The first metal minis – 1/144 X-20, 1/285 X-20, 1/285 XF-103, 1/285 XF-108 – have been cast, cleaned and assembled. I’ve got enough to take care of the existing crowdfunders; I plan on trying to make a go of the 1/285 X-15s as well. However, the main mold is already falling to bits, so there are still improvements to be made to the process.
For future versions… should I cast them with a “peg hole” in the underside to put on a standard stand, or just leave them as they are?
A general arrangement diagram of the Douglas Model D-3203-29. This was a modified DC-9-50, appears to be the basic design for the MD-80, dated 7-26-1977.
The full-rez scan (more than ten times larger than this one) has been made available as a bonus to above-$10 subscribers and Patrons. If interested in such things, consider subscribing:
It’s been a while since anyone has come close to killing a US President or former President. Has there been anyone since Hinkley/Reagan that came this close?
The rest of the campaign season is liable to be jam-packed with political violence. There has not been a serious Presidential contender as thoroughly vilified by the opposition as Trump in many years; and given that the far left was *already* bugnuts, the nonstop “Trump = Hitler” drumbeat surely is driving many right around the bend.
As they say, though… when you go after the King, don’t miss.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1812258574049157405
I’ve shut down production of cyanotype blueprints for the time being. What I’ve got is what there is; I’ll leave the catalog page up while I still have a supply, but I’ll shut it down when I run low and sell the rest on ebay. Get ’em while ya can.
https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm
A day late, but I’ve sent out the June 2024 rewards to APR Patrons/Subscribers. Includes:
1: A pack of X-30 NASP propaganda. Seven double-sided 8X10 glossies, a double-sided poster, a bumper sticker and an emblem sticker.
2: “Non-Planing Seaplane Study” by Convair, 196. Two presentations; The $4 and up subscribers get not only the cleaned-up report, but the original as-scanned negative-image transparencies. marvel at the liberal use not of white-out but of black-out.
3: Detailed diagram of the KC-135 (1/40 scale model)
4: In lieu of a CAD diagram, first public art of the F-117A, 1988
If you are interested in helping to preserve this sort of aerospace history, consider signing up for the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program for as little as $1.50 per month:
https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm
I did my best to stitch together this two-page magazine ad. Dating from 1986, it shows missile programs then underway at Martin-Marietta; front and center is the Small ICBM (“Midgetman”) in its Hard Mobile Launcher. The HML would wander seemingly at random around the western US, being difficult to track and target by the Soviets. When the time came, the trailer would be dropped off and the suspension collapsed to lower the trailer to the ground; sloped shells would drop to the ground. In the event of a nearby nuclear detonation, it was hoped that the shockwave would roll over the shell without excessively damaging the trailer. Then the missile launch tube would be raised and the missile fired, sending a single warhead across the planet. The tractor for this version was designed and built by Caterpillar and used rubbed treads, unlike the wheeled Boeing competitors.
Image below is a reduced-rez version of the full scan. The full image has been made available as a thank-you to APR Patreon and Historical Documents Program patrons at the $4 and above level, placed in the 2024-06 APR Extras. If interested in this piece or if you are interested in helping to fund the preservation of this sort of thing, please consider becoming a patron, either through the APR Patreon or the Monthly Historical Document Program.
Videos have come out showing President Biden doing bad things (specifically, acting like what he is: an elderly man who is well into cognitive and physical decline), and his PR machine is spooling up the defense that the videos are “cheap fakes” and “deep fakes.” The videos are clearly *not* fakes, neither “cheap” nor “deep,” but have in most cases been shot by reputable media sources and broadcast on national news. However, we’re now at the point where people are coming to know and understand deep fakes, and as I’ve been saying for a long time, bad actors will start claiming that valid videos of them behaving poorly are actually deep fakes.
The era of video as useful evidence is coming to an end. They’ll be good for a while longer, but not much longer. In maybe five years, the courts will be in complete chaos as every defendant on trial who was seen by cell phones or security cameras will be able to rightly claim that deep faking is now so easy that it would be simplicity itself for the prosecution to slap it together over lunch.
Via the University of Alabama, Huntsville archive, a 1942 cutaway diagram of the German A-4 (“V-2”) ballistic rocket.
I’ve uploaded the full rez version into the 2024-06 APR Extras folder for subscribers/patron at the $4 level and above.
There is a constant war between sane people and those who want to neuter the English language in order to make it safer and more politically correct. One aspect of that the desire to remove from common parlance phrases that originate with firearms. For example:
https://grandparentsforgunsafety.org/gun-violence-facts/words-matter/
We speak casually about dodging a bullet… shooting the breeze… taking aim and smoking guns. The language of gun violence is pervasive in our culture.But it doesn’t need to be that way. We can be conscious of the phrases and metaphors from our vocabulary and begin to change the conversation about gun violence one word at a time.
Or, and here’s a thought, use these and similar phrases *more.* Normalize firearms in everyday speech.
