New Steampunk Airship - The Iron Rose

in Nerday3 years ago

Iron Rose 1.PNG

The magnificent Iron Rose is finally complete after a week of toil, as I spent much of the time adding all sorts of details to a model that certainly has plenty of room for them.

Iron Rose 2.PNG

I made two versions of this airship, one in the initial configuration, i.e. as the ship would have looked when first built, and one in the final configuration, as it appeared at the time of The Nine Empires. I would have posted this two days ago, but I desperately wanted to show off the construction process in a video, just as I did with the Zaphnora a year and a fortnight ago, and my recording anxiety is still an insufferable b*7ch to deal with. No matter, the video is now recorded, though I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of errata to add to the description, as I tripped over my words multiple times. Well, enough of that, it's time to talk about the glorious airship here.

Iron Rose 3.PNG

The new version has these giant tuning-fork-shaped structures sticking out of each side and the stern as well, five in total, that baffle most who look upon them. Certainly, it is fitting that a rose should have thorns, but the Iron Rose is already quite well-armed, especially for a lighter-than-air craft.

Iron Rose 4.PNG

The particularly observant eventually figure out that these are docking arms, such that smaller airships belonging to the Order of the Iron Rose can dock with their flagship in mid-air, supplying food, fuel, and even parts. The Iron Rose is meant to remain in the air as much as possible, and thus well out of sight, to protect the invaluable cargo it carries.

Iron Rose 5.PNG

In its original configuration, the Iron Rose was armed with twelve 75mm cannons and sixteen heavy machine guns, but as aeronautical technology advanced over the years, sky pirates became much more heavily armed, and their raiding craft became much harder to take down. The order, therefore, upgraded the ship's weaponry, and the new version is armed with ten 105mm cannons, three 75mm deck guns, and ten heavy machine guns, two of which are mounted on top of the pilothouse.

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With the upper platform and catwalks at the very top, crew members with small arms can also defend the airship from boarding parties and lighter aircraft. The thorns of this rose are many and mighty, and no pirate crew has ever succeeded in capturing the ship.

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At 240 metres long, the Iron Rose is the largest airship I have completed thus far, by a rather wide margin. Here's how it compares to other airships that I've made detailled models of:

Iron Rose comparison.PNG

If you enjoy listening to me ramble in a somewhat squeaky voice and a slightly silly accent, then be on the lookout for a video in the next day or two. I mention a few different things about both this specific airship and also airships in general that I haven't covered here, notably some stuff about airscrews that you would probably find very boring. I neglected to mention that I was debating whether or not I should put decals of the order's insignia (a metallic grey rose inside a 37-pointed star) somewhere on the airship. On the bright side, you'll get to see some close-ups of the ship as I zoom in to work on it!