Artifacts - Extrapolated Worlds

Atom Heart Mother

Doug December 11, 2024

Artifact: Atom Heart Mother (1/100)

Heavily customized, scratch-built “SFX” version of the Estes Super Big Bertha, done up as the Mars-based, fission-powered freighter Atom Heart Mother. 1.6x upscale of the classic Estes Big Bertha at 2.6″ diameter. Approximately 1/100 scale. Drop tanks are removable. Flies great without drop tanks on a 24mm E9-4.

This model needs some more greeblies and/or markings; it’s missing its portholes and hatches, at the least.

Starfire

Doug December 10, 2024

Artifact: Starfire (1/100)

Enhanced “SFX” version of the Estes Super Vega – custom balsa nose cone with the proper conical shape, warp-nacelle landing jacks capped by novelty machine capsules, radiators from Star Trek Enterprise kits, card stock applique, and more. She’s done up as the United Colonies of Mars UCM Starfire in 1/100 scale. The Super Vega is a 1.6x upscale of the classic Starship Vega, though the Estes designers took a lot of liberties with the cones.

As yet unflown – set up stock 24mm motor mount.

Hyperglider Sparrow

Doug February 8, 2024

Artifact: Hyperglider Sparrow (1/144)

Sparrow is one of the “hero ships” of The Extrapolated Man. A hyperglider operates in a manner analogous to an atmospheric glider, albeit in four dimensions rather than three. The blue elements are “hypervane” that can be rotated into the fourth dimension, much as a wing is rotated away from the horizontal plane to provide an angle of attack that generates lift. The hyperglider employs a large pentachoral wing to aft, and a smaller stabilizer forward, like the Wright brother’s canard design. Not rendered in the model are three small pentachoral stabilizers that would attach to the outboard tips of the wing.

In the gallery below I’ve included a Bandai 1/144 X-Wing fighter as well as a pre-built Apollo Command Module from Bandai’s amazing Tamashii Nations Apollo 13 set. These give a good sense of scale. The hyperglider’s capsule is roughly the same size as Apollo’s.

Shown below are some of the build photos. The first iteration of the reaction mass tanks for the NERVA-style rocket motor were spherical, whereas they are toroidal in the final version.

Warpship Endeavour

Doug February 7, 2024

Artifact: Warpship Endeavour (1/500)

Way way back when the Star Trek Enterprise series was announced – 2007? – I had this wild idea: what if they took the opportunity to rationalize the starship, at least as much as it could be, considering? Make no mistake, I love the TOS NCC-1701 Enterprise. The Great Bird of the Galaxy has a special place in my heart. But it makes no effing sense at all. So how about something where impulse engine thrust is you know, orthogonal to the decks, and hey why not the warp engines too? And instead of only two warp engines, how about three so the force is somewhat balanced? And no transporters, but instead a big honking detachable shuttle. My intention was to build a fairly big model, but along the way I figured I’d prototype it in 1/500 and see what it looked like.

So here you have the Warpship Endeavour, in 1/500 scale. I’ve included a 1/500 Space Shuttle Orbiter in the gallery below for scale. I never got around to the big one, but I’ve got a bunch of parts stashed…

The model is illuminated with a variety of LEDs. There is a yellow blinker in the bow deflector with its circuitry in the detachable, spherical shuttle, along with another white LED to illuminate the portholes. Each warp drive engine has a red LED in the front and small white LED to stern. The central drive has a blue LED, which is not lighting at present… possibly a power supply issue. It runs off an ancient Nokia wall wart, and I’ve been meaning to convert it to USB with a voltage booster forever, so this failure may be the motivation.

Occam’s Razor

Doug February 6, 2024

Artifact: Occam's Razor (1/500)

Occam’s Razor is a 1980s-era concept model of an interplanetary turbojet. The octagonal core generates an involuting toroidal electromagnetic impeller field that pulls in hydrogen ions and fuses them for power and thrust. Above is a bow-on view.

The model was a kit-bash of one of the original Star Wars B-Wing models, augmented with a high-voltage relaxation oscillator flasher circuit. The slabs surrounding the core are capacitors, and small cylinders to aft are resistors. Neon bulbs are located in the core, as well as the large laser at the left as pictured above. The laser is on a swivel. The model uses a small external power source, not pictured.

Organic Ramjet

Doug February 5, 2024

Artifact: Organic Ramjet (1/1000)

The organic ramjet is a concept model of a deep space lifeform that employs a Bussard ramjet for locomotion. The four arms contain sensors, reaction control systems, and a means to extract elements from the interstellar medium for growth and repair functions. The model was carved in one piece from a block of plaster of paris in 1979. It is approximately 1/1000 scale.