Nova/Post-Saturn Model Collection

 history, models, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Feb 092019
 

Discussions with Fantastic Plastic about model sets of large boosters is starting to focus on the Nova/Post Saturn collection for the initial release. Scale is likely to be 1/700 ( the smaller boosters aren’t *too* small, the bigger boosters are impressive and it will go with any of a number of existing ship model kits), and the current lineup is shown below.

Picking which designs to include and which to exclude is a bit of trick with the Nova/Post-Saturn line, as there were literally *hundreds* of designs worthy of consideration. If anyone has a suggestion for some other design you’re dying to see, let me know. The “inches” scale bar here is for the models at 1/288 scale… which this model set assuredly *won’t* be. Fantastic Plastic has previously released a 1/288 ROMBUS and a 1/288 NEXUS and *may* release 1/288 scale models of some of the others as individual kits… but the Sea Dragon and the Super-NEXUS would be *huge.* Once the collection is finalized a single display base will be sketched out.

 

 

 Posted by at 1:10 am

A new type of 3D printer

 art, awesomeness, Hmm..., models, science, youtube  No Responses »
Feb 032019
 

The results as shown in the video below are pretty… well, awful. But the idea is neater’n heck, and if they can nail down precision, this has the potential to be a bit of a game changer for certain applications. Smooth-surfaced optically clear parts that can be finished in two minutes? Yep, there are possibilities.

 Posted by at 5:21 pm

SPS Launchers: A Collection

 art, awesomeness, history, Hmm..., models, projects, rockets, US Launch Vehicle Projects  No Responses »
Dec 272018
 

Continuing to rough out some Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle CAD models. Instead of lumping them all together I’m breaking them into “genres,” partially because my computer is starting to balk at the the size of the full collection. Below is the “Solar Power Satellite Launchers” collection. Included, from left to right, Rockwell Star Raker, Boeing TSTO, Boeing “Big Onion” SSTO, Saturn V, NASA Personnel Launch System ( a Shuttle derived design), Boeing Space Freighter, NASA-JSC HLLV. There are a few more designs that could probably be added to this collection. Suggestions?

As previously indicated, there is a good chance of a 1/288 scale model of some of the designs such as the Saturn V and the Star Raker. But *all* of them? Probably not in that scale. What seems reasonable is something akin to the old Monogram “missile collection” kits, with all of the HLLVs in something like 1/500 or 1/700 scale. A similar collection of Nova/Post-Saturn boosters is possible.

The Space Freighter would be substantially impressive in 1/288… but really rather enormous.

 Posted by at 5:04 pm

Anyone recognize this Navaho model?

 aircraft, art, awesomeness, history, Hmm..., models, nukes, rockets  No Responses »
Dec 222018
 

I was sent this photo of a large scale model of the North American SM-64 “Navaho” two-stage cruise missile. The model, largely made from clear plexiglas, was some years ago on display in a Quonset hut at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California. Sometime after this photo was taken the museum was shut down, reworked and re-opened, and after that the museum was no longer in evidence. The photographer wishes to know what became of this model. Anyone know?

 Posted by at 4:59 pm

That’s a lotta rockets

 art, history, models, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 222018
 

There are a vast number of heavy lift launch vehicles that have been designed over the years, but I think I’ve captured a pretty good selection here. Two of them, the Douglas ROOST and the Martin RENova, are depicted with their recovered configurations, but if models were made these options would likely not be included. They were done for future diagramming purposes. All of the models here are pretty basic, missing a whole lot of detail; I put these together quickly to check out scale and judge interest.

 Posted by at 1:57 am

Making the Saturn V look small

 art, awesomeness, history, Hmm..., models, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 172018
 

Below are some renders of a number of 3D CAD models of launch vehicles. Most are currently extremely basic… accurate to size and shape, but lacking details. The intent on most of them is to use them for diagramming purposes… but the possibility exists of using them as the basis for 1/288 scale display models. To that end they would probably be designed for simplicity and low parts count rather than complexity and the ability to display them with stages separate.

As can be seen, a lot of them make the Saturn V seem fairly puny. From left to right: the Boeing MLLV in its most capable form, fully stretched with a dozen 260-inch solid rocket boosters; Aerojet Sea Dragon; Rockwell Star Raker; Boeing “Big Onion” SPS launcher; Martin T10RR-3C Nova/Post-Saturn booster; early Nova “Saturn C-8;” Saturn V; Soviet N-1; Block 1 SLS; Block 1b SLS; New Glenn (scale estimated because the dimensions given for lengths and diameters don’t match up with renderings of the New Glenn).

