N o n s e n s e W a r s • A n A r t b l o g
[130516]
I was only planning on having three posts for the USS Melvin saga, but at this point I really do need four to document all the crap that’s gone on with this thing. I last left off after the Melvin’s first real test run, which unfortunately took place in much less than ideal conditions. Nonetheless, I was able to determine that the performance was pretty good and that the boat was a little too heavy with four D batteries.
Thus, the first of many modifications were made.
[130508]
I apparently didn’t have much to say about the old 5AT back in d93 (yes, the old 5AT had been sitting around for seven years, which is almost as long as the Kagurazaka), so I’ll start from the top.
Much like the ACE, the 5AT is an advanced steam locomotive that was developed and not built. The difference is that the 5AT is a much more recent design, and that the construction has only been recently shelved (obviously it could still be built – with a higher probability than the ACE). It seems to me that the 5AT was also much further along in development than the ACE ever was. There are a lot of detailed calculations and CAD models on the 5AT website.
[130418]
One of the themes of my art has always been the juxtaposition and combination of ancient and advanced technology. As long as I can remember, I’ve had space trains and space ships. Those outrageous shenanigans continue into the present, but I am just as fond of more subtle shenanigans like art-deco space or steam intermodal.
As such, I’m a big fan of modern steam, or attempts to modernize steam, and that’s where I’ve gone with my more recent Lego train models such as the 5AT, SR Leader, and even to some extent the venerable FF7 Locomotive. Today’s MoC is a continuation of this “series”; the American Coal Enterprises (ACE) 3000 is an advanced steam locomotive concept that gained some traction in the late seventies and early eighties during the oil crisis and lost it all when gas prices came back down.
The ACE has been kinda-sorta done for a while. You can see the beta version in this USS Melvin pic from March.
[130406]
Well, I lied. I said there’d be another Lego post this time, but the hoverbarge I was building kind of got stuck, and it isn’t done yet.
For a lot of paintings I often have something in mind some time before execution, but this one kind of rushed its way into my queue. This is actual the fourth in what is now a fairly long string of Rita and Estelle paintings (the first one being 2008, most of which have unfortunately been rubbish. 2013 deviates from the “paint-heavy” direction I was going with Rita 2013 and Estelle 2013, and takes another stab at “hybrid cell-shading”.
