How to Make a Model Hot air Balloon (Sewing)

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

one of a 2 part mini series, I launched myself into this lockdown project to fill my hours, and add a new balloon to my growing fleet, you can see the test inflation footage at this link kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX-qo6OpnLylsKM

[@gabe-j5t]

do you think you could do a video from start to finish on cutting templates to getting the fabric etc please. cheers from Gabes

[@jf6882]

2:30 that was exactly the question I was meaning to ask you, thank you ever so much this channel is brilliant.

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

Happy to help! glad you enjoy the videos.

[@ryanhutchinson9087]

do you sell pre cut fabric for a 50m3?

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

It's been a few years since I built models / fabric kits for customers, but somewhere in my workshop / garage I have patterns for a 50m3 racer and a more natural shape 50m3 envelope. Sounds like you might have a project in mind?

[@ryanhutchinson9087]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival i have just finished making the pattern and i was just wondering where do you get the fabric from. i have emailed many balloon companies about the fabric and they will not tell me where they get it from or what type of fabric it is. i know it is either nylon 6.6 or pollyester but i cant find any place that sells. the current pattern i have made is a 24 gore regular balloon but i am quite intrested in the racer envelope.

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

Quick question are you in the U.S. or Europe? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqetkJ2on9J3n9E here a video includes both the 50 'racer' which by modern style doesn't look very racerish (blue and white squares) and the more standred shape one is (blue and pink) were both at this event together

[@ryanhutchinson9087]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival I am in the uk

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

Excellent, can you send me an email and I will pass you on to a friend who has a stock pile or can buy via a discount. [e-mail]

[@GabeKing-u4i]

how tall is the pattern do you think in meters

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

@@GabeKing-u4i from memory about 6 meters

[@GabeKing-u4i]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival oh i just cheated and went on a model balloon pattern shop and traced over the pattern i wanted and now i have a 12 and a half feet long pattern

[@scareonstuart]

Hello! I realize this is an older video, but wondering if you could approximate how much fabric you ended up using? Great info here, thanks!

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

ha ha KZbin suggested my response was `a lot' not 100% sure but have a feeling that it was about 60m of fabric off the role. This colour scheme with the cut in triangles was quite wasteful compared with the more regular rectangular panel shapes

[@naphetandthegeng8876]

what fabric do you use

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

The fabric is polyurethane coated ripstop nylon same as is used in man carrying hot air balloons (around the 60g /m) and around the mouth a little nomex to reduce the risk of burn damage

[@beimanuel942]

quick question, how to make a bulbous one?

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

So the model in this video is a faceted envelope, to introduce billow takes the design up a level. You need to consider how much curve is going to be in each gore and then create a surface between the edge of the gore and its new mid point (the billow line). I know people who are using 3 different cad software to create billow autocad, rhino and solidworks. A quick question it maybe, a quick answer there is not 😉

[@beimanuel942]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival thanks mate, have a nice day

[@sengchunooi5739]

Where do you get the mini balloon template bcoz i was thinking to build my own balloon

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

I designed the shape and templates myself, then had them printed locally, I've been wondering about making the design available to down load, would that be of interest to you?

[@suzirawlins4686]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival ooooh that would be amazing could you do that i can't seem to make the right pattern

[@Melvorgazh]

Hi, I am looking for relatively cheap ripstop for very small RC balloon of only 7-10 cubic meters. Is there lighter than 27g/m2? Cheers, Thomas from Belgium

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

Hi Thomas, unfortunately I don't have anything in my stock pile that is that low weight, the only suggestion I can make is to look for 'soar coat' on the Internet or talk to someone like kubicek who make their own balloon fabrics (and night have something light weight on the shelf?)

[@juanaldabalde2178]

Thanks for the video. What kind of sweing machine is that and also please comment which kind of needle do you use. Is that a ball point, sharp, stretch, etc? Best regards from Uruguay

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

Hi Juan, Welcome the sewing machine has been out building a new model this week, it is a `Jones CBD' machine, and the needles are sharp point - I looked at your channel, did you build the E-glider that is featured there? that is very cool - hope that helps with your question

[@enjoyer8700]

Where to you buy the proper material. My friend and I have been wanting to build an airship.

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

wow that sounds like an exciting project, in the U.S? have a look at westmarkcorp.com - I'm told this is a good place to look and that people in the US are using `70D nylon ripstop` to build, you can also talk to balloon repair stations, they may be able to offer roll ends and offcuts to add some extra colours to a scheme - hope that helps, I look forward to seeing the results of your project / build some time.

[@gabe-j5t]

whats the smallest model balloon you can make that flies and how much would it cost

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

That's an interesting challenge, I've been chatting with a guy just this week who has used black plastic (bin bag style) to build a solar powered model balloon, no burner required, can be filled with warm air and let the sun do the rest, that's a very low cost solution, as for volume things get tricky below 10m3 I'd say, especially with nylon fabrics.

[@gabe-j5t]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival ooh yeah i watch his videos to

[@patellight9709]

Do you sell this full model ??

