Build a cabin in the sky, suspend it from a balloon and soar away through the clouds on grand adventures with the Steampunk Airship, a fanciful wooden mini model zeppelin. This DIY mini dirigible has that throwback steampunk sensibility Ugears is known for, with a tugboat-style cabin and back porch, wind-up rubber band motor with Start/Stop switch, engine-driven propellers, spinning ship's wheel, movable stabilizers, and wheels that allow the model to turn back and forth up to 2m along a flat surface, giving the thrill of mechanical motion. Our whimsical Airship features only 170 parts and is rated "Easy" so that even beginners can build this fanciful flyer.
German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin worked on his concept and design for an inflatable airship for more than twenty years before patenting his invention in 1895. Perhaps one of his early sketches looked something like the Steampunk Airship? Commercial zeppelins have large cylindrical bodies made of fabric stretched over a rigid metallic frame containing the large gasbags that provide buoyancy. Our Airship is smaller-scaled, more personal and homey—you can imagine piloting your craft with a cup of tea on the table where you've spread out your navigational maps.
