Not the most revealing video, but this shows the restored NCC-1701 USS Enterprise filming miniature on display at the National Air & Space Museum:
A photo gallery showing the model in its new state is available HERE. Alright, nerds, commence ta fightin’! What’d they get wrong? What blasphemous errors were made?
A photo of a McDonnell Douglas X-30 NASP display model that has seen better days. Has anyone seen another copy of this model, or art depicting the same configuration? The tails on both sides are missing, so reconstruction without references would be at best speculation.
The configuration seems fairly generic. McD released a lot of art on the NASP back in the day, along with the vaguely-related “Orient Express” idea for a hypersonic transport. While the NASP and the OE were *not* the same vehicle, they were meant to at least share some similar technologies, but the aerodynamics was something that differed substantially, for example, here’s a McD Orient Express model in the National Air and Space Museum:
The two clearly come from the same line of thinking, but the NASP has a much deeper fuselage. This makes sense… going to orbit as an SSTO requires stuffing as much fuel as possible into the fuselage, and the relatively flat HST has a less efficient volumetric efficiency.
A client has asked me about restoring one, made by the Lockheed model department back in the day. I’d like to see another, more-or-less intact one to nail down some questions I have. Anybody know of such a thing?
What’s the use of a gunship without guns?
The Tachi/Rocinante looks best with its PDCs out…
I’m looking for good diagrams of the Lockheed XF-90, especially cross-sections of the fuselage. Here’s where it gets a little weird: I need to be able to accurately 3D CAD model the XF-90… but it’s not for an XF-90 kit.
More later (of course, the first to provide such diagrams gets the full lowdown on what’s up).
This 1/48 kit should be pretty straightforward to assemble. The hollow construction should also allow more enthusiastic modelers to scratchbuild an interior if so desired. Not shown: an astronaut figure, currently being made the old fashioned way (plastic and sculpting).
Getting close-ish…
After comments and some discussion, I’ve slightly revised the MIS ship. The forward fuselage is slimmer, the aft flare more pronounced; the details on the aft flare changed a bit. The top version is the previous iteration of the design. Comments?
Well, here it is. There’s still a bit of time yet before it needs to be shipped off to be 3D printed, so if you see something that you think needs to be added or changed, let me know. Not shown here is the airlock door (fits flush). Also not shown is a yet-to-be-sculpted *probable* astronaut doing a spacewalk. A metal rod would connect the spaceship to the base.
This model is to be made available through Fantastic Plastic and will be 1/48 scale, a bit over 9″ long.
UPDATE: turns out there’s a book about “Men Into Space.” Anybody know if it’s any good? Specifically… good imagery, diagrams, etc.?
I have someone who wants me to make some CAD models for large-scale replicas, but I haven’t the necessary reference materials. Can anyone help?
1: Planck space telescope
2: ESA Exomars rover
3: Spaceship Two
Any assistance, pointers, data packages, whatever, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.