How To Draw A Zep???

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

     I am usually good at drawing things, but after about 25 failures I've decided to ask for help on this one. I am trying to draw Kapitan Fritz's zeppelin the "Hermann", but I can't seem to do so very well at all. I've been using the zeppelin "Pandora" from Crimson Skies as a model for the general appearance of mine, because I've been feeling uncreative over the last few days. I'm sure there are many other options for the general appearance of the zeppelin that have never even occured to me, but I think the Pandora looks cool, while still maintaining the profile of a standard "cigar-shaped" zep that I like.

[Crickity]

First off, I LOVED Crimson Skies. Fantastic game with a fantastic setting.
Secondly, after getting a decent shape for the envelope (balloon) down, you're really almost done. Few questions you might consider though:
Do you want the gondola fixed to the envelope or hanging from it?
What sort of engines do you want? Turboprops like the Pandora, or something else? (Anything from steam jets to rocket boosters)
What armaments does it have? Personally I thought the turrets in Crimson Skies were wierd... they just sort of stuck to the side of the zeps like limpets. But hey, if you can make it work, it'll look great
Just mull over what you actually want this zep to do, then build form to function.

[polyphemus]

From a technical point of view you could get some ellipse guides. String a series of ellipses together to establish the outside shape. I'll try to come up with a drawing if that isn't clear.

[Jedediah Solomon]

Also consider the angle, you might not always  want a profile view. Consider making a scale model and drawing from that, then you could turn or elevate the model and visualize the perspective you want or need

[mark V]

 Putting zepplin into google image gives a lot of views of various types from many angles which may help the visualisation you are after   M

[The Corsair]

Sketch a tampon, alter where necessary

[Crickity]

Ha xD

[Zeppelin Kapitan Fritz]

First off, I LOVED Crimson Skies. Fantastic game with a fantastic setting.
Secondly, after getting a decent shape for the envelope (balloon) down, you're really almost done. Few questions you might consider though:
Do you want the gondola fixed to the envelope or hanging from it?
What sort of engines do you want? Turboprops like the Pandora, or something else? (Anything from steam jets to rocket boosters)
What armaments does it have? Personally I thought the turrets in Crimson Skies were wierd... they just sort of stuck to the side of the zeps like limpets. But hey, if you can make it work, it'll look great
Just mull over what you actually want this zep to do, then build form to function.

     The gondola hangs from the envelope (this part I have really had a hard time drawing). The engines are "blaugas-electric", they run on blaugas, then they turn electrical generators that turn the propellers (same basic concept as a diesel-electric railroad locomotive). There are Parabellum MG14 machine guns in the gondola, and 3 Maxim 37mm autocannons in spherical turrets on the hull. There are also bomb racks under the gondola and I know there are aerial-torpedoes (similar to the real-life Kettering Bug) and also unguided rockets somewhere.

     The parts I am having the most trouble with drawing are the gondola and the turrets.

[Inflatable Friend]

I'm guessing it's a scale problem - given what you've said in previous threads it's a pretty large airship, that'll make the gondola look teensy! I'd wager it'll be the same for the gun turrets.

The autocannon aren't big at all when compared to the overall envelope size, so making them large enough to be clearly identified makes them look odd!

try doing a simple but pretty representational scale sheet (side on or plan, no perspective): crewmen, envelope, engines and weapons. If you can't get the gondola right then try just working out what you need to fit in it, then do a plan. That should help give you a rough shape.
Once you've got a scale sheet it should make drawing things a bit easier!

Lastly, keep the technical and anatomical problems in mind, how.do the turrets and so on attatch, how are they fed, where do they excrete. Is there any way what you've drafted could be changed to save weight, does it all balance...

[Crickity]

Hanging gondolas are tricky on a zep, there's a little more physical restraint on where you can put them and how big you can make them. Try different sizes and locations until you find something that looks right, then flesh it out a bit. Also consider doing a plan of the zeppelin in its entirety, then a close up view of the gondola maybe?

[Cubinoid]

Draw a rugby ball.
Draw a tiny ship underneath it. (No sails though)
Draw a fishtail on one end of the rugby ball.
Draw some ropes connecting the Rugby ball to the ship, otherwise it will fall off, and all the little steampunks will fall out.

[Capt. Dirigible]

If you use the 'paintbox' function on your computer  you can get a perfect Zeppelin shape (of various sizes and designs) if you use the circle/elipse function. That could then be printed off for you to add to and embellish..
Like this

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Matthias Gladstone]

If you don't mind using CAD, you can use the program "Shipshape" from the Wolfson unit:
http://www.wumtia.soton.ac.uk/software.html
It's a free tool used to train student Naval architects - it will take some practice, but essentially you generate a set of equations called "splines" in a mesh, in order to build up a hull. You control the end conditions (i.e dy/dx at the ends of the lines) in order to get the right shape. Once you've done that, you can "click and drag" the lines into roughly the right shape. It is complicated, but if you master it you'll able to draw all sorts of complex shapes using a computer.  A Zeppelin should be fairly straightforward (in terms of this software); shout if you get stuck.
Sorry if it's overkill,
good luck,
-Matt

[Narsil]

I would suggest that a scale sketch on graph paper would be a good starting point. It's a quick and easy way to get a reasonable idea of scale.