Proposed Cyanotypes

 aircraft, art, cyanotype blueprints, drawings, history, Hmm..., new products, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  7 Responses »
Dec 032015
 

I’m planning on producing some new cyanotype blueprints at some point. Some will be copies of vintage blueprints, but some will be all-new CAD diagrams. Below are some CAD diagrams at various stages of completion. All are based on a 10-inch by 40-inch format; this will make them appropriate for folding into a book, or hanging on a wall. They would go for $25 per sheet as cyanotypes; I might also do them in frosted (white) mylar for probably a bit cheaper and maybe on regular paper for a lot cheaper. However, before plowing ahead I’d be interested in feedback… which of these are of interest? Which might you actually plunk down funds for? Additionally: I’ve produced a *lot* of CAD diagrams for APR and USXP. Is there anything I’ve done you’d like to see expanded out like this?

1: USAF 10-meter Orion, two sheets, 1/96 scale

NPP-0500X-Model

2: Have Sting orbital railgun, one sheet, 1/200 scale

ussp03-02-wide railgun-Model

3: X-15A-3, 1 sheet, 1/35 scaleussp 02-03 wide X15A-3-Model

4: Rockwell MRCC, 1 sheet, 1/60 scaleusbp-12-107 wide rockwell MRCC-Model

5: Rockwell D645-3, one sheet, 1/144 scaleusbp-07-104 wide rockwell d645-3-Model

6: X-20/Titan IIIc, two sheets, 1/72 scalemisc-132 wide X-20-Titan III-Model

7: XB-70, one sheet, 1/144 scalemisc-127 wide XB-70-Model

8: ITHACUS troop transport, two sheets, 1/200 scale

ustp04-002-1 wide ithacus-Model

 Posted by at 11:26 pm

Pax Orionis update

 art, blather, books, history, My Fiction, news, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, Patreon, Pax Orionis, science fiction, spacecraft  2 Responses »
Nov 112015
 

I released a two-part tale in the Pax Orionis series back in September, but nothing since. Partially due to travel, partially due to stress not being terribly conducive to creative writing. nevertheless, I’ve been writing, and am within spitting distance of finishing the next yarn, “The Blast from Jackass Flats.” The earlier two-parter told of an incident during the Great War of 1984 from the viewpoint of civilians on the surface, with Orion spacecraft way off in the distance; this next story deals explicitly with an important incident in the history of the Orion program. It will almost certainly be a one-parter rather than two.

Most of the Pax Orionis stories will be in different styles. This one is in the style of an author trying to tell the story from some time later. The author is perhaps overly interested in technical details…

If interested, please take a look at and consider signing on to the Pax Orionis Patreon. Only a buck!

 Posted by at 1:35 pm

Conceptual Casaba Howitzer

 awesomeness, drawings, history, Hmm..., My Fiction, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, science, science fiction, spacecraft, weapons  20 Responses »
Sep 282015
 

I’ve been pondering the Casaba Howitzer weapon system for a decade now. When I re-issued Aerospace Projects Review V2N2 some years back I published a few images of what I thought it might look like; since then I’ve done some rethinking. As to the weapon itself, and exactly how it worked, and how well it worked… I’ve got no data, and no good idea of how to make it work, so that hasn’t changed. But the control systems for the weapon? Those have evolved in my thinking.

Here’s an overall view of my idea for a Casaba Howitzer preparing to fire:

Casaba

And here’s a layout drawing of the same:

PAX-0004 Casaba 1st gen-Model

Feel free to discuss.

The full-rez version of the layout drawing is available in the second Pax Orionis installment. If interested, check out the Pax Orionis Patreon.

becomeapatron

 Posted by at 7:50 am

Pax Orionis: Next installment nearly ready

 books, drawings, My Fiction, new products, news, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, rockets, science fiction, spacecraft  1 Response »
Sep 182015
 

Just a few minor things (conversion to PDF & EPUB, uploading, stuff like that) and the second Pax Orionis installment will be posted. This will be “The Deadliest Catch, Part Two,” the conclusion to that particular tale. The bonus will include diagrams and data on the first generation Casaba Howitzer weapon (which has evolved substantially from when i first illustrated it for the pages of APR issue V2N2, years ago), derived from the Orion pulse unit, and a short media piece that fits in with the one included last time. I plan on posting this tomorrow (Saturday).

Patrons who are signed up *before* the story is released will automatically get the story as soon as it’s published. If you sign up *after* the story is published, you won’t automatically get it… but you won’t be charged for it, either. However, patrons may purchase “back issues” for the same price, so you can catch up without any trouble. Each tale is only a buck; with the bonus diagrams and technical discussion, only one additional buck.

