Anarchy, Ho!?...

The above illustration shows the Huala Frigate by Ninja Magic (With Hostile Intent line). I've just pressed one into service as an Anarchist's Nef.

Vanvlak's Archives

It recently occured to us that there were a few early pieces of Vanvlak's work that were completed before WWS began, and thus havent been seen here before.

Here are some of the 'lost works':

Kolonel Kizhe's Vojvoda, a reaction steam engine Montgolfier
with force fields and a recoilless ground bombardment cannon.

The Spanish Dig "Princess Asturias"

The Sainta Barbara, of the Venerable Knights of Malta's Air Fleet

And a few more to come soon....

Beware the Kraken!

Every VSFer worth his salt needs one of these or something similar!

The Kraken, by Black Cat Bases, is part of their Pirates of the Skeleton Seas range,

The Kraken is 135mm tall to the tip of the tallest tentacle, and the base is 115mm wide and 200mm long. Supplied as a multi-part kit - the 8 tentacles are separate to the body. The whole model is resin.

http://www.blackcatbases.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=117&P_ID=572

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/291550/

A paper on the Nautilus...

It is — at times — quite a surprise what can be found when one is looking for some entirely different thing.

http://jleslie48.com/0305n/ETHtml01.htm
The model is fantastic and very well designed. I imagine it will take several attempts before a satisfactory build results, but that's one of the advantages of a paper model. :)

Technology,... saving lives

Philosophical endeavours may still fail us at preventing armed conflict with our neighbours but technological advances may promise a decrease in loss of life as our wake through this century grows ever longer. The most important question is, how many will you order?

http://www.hydraminiatures.com/

They're finally online and active with a shop.

Terranef surfaces!

Dont sod about climbing down extinct volcanoes looking for a way down into the Hollow Earth - bore your own! With this new Terranef from Fat Dragon games, you'll get there quicker than ever before!

And think of the possibilities on the battelfield...does your limted air cover have those enemy dirigibles smashing your assault troops before they even get near the enemy? Pack your boys into one of these and drive them right under those trenches!

http://adamant.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50450

Steampunk Walkers

You may have come across the Star Wars: Steampunk project going about, but with Land Ironclads in mind, I just had to post this great bit of artwork: Steampunk Imperial Walkers!




You can see more steamy Star Wars artwork here:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=31&t=477974&page=1&pp=15

"The horrors of æthers"

I am in the process of preparing a transcript of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica article on Æther. It begins as follows:

ÆTHER, or ETHER (Gr. αιθnρ, probably from αιθω, I burn, though Plato in his Cratylus (410 B) derives the name from its perpetual motion — οτι αει θει περι τον αερα ρεων, αειθεnρ οικαιως αν καλοιτο), a material substance of a more subtle kind than visible bodies, supposed to exist in those parts of space which are apparently empty.
"The hypothesis of an æther has been maintained by different speculators for very different reasons. To those who maintained the existence of a plenum as a philosophical principle, nature's abhorrence of a vacuum was a sufficient reason for imagining an all-surrounding æther, even though every other argument should be against it. To Descartes, who made extension the sole essential property of matter, and matter a necessary condition of extension, the bare existence of bodies apparently at a distance was a proof of the existence of a continuous medium between them.…

The source of the infomation can be found here: http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_TIFF_demo&vol=01&page=EB1A330

The pages involved are scans #329 through #334, inclusive (scroll down).

What's prompted this is the Astronef map I've been developing. I feel that in order to complete it, I must understand the notions of the period regarding Æther. It is a rather long article, as you'll see if you visit the above URL, so I probably won't be posting it here (at least not all in one go) but I will announce the finished file and make it available to those who might be interested.

Awesome VSF style Cannon.

OK, its really made for Warmachine, but this artillery piece is a beauty!

It also comes pre-painted so it good to go right out of the box.