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

I plan to fly this balloon for a few years, before I decide to keep it forever or put it up for sale

[@BarossaBalloons]

How much does it cost to build a model hot air balloon

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

Well pretty much a wide open question, lowest cost way is to buy spare fabrics from a balloon production line, cut and sew it yourself, for years I've been building this way, at the other end of the spectrum you can pay for a model built to your favourite colours, pattern and size, but it could easily cost to 2000Euro or more from a professional manufacturer

[@BarossaBalloons]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival I will give it a try because i already have most of the fabric to make it from my grandparents retired balloons spare fabric

[@Melvorgazh]

Heyo from Brussels, I am looking for tips and mostly blueprints for a bulbous envelope of 8-16 gores in tissue paper of about 2-.5-3m high. Cheers Is in lighter ripstop than a real size balloon for transportation?

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

So ideally your looking for someone with a pattern for a viva or o-type envelope but in a small volume. I'll reach out to one of my contact who has a small o-type. Can you post your email address I'll forward it to him then remove your comment from this feed.

[@Melvorgazh]

ps: Yep! Viva and type-O are amongst me favourite models and designs. Cheers

[@messageinaballoon895]

can you buy fully assembled model rc balloons from the internet??? If not, where do you get the basket and burner system?

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

You can purchase ballokns, they are hand crafted and its very much a cottage industry. Can you let me know where you are in the world as it will be easier to guide you to a 'more local' expert. Say Europe u.s.a. asia

[@messageinaballoon895]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival im in australia

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

@@messageinaballoon895 ooh that's a tough one have a look for a KZbin channel growingupisoptional that's the o ly video I can think of of an Australian built model, I think it was built by kavanagh balloons (sydney)

[@gabe-j5t]

are all of you balloon templates different

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

I've done designs that are roughly the same for 20/30/40/50/60/80/100m3 envelopes and then made varying amounts of each, so the 40/50/60m3 were quite popular 15 years ago I just reused the same template for the 40m3 over and over. think I built about 35 model balloons over a 10 year period, was pretty cool seeing them go off to people to fly

[@gabe-j5t]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival how do you make them

[@kluyuran772]

how to determine the height and circumference of the balloon and how to cut it to fit the shape?

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

ok going to get technical, so apologies if this gets a bit deep, 2 ways to go, 1) I used excel spreadsheets for a lot of my balloons, but 2) also AutoCAD later which helps a lot. 1) Take the outline of a fully inflated balloon and slice this into 100 slices (horizontally) 2) we call each position a station, and you can work out the radius / diameter of the balloon at each station. 3) knowing this for each station you can then work out the Circumference of the balloon at that point 4) choose how many Gores (vertical sections you wish to split the balloon into) 5) divide the circumferences by that number - if you draw out the coordinates you have generated in 2D you should have a profile shaped like a flower pellet Note. you can choose 2 places to position your `stations' 1) on a vertical axis up the centre of the balloon = each station is 1% of the total height of the balloon, or 2) at equal distance from each other up the curved profile = each station is 1% of the CURVED surface length of the balloon. WOW that got deep - perhaps this deserves a video :-) hope this helps feel free to let me know if you have any extra questions, and I'd love to see your results if you build a balloon

[@kluyuran772]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival thank you very much for your attention, but sorry I still don't understand,😅, for example if I make a balloon with a height of 10 meters how to determine the exact circumference, let's say each sheet is 10 meters long and 1 meter wide, how many pieces should be needed ,and how to determine the top and bottom cuts... Yes, I often try to make balloons using plastic but never have a shape like yours, maybe I'm the stupid one😂

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

@hiden info, no problem, and don't worry too much about getting it `right or wrong' I just `made it up' for the first 5 balloons I build some were..... unusual check out version 5 kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4a0lIduaZ1ghLM So some research to look www.myairship.com/building/design.html this is a great resource to get into the math. - to respond to you example - you say that the roll of material is 10m long by 1 m wide. if you put the equator at 50% (5m) up the roll and do 10 rolls wide, with the right curves you would create a sphere, a hot air balloon is closer to a cone with a 1/2 sphere on the top, so first thing to do is move that widest point further up the role to say 65% or 70% then one curve (coming to the mouth is longer and smooth) the other curve is shorter and more severe. keep experimenting, nothing beats a good experiment and discovering what works and what doesn't

[@kluyuran772]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival I am very grateful to you, and the knowledge you provide, you are very friendly and kind, thank you for your support and advice, I hope you are always healthy .. 😊

[@wesleygosselin1520]

i will like to make a hot air ballon with logo but i don't know how begin can you help me

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

I've not done it in a while but we can try. Do you have the envelope design in autocad by any chance? That you can email me at [e-mail]

[@tamansurga233]

I hope you all get guidance and wealth, aamiin, bisirril fatihah !.....

[@thejadster4538]

can i borrow you model balloon kit so i can use it pls pls pls

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

I admire your enthusiasm, perhaps (if your able to travel there) when we next run Llangollen we can meet up, do you have a model balloon yourself? Have you built / thought about building one?

[@thejadster4538]

@@TheBigBalloonFestival were we going to meet can we meat midlans next year if possible and i don't have the machines to make one

[@brandijean7874]

What kind of material is that !?

[@TheBigBalloonFestival]

The fabric is polyurethane coated ripstop nylon same as is used in man carrying hot air balloons (around the 60g /m) and around the mouth a little nomex to reduce the risk of burn damage