Sea Dragon as cyanotype

 APR, art, cyanotype blueprints, history, Hmm..., projects, rockets  No Responses »
Mar 122023
 

My preference with the cyanotype diagrams is to not tinker with the actual image other than the needs of cleaning them up. However, in a few cases the diagrams are such that they make inconvenient fits, or could be made into convenient sizes… or need additional stuff added to them to flesh them out. One such case is the Aerojet Sea Dragon launch vehicle. The diagrams I have come from reports, rather than blueprints; this stripped them of the usual data blocks, and left them with just the diagrams. Putting the external profile next to the internal profile gives an aspect ratio that is *almost* perfect to fit within an off-the-shelf 11/75X36 inch frame. I need to do a bit more to add a bit of something to the blank spaces.

The question here is whether the cyanotype-buying public would rather have this formatted to display horizontally as shown here, or vertically?

 

As an aside, I just noticed that the original GIF that I’d put together (for APR issue V4N6) was dated as March 9, 2003, just over twenty years ago. I posted the full-rez diagram on my website many, many years ago; since then it has filtered out into the wider world, such as HERE, HERE and HERE.

 Posted by at 10:41 am

More cyanotypes

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, CAD diagrams, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, new products, news, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Mar 102023
 

I will be posting some more cyanotype blueprints to ebay in the coming days. These were made from old transparencies I’d had made prior to the move from Utah. But I also hope to have some “brand new” cyanotypes in the near-ish future. The transparent film remains astonishingly elusive; two separate companies are trying to obtain it… and have been for a few months now. Every other print shop in the area has flat refused to try. A print shop a few hundred miles away made a few transparencies for me a few months back; I just sent them files to have a few more made. With luck they’ll come through. I have a *bunch* more I’d like to have done. Here are what I recently sent off:

Martin XB-51. The original print was 1/40 scale; this blueprint will be 1/72 scale.

The Avro “Arrow” structural layout.

Two sheets from NASA illustrating the Saturn V.  One sheet is very likely more interesting than the other, so what I might end up doing is ebaying the two sheets and cataloging just the one.

The US-1205 and UA-1207 solid rocket motors for the Titan IIIC and IIIM, respectively. I have the originals of these framed and hanging on my wall; conveniently, they fit in off-the-shelf 11.75X36 panorama frames that you can get at Hobby Lobby and the like. I will probably tinker with some of the other blueprints that are *close* to this size to massage them to fit into that frame. Because as awesome as the prints are on their own, they’re spectacular framed.

I have also sent a revised version of my SR-71 CAD diagrams to be re-printed. The first print’s lines came in too light/fine. Live and learn…

 

 Posted by at 6:34 pm

HSVTOL

 aircraft, art, news, projects, weapons  No Responses »
Mar 062023
 

An interesting CGI video depicting three sizes of folding rotor tiltrotor High Speed VTOL from Bell. The concept is not new; actually building and flying one, though, would be. The designs shown are also not new; Bell has been floating them for a few years at least since late 2021.

https://view.ceros.com/bell-helicopter/hsvtol/p/1

 Posted by at 11:44 pm

Saturn when it was Army

 history, projects, rockets, spacecraft, youtube  No Responses »
Feb 242023
 

A program progress film from 1959 describing the US Army’s “Saturn” rocket. This would soon be transferred to NASA, eventually becoming the Saturn I (then Ib). The basic layout of the first stage would remain, but the upper stages would change utterly; as shown here, they are derivatives of the Titan ICBM. Note that the first stage is shown being recovered. This feature lasted a surprising length of time, with components being built into the early NASA Saturns. The idea was that the stages would be parachute recovered with solid rocket motors firing at the last second to cushion splashdown. The motor firing would be set off by a trigger that would be released from the booster to dangle some distance below. As soon as the trigger hit the water, it would signal the motors to fire. The stage would splash down soft enough to be recovered, but it was assumed it’d be damaged beyond refurbishment. The idea was to examine the stage to see how it did, and introduce incremental improvements until *eventually* it was able to be recovered intact enough for cost effective refurbishment and reuse.

