Back In The Day, Part 17 - More Cartoons By ME!

In thumbing through some more issues of ROMAR's Cosmic Steppingstone news- letter, I ran across some more sketches which I rendered.  These are all attached to information/invitation  pages about the HOTROC Regional contests held in Colorado Springs in the early 1980's....

Enjoy !!

 

 

A New Quick Project...

Yesterday I stopped into the local Hobby Lobby and found this...

It's off to the secret basement la-BOR-atory!

Steampunk Protostar, Part 25 - Back To Work

After an extended time away from this build, I finally got busy last night and completed construction and attachment of the third main fin.

Now I can start on the pod attachment, launch lug, and riveted body tube skin detailing.

At the rate I'm going, I might get this model done by 2025!

Ya think?

Cheers.

The BlastFromThePast 2018 Fleet Photo

This is a pic of all the flight-ready model rockets in the fleet as of the beginning of 2019. 

I've had all of the birds out of the boxes this week in order to inspect them and install recovery wadding, just in case the weather suddenly gets better and I can grab'n'go to the flying field.

I figured I might as well fire up the Android and take a group portrait while I had them all unpacked.

I've also been busy building new 'chutes' and streamers, and pre-installing ignitors...I mean, STARTERS... into select motors.

If nothing else, tinkering with and photographing the fleet has had the effect of lifting me out of the winter doldrums and inspired me to get back to work on the Steampunk Protostar.....

















I'm hoping to have at least a half dozen or so new models completed for next year's photo.

Back In The Day, Part 16 - More Cartoons

Back in my 'old fleet days' (1973-1984), I was on-and-off editor of the ROMAR club news letter, as well as a frequent contributor of material to the same. 

That included cartoons.

Since childhood, I had always had an interest in drawing and cartoon art.  

In the early eighties, I entertained some ideas of trying to become a freelance cartoonist.  I managed to land several commissions for ad art for local businesses, as well as selling a few cartoons here and there to national magazines.  The trouble with the latter was that I would often draw up and submit fifteen to twenty cartoons per packet to a magazine of which maybe one or two would get selected for publication.  The pay wasn't too great per piece, so I found that this was not a really lucrative route to take.  Too little return for the amount of time expended.

Any dream of getting a cartoon strip into syndication to newspapers was very much out of the question, since the competition is so great, and my drawing abilities were definitely not in the same class as what was already out there.

So, I pretty much stuck to drawing cartoons for my own personal portfolio and for my own entertainment.

Occasionally, I would work up a model rocket related cartoon for the news letter.

Here are a couple I have found and scanned......

A little note on this last one:  The ROMAR section traded news letters with the old WARP club out in Utah.  This cartoon turned out to be a favorite of a one Mr. Randall Redd. 

I wonder why?

Another note:   Would those happen to be CMR ceramic blast deflectors on the launch rack?

The Winter Blues

I'm suffering from a really bad case.

As far as model rocketry goes, I'm strictly a fair-weather flier.  That wasn't the case back in my old fleet days.  Back then I didn't mind heading out for club launches on days when the temperature didn't top forty degrees, and wind chill made it even colder.  Occasionally, launching would take place on fairly nice days when the field was still covered with snow from a recent storm.

Now, in my advancing years, I refuse to venture out with rockets and range box in hand unless the temperature is in the high fifties or above and wind does not exceed seven mph.  And no snow on the ground....  

This past several months in Colorado, these conditions have just not happened.  Instead, it has been a relatively cold winter, with regular snow storms, wind, and temperatures hanging mostly around freezing. 

The days that have reached up into the fifties have been on my work days.

Sigh.

So, the rockets have remained on their display stands.

Anyway, as I gazed wistfully out the window at the recent falling snow, I was reminded of a cartoon I drew back in 1980 for publication in the ROMAR club news letter, the Cosmic Steppingstone. 

I found the issue and scanned the cartoon for posting here....

Cheers.....

Non-Flying Saturn V Completed

Hi, All,
As you might have guessed, the Protostar project has been on hold for awhile in favor of putting together the LEGO version of the Saturn V.

OK... it is a model... and it is a rocket.

 

I must say, I am extremely pleased at how this set turned out and how detailed it is, given that construction is done with mostly standard LEGO elements.  There are very few kit-specific parts to this model.

What really impressed me was the level of ingenious building techniques used in the internal structure for attaching the outer skin and detailing.

It's also very nice that the lettering on the model is printed directly on the parts, and not done with stickers as with many other LEGO sets.

All in all, the end product is a BIG, highly detailed, sturdy, and impressive model that looks good on any display shelf.  Each of the various stages of the rocket separate to show the engine nozzle details.

 

 

The set also comes with two small dioramas:  the Lunar Module and two astronaut micro-figures on the moon's surface, and the Command Module after ocean splashdown.

 

I would highly recommend this set to anyone who has an interest in space exploration.  One does not have to be a dedicated LEGO fan either to enjoy this model.

In my opinion, LEGO hit a home-run with this one.

From here I can turn my attention back to the Protostar, and of course, purchasing the new Estes Saturn V kit to build and fly.

Cheers!