If interested, check out the Pax Orionis Patron.

becomeapatron

Feel free to tell anyone you think might be interested.

 Posted by at 8:51 am

Pax Orionis: Casaba Howitzer

 APR, history, Hmm..., My Fiction, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, projects, science fiction, spacecraft  8 Responses »
Sep 162015
 

One of the more interesting, but less known, aspect of the Orion program was code named “Casaba Howitzer.” Little is known of this, except that pulse unit technology was somehow adapted to turn the device into a single-shot nuclear directed energy weapon. The propellant was somehow collimated into a tight “beam” that would be able to destroy enemy warheads out in space at some considerable distance. Just what that distance would be, though, remains clouded by Classification.

I created a simple provisional concept for Casaba Howitzer for issue V2N2 of Aerospace Projects Review. Since then… I’ve found out no new info on CH. But I’ve put considerable thought into the thing, and have redesigned my concept. Since the design is all mine, it’s usefulness in a factual history of Orion is minimal, but it’s great for fiction. And so I’m working on a set of diagrams for CH for Pax Orionis, and will include layouts of the “deployed” Casaba Howitzer configuration with the next release. Other diagrams will show the launch configuration as well as internal layouts.

If interested, check out the Pax Orionis Patron.

becomeapatron

 Posted by at 9:51 am

Pax Orionis: back issues and such

 blather, drawings, My Fiction, news, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, rockets, science fiction, spacecraft  No Responses »
Sep 142015
 

The first Pax Orionis yarn was posted for patrons at the PS Patreon just a few days ago. Several people signed up afterwards, which meant that they got left out of the first issue. It’s perhaps something of a flaw or shortfall in the system. But I’ve worked out a simple solution: back issues. If you sign up for the Pax Orionis Patreon campaign, you can now purchase each “back issue.” Two dollars per issue is the current goign rate on the Patreon that nets you the story, the Technical Diagram and another bonus feature; that same price will get you those things in the back issue.

Currently there is only the one back issue available. But if you sign up for the Patreon campaign, you can read everything, right from the start. The stories are available as both PDF and EPUB (you get both versions).

becomeapatron

The first story released was “The Deadliest Catch, Part One,” and the first technical diagram is of the USS Orion, the first nuclear pulse flight test article in the Pax Orionis world.

PAX-0002-Model

—————-

On other Pax Orionis matters, here is the current listing of foreseen technical diagrams:

PAX_diagrams

And here is the current list of chapter titles, in rough chronological (story timeline order:

“The Box”

“Magicians”

“Orion Rises”

“The Blast from Jackass Flats”

“Weapons Test”

“Weapons Test 2”

“Mission to Mars”

“Knock knock”

“Uranium Exploration for Fun and Profit”

“The Burning Desert”

“Down in the Weeds”

“Deadliest Catch”

“Windows over the War”

“Hyperbolic Excess”

“The Hole”

“The Blue Dot”

“Things Blow Up”

“Leviathan”

“Every Man a King, Every Cabin Steerage”

“Sailing the Rocks”

“Over the Ice”

“Into the Deep”

 

 Posted by at 2:26 pm

Pax Orionis: First story up at the Patreon

 art, books, drawings, My Fiction, new products, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, rockets, science fiction, spacecraft  4 Responses »
Sep 112015
 

The first story is now available for Pax Orionis patrons. This is available for the low, low price of only a buck. But if you pledge $2 or more, you get not only the story – “The Deadliest Catch, Part One” – but also a Technical Diagram and description of the USS Orion test flight article, and a bonus news article, the first of a number that will tell a tale.

becomeapatron

 Posted by at 11:26 pm

Pax Orionis Patreon: Now Online

 art, blather, books, drawings, My Fiction, new products, news, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, Patreon, Pax Orionis, projects, rockets, science fiction, spacecraft  2 Responses »
Sep 082015
 

 

The Pax Orionis Patreon is now online. It’s a little bare, but it at least seems to be up and running.  The first piece of fiction and a tech diagram will be ready in a few days, so the first patrons will be kinda guinea pigs. With this system, patrons get charged when new stuff is made available, rather than on a strict monthly schedule.

So if’n you’ve got a hankering for stories about an alternate history with extra nuclear wars and spacelanes filled with atom bomb powered spacecraft, I got ya covered.

POPat

 Posted by at 6:48 pm
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