 m (see attachment 1). The mast was dismantled in 1943 but the foundations and ancillary buildings are still quite evident.

Regarding the colour, I don't have any authoritative evidence from the 1920s. I found a painting from the 1930s by Grace Kingston(attachment 2) which shows the sheds as a greyish green, and that's what I used on my models. As to the mast, I'm really not sure. I would probably paint the steelwork the same green as the sheds, with perhaps a dark grey for the sides of the upper housing. But that's just an educated guess. The Montreal mast (the subject of the model on my web site) was somewhat more colourful, with red high-visibility markings.

Regards,
Ralph

[Andreas Horn]

Ralph,

First, many thanks for the information on the Cardington sheds and the mooring mast.
Building the Cardington mast from your kit will need some adjustments, as the staircase was not covered. That will be quite difficult to reproduce on such a "tiny" (I am used to bigger scales!) model.
But it is interesting that with you 1/700 scale it is possible to arrange the sheds, the mooring mast and maybe some of the annex buildings (factory) on a board which is about 1.5 meters (about 5') long. But then I have to paint the base myself... and add some trees and bushes!
(Besides, was there a farm house in the vicinity of the mast? Maybe I should build Ismailia - only sand, much sand around the mast...)

Now to your model and the real R 101:

First, why is there no cylindrical part,which represents the inserted bay. (I designed and built some paper models of LZ 47, LZ 112, Akron and R 100 in the scale 1/200 and I always used a cylindrical section to start with.)

Second, before another (professional) model company was assigned to build the R 101 for the Zeppelin-museum (I don't know why they wanted a model of R 101, the airship the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin "stole" several new features), I did some initial research on that beautiful and really innovative - but unlucky - airship.
I noticed, that the longitudinal girders right in the front of the fins have some odd angles and "bends" (see picture below). Can you tell me why?
(I have seen that your model is correct down to this detail.)

Third, the mid section has a characteristic darker shade with broad stripes from the sealing stripes (tapes). Why did you not reproduce this on your model?
(I am now trying to add it to your kit. As I noticed that my printer produces the parts in a very pale fashion, I was looking for a way to adjust the color, because this is not possible on a pdf-file. So I copied it into photoshop and there I can also add the darker areas - quite a bit of work!!!)

Fourth, I am correct in believing that the rings had been mainly made out of duralumin with cast iron (or aluminum) parts for the joints. In fact, only the heavily braced longitudinal girders and the fins had been made out of soldered steel tubes. Even the intermediate longitudinals which served to tighten the outer cover, seem to be made out of duralumin lattice work.

Many thanks in advance and kind regards,
Andreas

[Ralph Currell]

Hi Andreas,

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can. It's been a few years since I did the R101 model so I'm a bit rusty. :)

You're quite right about the differences in the mooring mast. I chose to do the Montreal mast because it was easier to render in paper, and at the time my only airship model was R100 which was historically associated with that mast. There's an excellent drawing of the Cardington mast and winch house at http://www.aht.ndirect.co.uk/sheds/Mast_Technical.htm that may help if you want to convert it.

To your R101 questions:

1) The overall profile of R101 was a curved shape tapering at the ends. As you say, the inserted section where she was lengthened was a straight cylinder, but I felt it was too short to create as a separate model section so I incorporated it into a longer (slightly tapered) section.

2) Ah yes, those odd shapes near the tail. Very frustrating for a model designer! :D It seems this was done because of the unusual cross-section chosen for the main hull. Forward of the tail these were 15-sided polygons, but at the tail the shape changed to 16 sides (i.e. a multiple of four) to accommodate the four fins. This seems to be the reason for the strange geometry in that one section.

3) I would have liked to include the dark cover with the lighter bands, as it adds visual interest to the overall grey colour. However, I chose to recreate the ship as she appeared after the extra bay was added, and at that time her envelope had been replaced with one of a fairly uniform colour (see attached photo). There were a few mismatched patches of colour, but I chose for whatever reason not to duplicate them. If you do decide to do the earlier (shorter) airship, I could create a new shorter hull section for you.

