The Mega-Blimp Project

Mega-Blimp: any availability?

February 2, 2025

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 building 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 as happy 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 well be able help you whether that is just Rob making 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 we can supply the whole caboodle. Just 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: for example, a 3d-ORTF array, with eight mics, would not fit in either! 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.

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