February 23, 2025
A couple months ago I found a Kids’ Stuff Pirate Playset at the swap meet. Most of the accessories were missing, but the hull was in great shape, and it looked like it would make a fine gondola for one of my 28mm airships. Once I had it stripped to its basics, I began making some simple modifications and adding odds and ends that I thought would give it a Victorian Sci Fi look. That is where the project bogged down… I was not finding the look I wanted, so I set the project aside. Last week I began finding the look I wanted and with all the pieces added to the hull, I gave it a paint job. The final step was to paint its football-shaped gasbag (American football). I’m using the gasbag from Playmobil’s airship.
The other project of the week was the repurposing of another Bowser airship. This one came together much more quickly because of all the thought I gave to the previous two airship constructions. This one will also have another slightly more modified version of the Playmobil gasbag. Probably the most unique element of this one is that control of the ship is conducted from the middle of the weather deck through what I like to think of as a Victorian Sci Fi global positioning system that I cut out of a Fisher Price Batman playset.
February 16, 2025
I began the week putting my helo airship on supports to get it off the ground. At that point it was ready for painting. To make painting easier, I added the mast-mounted helo blades after the painting was complete. I shifted the stern-most mast further to the rear to accommodate the scratch-built cabin.
A couple days ago I was at Savers thrift shop and picked up a Hasbro Sesame Street house that I think was originally sold as Abby’s workshop ($3.49). What really attracted me to this toy was that the normal roof is hinged and when lifted it is a mass of gears and mechanical elements… very Steampunk/Victorian Sci Fi. I added front steps, doorknobs, carriage lamps, some pieces from the Pegasus Chemical Plant construction set, and struts to hold the roof in the up position. I added some Milliput scored to give the look of bushes that allowed me to hide some gaps. It was then ready for paint.
About six months ago I purchased the Velocity Toys’ pirate ship at the swap meet. It’s a small ship that looked like it would work well as the gondola for one of my Victorian Sci Fi/Steampunk airships. Over the intervening months I have worked on giving the pirate ship the gondola look I thought was appropriate. At this point I think I pretty much have the look I want so I decided it was time to give it the supports it needs to take it off the ground, and that’s the way I ended this week’s time at the workbench.
February 9, 2025
This past weekend I found the Nintendo Super Mario Deluxe Bowser Airship at the swap meet for $6. It looked like a perfect candidate for repurposing into a Victorian Sci Fi airship. I removed the gun deck portion of the hull… took some sawing. I decided that the smallest of the mast-mounted propellers needed to be mounted on the stern-most portion of the deck and a cabin set in its original position. I built the inner core of the cabin out of Lego blocks and covered that with Evergreen plastic (v-groove). Having removed a substantial section of the hull, I joined the two remaining pieces (the deck and the lower hull) by adding a piece of Evergreen plastic to the lower hull and set the deck on that. I then began adding pipes from the Pegasus Chemical Plant construction set, a gatling gun and headers found at the swap meet in a pile of broken toys and a piece of bow art from some Games Workshop odds and ends I have. I still have to fill several gaps and create a base that will lift the ship above ground level. I will add the masts with their propellers after the ship has been painted… just easier that way.
On Thursday I raised the airship above ground level using Evergreen plastic tubing and copper tubing for added strength. I secured the tubing with the base and the hull using a lot of Milliput. So far it feels sturdy.
On Friday I went to Savers thrift store and found a Hasbro Sesame Street playhouse for $3.50. What attracted me to the building was that the exterior was Victorian-compatible and easy to repurpose for use with 28mm figures. But the big attraction is that the roof is hinged at the peak and when lifted showed an array of gears… very steampunk.
February 2, 2025
I recently got the urge to put together my own version of Aliens, and to that end I picked up three different Fisher Price toys to repurpose into my terraforming station. What I am posting here is definitely a WIP, but I’m happy with the way things are going so far. The end project will be composed of three highly modified FP space stations (two shown here), one Superhero playset (shown here), and two Batman playsets (one shown here). I’ve been cutting them up, shifting pieces from one playset to another, and adding pieces from the Pegasus Chemical Plant construction set and other odds and ends I have kept for projects like this. I’ve also been filling a lot of holes with Milliput and Evergreen plastic.
I ended the week painting Crimson Raiders and Admiral Trench from Star Wars.