This is not a complete list; I’m sure there are more. Feel free to comment.
ammunition
armed with the facts
aim for
at the end of a gun
bang to rights
best shot
big guns
big shot
bite the bullet
blaze away
broadside
brought a knife to a gunfight
bullet-points
bullet-proof
bullet train
bull’s eye
cannon fodder
caught in the crossfire
cheap shot
circular firing squad
dead eye
dodged a bullet
don’t shoot the messenger
even shot
faster than a speeding bullet
finger on the trigger
fire away
fire back
fire for effect
firing blanks
firing line
firing squad
flash in the pan
full bore
go ballistic
great guns
gun down
gun it
gun shy
gunning for someone
half-cocked
hang fire
have a shot at
heavy artillery
high caliber
hired gun
held a gun to my head
hot shot
hotter than a $3 pistol
in my sights
in the crosshairs
in the line of fire
itchy trigger finger
jumped the gun
Just shoot me!
keep your ammo dry
like shooting fish in a barrel
lock, stock and barrel
lock and load
long shot
loose cannon
magic bullet
misfired
missed the mark
more bang for your buck
moving target
number one with a bullet
outgunned
on target
open fire
parting shot
point blank
point & shoot
pot shot
powderkeg
pull the trigger
quick on the draw
quick on the trigger
rapid fire
ready, aim, fire
riding shotgun
rifle through
scattershot
set your sights on
she/he is a pistol
shoot blanks
shoot down in flames
shoot first, ask questions later
shoot for
shoot for the moon
shoot from the hip
shoot me an email
shoot off your mouth
shoot on sight
shoot out
shoot the breeze
shot across the bow
shot down
shot in the dark
shot myself in the foot
shot to hell
shotgun apartment
shotgun seat
shotgun wedding
shots fired
silver bullet
slow on the draw
small bore
smoking gun
son of a gun
stick to my guns
straight down the barrel
straight shooter
sun’s out, guns out
surefire
sweating bullets
take aim
take a shot
target market
top gun
trigger a response
trigger alert
trigger happy
trigger law
trigger warning
triggered
trip your trigger
turkey shoot
under fire
under the gun
welcome to the gunshow
whole nine yards
whole shooting match
with both barrels
with guns blazing
worth a shot
you could fire a cannon down the street and not hit anyone
young guns
So after having the 3D printer for a while and running a *lot* of resin through it, I have achieved some good things. I’ve learned enough to know that there are some things that I plan on producing as full 3D-printed kits, some to be converted into metal castings. I have a few product lines that I want to do:
1: 1/285 (wargaming scale) “minis” of a range of appropriately sized unusual, rare, interesting and projected aircraft/spacecraft
2: “Mini”-sized, but of various scale, aircraft and spacecraft to go with each issue of US Aerospace Projects
3: 1/18 scale models of each American nuclear bomb/warhead/re-entry vehicle. This will range from the downright dinky to the “I’m not sure how to squeeze this out of the printer,” like the Mk 17 and the Flashback. I’ve successfully printed prototypes of the Fat Man and Little Boy A-bombs in 1/18, but they need to be revised.
4: Just whatever strikes my fancy by way of interesting aerospace/sci-fi concepts.
The eventual 3D printed kits will be pricier than if they were cast resin “garage” kits, but this will allow me to make them on demand. I hope there is interest in this sort of thing. To that end, and to help refill my depleted coffers, I’m making available a “crowdfunding” project with three levels. What you will receive are the actual 3D printed components. Each level builds on the prior… Level 2 gets you the Level 1 stuff, Level 3 gets you 1 and 2. No additional postage is required for continental US address… Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the rest of the world, contact me and I’ll work out the additional postage cost.
Note: many of these are “prototype” kits, with revisions and improvements possible or even probable. And some of these are not planned to be released further. This will be your only chance to get them, at least in this format.
Level 1. You will receive:
1/285 X-20 Dyna Soar spaceplane
1/285 XF-103 Mach 3 interceptor
1/285 Project Pluto nuclear ramjet
1/285 X-15 set (X-15, X-15A2, X-15A3, X-15/SERJ)
1/18 Davy Crockett battlefield atomic warhead w/stand
Crowdfund level 1: $60 in the continental US:
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Level 2. You will receive:
1/18 US Atomic Artillery Shells w/stand
1/144 X-20 Dyna Soar
1/18 M61 Vulcan Gatling Gun w/stand
1/18 Mk 72 Nuclear Warhead/Re-Entry Vehicle
Crowdfund level 2: $100 in the continental US:
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Level 3. This part will not ship immediately, as some of it remains unfinished. You will receive:
1/285 XF-103 w/missiles
1/350 Orion Nuclear Pulse Vehicle (with stand… not yet finalized)
1/2000 Aldebaran Concept Vehicle
Cast Metal 1/285 X-20 + XF-103 + X-15 + Pluto: Depending on the success of the casting process. Not all are guaranteed.
Crowdfund level 3: $200 in the continental US:
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