 

 Posted by at 11:22 pm

Books on ebay

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, books, eBay, history, projects, reshaping the world, rockets, sales & specials, science, spacecraft, weapons  No Responses »
Feb 172023
 

I have a *pile* of books to sell; the first of them are now on ebay. More will be added as I get around to it…

An Illustrated Guide to Space Warfare by David Hobbs, 1986

TC-188 Aviator’s Recognition Manual March 1977

FM-1-88 Aviator’s Recognition Manual July 1980

The Evolution of the Cruise Missile by Kenneth Werrell

FLYGPLANS-RITNINGAR 6 SWEDISH AIR FORCE

USS Iowa BB 61 Warship’s Data 3 First Edition 1986 Robert F SUMRALL

Aerofax Minigraph #14 Lockheed F-94 Starfire by Francillon & Keaveney 1986

Warplanes of the Future by Bill Gunston

“Box Kites to Bombers: The Story of the Glenn L. Martin Company”

American Secret Projects : Bombers, Attack and Anti-Submarine Aircraft 1945…

New Earths: Restructuring Earth and Other Planets by James Oberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 9:14 pm

Less than a day left: Selling cyanotype blueprints on ebay…

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, news, nukes, projects, rockets, ships, spacecraft  No Responses »
Feb 152023
 

I’m selling the blueprints I’ve recently made. I can sign ’em if the buyer wants, front or back…

Saturn Ib Inboard Profile Cyanotype Blueprint

NERVA nuclear rocket engine Cyanotype Blueprint

NERVA nuclear rocket engine artwork Cyanotype Blueprint

Boeing 2707-200 SST Cyanotype Blueprint

Trident II SLBM Cyanotype Blueprint

Northrop B-2A stealth bomber Cyanotype Blueprint

Saturn V Inboard Profile Cyanotype Blueprint

Skylab Cutaway Cyanotype Blueprint

A-4 (V-2) German Rocket Layout & Engine Cyanotype Blueprints

A-4 (V-2) German Rocket Isometric Cutaway Cyanotype Blueprint

A-4 (V-2) German Rocket Isometric Cutaway Cyanotype Blueprint: Smaller

Wasserfall German WWII Surface to air missile Cyanotype Bluepri

 

USS Monitor Ironclad Cyanotype Blueprint

550 Central Park West Cyanotype Blueprint

Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) Cyanotype Blueprint

X-20 Dyna Soar/Titan IIIC Cyanotype Blueprint

Early X-20 Dyna Soar Cyanotype Blueprint

Large X-20 Dyna Soar 2050E Cyanotype Blueprint

 

 

 

 Posted by at 4:05 pm

An ebay question

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, cyanotype blueprints, eBay, history, Hmm..., nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Feb 132023
 

It’s time to post my first batch of cyanotypes to ebay. But I ran into a conundrum… how should I categorize them? I started entering the first one, the Sat Ib, as “collectible-historical memorabilia-astronauts & space travel-etc” but then I realized that these were made by me over the last few weeks. The *sources* for the blueprints are of course historical, but the actual items themselves are brand new, hand made “art” items. Suggestions?

 Posted by at 1:58 pm

Bell Attack Bomber

 aircraft, art, history, projects  No Responses »
Jan 312023
 

A concept illustration of a an attack bomber by Bell Aircraft. No further info than the picture; this would seem to date from the very late 1930’s or early 40’s. As illustrated it’s lopsided… radial engine (Wright R-2600) on the starboard wing, inline (Allison V-1710-F-2) in the port wing. This would indicate engine possibilities, not schizophrenic designers. The forward fuselage is fully glazed and geometrically unbroken; the result is something like the Heinkel 111.

 Posted by at 8:05 pm

Bell LHX helicopter

 aircraft, art, history, projects  No Responses »
Jan 152023
 

Along with the various iterations of single-seat tiltrotors (especially a stealthy version shown HERE), Bell also proposed a more conventional helicopter for the Light Helicopter eXperimental program in the early 80’s. The artwork below was published in 1985 and depicts a single seat scout chopper with stealthy features. I have no data on this design; scale can be estimated based on the size of the human figures. It would doubtless have been a chore for a single pilot to handle; probably less problematic than a single-seat tiltrotor.

 Posted by at 1:39 pm

It belongs in a museum

 AARRRGH, awesomeness, Crazy, dumbassery, history, Hmm..., nukes, projects, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jan 122023
 

Big bomb laid to rest

An article by Sandia Labs discussing the disposition of an old, old, OLD Mk 17 nuclear bomb “trainer.” Obviously this isn’t, never was, an actual thermonuclear weapon, but a training device; as such, it doubtless included a lot of the same parts as the actual bomb.

The Mk 17 was a giant of a bomb, deliverable only by the B-36; with a yield of about 15 megatons, it was delivered in 1954, withdrawn from service in 1957. Consequently, this thing is pushing seventy years in age. The article states that it was “transported to Kirtland Air Force Base for its end-of-lifecycle dismantlement and disposition.” One *hopes* that means it’ll be lovingly restored and sent to a good museum for display. One fears it means it’ll be disassembled and scrapped. That *seems* to be its fate based on the vague descriptions of what’ll happen to it.

 Posted by at 11:58 pm
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