Keep in mind, *all* of these were or are seriously considered by aerospace engineers based on the requirements of the launch market as they were then understood. Today, the markets to support these, with the possible exception of the New Glenn, simply don’t exist. But back when the Apollo program was still growing, the rocket designers of the time were seemingly convinced that the market for stuff being put into space was only going to grow exponentially.

If you might be interested in any of these as a model kit, let me know.

 Posted by at 3:03 am

Early nuclear-electric spacecraft

 history, models, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Dec 072018
 

A NASA model circa 1959 illustrating the general configuration of a nuclear-electric spacecraft for the exploration of Mars. While apparently not meant to represent a serious design proposal, the general configuration is much the same as those created decades later. It features a nuclear reactor at the nose, a long boom with a pair of radiators to get rid of the heat produced by the reactor, and payload at the tail. Payload includes crew areas and an indistinct lander. The ring at the rear is the “propellant accelerator,” which is not described; presumably it is a structural ring holding a bank of ion engines or the like.

Note that the radiators are tapered. This is common in such designs: the gamma ray and neutron shields behind the reactor only block a relatively small portion of the emitted radiation. The radiators fit within that shadowed cone; if the radiators projected out into the unshielded volume, not only could the radiation do some damage to the structural materials it would also heat them up… defeating the whole point of radiators.

This basic layout would still be applicable today, with the main difference being that the engines might well be located elsewhere, firing in a different direction. The reactor could well be at the tail; leaving the engines where they are would turn the long boom into a structure in tension, meaning that the reactor would be “hanging” down. This would be structurally more efficient… after all, the reactor could certainly hang from a string, but a ship could hardly push on a string. Or the engines could be located near the ships center of gravity, firing “sideways.” This would be trickier for the boom, but if the engines are indeed low-thrust ion engines, the forces involved would be almost negligible. Or with a similar arrangement the ship could be made to tumble end over end; with the engines at the CG they could continue to fire “sideways” while the crew enjoyed at least some measure of artificial gravity.

 Posted by at 10:55 am

Star Raker: Not Small

 aircraft, awesomeness, history, Hmm..., models, projects, rockets, spacecraft, US Launch Vehicle Projects  No Responses »
Dec 042018
 

As previously mentioned, I’m tapping away at a CAD model of the Star Raker for the primary purpose of diagrams & art for the next issue of US Launch Vehicle Projects, and the secondary goal of a model kit. The plan at this time is to produce the Star Raker as a 1/288 scale model. That’s a slightly unusual scale; most launch vehicle models are in 1/144 or even 1/72 scale. But the Star Raker… she was huge. It was a horizontal takeoff airbreathing single stage spaceplane designed not to resupply a  space station or any such trivial task, but to deliver to low Earth orbit the raw materials with which to build solar power satellites. it’s payload would have been small by the reckoning of most SPS launchers, which tended to have megapound-class payload capacities, but it still would have rivaled the Saturn V. To do that with a winged vehicle meant that its wings were vast, spanning 375 feet.

Here is a basic render of the model as it currently stand. the overlaid grid shows how big the 1/288 kit will be: each grid is one inch. You would not feel ashamed to have this sit on your desk or bookshelf.

My goal with this model is to have a relative *few* bits of extra details. Cockpit and landing gear would be tiny and pretty much infeasible at this scale, and there were no underslung weapons or gun turret or any such thing. Consequently the part count should be low. The model is being designed for the best simplicity possible in order to keep the price as low as feasible. A model kit is as yet not a sure thing. So if you know anyone who might be interested, let them know.

Something I think might look good, once the USLP project is done, is to continue with the diagramming and go into some detail and produce a large-format print of some kind, either cyanotype or mylar…

 Posted by at 8:16 pm

Neutral Particle Beam weapon mockup

 history, Hmm..., models, projects, spacecraft, weapons  No Responses »
Nov 212018
 

A while back a 1987 press image was posted on ebay showing a McDonnell-Douglas full scale mockup of a Neutral Particle Beam weapon system. This would have been an experimental system, not an operational weapon; details on full-scale NPB weapons are *very* hard to come by, but the smallest NPB weapon system that I’ve seen anything remotely resembling hard data on would have required a non-trivial number of Shuttle-derived heavy lift launch vehicles to put into orbit a piece at a time. Some references – extremely vague ones – have even made mention of dimensions for the full-scale weapons being measured in kilometers.

The purpose of this system would likely have been to simply show that a neutral particle beam could be reliably generated and directed at an orbiting target some decent distance away. While it would likely be very unhealthy to be int he way of such a beam, it’s weapons potential would doubtless have been low… thus the need for vastly scaled-up operational versions.

 Posted by at 3:23 am
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