Photos by the author
After completing the Prague castle, I decided it was time to make something a little more modern and a kit that would not take too much time.
I realised that since the start of the ezine, I had not made one of the kits that are printed in the Czech magazine ABC. So read on to see a kit that few outside the Czech Republic will have seen.
The information on this model is all in Czech and my knowledge of Airships is nil so I am afraid I can say nothing about the real airship. (It's an early Zeppelin, built in 1908 and destroyed in an emergency landing after only one month - Ed.) The kit comes as part of the fortnightly magazine, aimed at children from about 10 upwards. Some of the models are quite complex and having on average two models in each issue of the magazine, I wonder how many of the models get made. This particular kit came on 2 � pages and has over 30 parts. In contrast to most kits the paper is just a little heavier than normal magazine paper, so it took a little practice to ensure that I didn�t cut through the paper when I scored the fold lines. In fact, with this kit I used the back edge of my #11 blade. In this way I squashed rather than cut the paper and therefore gave a better line for a �vehicle� that would not have had sharp edges.
I�m sure you are intrigued to see what a model from ABC magazine would look like so ���read on!
Pic 1 - the basic body is a long 8 sided tube with a bullet shaped piece at either end. Here is the completed front with the three components that make up the basic tail. The white piece fits inside the rim and glues inside the main body. Unlike many of the models I make, this time I kept the tabs!
Pic 2 - this is the main body. The knife gives an idea of the length (10.5" overall). The white areas indicate where the other parts fit. The body is scored along all the horizontal lines and is glued into an eight-sided tube.
Pic 3 - the tail section has a set of four fins. It�s a matter of folding each one in half, then cutting them to shape and adding them to the body. The printing registration is so good that when the shape is cut out there is no white showing on the reverse.
Pic 4 - another set of fins that are added at the back. Other aerodynamic pieces are added to them later.
Pic 5 - three pieces make up each of the four engines; the engine cover (made as a simple tube), the propeller and the engine mount.
Pic 6 - these pieces make up four sets of small wings. Again I have no idea what their purpose is on the real airship, but I would guess that it has something to do with keeping the ship level in flight. One of these can be seen in picture 9. (These were indeed trimming planes much like the diving planes on a submarine - Ed.)
Pic 7 - the final pieces to be added are the two gondolas. Each gondola is made up of four parts and is about 2 inches long, including the supports at each end of the cabin.
Pic 9 and the heading picture show the final model. Not one of the easiest models to photograph, because of the shape.
This was a pleasant change from the longer projects I have been used to recently. The fit of the parts was very good, although the tail fins took a bit of massaging. I was a little disappointed by the difference in the colour between the body and the nose and tail. Hopefully, someone may be able to confirm if it is known that this was the colour scheme of the original?
I made quite a few templates for the body but because the card is so thin I find that the slightest pressure causes a dent. Also, buying ABC is becoming more expensive mainly due to the cost of postage. In fact the postage is more than the cost of the model! Still, bearing in mind that (to my knowledge) there is no other magazine like ABC and it costs about a sixth of the price of the average UK magazine, these problems are insignificant!
Buying direct from the publishers is quite difficult, but Joseph Spinali at www.e-papermodels.com/ can provide the magazine. This model was fun to make and adds to my small collection of non-architectural kits. If any one is interested in ABC, I will be pleased to give an idea of the wide variety of kits available.
