Got it largely modeled. It’s kinda huge, but it’s faithful to the available illustrations. Obviously the rails and the base need a bit of trimming. I had to change the booster rockets; the existing ones simply wouldn’t work with this.
Nov 242010
Nov 232010
Still need to do some tweaks (don’t care much for the inlet yet, some suface details to add, pins & sockets for assembly to be added), but the parts of the missile itself are done.
Note that this will come complete with a TORY-II reactor with controls. It will be visible from both the front through the inlet and the rear through the nozzle. The reactor will be a separate part from the fuselage halves, so it could in principle be displayed separately.
Now, the stand…
Nov 182010
Second of the new documents I’m adding today: the “comic book” style manual on how to operate an M-61 anti-aircraft Gatling gun. I would have expected it would take more than a comic book to teach that, but what do I know…
Yours for only $2.50!
Nov 182010
Finally got around to fixing the webpage for the “manuals and historical documents” page, and added three more. First up: How to operate and maintain your M-60.
Yours for only $2.50.
Nov 062010
There’s justifiable outrage at “child soldiers,” then there’s the sort of hysterical whining on display here:
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Cadets-parade-hit-rifle-ban/article-2842270-detail/article.html
ARMY cadets in Plymouth have been banned from carrying rifles in public just days before they were due to take part in a Remembrance festival.
The children had spent weeks practising rifle drill for a display at the Plymouth Pavilions tonight.
But this week they were told by their top brass that the rifles had to go.
Devon Cadet Executive Officer Major David Waterworth told The Herald yesterday that the Plymouth cadets had been ignoring a national ruling.
“It isn’t a new regulation. It’s been in force for about ten years, ever since the UK signed the agreement against using child soldiers.
“There is no need for children to appear in public with weapons. It does upset some members of the public.
“There is no need for it. It doesn’t reflect our aims and ethos in the Army Cadet Force.”
Note that the article doesn’t seem to give the ages of these “children.” Could be 17, for all I know. But even if the cadets are 8… so what? Training with firearms is something that should begin early. Your average gun shop in Utah has a section devoted specifically for kids, typically bolt-action .22 rifles, scaled down appropriately. If there are some members of the public who are upset at the sight of cadets carrying rifles… man the hell up, Nancy, and get yourself some insensitivity training.
Nov 042010
Most of the important bits are in place.
Nov 022010
Some early views of the 1/72 SLAM missile model. The TORY reactor will be a separate part, visible from the front through the inlet and from the rear through the nozzle.
Oct 282010
Official: the next model that I will master for Fantastic Plastic is the Project Pluto nuclear ramjet cruise missile. The next model was *supposed* to be the “2001” Space Station V, but I’m separated from my references for that. But the Pluto stuff I have on hand.
Currently undetermined is the scale. 1/72 is the obvious choice, but 1/48 might be possible as well. Some measure of “cutaway model” will be inevitable, due to the wide open nature of the inlet and nozzle; a full cutaway with all the innards is unlikely, but possible at larger scales. If you have a preference, leave a comment.
Sep 242010
This is in reference to this Space.com article:
Airborne Laser Goes Off-Target Due to Software Bug
Any excuse for Jordan:
Sep 182010
Back in March, my laptop suffered an “issue,” and as a result all the data on the hard drive got wiped out. For the most part that’s not too much of an issue, so long as I keep up with the external hard drive backups. Well, one thing that *hadn’t* been backed up were the scans for Justo Miranda’s “Unknown! #5,” and thus they (and others) were lost. In the chaos that followed, efforts to rebuild and get back up and running, re-scanning those documents got lost in the shuffle. Well, I finally got back around to it, and I now present Unknown! #5.
This issue 60 pages of technical illustrations with 1/72, 1/24 and 1/5 scale drawings and English text. The Unknown! series is at the bottom of this page:
http://www.up-ship.com/blog/drawndoc/rd/rd.htm
Horten Schnellbomber H IX (earliest drawing), Horten Schnell-Kampflugzeug and Horten Ho 229C
R4M “Orkan” German air to air rocket and its launch systems “Abschussrost”, “Federtrommel”, “15er Wabe”, “Wabenrohr”, “Trommelanlage” with graphs showing its installation on the Ba 349B “Natter”, Blohm und Voss P.213.03, Heinkel He 162 A-2, Arado Ar 234 C “Heeresflugzeug”, Arado Ar 234 P-5 and Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1b. Also included, drawings and performances of the R4/HL and air to air rocket “Schlange”
“Beware-Kangaroos”, a combat story by John Baxter
From the “Boomerang” to the “Kangaroo” (part I) describing the evolution of the “Boomerang” into four versions: CAC P-176, CAC XP-17 and CA-15 (4/11/42 drawing) and CA-15 (1943 drawing)
“Outpost” lifeboat, describing the re-entry vehicle designed by Kraft Ehricke in 1958
Jet Shinden versus Jet Ascender, including a graphic study of the installation of No. 130 turbojet in the Kyushu J7W2 “Shinden Kai” ultimate Japanese jet interceptor and scale drawing of the jet version of the Curtis XP-55 “Ascender”.
Blackburn B-44 with scale drawing of several seaplane fighters with retractable floats. It includes profiles of the Ursinus Seaplane, Latécoère 671, “The Scarlet Stormer” and “The Lancer”. These two last designs from the Bill Barnes fiction series
Reggiane Re 2007, an essay trying to shed some light on the mystery of this mythical project, gathering in one theory all the available information. It includes scale drawings of the Re 2006 R (Hypothetical), Re 2007 (Cometti version), Re 2008, Yak-15, Yak-17, Ambrosini “Sagittario I” and Airfer “Sagittario II”.
“Target Panama” by John Baxter. Part II of the story published in UNKNOWN! #4
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Unknown #5 can be purchased for download for $18.50.
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