Nov 252022
 

The Vertol Model 107 became the Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight. It has been a fabulously successful helicopter; development began almost *70* years ago, and some are still in service.

One suggested modification from 1961 would have seen the helicopter (designated HC-1A at the time) modified into an anti-tank variant using wire-guided anti-tank missiles. The artwork depicts the Model 107 modified with a “trapeze” that would lower from the belly holding one such missile (appears similar to the SS.11 / AGM-22) ; after launching the missile the launcher would retract back into the cargo bay where it would be reloaded and redeployed. At the rear of the bay is a manually loaded rocket launcher (though it looks more like a recoilless rifle to me) that would, after loading, swing down into a forward-firing position. Further rocket launching tubes were built into the extended rear landing gear sponsons; machine guns were fitted ahead of the cockpit.

 Posted by at 12:04 pm
Nov 222022
 

The original “Scooby Doo” show was important and useful because while every episode had some supernatural badguy – ghosts and monsters and such – at the end it always turned out that the actual badguy was just some actual human, no supernatural elements required. Just villainy and petty evil. it taught kids – maybe, if they paid attention – the value of skepticism when it came to supernatural threats. Since then, whenever I’ve checked in on the franchise there seem to be *actual* ghost pirates and pirate ghosts. Bah.

 

The video below is a bit of satire based on the idea that the Scooby gang, instead of pursuing such minor evils as someone trying to take over a theme park, went after Commies in the 1950’s. I could get behind that, because as much as Hollywood likes to pretend that Commies weren’t real or weren’t a threat… Commies were, unlike the “fascists” that modern day fanatics are constantly screaming about, actual threats and caused the US and its allies no end of lives and treasure. So having the Scooby gang sniffing them out might have made things a hell of a lot better. Imagine if Scooby had gotten hold of Klaus Fuchs before he shipped Mannhattan Project data to Stalin. Or if he simply followed the likes of AOC around and barked “Commie!” at her nonstop.

 

 

The video kinds craps on its own premise by having the Scooby gang feel bad for having investigated Commies.

 Posted by at 7:11 pm
Nov 222022
 

The animation is amusing, but taken with some of the animators previous work you don;t really get the idea that he thins all that highly of mankind.

 

 

This one is from nine years ago *really* gives the notion of not being all that fond of the species:

This one from four years ago is less a “humanity sucks” than “high population density sucks:”

 

That should be a sufficiency of depressing cartoons for today.

 Posted by at 12:05 pm
Nov 202022
 

With all the freaking out about whether AI will replace human endeavor… rarely is it asked “Do we suck? Should the machines take over?” A case can be made.

 

art

[ ahrt ]


noun
Yeah. By that basic definition… humans often really kinda suck at art. Now, it’s no moral failing to be bad at art, or bad at *anything.* But when bad art is upheld as something good, when laziness is rewarded, incompetence championed, and art that just plain denigrates what should be lauded… yeah, *that* is not good.
 Posted by at 10:27 am
Nov 182022
 

A mere sixteen years ago I posted artwork of the Martin “EGRESS” ejection capsule meant to fling crew from a stricken spacecraft anywhere up to and including orbit. Those scans came from photocopies of a conference paper. I have at last now scanned the same work, producing slightly better results. The artwork is remarkable for one detail in particular: of the two crewmen, one is clearly Lance Squarejaw, wholly unfazed at his situation. The other is… not unfazed. I’d pay real money to get at the original color painting.

 

The whole thing – diagrams and art scanned at 600 DPI – will be offered up to APR Patrons & Subscribers soon.

 

 Posted by at 11:59 pm
Nov 182022
 

AI Drew This Gorgeous Comic Series. You’d Never Know It

 

There are two points that I think should be noted:

 

First: “AI image generation is advancing so rapidly, he adds, that The Lesson, out Nov. 1, marks a clear visual step up from the first comic in the trilogy, Summer Island, a folk-horror story in the spirit of Midsommar that came out in August. During those three months, Midjourney went through two upgrades.”

 

Second: it’s free to download.

 

I have not downloaded or read it, but the writer of the article seemed to like it, and noted that it was a substantial improvement over the issue published a few months before. That should worry comic artists, who can take many years to go from “adequate” to “good” to “great.” And the fact that it’s *free* should worry *everyone* in the comic industry. Because while I doubt “free” will be the way this sort of thing will remain, it’s a safe bet that its far cheaper to produce AI-art-comic books than human-art. Soon enough the market will be flooded with AI-art books.

 

 

 

 Posted by at 10:11 am
Nov 182022
 

Another early 80s advanced fighter concept from Boeing. This one used Viggen-like close coupled canards and vectorable 2D exhaust nozzles for aerial agility. Stealth seems to have been a minimal concern, with performance being more important. The inlets and overall aerodynamcis suggest supersonic cruise. Four sizable missiles – possible SRAM nuclear-tipped surface attack missiles – are semi-submerged in the belly for reduced drag. No further data.

Fell rez scan is in the 2022-11 APR Extras Dropbox folder.

 Posted by at 5:11 am