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Large Format Cyanotypes: now closed

 cyanotype blueprints, news  No Responses »
Sep 162017
 

Well, I said they’d be available for a limited time only…

I will likely make them available again reasonably soon, but for right now I’ve had to shut down production. The materials I have on hand turn out to be *crap,* with the result that the latest batch of blueprints are just…. terrible. I’ve ordered more supplies, but it’ll take a while to arrive. Plus, the Summer That Just Won’t Let Up suddenly decided a few days ago to let up, turning full sunlight into overcast murk, making production scheduling impossible.

On the plus side, I found the two missing Dyna Soar transparencies.

 Posted by at 6:02 pm

Stuff for sale: toy spaceships

 models, science fiction, spacecraft  No Responses »
Sep 162017
 

A rather different set of stuff than the recent sales of books, but I’m doing these the same way. I’d prefer to sell these as a single lot, so as always I’m doing a discount. The prices are based on what they seem to be going for on eBay. If you want the lot, let me know via email or comment. Individually these total up to $204; as a lot, I’ll go with $175 plus postage (calculated after I know where they’re going).

Galoob Micro Machines Die Cast Y-Wing, still in package: $6

Galoob Micro Machines Die Cast X-Wing, still in package: $6

Galoob Micro Machines Die Cast Star Destroyer, still in package: $7

Galoob Micro Machines Die Cast Trade Federation Battleship, still in package: $8

 

Johnny Lightning “Legends of Star Trek Klingon D7 Battlecruiser,” still in package: $20

Johnny Lightning “Legends of Star Trek USS Enterprise Refit,” still in package: $20

Johnny Lightning “Legends of Star Trek USS Enterprise w/battle damage,” still in package: $20

 

Galoob Micro Machines “Titanium Series Die Cast” Battlestar Galactica “Battlestar Pegasus,” still in package: $35

Galoob Micro Machines “Titanium Series Die Cast” Battlestar Galactica “Raptor,” still in package:$30

Galoob Micro Machines “Titanium Series Die Cast” Battlestar Galactica “Colonial viper Mk VII,” still in package:2 at $25 each

 Posted by at 4:06 pm

Here’s how to throw off SJWs

 awesomeness, Forward!, Hmm..., humor, news, politics, youtube  4 Responses »
Sep 152017
 

For decades, the approach most people have taken to responding to SJWs and their politically correct ideological shock troops has been to cringe when they demand it, beg for forgiveness for the faintest slight, restrain your opinions lest the screeching harpies of the PC hivemind leap upon you. Such a situation could only last jsut so long before there’s a backlash; thus the return of “out and proud” white nationalists and the likes of Trump. but then, there will hopefully be a lot more of THIS sort of thing:

One single innocuous word, a statement of what a guy – *any* normal guy, if he’s honest – likes, causes the ideological gatekeeper of the show to completely lose the script. The really good part is that the actually honest feller here doesn’t back down, doesn’t apologize, but gets on with making his point.

 

 Posted by at 10:08 pm

“Pitch Black Exoplanet”

 Hmm..., news, science  No Responses »
Sep 152017
 

Pitch Black Exoplanet: Hot Jupiter WASP-12b Reflects No Light

Short form: the “hot Jupiter” (so called because it’s a Jupiter-like gas giant really close to its star) turns out to have an albedo of 0.064, darker than new asphalt.

Here’s the thing, though: WASP-12b is so close to its start that its orbital period is 26.2 *hours,* and its surface temperature is 2600 degrees Celcius. At those temperatures, it would be incandescent, glowing sorta orangish:

So it might absorb virtually all the light that falls on it from its star, but it re-radiates that energy back out into space largely in the visible spectrum. It would not look “black” anymore than the filament in a lit lightblub looks black. Additionally, it’s so close to the parent star that it is physically distorted into an egg-shape. No doubt if you were close enough to see the planet clearly, the pointy-end, closest tot he star, would likely be *really* hot, glowing intensely; the night side would look like a slightly dim star.

The link provides an illustration for the article that seems of dubious value in illustrating the situation:

 Posted by at 9:56 pm

Minuteman MIRV: now that’s interesting…

 eBay, Hmm..., models, nukes, secrets  3 Responses »
Sep 142017
 

While looking at something else on eBay, a listing for something rather more interesting came up:

Minuteman Solid Resin Nuclear warhead MIRV Reentry Vehicle Factory Desk Model

item 3 – Minuteman Solid Resin Nuclear warhead MIRV Reentry Vehicle Factory Desk Model

$99.000 bids9d 21h 27m
Now, hmmm, I sez. That’s clearly a maneuverable warhead, designed to muck up the enemies defenses by scooting around them. So I decide to click on the link and see more about it and get hit with:
My paranoid lil’ mind starts to wonder… did someone have something for sale they shouldn’t have had?
As models go it looks pretty uninspiring… low detail, blocky, simple, at thos low image resolution it seems kinda amateurish. As maneuverable MIRV designs it’s not spectacular… sort of a mutant Delta Clipper (which was derived from maneuverable MIRV design work). Still, that’s pretty much exactly the sort of the the DoD gets a little twitchy about from time to time.
If anyone knows anything about it, or sees it pop up again, let me know…

UPDATE:

OK, this is strange. I still get the same “listing removed” message when I click on the link with my computer… but it pulls right up (high rez photos and all) when I view it on my *phone.* This would be a first.
So… who can see it? Who can’t?
 Posted by at 10:08 pm

Just realized something about “The Orville”

 art, awesomeness, science fiction, spacecraft  2 Responses »
Sep 142017
 

Or, more specifically, I just realized why I loved one minor detail about “The Orville:” the viewscreen. It’s FRIGGEN’ HUGE. The viewscreen on the bridge of Star Trek vessels has always been disturbingly small, which has never made any sense.

It’s unclear whether the viewscreen here is a projection or a window. External shots show a bright white glow covering the region that would be the viewscreen, but there are also clearly visible windows that show the interior normally-lit.

It’s never too early to start getting all nit-picky tech-nerd about these things…

 Posted by at 9:46 pm
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