Test Stand

 awesomeness, blather, models, science fiction  7 Responses »
Mar 022011
 

The trio of X-42’s require a trio of stands. I had some ideas  on the design and materials; but rather than charge ahead with all three and potentially do something stupid, I’ve been taking it a step at a time. And the first finished stand is not actually for the X-42s, but was a slightly smaller test article to make sure it all works right. Instead of a painted ID plate, a decal or “trophy shop” plate, I made one using very clear resin and text cut on a digital vinyl cutter. The letters are actually suspened about midway through the plate, which gives it a different look.

Overall I think it came out well. Only two real issues I have with it are the surface finish (I’ll have to do something different for the X-42 stands) and the rubber “feet” are overly thick for this stand.

What do y’all think?

So, what’s this stand for? Well… this:

Yes, yes, I know…

 Posted by at 6:17 pm

Current Model Projects

 aircraft, models, new products, projects, rockets, spacecraft  2 Responses »
Jan 292011
 

Three concurrent efforts:

1) 1/40 scale X-15A-3 display model, based on detailed NAA diagrams, in the same scale and style as the Topping X-15 display model. Not shown: X-15A-2 and X-15A-2/SERJ in same scale and style. Being made for a private collector.

2) 1/48 scale OSC X-42 reusable launch vehicle demonstrator. Also being made for a private collector.

3) 1/72 XSL-01 master being made for production as a kit.

Additional copies of the X-15’s and X-42 may be made available to other interested parties. These are not “hand made by Asian slave labor using Phillipine mahogany,” but are in fact made by hand by *me* largely from urethane resin. Consequently, they are more accurate and more expensive than the cheap crap out of Asia. If you might be interested, let me know.

 Posted by at 9:03 pm

MagCloud Bell D-188A available for a limited time

 aircraft, APR, awesomeness, books, drawings, history, models, new products, nukes, photography, projects, weapons  2 Responses »
Jan 292011
 

Yesterday I uploaded the first cut of the “Bell D-188A” booklet to MagCloud and ordered the proof. It should get here within a week. When it arrives, I will make some adjustments to the issue, up to and including passing it along to a graphic artist who may greatly change it to make it less dull-looking. In any event, I’ve decided to make this first draft available… until the proof arrives. When the proof arrives, the draft will be permanently withdrawn from availability. So think of this as an opportunity to buy a collectible.

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/157099

 Posted by at 9:03 am

Found on eBay: Rocketdyne NASP

 aircraft, eBay, history, models, projects, rockets, spacecraft  4 Responses »
Jan 262011
 

Someone is selling a display model of Rocketdyne’s NASP concept:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FACTORY-MODEL-ROCKETDYNE-X-30-NASP-PENWAL-TOPPING-EXC-/200568653586?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb2d2c712

This is obviously not the final X-30 NASP design, but an earlier concept when the engine manufacturers and airframe builders were still doing their own separate designs. This dates it to about the 1985-1987 timeframe.

The design itself, while representing the mid-1980’s state of the art, was by no means new. The basic shape of the vehicle was already well established by 1966 or so as one of the Lockheed CL-655 variants; that would be used as either a hypersonic single-stage long range vehicle, or a hypersonic first stage for a rocket powered (and Convair designed) second stage. The engines for the CL-655 were to be advanced air-breathers developed by Marquardt… but the exact engine layout, and even engine *type,* do not seem to have been finalized.

This is the same designl that I built a display model of for the Marquardt program manager. The model is now on display (well, as of 2004 or so) somewhere at NASA-MSFC.

By 1967 Lockheed had released more artwork of geometrically similar hypersonic manned vehicles, one a research vehicle, the other apparently a passenger transport.

Note the rocket engine at the tail for boost (probably a toroidal aerospike).

The same basic geometry was used at McDonnell-Douglas in 1973 for a hypersonic test vehicle:

And was used again by McDonnell-Douglas in their early NASP/hypersonic transport efforts:

And which was shamelessly stolen by me to help me flesh out the “Aurora” concept model that I mastered for Fantastic Plastic:

And finally, some Rocketdyne artwork of their NASP concept. Note that the leading edges of the wings are curved rather than straight:

The repetition of this same basic shape does not mean that aircraft designers are just lazy. It just means that this is a good shape for this sort of vehicle.

