I imagine there’s a market for this sort of thing

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, Hmm..., models, science fiction, youtube  No Responses »
Jun 222023
 

A “hovertank” is, of course, a terrible idea. A hovering vehicle pretty much by definition has no traction with the ground, thus cannot well handle a lot of recoil… which is the sort of thing a cannon provides in spades. And anything that hovers has to be built light enough to get lurched off the ground, which reduces the capability to be armored. And… on and on.

Nevertheless, the “hovertank” has it’s place in science fiction.

And now modern consumer electronics and drone technology has reached the point where a hovertank can in fact be yours. In subscale plastic model form at any rate.

I’m honestly surprised and impressed that that bitty quadcopter could lift that, and do so effectively. Now imagine that the kit was designed for that from the get-go, using vac-formed parts… or even carbon fiber laid-up components. Far lighter, and better integrated with the lift system.

 

 Posted by at 12:58 pm

“The War Of The Rohirrim:” Well, I’m excited. Aren’t you?

 AARRRGH, art, blather, Crazy, Forward!, Gah., Meh., ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jun 152023
 

In the appendix to the Lord of the Rings, Tolkein included a short story about Helm Hammerhand, a serious badass and one man wrecking crew who lived hundreds of years before the events of LotR. A few years ago Warner Bors annlunced that they were doing an animated film about the events described in that story… and as spinoffs of lotR go, that one made sense. it’d make a fun action flick, animated or no.

But wait. There’s less.

New Report Shows ‘The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim’ Will Inject Feminism Into Tolkien’s Classic Tale Of Helm Hammerhand

Basically: Helm Hammerhand, main character of the story… isn’t the main character of the story. Instead, it’s a female character who was so unimportant in the story that she didn’t even merit getting *named.*

The producer, one Philippa Boyens, claims that this effectively all-new character (named Hera, because the writers are such spectacular Tolkein experts that they know that the characters in Rohan are named after Greeks, not northern Europeans) is based largely on “Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians and daughter of Wessex king Alfred the Great.” OK, sure, great. It’s quite possible that a movie about Æthelflæd would be a spectacular thing. So… why not make a movie about Æthelflæd? Oh, right, because it’s easier to ride the coat tails of an existing property.

Who is this for? A movie about Helm would bring in the existing fans. This thing is likely to turn a lot of them away.

 Posted by at 8:01 am

Nerds of the world, unite!

 art, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., politics, science fiction, wisdom, Worldwreckers, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jun 142023
 

Where the case is made that fandoms are composed not of people laser-focused on a single mono-topic, but who are *generally* nerdy, conversant in a range of fandoms, some related, some not, but all somewhat similar in having canon and lore and the like. The point being that when franchises and IPs are taken over by people who are *not* nerdy, they cannot relate to the fans, and end up making a mess of the product. They have fundamentally different worldviews.

 

 Posted by at 6:03 am

“2001 Briefcase Computer:” Cord & Keyboard

 art, awesomeness, history, science fiction  No Responses »
Jun 072023
 

The cord was cut from a guitar cord; it looks just about right. The keyboard has an incomplete set of cast urethane keys. As can be seen, these aren’t simply glued to the surfaces, but poke through. My own replica will have them slightly sprung, but someone with more enthusiasm for electronics than me will be able to use this as the basis for an actual functional keyboard & computer. There will be a fair bit of internal volume for such things.

 

 Posted by at 8:56 pm

“2001 Briefcase Computer:” video camera

 art, awesomeness, history, Hmm..., models, science fiction  No Responses »
Jun 052023
 
A “2001 Briefcase Computer” update: there hasn’t been much to say recently, but I’ve completed the rough-cut of the video camera. It’s made from the correct model Japanese telescope, the correct tripod and a scratch-built body with four chrome-plated “knobs.” The black bits are unclear on the prop, but were made from textured 1mm black plastic, recessed slightly into the body. The body here is white; the final versions will be fiberglass and painted to look like aluminum. There is a barely-visible square at the front, presumably a sensor… and an almost invisible square at the back. As currently built the back-square is simply a square of plastic; without further views of the proper, which I doubt are forthcoming, there’s nothing more I can add that would be “canon.” However, that would be the obvious place for switches, controls, etc.
To finish the camera, I need a correct coiled cable. Unfortunately, this sort of thing doesn’t seem to be too common these days. It is larger than a phone headset cable, with the coil appearing to be about 1 inch/ 2.5 cm in diameter. Does anyone know of such a cable? There is no connection between the cable and the camera visible; I suspect on the prop the cable was simply jammed in a hole, glued or even taped on. However, some sort of reasonable “plug” would have to be included. On one hand, a USB plug would seem right… on the other hand, the “2001” aesthetic doesn’t exactly go for “simple and easy to use,” so a nightmarish cable coax fitting would almost seem right.
To compare with:
 Posted by at 8:57 am

The crossover the world needs

 art, awesomeness, humor, youtube  No Responses »
Jun 032023
 

It’s been long enough that “Dr. House” *could* make a comeback (he *might* be getting out of prison about now…). Saddling him with Dr. Murphy could be entertaining as hell. Will it happen? No, it’s about as likely as Disney making a good Star Wars movie. But it’s fun to think about.

 

 Posted by at 5:17 pm
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