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1/18 scale Skybolt ALBM kit

 awesomeness, models, nukes, rockets, weapons  No Responses »
Aug 192024
 

Here’s the first nearly complete set of “sellable” 1/18 scale Skybolt ALBM parts. Only things missing are a stand(s) and a clear cover for the star tracker. There’ll be 2 variants… complete, and a simpler one without most of the innards (build with the stages/warhead joined). It takes about 2 *days* to print a complete set of parts. I’m still pondering the price. I will probably start on the low end and raise the price as I realize just what the frak I’m doing. Probably something along the lines of $80-$100, + postage. If interested, let me know.

 

 Posted by at 10:58 pm

Sunset

 awesomeness, photography  No Responses »
Aug 122024
 

I miss having neat nature to take photos of. Utah was full of that. Illinois… well, it’s here, but usually obscured with buildings, power lines, light poles, etc. Still, every now and then something worth taking a photo of emerges.

 

 Posted by at 11:06 pm

Oh HELL Naw

 AARRRGH, Crazy, Gah., science fiction, Worldwreckers, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jul 312024
 

Oh, Fᚪᛣᚳ…

 

Maybe it’s the Old Guy in me, but this set off every alarm bell I have. Maybe this sort of thing would be good for people with serious mental issues, but for regular people? I can’t foresee anything but Black Mirror horrors. Replacing jobs with AI is bad enough; replacing human interaction with AI gives me an uncomfortableness I cannot begin to explain.

 

https://x.com/AviSchiffmann/status/1818284595902922884

 

 

 Posted by at 12:04 am

First Metal Minis

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, models, new products, projects, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jul 192024
 

The first metal minis – 1/144 X-20, 1/285 X-20, 1/285 XF-103, 1/285 XF-108 – have been cast, cleaned and assembled. I’ve got enough to take care of the existing crowdfunders; I plan on trying to make a go of the 1/285 X-15s as well. However, the main mold is already falling to bits, so there are still improvements to be made to the process.

For future versions… should I cast them with a “peg hole” in the underside to put on a standard stand, or just leave them as they are?

 

 

 

 Posted by at 1:13 am

Douglas D-3203-29

 aircraft, drawings, history, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, projects  No Responses »
Jul 172024
 

A general arrangement diagram of the Douglas Model D-3203-29. This was a modified DC-9-50, appears to be the basic design for the MD-80, dated 7-26-1977.

The full-rez scan (more than ten times larger than this one) has been made available as a bonus to above-$10 subscribers and Patrons. If interested in such things, consider subscribing:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

 Posted by at 2:02 am

Trump nearly assassinated

 AARRRGH, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jul 132024
 

It’s been a while since anyone has come close to killing a US President or former President. Has there been anyone since Hinkley/Reagan that came this close?

 

The rest of the campaign season is liable to be jam-packed with political violence. There has not been a serious Presidential contender as thoroughly vilified by the opposition as Trump in many years; and given that the far left was *already* bugnuts, the nonstop “Trump = Hitler” drumbeat surely is driving many right around the bend.

 

As they say, though… when you go after the King, don’t miss.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812258574049157405

 

 

 Posted by at 6:40 pm

Cyanotypes: closing up shop

 aircraft, art, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, news, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jul 082024
 

I’ve shut down production of cyanotype blueprints for the time being. What I’ve got is what there is; I’ll leave the catalog page up while I still have a supply, but I’ll shut it down when I run low and sell the rest on ebay. Get ’em while ya can.

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

 

 Posted by at 10:56 pm

June 2024 APR rewards

 aircraft, art, drawings, history, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Jul 012024
 

A day late, but I’ve sent out the June 2024 rewards to APR Patrons/Subscribers. Includes:

1: A pack of X-30 NASP propaganda. Seven double-sided 8X10 glossies, a double-sided poster, a bumper sticker and an emblem sticker.

2: “Non-Planing Seaplane Study” by Convair, 196. Two presentations; The $4 and up subscribers get not only the cleaned-up report, but the original as-scanned negative-image transparencies. marvel at the liberal use not of white-out but of black-out.

3: Detailed diagram of the KC-135 (1/40 scale model)

4: In lieu of a CAD diagram, first public art of the F-117A, 1988

If you are interested in helping to preserve this sort of aerospace history, consider signing up for the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program for as little as $1.50 per month:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

 

 Posted by at 6:33 pm

Martin-Marietta HML Ad

 art, history, Monthly Historical Documents Program, nukes, Patreon, projects, rockets, weapons  No Responses »
Jun 242024
 

I did my best to stitch together this two-page magazine ad. Dating from 1986, it shows missile programs then underway at Martin-Marietta; front and center is the Small ICBM (“Midgetman”) in its Hard Mobile Launcher. The HML would wander seemingly at random around the western US, being difficult to track and target by the Soviets. When the time came, the trailer would be dropped off and the suspension collapsed to lower the trailer to the ground; sloped shells would drop to the ground. In the event of a nearby nuclear detonation, it was hoped that the shockwave would roll over the shell without excessively damaging the trailer. Then the missile launch tube would be raised and the missile fired, sending a single warhead across the planet. The tractor for this version was designed and built by Caterpillar and used rubbed treads, unlike the wheeled Boeing competitors.

Image below is a reduced-rez version of the full scan. The full image  has been made available as a thank-you to APR Patreon and Historical Documents Program patrons at the $4 and above level, placed in the 2024-06 APR Extras. If interested in this piece or if you are interested in helping to fund the preservation of this sort of thing, please consider becoming a patron, either through the APR Patreon or the Monthly Historical Document Program.

 Posted by at 9:25 pm

The end of video evidence: and so it begins

 AARRRGH, Crazy, Forward!, Hmm..., news, politics, science, science fiction, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jun 172024
 

Videos have come out showing President Biden doing bad things (specifically, acting like what he is: an elderly man who is well into cognitive and physical decline), and his PR machine is spooling up the defense that the videos are “cheap fakes” and “deep fakes.” The videos are clearly *not* fakes, neither “cheap” nor “deep,” but have in most cases been shot by reputable media sources and broadcast on national news. However, we’re now at the point where people are coming to know and understand deep fakes, and as I’ve been saying for a long time, bad actors will start claiming that valid videos of them behaving poorly are actually deep fakes.

 

The era of video as useful evidence is coming to an end. They’ll be good for a while longer, but not much longer. In maybe five years, the courts will be in complete chaos as every defendant on trial who was seen by cell phones or security cameras will be able to rightly claim that deep faking is now so easy that it would be simplicity itself for the prosecution to slap it together over lunch.

 Posted by at 7:12 pm
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