This is what one model builder did with the 1/72 scale SA-43 “Hammerhead” kit that I mastered for Fantastic Plastic:
Jun 202011
Jun 202011
The universe as revealed by science is fricken’ awesome.
[vimeo 24410924]
If you can watch that and not get choked up… well, then you ain’t me.
Jun 202011
Oh, wow. THIS is how you do it!
The last two sentences of the letter are *classic.*
Jun 202011
An interesting map has recently been donated to the Library of Congress:
It’s a very well-executed piece of artwork, but as a map is of course dead wrong. Printed in 1890, it purports to show the “true” shape of the Earth, an odd mutant version of the “flat Earth” concept with the North Pole at the center. By the late 19th century, such concepts should have been astonishingly obviously wrong to any thinking person. Beyond all the other reasons, there’s the simple matter that if the world was truly shaped like this, sailing from South America to, say, Australia would be an incredibly long journey, with the shorter route being north past the Pole.
The Flat Earth notion seems to be linked with the Geocentric notion (the idea that the Earth is the fixed, unmoving center of the universe). Both beliefs in the age of science are based not on any real evidence, but generally on “scripture.”
Sadly, even in the late 19th century there were people who were willing to discount reason and evidence in favor of a firm belief in rubbish. Even MORE sadly, this holds true in the early 21st century. From Wiki:
Morris Berman quotes survey results that show currently some 20% of the USA population believe that the sun goes around the Earth (geocentricism) rather than the Earth goes around the sun (heliocentricism), while a further 9% claimed not to know.
This is tragic.
Jun 192011
Sadly, not a kit, but a wind tunnel model of the SCAT 15A configuration tested at NASA-Langley in 1963. At the time, variable geometry wings were all the rage in aeronautical design circles, but obviously they did not turn out to be as inevitable as many hoped.
Jun 192011
5SF shows the importance of early recognition of appreciation for what your dad has to teach you:
[youtube JsqHWqAkQIY]
Jun 182011
Needed to help build the numerous artificial gravity space stations that would soon bne orbiting the Earth…
Jun 182011
Watching ‘Jersey Shore’ might make you dumber, study suggests
Well, duh.
“Jersey Shore” is one of those shows that sucked me in for about two episodes. Long enough to figure out what was really going on, and to become kinda disgusted. It is clearly about the shallow dregs of society and how they have deluded themselves into thinking that by making themselves look like Oompa Loompas on steroids, they’re improving themselves. Sadly, by showing these genetic defectives with money ($100 K per idiot per episode) and attention, MTV and the rest of the media has only bolstered this view.
Similar shows:
“The Simple Life:” With Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton. At first, watching these two nithingrs “work” on farms was mildly entertaining until I saw the chaos and actual damage they were creating. My initial impression of them being vacuous airheads was replaced with an impression that they are actively evil. Not major evil, petty evil… but watching evil people do evil things to regular folks without any possibility of proper retribution was disheartening.
“Pimp My Ride:” At first I thought it was a neat show about a car modification shop doing some neat stuff for some deserving people for free. Then I realized a few things:
1: The cars weren’t generally improved in any meaningful way… if they were crappy fuel hogs going in, they were probably crappy fuel hogs coming out.
2: The cars were often loaded down with bling & appliances that appeared to cost more than not only the car, but the total financial worth of the owners. Which means that in order to keep the car, the owners insurance rates probably went through the roof.
3: The pimped-out cars were generally dropped off in Bad Neighborhoods. I’d be interested to know what the rate of theft or vandalization was on these vehicles.
“Hard Core Pawn:” At first I thought it was a show about the interesting things that people bring into pawn shops, such as is the case with “Pawn Stars.” However, it quickly became obvious that the items are just MacGuffins. The real show is about how just about everybody involved, staff and customers, is a horrible, horrible person that you’d in no way want to associate with.
Now, I’ve no problem with shows that focus on evil characters… even characters of *pathetic* petty evil. But shows that exalt incompetance and sub-mediocrity? Bleah.
Yes, yes, I know…
Jun 182011
A model I’ve wanted to build for *years* is one of the Small ICBM “Hard Mobile Launcher.” There were three different vehicles manufactured by three different companies; the one on my mind is the Boeing variant on non-display at the Hill Aerospace Museum. The time and effort involved in such an endeavor, with dubious hopes of payoff, have kept me from this one.
A recently mentioned, Revell later this year is going to re-release the 1/32 “Atomic Cannon.” It dawned on me that the two vehicle would look good next to each other. But a 1/32 scale model of a 110-foot-long truck would be a big, big thing, and thus kinda expensive. I have recently been making good headway with display models (I will shortly post photos of some recent and ongoing efforts), and so my thought for a large-scale HML would be to produce a limited number as finished display models. I half-jokingly posted this notion to another forum and did get one expression of interest, interest which apparently remained when I mentioned the pricetag. “Interest,” of course, does not count until money changes hands.
So, my question here is twofold:
1: Anyone interested? The price would be substantial, but less if there are more interested & paying aprties up front.
2: Is 1/32 the right scale? Seems that 1/35 is a more common “armor” scale, and is of course slightly smaller. Wouldn’t affect price a whole lot, but a few inches off the length might matter (about 41 inches for 1/32, about 38 for 1/35). However, the Atomic Cannon is only available in 1/32… and another difficult-to-find and expensive version at 1/40 scale (33 inches).
Jun 182011
Power Down: Senate Zaps Navy’s Superlaser, Railgun
The one undisputed role of the US FedGuv is to provide for the common defence of the nation. To do this, the US Military needs to be well equipped. In an era when backwards nations like Iran can orbit satellites, this means maintaining a high level of advanced weaponry. Which means *developing* advanced weaponry. And in recent years, considerable strides have been made in developing practical laser and railgun weapons. Strides sufficient enough that planners have been able to foresee actual deployment dates. Both systems would be invaluable in the defense of ships against the next generation of anti-ship missiles. Faster than ever, the new missiles are becoming increasingly difficult to intercept with missiles or traditional guns. Far higher velocities are required of the interceptors… and both the railgun and the laser promise just that.
But the Senate sees the future otherwise, and has slashed funding for both.
So if the Chinese field hypersonic anti-ship missiles and start taking out US carrier battle groups… you know who to thank.
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|