Thank you all for comments!!
DyeHard
Fantastic work!It must quite light to be supported only by the tether line.
I done suppose you would what to provide us with the secrets of how you made it.
Bobgnar
Very well done. How did you get the INTREPID in the correct font. Is it a home made decal?
There is not much mystery:
The gas balloon is made with a 7 cm polyurethane "egg", so it is very light. I varnished with a glue that painters use to prime their canvases, but mixed with lime to make it dense and thus hide the bubbles of the polyurethane. A hard, thin surface remains, which can be painted and filed.
At a hardware store, I bought the thinnest wire I found, 0,3mm, which was strong enough to support the weight. It is also somewhat flexible and allows a graceful rocking of the balloon. With this wire I made the cable that keeps it suspended, the structure and 4 of the cables that hold the balloon, the others are cotton thick.
The basket is made of paper pulp (papier mache)
The name and drawings on the reverse are made with a domestic decal, a Water Transfer Paper for Inkjet.
The figure is a leftover from when I painted a small Union Army, I think it was Old Glory, but I don't see it in their current catalog. Due to the current confinement in my country, I have no wheels to make wagons with hydrogen generators; maybe add them later on a separate basis. Anyway, it's just a joke, since I don't know any rules that cover these units!