In 15 and 25mm it could be a "threatre seige cannon", but I'm also thinking that in smaller scales it could be a astronef launching cannon too. Or a Mad Scientist doomsday weapon ready to launch cholera bomblets hundereds of miles away...

You can see more of it here:

http://www.gf9.com/

Indomitable class Armoured Cruiser

The support to Isotx's Iron Grip universe continues to build, this time with the unveiling of the Rhamos Protectorate Airforce's Indomitable class Armoured Cruiser:

"One of the oldest cruiser designs in use by Rahmos, Indomitables are still very formidable vessels compared to most airship types employed by other nations. In addition to being among the largest vessels yet commissioned at the time of their introduction several decades ago, they featured lots of experimental technology for their day, such as advanced Stormreapers, stereoscopic rangefinders for the main armament, ducted lift fans to help keep the vessel aloft, bow and stern thrusters to aid maneuvering, and much more. Many of these technologies are now standard on Rahmos warships, though some of the innovations are already obsolete.

In contemporary times, the Indomitable is badly under-gunned compared to modern armored cruisers, and comparatively slow due to the small-diameter thrust propellers which, due to driveshaft positioning, can’t be economically upgraded. Most of the Indomitables have been refitted with triple 30mm antiaircraft turrets as pirates and rival nations have developed heavier-than-air flying machines. During times of peace, General Marshals often use these as flagships of “civil defense fleets” primarily composed of destroyers and unarmored patrol vessels. Against smugglers and pirates, the Indomitable is a very persuasive force. During wartime, squadrons of these old cruisers are often used as diversions and decoys and other high-risk jobs due to their depreciated value as compared to more modern and expensive ships.

Length: 216m

Beam: 30m

Armament: 22 x 150mm guns, 6 x 102mm guns, 14 x triple 30mm, 12 x 20mm, 1x biplane -torpedo launcher

Quote from Admiral Dorsin's radio call to the T6 Fleet: "if the encirclement fails, just use up the Cruisers to ram and bail out"?

http://www.isotx.com/index.php?view=4397

Thanks to Tom for the link!

Æther, the final frontier...

We seem to be in an ethereal mood. This detail of a work-in-progress demonstrates how far each planet (out to Jupiter) will travel in a terrestrial month. It is, of course, simplified and loses track of precise location after about two years. The larger spaces on each orbit roughly shows the real positions of the planets in the middle of January in 1899. All of the planets shown move one space counter-clockwise per month.

The work-in-progress image shows the full orbit of Jupiter (so you can imagine its size). Reaction to this post will guide the direction of the project.

Mechanical Marvels

I found this with some great old SF pics of Astronef style vehicles (though admittedly many others are from the post-Victorian period). Some great reading here!


http://blog.modernmechanix.com/category/space/

Beat to quarters and secure the deck for action!

Most of building the Nautilus is flat-panel work. When you decide to adopt this view, the task becomes far less daunting. The remaining tricky part of this stage is getting the angles and dimensions properly planned out. That's what's in progress now and will soon be enhance via a new CAD program.

In the meantime, I am ordering the parts that are be beyond my present sculpting skills regardless of CAD help.

From Reviresco:

These doors will be part of the Pilot house, Nemo's cabin, Salon/Museum, Library, Engine room, and the Diving chamber.


I mainly needed two of the Engine Order Telegraph pieces; one will go in the Pilot house and the other in the Engine room.

From The London War Room

These doors will be used for the smaller "port and starboard" rooms that are not designated with a letter (seen a few posts ago).

More Iron Stars

Rory has posted some pics of his Aeronefs and Iron Stars ships, as well as other pics of his great gaming models, here: http://web.mac.com/rorymh/iWeb/Home/Gaming.html

More Contraptions!

Today I discovered Andrew's VSF page, which I hadnt come across before and has some wonderful 25mm VSF contraptions, shown below.

You can find his webpage here: http://andrewnz2.tripod.com/id59.html

Prussian Steam-powered Walkers (old 40k sentinels converted and painted by Ken Crawford)

Brit Steam Armour