Author Topic: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)  (Read 4930 times)

Offline Frank3k

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1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« on: May 12, 2019, 11:10:33 PM »
This is easily my scartchbuilt with the most parts - almost all have been 3D printed. Builds like this are one reason I bought my resin printer - while cleanup and processing is annoying, it's less annoying than dealing with Shapeways.

I enjoy reading old SF stories and magazines and I love the artwork. One cover that caught my eye was the October 1955 issue of "If: Worlds of Science Fiction":



I started the 3D model but in 1/350 scale, it would have been expensive to print at Shapeways. I could print it on my FDM printer, but wasn't looking forwards to the extensive post-processing to get rid of the printer artifacts. It stayed unfinished until I got my Anycubic Photon printer.
The first version I printed was in 1/700 scale, which came out well. I thought I'd light the interior, but it would have been cramped at 1/700. Instead, I rescaled it to 1/350 (inadvertently making the shere's walls extra thick). Here are the results - I'm ready to start building.

The magazine has a view of the cargo ship in space:



 I took some liberties with the design and added some details. The images are hard to make out because the resin is semi transparent. The parts have been sanded to remove the support points:


The floor/roof are thin wafers with many holes (for the lights) and to indicate some sort of floor structure:


I printed a lot of cargo containers. I'm still learning how to add supports to ensure a proper print. I thought the smaller parts would have a lower yield than the large cargo boxes, but it was the reverse. Now I have tons of small cargo boxes and oxygen/gas tanks:


The cargo hatches, interior ribbing and landing pads (I need four, printed 6):


The crane on the cover will be from a random sheet of 1/350 ship PE.

I also needed astronauts, so I made 4 different poses and found two other astronaut types (one a 2001 astronaut) online. These 30 or so are the best of the lot; I have another 20 or so missing limbs that I can place elsewhere:


I also needed cargo tractors. I didn't find a better image of the tractors until yesterday, so I made a guess. I also made a wheeled cargo trailer and a "sausage" pressurized crew transport:


The clear resin makes it hard to see the details:


Here's one of the rejected Oscar Meyer Weinermobiles and a handicapped David Bowman astronaut:


I neglected to add a drain hole to the sausage, so it has some liquid resin inside until I cured it.

Thanks for looking! Next I'll start priming parts.

Here are the If issues with images and texts to go with the pictures. As far as I can tell, this was an Ed Valigursky idea and not based on any "real" studies:

If, June 1954 Just saw this one - it has a closeup of a tractor.
If, August 1954
If, April 1955
If, Oct. 1955 This has the cover image


Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2019, 12:11:35 AM »
Nice!
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline Kerick

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2019, 02:52:42 AM »
Those 1950s designs are a lot of fun! Just can’t get away from those giant fins on everything!
What diameter is the hull? Looks close to some Christmas tree ornaments I have. (Not suggesting that your project looks like one.  :icon_crap:)

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2019, 03:24:48 AM »
The sphere is 54.52mm (2.15") in diameter. I guessed at the scale based on the figures.

Offline Kerick

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2019, 07:18:00 AM »
Nice! That will make a great display.

Offline finsrin

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2019, 09:30:48 AM »
Nice! That will make a great display.

Yes - ditto

Offline turtle

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2019, 05:40:10 PM »
Interesting project you have there.
You just have to admire the 1950's magazine artwork and the imagination that goes into the concepts, Popular Mechanics is another for somewhat 'over the top' concepts.
Keep us posted on your progress.
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Offline Antonio Sobral

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2019, 07:13:03 PM »
That´s great!

From a magazine illustration to a gorgeous vignette/diorama in a "few easy" steps:
Just imagination, know-how..and a 3D printer.

What's not to love? :)
 
Thanks for sharing!

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2019, 04:17:01 AM »
Your old-time sci-fi projects are some of my favorites, Frank and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this wonder!

Brian da Basher

Offline elmayerle

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2019, 07:26:52 AM »
Clearly a predecessor of the station-to-Luna ship seen in 2001.  It and the diorama look quite promising.

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2019, 06:04:11 PM »
Magnificent !!!

Offline Madhatter

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2019, 10:53:33 PM »
I can only really echo what the others have said but that is a very unique subject. Will be watching this one
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Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2019, 03:44:16 AM »
Thanks guys - I have the upper half light blocked, but I may have to redo the ceiling - the holes are so small that they act like pinhole cameras... so I can get a fair image of the LED die, but not so good illumination.

This build will also trial using resin as a glue.

Offline jcf

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2019, 07:02:15 AM »
 :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :icon_fsm:
“Conspiracy theory’s got to be simple.
Sense doesn’t come into it. People are
more scared of how complicated shit
actually is than they ever are about
whatever’s supposed to be behind the
conspiracy.”
-The Peripheral, William Gibson 2014

Offline Kerick

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2019, 07:12:22 AM »
For what was known back in the day these designs were “out there”!
Lots of fun seeing this come together!

Offline Robomog

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #15 on: May 20, 2019, 10:08:51 PM »
Ooooh you are really making me hanker for a 3D printer !

Love all those little vehicles

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Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #16 on: June 17, 2019, 11:46:54 PM »
 Another nifty project, Frank. I really have got to start playing around with 3d graphics programs.

Offline Camthalion

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Re: 1/350 Lunar cargo ship (If magazine, Oct. 1955)
« Reply #17 on: June 18, 2019, 08:26:34 AM »
very cool