4) I have to admit ignorance as to the details of the internal structure. Most of the components seem to have been made of duralumin, but I don't know which ones were not.

Regards,
Ralph

[Paul Adams]

Does anyone have a good set of drawings of the R101?

Paul

[Ralph Currell]

Hi Paul,

I'm not sure if it's as detailed as you'd like, but there's a side view here:
http://www.aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/r101/R101plan.html . Note that this shows the ship in her earlier configuration, before she was lengthened.

Another drawing is at http://www.curlysairships.com/images/r101plan.gif , though I can't vouch for its accuracy.

Regards,
Ralph

[Andreas Horn]

Dear Ralph

Many thanks for the information and the offer to make a shorter segment to build the model before R 101 had been lengthened. I guess other modelers would also appreciate it...
And as the lengthening took place in July/August 1930, on the picture showing R 100 and R 101 together in their sheds, taken in April 1930, R 101 is not yet lengthened. Therefore I need the shorter version!

I only have the book "R 101, A Pictorial History" by Nick Le Neve Walmsley. There are excellent pictures but not much additional information - useful for modelers.
I noticed that there are very few pictures available of the lengthened R 101. So there are a few open questions on the changes between before and after:

Is it correct the the additional bay had been inserted right behind the passenger compartment? (Larger distance between windows and mid-ship engine cars.)

Is it correct that after the lengthening there was only one segment of windows left on the port side? (Do you know why?)

Is it correct that the triangular radiators were relocated (forward wing cars) and added (mid-ship wing cars)?

Have there been other alterations?

So, now I will first build the lengthened version as a "stand alone" model. I guess I will build the Cardington mast twice because I would like to add the three rolls suspended from the rear part of the airship to keep the tail down.

Kind regards,
Andreas

[Paul Adams]

Thanks for those links Ralph.

Paul

[Ralph Currell]

Hi Andreas,

It may be a few weeks before I get that new R101 segment done. I'd like to finish up the Graf Zeppelin first.

As for references, I have the Walmsley book too. :) Back when I designed the model I was able to get some additional information from library books and the Airship Historical Trust forum, which unfortunately seems to have disappeared a while ago.

You're correct about the added bay going just behind the passenger area. If you look at http://www.curlysairships.com/images/r101plan.gif , ring 8A was the new one. (That drawing has some inaccuracies, but I think the ring numbering is correct.)

Yes, one bank of windows was removed on the port side. I believe this was done simply to save weight. The radiators, as you noticed, were also changed. Looking at the photos, the original configuration was a radiator above each of the forward engines and one on the starboard hull, approximately at ring 11.

After the lengthening, the two forward radiators were lowered closer to the engine cars, two radiators added above the midship engines, and the rear radiator moved underneath, immediately above the aft engine.

To the best of my knowledge those were the only changes. Whew, I'd forgotten a lot of this stuff!

Regards,
Ralph

[THE DC]

Just wanted to drop a note thanking you for your site and contribution to airship paper modeling.

Much appreciated.


The DC

[Ralph Currell]

Thanks for the kind words. Airships are ideally suited to the paper medium, and I hope to add a few more to my site over the coming years.

By the way, I notice in a previous post I'd promised to create a new segment for the R101 model. I haven't forgotten it, but I always seem to find an excuse to put it off. I'll get to it sometime this month I hope!

Regards,
Ralph


Just wanted to drop a note thanking you for your site and contribution to airship paper modeling.

Much appreciated.


The DC

[THE DC]

Ralph,


Very glad to here more are coming. I'm hoping someone twists your arm into doing an Akron or Macon, or another U.S. version...:innocent:

I agree about the potential for airship moseling with paper & have to say you've set quite a standard!
:cheers:

Best wishes,


The DC