One of my all-time favorite SF novels is
The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock. The first of
his 'nomad of time' series, it takes place in an alternate 1970, in which the Great War never happened,
and Airships rule the skies...A Chinese revolutionary, O.T.Shaw, creates the 'Fei Chi' ( Which I think
translates as 'Little Hornet') as a counter to the Metal-clad airfleets of the great powers. Here's the
image from the first American edition.
The art is by an American illustrator, Davis Meltzer, who did some wonderful stuff. Google his work sometime.
This is what I've gotten to -
The build is a mix of old Frog DH Hornet fuselage, wings and tail planes from a couple of
1/200 747s, one Academy, one some off-brand Chinese kit. ( Acutallu marketed in a box
as a 707 AWACS) and engines from an Airfix Meteor, lengthened with tube and lots and lots
of Aves putty. Afte getting it to this point, I decided the base needed a little more pizazz, so
I spent most of last Saturday cobbling together an little airship to go along with it.