Hi all,

I wanted to let everyone know that I've been making a kitbash for the Maiden to make it into a propeller based airship. I've been using this final fantasy airship as a reference point:



I've decided to make it as modular as someone wants it to be. For example if you don't want a full on conversion you can pop the base with propeller on top of the mast. If you are looking for a more elaborate change you can

add the magic steampunky machinery that makes everything go
add piping to and from the steampunky machinery
add the side walls (so people don't fall off the sides)
add side propellers
add an additional two levels to the sterncastle (to make the steering
enclosed and high up so the person steering can see farther)
add a level to the forecastle (so people don't go on the roof/get blown off)
extend the masts (needed for the sterncastle and forecastle extension)

All of the above will be modular allowing you to remove them easily to change the maiden from a regular ship to an airship at will.

Here are some pictures for my work in progress:

Side wall extension 1 without hatch (to extend the side walls above normal so people don't get blown off). The middle holes below the windows are for the cannons and the windows are so people shooting the cannons can shoot out:



Side wall extension 2:


There are window sills that stick out from underneath where the windows are on the wall. They have slots on either side and will have pieces running up and down that will slip and be glued into those slots. It should look neat and be what locks the wall into place on top of the current wall.


The magic base without the hole cut out the top and bottom, slips onto the top of the mast and are used on the sides with mounting supports. The propellers will attach to a box attached to the top of these:





(couple of variations so people can give it whatever look they want)

Propellers:


Mounting supports (two additional propellers per side):


A couple of 2nd floor wood textures (haven't decided which to use):






These are all low quality compared to what I'm working with, I'm working at 300dpi so it should print out really well.

Any suggestions/ideas let me know!

This is AMAZING and I cannot wait to see build pictures. I have The Maiden, but haven't built her yet, so being able to do an airship would be AWESOME.

I like the looks of this too...I have been thinking about getting to work with the Maiden for a long time...this would make it a much higher priority Looking forward to seeing more

Looks great so far! I can't wait to see where you take it from here (and for build pics)!

Really interested in this project

Have you considered separating the floorboard joints further, and reducing the size of the 'nail' holes - more floor, less joint? The ideal would be two separate versions that use joints to subtly indicate a 1" grid and a 1.5" grid.

Hey Zenguy,

Those are actually wall textures, I'm not currently using them for floorboards. I modeled them after current walls but made the planks even in their spacing.

That being said that's a really good idea, I'm interested in the thought of using the lines to subtly indicate a 1" versus 1.5" grid. If I do though I'd want to make it a stronger line system then Thurmounts upstairs wood grid... for me the 1" and 1.5" grid was way too subtle and I couldn't figure out where the squares are. Obviously the Maiden has a strong grid but it's clearly a grid... i need to figure out a way to meld the two ideas.

I wonder how well this would scale down (thinking about Lakota Dragons!)

Dunno what you're using for image editing, but instead of just rendering black lines you may want to put those on a separate layer and try some of the layer options to get something that looks like two planks joined together.

This would be much more time consuming to do by hand - I could write a script fu for it without too much hassle. If you could "resaw" the planks and randomly put them back into place it would add quite a bit to the realism of the texture.

Looking good all-in-all, though!

Any progress on this?

Sorry about the long silence.

Things have been insane at work, I had to take over for my boss and my bosses boss while they've been on vacation and a huge disaster happened. I've basically been working constantly. Good news is I should be on vacation starting Wednesday of this week for two weeks and I'm hoping to have this done by then.

I've figured out the hardest part - how to ensure that the side walls "clip on" to the sides. I wanted to make sure there was enough strength to hold it into place because I'm thinking of having two side platforms near the front where a catapult or a ballista can shoot from. I've also mostly finished the windows.

Next steps are I'm going to finish working on the windows and finish up the propellers. Once those are done the "basic" format of the airship will be done. I'll start working on the rework of the sterncastle and forecastle after that.

Thanks everyone for your patience, more pics to come by the end of this week!

Quick update: I have to put this on hold for a bit, I've overextended myself. I have to finish three Maidens with a bunch of modifications to the ships by beginning of March. As soon as I get them done I'll start work on this again.

Sorry all, I'm just as disappointed as the rest of you. I'll keep you up to date when I know more.

Three Maidens

Pics! Pics! Pics! This we have got to see.

Three Maidens before March is quite the workload! I can't wait to see some pics.

I'm mostly done with 1 ghost ship but there are three that need to be made after that one. I'm 1/3 of the way through the second and 1/5 done with the third. Haven't started on the fourth. It helps that I've custom made craftrobo files for the 3D booms, cannons, supports and masts. Really speeds things up for 3D booms, cannons and masts... those take a bit for me.

The two ghost ships will have some custom modifications but I don't want to go into detail... a picture is worth a thousand words and all that I should have one of the ghost ships done by the end of next week (after I get some things I ordered for the custom modifications)

I spent all of yesterdays Snowday working on Two Maidens myself,

One was going to be an Airship as well for a Player in my SW:RPG who is running a game and wanted an airship, and the other is a bash into a Jabba's style Sail Barge.

I have the PC's ship 80% done I was going for a Blimp type air ship, but after seeing this and not having noticed this thread before I am going to drop him an E-mail to this to see which He like better, The Props could work very nicely comming out of the mast posts of the Maiden...

Have to e-mail Chris....

Hi Chris if you are reading this

Hey Genghis_Ska:

I'd love to collaborate with you on the airship idea... I've been bouncing ideas off my girlfriend but I think she's getting a bit sick of it Also I'd hate to have duplicate effort.

If it's not too weird/you're down send me a private msg and I'll send you my IM name or email address (prefer IMs but email is cool too)

Qpony dropped you PM

Make sure to post progress guys! I want pics

I'll be able to post pics of the modified maiden probably by the end of next week (Saturday/Sunday). Depends when the stuff I ordered to modify it with will get here really.

Now you have done it. You have given yourself a timeline...

They meant to say, "soon"

That is what caught me off guard

LOL

heh... well considering I have to have three maidens made by march 12th if the ghost ship isn't done by next week (which doesn't count towards the three I have to make) I'm in serious trouble. I also got confirmation that everything will be here mid next week so I will have it completed Saturday or Sunday of next week. I think my modifications will be eye catching and you'll all like them

That tears it. Get the moderators in here. You can't give hard dates here, it's just not done .

More seriously, I'm really looking forward to this.

Steve

*Will be checking back in* I am very curious to see the ghost ship after making my own black and white Maiden.

Er hopefully I wasn't taking away from your work Talae, you did an amazing job with your ghost maiden. I'll also make sure to say how I did it all and take pictures of some of the modification process... i'm hoping that it will be seamless so it won't be entirely clear how I did it.

Calling mine a ghost maiden could be a stretch, as all I did was print without color.

Nope it still counts

Either way, I look forward to seeing another ghost ship.