I’ve shut down production of cyanotype blueprints for the time being. What I’ve got is what there is; I’ll leave the catalog page up while I still have a supply, but I’ll shut it down when I run low and sell the rest on ebay. Get ’em while ya can.
https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm
So after having the 3D printer for a while and running a *lot* of resin through it, I have achieved some good things. I’ve learned enough to know that there are some things that I plan on producing as full 3D-printed kits, some to be converted into metal castings. I have a few product lines that I want to do:
1: 1/285 (wargaming scale) “minis” of a range of appropriately sized unusual, rare, interesting and projected aircraft/spacecraft
2: “Mini”-sized, but of various scale, aircraft and spacecraft to go with each issue of US Aerospace Projects
3: 1/18 scale models of each American nuclear bomb/warhead/re-entry vehicle. This will range from the downright dinky to the “I’m not sure how to squeeze this out of the printer,” like the Mk 17 and the Flashback. I’ve successfully printed prototypes of the Fat Man and Little Boy A-bombs in 1/18, but they need to be revised.
4: Just whatever strikes my fancy by way of interesting aerospace/sci-fi concepts.
The eventual 3D printed kits will be pricier than if they were cast resin “garage” kits, but this will allow me to make them on demand. I hope there is interest in this sort of thing. To that end, and to help refill my depleted coffers, I’m making available a “crowdfunding” project with three levels. What you will receive are the actual 3D printed components. Each level builds on the prior… Level 2 gets you the Level 1 stuff, Level 3 gets you 1 and 2. No additional postage is required for continental US address… Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the rest of the world, contact me and I’ll work out the additional postage cost.
Note: many of these are “prototype” kits, with revisions and improvements possible or even probable. And some of these are not planned to be released further. This will be your only chance to get them, at least in this format.
Level 1. You will receive:
1/285 X-20 Dyna Soar spaceplane
1/285 XF-103 Mach 3 interceptor
1/285 Project Pluto nuclear ramjet
1/285 X-15 set (X-15, X-15A2, X-15A3, X-15/SERJ)
1/18 Davy Crockett battlefield atomic warhead w/stand
Crowdfund level 1: $60 in the continental US:
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Level 2. You will receive:
1/18 US Atomic Artillery Shells w/stand
1/144 X-20 Dyna Soar
1/18 M61 Vulcan Gatling Gun w/stand
1/18 Mk 72 Nuclear Warhead/Re-Entry Vehicle
Crowdfund level 2: $100 in the continental US:
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Level 3. This part will not ship immediately, as some of it remains unfinished. You will receive:
1/285 XF-103 w/missiles
1/350 Orion Nuclear Pulse Vehicle (with stand… not yet finalized)
1/2000 Aldebaran Concept Vehicle
Cast Metal 1/285 X-20 + XF-103 + X-15 + Pluto: Depending on the success of the casting process. Not all are guaranteed.
Crowdfund level 3: $200 in the continental US:
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I put one copy of each of my current books on ebay. They’re all in brand-new condition, and will be signed/dated when sold. They also come with bonus 18X24-inch prints… the “SR-71” book has two prints of the SR-71, the “B-47/B-52” book has one B-47 diagram and two B-52 diagrams; “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol. 1” has two B-70 Valkyrie diagrams. Take a look…
I’m selling the blueprints I’ve recently made. I can sign ’em if the buyer wants, front or back…
Some years ago I produced a range of cyanotype blueprints of a number of aerospace subjects. The hardware needed for this was disposed of when I left Utah at the end of 2019, so starting again seemed unlikely. However, someone has expressed interest in a special commission. Rebuilding the hardware needed will be an expensive chore, and sadly getting the large format transparencies printed looks like it will be much more difficult here than it was in Utah. Nevertheless, at this point it looks probable that I will restore that capability sometime in the next few months, assuming one further detail can be ironed out.
You can see my now-defunct catalog here:
https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm
When I get back to it I will probably focus on the larger format stuff rather than the smaller prints. I have plans on how to improve upon the prior hardware to make things work better and more efficiently. If there are any of the former large format prints you’d like to see returned to production, or you have any prints you’d like to see, let me know. And once this is up and running I plan on trying to take commissions, working with a local print shop to find customers interested in this somewhat unusual and certainly obsolete form of art.
