Mars Cult Bomber Airship

Ornithopters are cool and all, but the machine god yearns for airships.

This follows the same approach as my first Mars Cult Airship and shares many parts in common, with some notable divergences. The gondola has been overhauled to accomodate the bomber loadout, the ball turret has been moved into a forward-facing position, and a second engine design has been added to give some options for distinguishing the silhouette further.

Included are components to represent the fusil:
- Heavy Stubber Array
- Bomb Racks
- Chaff Launchers
- Command Uplink

The wispy clouds of Proxima drifted past Airship 8107. It shifted trims and thrusters imperceptibly, maintaining position over its sector. Deep within its armoured canopy, the nervous system of an ancient mind relayed a steady stream of sensors and diagnostics. The battlefield below was quiet. It had been quiet for a long time. If Airship 8107's mind could wander from its tasks then now would be a perfect moment for quiet introspection.

Perhaps, long ago, 8107 had a body of flesh. If it searched its data recorders it would find no evidence of this. Now its body was plasteel and nano-carbon. Screaming into 8107's brain came a torrent of new instructions. New heading. New altitude. New targets. With eyeless sight, 8107 scanned the ruined landscape below. No mouth to breath, just atmospheric sensors. No lungs, instead a ponderous envelope of lifting gas. The world beneath was now shrouded in smoke and flame and desperate struggle. How long had 8107 been here? Months? Years? It armed its firing systems.

If 8107 bled, it bled hydraulic fluid and holy unguents. It descended back into the endless fire.

The airship's envelope is less detailed than the rest of the model, and can be printed on an FDM printer without compromising on quality too much. A blank base, appropriate for FDM printing is also provided.

If you don't have an FDM printer, or prefer everything to be resin, a version of the envelope split into five segments is included. Since the envelope is quite large, it will be difficult to print in one piece on smaller resin printers. Even in its separate segments, each piece takes up much of the print volume.

I've provided two options for the ball joints which hold the upper engines, either integrated into segment 4 of the gasbag, or as independent pieces. It may be necessary to fill some gaps between the rear face of the ball joint pieces and the envelope.

I printed the other parts acceptably on a Photon Mono SE with SirayaTech Navy Grey Fast ABS-Like.

All that said, you probably know your resin and your printer better than I do.