Hi,

I am planning to build a 20 ft vulcan bomber for the b`mouth airshow...............yes im excited to do it but need
some tips from the pros:)

I have built a plane before but the colours were not as complex and the wings were more like
the weaved wings on Mr Grist Bi Plane.

I know how i will make the main frame of the plane and will use 350`s all the way and use the 6 balloon
pineapple weave but im not sure for the wings or if i can achieve the colour scheme without using markers.........

Any tips would be greatly appreciated but understand that its summer and most of u are busy at work

Thanks in advance

Norm

You have not set yourself a simple task as the pattern on the wings is very much part of the look.

I have attached a pic for those that don't know what they look like.

If I had to do this I would either make a frame out of rouse matrix for the wings, or make a frame from foam core and then glue the balloons to it.

I have pictures of how we built the frame on the spitfire that Gerry and I did a few years back, not sure if they are on here. Will have a look later as I'm off out again in a while looking at more cars. If you used 360 it would save you a lot of time, the dog that I showed at the dashing Diane day I used to make out of two 360's but when out with Geoff working at a shopping centre yesterday it took me four 350's.

Just done a quick search, found the plane but no framework pictures, will look through my files and see if I can post some later for you.
post18477.html?hilit=spitfire#p18477

Hi ,
Thanks for the tips, I have spoken to client and we agree on spitfire.
Graham are you happy for me to use your picture to replicate?
Will pm you. About it x

I've been thinking about this since I saw your post and "plotting & planning" out a design. I'm pretty sure the brick weave made with 360s (and/or 321s) would work for the wings. Since the pattern in the brick would be staggered anyway it wouldn't be that hard to manipulate the colors so that they resemble the patterns on the jet. The wings could then be firmed up and made more stable (less likely to bend) when you go around the edges to clean up the ends. Also, it might even be possible to hide a light weight support rod in the wings.

Since the brick weave is based on horizontal bubbles of the same size, the only part that would pose the biggest concern would be how large to make those bubbles - too big and you wouldn't have enough design room to get a decent color pattern going - too small and it causes lots of extra work and the sculpture doesn't last as long. I'm thinking a wing would be about 9' long. If you used 12" bubbles you should be able to get a decent pattern because it would give you 9 color change opportunities.

Brick weave as seen used for walls at Balloon manner: http://www.balloonhq.com/photos/balloonmanor2006/complete.php?id=41356&pics

http://www.balloonhq.com/photos/balloonmanor2006/complete.php?id=41090&pics

Anyway, this is all just supposition on my part since I have not needed to build one... yet.

Good luck and looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Bonnie, The Balloon Lady

OK, I just had to give the brick weave a try. Here is what I came up with using a standard of 6" bubbles made with 260s. I played around with "half" bubbles to see how it would work because that would give you more opportunites to change colors and get more defined patterns. I discovered that this weave is much more stable than I anticipated. There was no "sag" at all when the balloons were held out like the wings would be.

The arrow points to where I messed up the pattern of the weave. That mess up made the vertical connections visible.

Anyway, good luck to ya.
Bonnie, The Balloon Lady

Hi Bonnie,

Hmmm... great idea! What are the dimensions of your example? You said you used 260s? Have you made this weave using 360s before (like the Balloon Manor)? I think that it would work great for the wings, but I'm not making it so I wouldn't know. I wonder if using 360s would make it more or less stable?

I really like how the colors look like the the pattern in the weave.

I will definately keep it in mind for the future though.

Patricia

Here is a youtube video explaining how to do the brick-weave in case you need it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XplCa7SpHkY

Here are a couple of walls that I've built, I would be concerned about the weight of the wing being able to support itself. Would be better if it was hung up as then you could support the wing in a few places or if placed on the ground a few clear balloons would help to suport the weight better from underneath.

These are the only pictures I have of the build, hopefully they may be of some help.