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Behold the might of the Tsar! In 1881, the Russian Army unveiled their first ever Steam landship. They are designed by the famous Swedish engineer John Ericsson using his patented S.U.E.S.S. (Semi-active Universal Etheric Stabilization System) for balance.

I have been inspired by Colonel Hairy Haggis' many scratch build VSF vehicles. Bill is an enormously gifted sculptor and craftsman also armed with exotic resin casting devices and Tesla coils. (Not quit sure what the Tesla coils are for, I am afraid to ask)

So, I thought I'd take his advice and cruise Home Depot and Hobby Lobby. Looking for useful bits and interesting shapes. My original idea was for a giant, steam powered Tsar Tank for my upcoming Russian VSF army, but I finally realized that for a first attempt at scratch building, I should do something less ambitious, and perhaps more playable.

I found some interesting parts and slowly a germ of an idea took hold. I would build two medium sized bi-wheeled steam vehicles, inspired by the Tsar tank and the Segway scooter.  Parts List:

  • 2 inch PVC Pipe caps (Home Depot Plumbing)
  • 1/4" Copper tubing (Home Depot Plumbing): There are two sizes of 1/4" tubing, one of which fits snugly inside the other. Not sure what the difference is, but get both
  • 1/4" Copper tubing elbow joint (Home Depot Plumbing)
  • 4mm Doll eyes (Hobby Lobby Doll Dept.)
  • Wagon Wheels (Hobby Lobby Doll house dept.)
  • Card or similar material
  • Good strong, thick glue or epoxy
  • Gel super glue
  • Cheap black spray paint
  • Wood for a base
Tools:
  • Drill
  • File
  • Hacksaw or something to cut copper tubing
  • Exacto-ish knife
Click on photos to enlarge
Step 1: Prep your Materials

The PVC caps that will form the body of the landship will have the manufacturers name embossed on top. I got rid of these with a file. I also used the opportunity to get rid of and flash, etc. left over from the molding process. As you can see in the photo above, the my caps also have round do dads on one side where the plastic is injected in the mold. I decided the best way to disguise these was to use that as the starting point for my smoke stack. I filed them down level with the surrounding area.

Step 2: Rivet Away

What's VSF without rivets? Bill does an amazing job adding tiny rivets to his creations, but I decided to go for a big, chunky, look. Plus it is much easier for a novice such as myself. So, I superglued the 4mm doll eyes to the wheels, inside and out, and onto the body of the vehicle (PVC caps). I think I got the idea from TerraGenesis, but I can't be sure.

Anyway, just glue them on with super glue in a pattern that pleases you. I used the octagonal base of the cap as a guide.

Step 3: Stacks, guns, and how do I see out of this thing?

As you can see, I used the 90 degree joints to cover the injection mold site, then added a 1/4 inch pipe to complete the smoke stacks. I HIGHLY recommend that you use the PVC caps with the octagonal bases, as it makes lining things up easier. Of course, you can do stacks coming out of the top, but I wanted to cover the injection stubs.

The guns were a little tougher. I had to drill a hole in the front, and I used a hand drill. It is tough to get them straight, plus I roughed up the edges a bit. Use a drill press if you have one. The guns are simply a length of the smaller pipe inside the larger. For GASLIGHT purposes I'll probably call them medium rifled guns.

The vision slit I cut from card and glued to the body with super glue. I did the cutting freehand with an exacto knife, I recommend you make a template. Mine came out a little wonky, but I hope the small size will hide the flaws.

I also took the opportunity to drill holes for the wheel as you can see in the next photo.

Step 4: Prime / Paint

I decided I wanted my landships a traditional black, so I simply sprayed everything with a cheap, flat black spraypaint. I waited until after I had sprayed before I glues on the wheels. I wanted to ensure complete coverage. I did two coats for the same reason.

Step 5: Glue the wheels and base

I glued the wheels on, then glued the whole shebang to a 4 inch square peice of basswood I got from Hobby Lobby. After that dried, I sprayed with a single coat of matte sealer, another will come later. A British sailor looks on nervously.

I added stack rings to aid identification, similar to what the Passaic class monitors did during the American Civil War.

Step 6: Flocked and ready to go
Finally, I made some ruts behind the wheels using wood filler, flocked the entire base, and sprayed another coat of matte sealer. I am now the proud owner of two VSF vehicles, with a total cost of parts of $8-$10. Not bad at all, with any luck the dreaded Prussian Iron Giant will fall victim to my guns.