 Posted by at 1:36 pm

Request For Business

 awesomeness, blather, drawings, models, new products, nukes, projects, rockets, spacecraft  5 Responses »
Dec 212010
 

Two items:

1) Since I released the 10-by-70 inch Saturn V print, several people have inquired into getting a full-scale version of the print (as presented it’s about 1/3 the size of the original blueprint). The print shop that does these for me says they can do that, no sweat. It will require re-scanning the original at a higher resolution and some more tinkering… and it’ll cost substantially more to print. Based on what I’m hearing from the print shop, I’m looking at a price in the range of $200 for a print 36 inches wide by about 254 inches long (three feet by about 21.7 feet) . Before I take the plunge (I really can’t afford to stock items like this unless I know they’re gonna sell), I’m looking for interested parties. I’m not looking for payment just now (I need to do a partial test run to make sure the quality is up to code), but I am looking for people who would definitely be interested. Those who sign up now (by commenting in the affirmative below) will get 10% off whatever the final price winds up being. Keep in mind, there won’t be a whole lot of these made, so it’ll definitely be a collectors item.

2) And on the topic of “not a whole lot made” and “collectors item,” I’m also looking for people who’d be interested in a large-ish scale finished display model of Project Pluto. I had two signed up for a 1/48 version at $500, which was just enough to go ahead; but before I went ahead and told the prototyping shop to stereo-lith the parts, one customer backed out. So I’m looking for at least one more who’s interested for a Pluto/SLAM at 1/48 or larger (1/40 would put it in scale with other display models of the period, such as the Topping X-15).

 Posted by at 2:57 pm

Nukes!

 awesomeness, blather, books, drawings, history, models, new products, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, nukes, projects, spacecraft, weapons  8 Responses »
Dec 032010
 

Still working the Orion pulse unit & M388 “Davy Crockett” nuclear projectile drawings, but they are now at a point where it’s not embarassing to show ’em. The pulse unit is from the General Atomic design for the 10-meter USAF vehicle, and had a yield of about 1 kiloton. The M388 used a version of the W54 warhead, and had a yield of only 0.01 to 0.02 kilotons. However, other versions of the same basic W54 warhead had yields of up to a kiloton. The Davy Crockett dialed it back for two main reasons:

1) Low yield like this means *really* filthy. The Davy Crockett was designed to make a mass of the foreseen Soviet invasion of western Europe through the Fulda Gap; nuking the bejeebers out of the troops and turning the region into a frighteningly radioactive wasteland was thought to be an effective way of slowing the tide.

2) The range of the M388: pathetic. Down to one slim kilometer. While one can survive a 1 kiloton nuclear blast at a range of one kilometer… one would not want to try.

The Orion was to use existing nuclear explosive designs in the early stages, so it’s safe to assume that the W54 – which, as it happens, was designed by the same guy who designed the pulse units – was the expected basic nuclear explosive. And a comparison of the pulse unit to the M388 shows that they compare quite nicely.

The interior of the M388 as shown here is a bit sparse. Oddly, the DoD is not especially forthcoming with technical information regarding the interior configurations of their nuclear weapons. Strange. Additionally, posted below are three half-ass decent photos… the best versions of ’em I could scrape off the Intarweb tubes. Even with actual units on display at the museums at West Point and Fort Benning (and an oddly painted one at Aberdeen), there are surprisingly few photos of this thing on line.

Anybody near Fort Benning or West Point, and have a camera?

Now, be honest: who *wouldn’t* want one of these hanging from the ceiling, or sitting on the coffee table? Or loaded with a big solid rocket motor and a chute? Or stuck on the end of a big-ass spud gun?

 Posted by at 2:27 am

Probably a bad idea: own your own nuke

 blather, models, new products, nukes, spacecraft, weapons  21 Responses »
Nov 302010
 

As previously mentioned, I’m working on the chapter in the Orion book on pulse unit design and development. In the course of doing so, I’m working ona  series of scale drawings comparing the external configurations of the known pulse units with a few relevant nuclear weapons, including the M388 Davy Crockett battlefield bomb. And it occurs to me that the 10-meter Orion pulse unit, at 13 inches diameter and 24 inches long, and just maybe the Davy Crocket, at 11 inches diameter and 30 inches long, would be things that I could make full-scale replicas of using the equipment I have. While it would be beyond neato to lathe these out of solid aluminum, fiberglass makes a lot more sense.

Replicas like these, full scale, would be kinda pricey (upwards of $300 for finished display items, probably). Would anyone be interested?

 Posted by at 3:11 pm
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