Finally picked up the final piece – I hope – in the puzzle of making large format vellum cyanotype blueprints reliably and with high quality: a sheet of plexiglass 2 feet wide, 6.5 feet long and 3/8 inch thick. So I hope within a few days – weather and whatnot permitting – I’ll start offering them on a regular basis.
A few years back I received in trade a number of diazo “blueprints” (white paper, blue lines). tucked in among ’em were a number of SST diagrams, including two very large & detailed Boeing 2707 layouts… the original 2707 (swing wing) and 2707-200 (swing wing & canard). These were about 3 feet by 8… very big. And as with virtually all blueprints that were actually made to be used, they were folded, not rolled. Having been folded for 40+ years meant that they were a scanning nightmare… the paper was very stiff, and had it been fed through a large format scanner it would have produced dismal results. The best way to deal with such prints is to unfold them an either compress them (impossible give the size) or roll them up, and leave them to st for several months. I rolled them up. And forget them for several *years.* Just found ’em again. They are fragile, but have “relaxed” from being folded, and are now happily cylindrical.
I think they’d make dandy cyanotypes. They would have to be smaller than the originals, however… 2 feet by 5. Anyone interested? They’d be pretty pricy, on the order of $80-$100. But you’d be the only kid on your block with one…
I’ve made many test runs and made considerable progress. I’ve also run out of supplies and need to improve the mechanical infrastructure. so I’ve decided to sell the “prototypes” I’ve made. These are indeed prototypes, and more to the point they are prototypes of art, so they are imperfect and variable… but they’re nevertheless pretty spiffy. These are actual cyanotype blueprints on actual vellum, an they not only look right (based on the vintage blueprints I’ve actually gotten my mitts on), they *feel* right. The failure rate is pretty high compare to the watercolor paper, but the results are much more authentic.
I currently only have a few of each. If you would like one or more of the following, send an email stating which ones to: 
On a first come first served basis I’ll pass along a paypal invoice. Postage (tubes) will be $6 US, $12 everywhere else for any number.
I will update this post with revised availability numbers. When more supplies and improved infrastructure is on hand I’ll make new prints for those that requested them.
Here’s what I have (the 12X18’s were mae two at a time on 18X24 sheets an will be sliced apart):
Convair super Hustler~20X36; $70. On hand: 2 1 0
Saturn V, 1/72: messed up by being a mirror-image. D’oh. Would look good at a distance. This mirror image is $35; the final product will be $75. on hand: 1
Saturn Ib, 1/72: $40 On hand: 1
A-4 (V-2) layout drawing, 18X24 inches: $40. On hand: 4 3
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A-4 (V-2) rocket engine, 18X24 inches. $40. On hand: 1
ICARUS, 12×18; $20. On hand: 1
Super NEXUS,12×18; $20. On hand: 0
A-4 (V-2) engine,12×18; $20. On hand: 1
A-4 (V-2) layout,12×18; $20. On hand: 1 0
10-meter Orion, 12×18; $20. On hand: 1
NERVA diagram, 12×18; $20. On hand: 1
Mercury prelaunch configuration, 12×18; $20. On hand: 2
Fat Man atom bomb, 12×18; $20. On hand: 2
Wasserfall layout, 12×18; $20. On hand: 0
Nuclear Light Bulb, 12×18; $20. On hand: 0
Mercury inboard views,12×18; $20. On hand: 1
Mercury capsule instruments, 12×18; $20. On hand: 0
Pioneer plaque, 12×18; $20. On hand: 2
Gemini capsule, 12×18; $20. On hand: 5
NERVA art, 12×18; $20. On hand: 0
4,000 ton Orion propulsion module, 12×18; $20. On hand: 1
XNJ-1 nuclear turbojet, 12×18; $20. On hand: 3
X-15A-3 delta-wing, 12×18; $20. On hand: 3 2 1
Gemini (see above)
F-1 engine components, 12×18; $20. On hand: 3
Republic ASP exterior, 12×18; $20. On hand: 0
Republic ASP interior, 12×18; $20. On hand: 0
As the more astute long-term blog readers might have noticed, things have been off around here for a little while. I’ve been traveling, and now I’m back… entertainingly ill. Yay. Things will pick up when they pick up; but for the moment I’m well behind on a number of projects, most notably several model projects.
There will be a new 12X18 cyanotype set available shortly, along with selling off some of the vellum cyanotype prototypes. Boarding the cats was not cheap.
And speaking of which: the time seemed to do Marvin some good. I was afraid the stress would kill her; instead, she has not only fluffed out, she has also attained a nearly spherical geometry.
More soonish.
More
Shazam…
Saturn Ib and Saturn V vellum blueprints. While these are undeniably awesome, I wonder how they’d look larger. As is, they are 1/72 scale. I bet they’d be fantastic at 1/48 scale.
Test runs of vellum cyanotype blueprinting using 18X24 sheets. V-2 overview and V-2 engine. These are *almost* exactly what a vintage blueprint would look and feel like. They are not perfectly flat… but then, I’ve never encountered a vintage blueprint that was actually flat. The vast majority I’ve seen were actually folded; these were rolled.
A craptacular cell phone photo showing the vellum cyanotype blueprint of the NERVA rocket engine processing in direct sunlight, with an industry standard feline scale reference.
I do need to produce some better photos to show the results. It’s really quite good.
I just ran both of the 1/72 Saturn V cyanotypes. I can now confirm that even though there was some discontinuity in the paper, making dye absorption a bit uneven, the process works, the frame works, an the results are pretty spectacular. I can also confirm that in both runs, I put the friggen transparency in upside down, producing mirror images of the blueprints. Aaaarrrrrrgh.
I’ve been tinkering with vellum. I’ve found to my serious annoyance that the most available vellum, that produced by Clearprint, is damn near water repellant; getting the cyanotyping fluid to soak in has proven to be a challenge that I have so far failed to adequately succeed at. The results are, when I work really, really hard and expend a lot of the fluid, at best “meh.” Another brand, Pacific Arc, which seems to be available solely through Hobby Lobby, is substantially more receptive to the fluid. About half the time, the results are “fricken’ awesome.” Half the time, “meh.”
Today I finally took delivery of large format transparencies. Included are the masks for the 1/72 Saturn V and Ib diagrams, several V-2 diagrams (an engine diagram for 18X24 and a layout w/profiles for 18X24, and a very large V-2 cutaway), a large NERVA diagram, and a large bit of NERVA artwork that I have doubts about. I’ve successfully made 18X24 cyanotpyes on vellum for the two V-2 diagrams… and all goes well, tomorrow, two trials of the nearly 6-foot-long Saturn V.
Back in the day, cyanotyping was apparently a straightforward process, with machines that would make sure that results were good an uniform and cost effective. I’m still working on trying to obtain uniformity, but I’m getting closer. Vellum is a lot more challenging in that respect than watercolor paper, but when it all works right, the results can be spectacular.
Those of you who contributed to the “Space Station V/new computer project,” guess what’s coming…
