Edison Landings by Rod Gillies
It seems the builder, author, whisky designer and occasional New E contributor Rod Gillies is expanding the ocean-bound Steampunk scene that he first displayed about two years ago. This is good news.
The top rim rotates as well but the motor was off when I filmed... so I gave it a wee push while Rod wasn't looking.
Collaborative Space display
I posted more pics of this in the previous post but here's a quick look at one half of it to give you the general idea. Contributions by Jason Briscoe, Gary Davis, Tim Goddard, Peter Reid, Alec Hole, Drew Hamilton, Rhys Knight and Miguel Reizinho.
Rollercoaster by Samuel LeCount
I love this quirky, rattly Big Dipper by teenager Samuel LeCount. A nice clear mechanic driving it, with haphazard results - it would be pretty hair-raising to ride that thing for real! I also have to thank him for helping me assemble some other people's models for my display table. He took one look and knew exactly where everything went, while I stood there scratching my head.
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A Tintin-inspired rocket there in LeCount's build, I notice, although uncharacteristically in black instead of red. Interesting how the Tintin rocket has become an iconic symbol for a spacecraft, although I think it was originally based on a warhead missile.
ReplyDelete/Håkan
Tintin's rocket only had three fins, and they had bulbous tips that served as landing feet. This rocket has four fins that have a more traditional 50's sci-fi shape to them. And yes, Tintin's rocket was actually based on the German V-2 rocket, most notably in the checkerboard pattern (of which Tintin's red variation is the one that deviates from the norm). That same pattern was the inspiration for the B/W color scheme used for most of NASA's history, and served the same purpose. The checkerboard pattern allows ground-based observers to detect and calculate roll during launch, which is critical when determining how to do course corrections. The two notable exceptions to this are the STS (Space Transportation System, where the Space Shuttle was entirely black on the bottom for heat-shielding, white on top to be reflective, and the main fuel tank's orange insulation was left unpainted after the first couple launches) and the SLS (Space Launch System, which is currently in development and will have a color scheme that looks very similar to that of the STS with a large, unpainted orange fuel tank serving as the frame for the entire launch configuration).
DeleteAbout the four fins, I noticed that, but I thought that it mostly was chosen for pragmatical reasons to simplify the building process.
Delete/Håkan
Talented your man is Samuel, great job.
ReplyDelete