The Art and Graphics of Nick Stevens. Available for hire.I specialise in unbuilt space projects, and the spacecraft of the Soviet Union.
Key software used to make the image
This concept is a flying wing, or bodyless plane, currently being tested for a possible flight to prove the concept. It is intended to work well in the thin atmosphere of the planet Mars, and would be tested at very high altitude on Earth, where the pressure is similar.
You can find out more about the project here:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/mars_airplane.html
Here’s the current state of my quickie project, I’m still very unsure on what to do on the bottom of the craft.
Right! The space cruiser is now done. I struggled a bit with the nose until I decided to make it a dome, and then added the spike, and the scallopped textures around it.
These renders are deliberately not done in a very realistic style. To be specific:
It occured to me that I really don’t remember ever seeing one of those really old pulp SF cover space cruisers done in a modern CGI style. You know, the ones that look like a cross between a Zepellin and an express steam train:
This is a design by Kraft Ehrike, which appeared in “Life” magazine in 1958. From what I understand, the idea was to use the kind of cylindrical hulls and spherical ended tanks from upper rocket stages as basic units of contruction.
Ehrike worked with Wernher von Braun at Peenemunde on the V2 rocket program, and continued to work with WvB after they had moved to the USA.
Continue reading “Krafft Ehrike – 1958 Space Station design”
Right, I may twiddle and tweak a bit, but I am calling this one done.
I’ve done various configurations, but (at least so far), I am only doing one fully textured version. And that’s the Mars Pathfinder version above!
The others use generic textures, rather than depict one specific mission.
Here are a couple of perspective free sets:
Working on various elements of this rocket, with no particular plan.
I’ve also started looking at the various differing elements, such as the fairings and the number of boosters.
Anyhow, here are a selection of renders!
This is a design that was considered for the (much) later Long Stay Apollo missions, where the LEM would be on the Moon for a long time. And there were concerns about reliability.
So they came up with a light weight design that would be a few bits strapped together, to get the astronauts up into munar orbit, where the command module might be able to rendezvous with them.
But it would not have been needed for the cancelled missions, and the ones beyond that were not studied in any great detail, so the design was not taken any further.
There are some interesting variations described on Wikpedia here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Escape_Systems
Finishing up the historical Soviet rocket from 1935, “Aviaveento”.
As usual everything done in Lightwave 3d, this one os based on some old Russian language books I bought on Ebay.
I’m a little unsure abut the long indented areas along the main hull. The references were a bit contradictory. But all those knobbly rivets were really there!
Continue reading ““AVIAVEENTO” “АВИАВНИТО” Historic soviet rocket”
I am extremely proud that this year, one of my renders made the cover of the Sky and Telescope Solar System Calendar! That’s the one for 2017
http://www.shopatsky.com/sky-and-telescope-solar-system-calendar-2017
Continue reading “Saturn – And the Sky and Telescope Calendar 2017!”
It’s going slowly, but this is probably the trickiest part. Getting the various stairways done, that dangle under or wind around, the main struts of the gantry.
I’ve not yet finished connecting them up to the walkways, but that’s not too difficult.
