Mega-Blimp: any availability?

Are the Mega-Blimps available to purchase?

In my introduction to the Mega-Blimps I describe a nominally ‘DIY ‘ (would ‘self-build’ be a better term?) project and, like similar posts I have written before it, the post was designed to stimulate interest, inform and, hopefully, encourage others to embark on their projects. But whilst designing and making the two Mega-Blimps, and more so within hours of making the first blog post public, I have had queries as to whether they could be made available to others with comparable field-recording needs. Obviously rolling/bending and TIG-welding stainless steel rod is quite a skill and not everyone has a friend with the requisite expertise that is happy to make such a windshield basket. Equally, they may not be at home designing shock-mount and supports, using CAD and 3d-modelling software , or have easy access to 3d-printing (though this is not very specialist or expensive these days). Or they may not be keen to expend such time and energy in taking an idea like this to the finished article, including the making of prototypes. I am no manufacturer (or at least wasn’t!), but in the spirit of wishing to help those in the sound-recording community for whom something similar is not achievable, I have asked Rob Moore, who made the baskets for me, whether he would be happy to help others (for a modest price) and his answer is yes, as long as this isn’t overwhelming (we don’t want to distract him from his wonderful rolling-ball sculptures!).

So, the short answer is, yes, we may (and I must emphasize the ‘may’) be able help you whether that is just the TIG-welded basket with the welded-in bottom plate (leaving you to source the other parts: internal mounts, suspensions, mic clips and cables to taste; the Arca plate from any supplier; and the fur direct from Radius Windshields – they have kept the two cutting patterns, naturally), or, if this is too much hassle, then possibly we might be able supply the whole caboodle. But please note, for the bespoke plastic parts, my 3d-printer is only a modest one (a Bambu Lab A1 Mini), so not one of those upmarket professional machines that can produce items that, apparently, can rival the robustness of injection mouldings. Either way, do get in touch and we can see if we can sort something out: but please don’t expect something tomorrow. Crumbs, if I’d known this was going to happen, I might have thought of a better name than the ‘Mega-Blimp’!

The other thing that has come across from early responses to my post on the Mega-Blimps is that some recordists fancy something somewhat similar to the two Mega-Blimps, but necessarily different to accommodate particular mics/arrays. Or, equally, they think the Mega-Blimp might be suited to their uses, when it isn’t. For example, I have had a query from an old friend wanting a Mega-Blimp large for his Soundfield ST250, but, being honest, I can’t pretend it will be a good fit at all: in due course, I will doubtless design something to fit his mic. And this, of course, is another beauty of TIG-welded baskets: they lend themselves to one-off or bespoke designs in a way that plastic, especially injection-moulded, does not. OK there’s some time element required for design, and the fur would have to be made specifically to fit, but these are not significant hurdles. So, yes, Rob and I may be able to help those otherwise struggling with finding something specific to their mics or unusual arrays. So, again, please do get in touch and, without any promises (!), let’s see if we might be able to help.

UPDATE 20.8.2025: A plea from me!

Just a quick note six months on from this post, to add that if you are interested in inquiring about the possibility of a Mega-Blimp, it would be extremely helpful if you could read my introduction to the Mega-Blimps blog post carefully, and, indeed, the post above. I have found myself spending an inordinate amount of time reiterating what is in there and, even, addressing some surprise that the Mega-Blimp has an Arca plate attachment, despite this being flagged as a fundamental part of the design: stability is ,indeed, important for the design, not least given the windage of a large blimp, and this applies both to the attachment point and to the support (i.e. a camera tripod is so much more stable than a repurposed small light stand). Equally, as I flag up above, there are limits to what my modest 3d-printing can produce: don’t expect something akin to injection-moulding for those parts if you do need/want me to produce them. I don’t want to sound curmudgeonly (or perhaps I do!), but spending a day or two simply discussing possibilities and re-explaining things for an individual order, means that production of a Mega-Blimp for the odd interested person will simply become unviably expensive. That’s no skin off my nose, as I have no intention of competing with the well-established commercial windshield manufacturers, but I would like to be able to help those for whom a Mega-Bimp would be a solution and cannot DIY such a windshield from scratch.