Hindenburg Model by Richard Burroughs.

For ease of construction I have split the Hindenburg model vertically along its longitudinal axis. This means I am building it in two halves, which I will then join together. (I got this idea from looking at Roger Gilmore's photos of his Graf Zeppelin model) The photos show two stages of construction of the first half. Each half consists of an upper and lower longitudinal girder, which runs the length of the model as well as a similar horizontal girder located midway between and perpendicular to them. The upper and lower girders are pinned directly to the plans with the horizontal girder standing up vertically along the centre line. Half circle ribs are then glued along the length of the longitudinal girders. The Hindenburg was divided into 49 sections by these ribs and I have used the same number. These means 48 half ribs or a total of 96 for both halves, which is a fairamount of cutting out! Each rib has notches around its profile to accept longitudinal stringers later on, which will divide the outer surface into 36 longitudinal sections.

As mentioned the plans have been produced on a CAD system, which allows an unlimited number of accurate profile drawings. I drew a cross section of the model, split through the centre, and pinned it to a 12mm polystyrene sheet.Each girder or rib is made by pinning a printed out drawing of the part over the balsa wood and then cutting the profile directly through the drawing and balsa simultaneously. The upper and lower longitudinal girders were cut out of 2.4 mm balsa and pinned directly to the plan, gluing them at the bow and stern. The horizontal girder was cut out together with five of the ribs, equi-spaced along the length of the model. The horizontal girder was then glued into place together with these five ribs for support. Each rib locates into a slot in the horizontal girder and the ends glue directly to the upper and lower girders.

The first half is now about 75% complete and I am gearing up to begin the second half

Back to the Model Vault

Back to the Zeppelin Library