If you have a diagram you’d like me to turn into a cyanotype, contact me. Commissions aren’t going to be restricted to aerospace subjects; naval, architectural, movie props, whatever you’ve got, so long as it *can* be blueprinted, once things are in place I should be able to do it. 
I’m at work on a new series of CAD diagrams (see HERE for the first run) to be released as PDFs formatted for printing at 18X24. For example, here are first drafts of a few:
All of these require a bit more dressing-up, as well as explanatory text. But I think they’re starting to look pretty good.
I’ve selected a fair number more to work on. If any of these are of particular interest, or if any of the many, many diagrams I’ve made over the years would be of interest, let me know.
My third book, “US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol 1” is, as I understand it, somewhere between “being printed” and “being shipped.” I am thus hard at work on Volume 2. I had hoped to also do a Volume 3, but that is unlikely: Volume 3 would be “Space Bombers.” However, apparently the market for “space” is nothing like what it is for “aviation,” so the idea has been nixed. There is official interest in several other works I’ve planned, so properly published books seem likely to continue for some time.
That said: while the market for “space” is less than the market for “aviation,” my own interest in the two is about equal. And I would be happy to sell works at a number substantially lower than a professional, proper publisher would. A publisher would have books on bookstore or grocery store shelves, while I would only sell from my little website. And if I’m not incredibly stupid about it (no guarantee of that, of course), a self-published book would, theoretically, bring in more on a per-book basis than one done through a publisher. So I’m contemplating something like a Kickstarter for “Space Bombers.”
As currently laid out, this book would be almost overwhelmingly “The Book Of Dyna Soar,” as the bulk of (available) American space-based bombardment studies revolved around that program. However, it would extend well beyond Dyna Soar, including Orion and other strategic orbital weapons systems studied back in the sixties, on up through much more recent studies including aerospaceplanes and bombers based on the X-33/Venturestar/RLV studies. Being self published I would not be locked into a set page count and, perhaps, could include foldouts and perhaps more color art (depending on funding). This could be released as both an Ebook and a softcover… and, depending on length, a hardback. Other “extras” could include 18X24 or 24X36 prints of diagrams, perhaps on something like mylar.
I am *far* from setting up a Kickstarter for this. I’ve seen a lot of people get *really* mad about funding this or that project and then watching it slip far behind schedule, so I wouldn’t even start a crowdfunding campaign until it was substantially complete. There are a number of topic areas that I really want to delve into more deeply via FOIA and whatnot, a process that has become far more troublesome in recent years. At this point it’s in the “this is an idea to think about” stage. But I am interested in any input on the subject… thoughts on crowdfunding, ideas about subjects to add and, as always, input of documentation on the topic that you might have that you think I may not.
I looked through a small fraction of my surprisingly vast pile of CAD diagrams for some I thought might look good in really large format. Some I’ve gone some distance towards formatting them that way already; some are still formatted for small sheets. There are more, of course. In no particular order.
Lockheed CL-400 “Suntan”
Lockheed M-21/D-21:
Lockheed A-12:
Lockheed SR-71A:
Lockheed YF-12A:
X-20 Dyna Soar/Titan III:
A number of 10-Meter Orion vehicles/sub-vehicles:
USAF 10-meter Orion:
General Dynamics “Kingfish:”
North American XF-108:
Lockheed A-12 concept w/canards:
Boeing B-47E:
Boeing B-52G:
Boeing B-52H:
Boeing B-52H + Skybolt:
Boeing DB-47E + Bold Orion:
Rockwell Star Raker:
Boeing “Big Onion” SSTO:
Boeing Space Freighter:
NASA Saturn C-8:
Lockheed STAR Clipper:
Back in 2016 I released seven PDFs of CAD diagrams formatted for printing at 24X36 inches (those are shown after the break). This was another product line that didn’t exactly blow up the market, and no further diagrams were released. But now that I have two books of CAD diagrams released, and two more coming (and potentially more after that), I’m considering trying again. The Lockheed CL-400 Suntan, A-11, A-12, SR-71, YF-12, along with several B-47 and B-52 related designs are possible, as well as designs that aren’t from those books (X-20 Dyna Soar, several Orion vehicles, etc.). If this sounds interesting, let me know; if there is something specific you might be interested in, let me know.
Have you ever wondered to yourself “what were the Air Force Weapon System Designations as of September, 1959?” Wonder no more:
The following page does not continue the Weapon System list, but goes on to list Air Force ace fighter pilots.
