Space Shuttle Paper Card Models

On Friday, July 8th, at about 11:30 am EST, the final NASA Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, featuring shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled for launch. And I'm gonna be there! I've never been to a launch, so I'm very excited. This will be historic! In searching for information on past flights, I came across this little gem of a website: AXM Paper Space Scale Models: The Site for Space Shuttle Card Modelers.

This highly detailed site contains International Space Station models, international satellites, capsule models from Russia, America, and other countries, and of course, space shuttle models, including reference documents to individual missions. Models include different external tank configurations, crawler transporter and mobile launch pads, and even the 747 jumbo jet carrier shown below.

This site is great for everyone interested the shuttle program, with bits about the crews, histories, mission goals, and payloads from various missions, from test flights from the '70s to present. When I get back, I'm planning to build a model to commemorate my trip. Man, this should be fun! I'll post about the experience when I get back. Have a great Independence Day!

HP Blackbird 002 Paper Model

Hey. Guess what? I finished one. I finished a model. I know. Pretty hard for me to believe, too. It's a pretty simple one. But, alas,I made it harder than it had to be. This model was published as an advertisement on the back of one of my Maximum PC magazines. The paper wasn't the strongest, so I figured gluing it to a piece of card stock would shore it up a bit. Well, this was a rather foolish idea.

As I cut out the parts, each one wanted to curl, leading me place the pieces under a heavy book to flatten them out. This added about a week or so to the build time. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry. Also, I applied the adhesive unevenly, resulting in bubbling on the surface, and unsealed edges. Fixing these, of course, added time to the project as well. But, I persevered and the results are not great, but OK.

Fortunately, you are spared the toil of my past mistakes, thanks to a gracious individual who scanned the page into an Adobe PDF file and submitted it for download on Media Fire. Something I really should have thought of. The link has a different case design than mine. Too late now. Sorry for that. I blame the meds.

The model has three main parts; the body, the base and a removable side. If you're looking for a glossy finish like the magazine edition pictured above, I would try printing the template out on photo paper.

Blade Runner's Police Spinner by Daumier Smith

As a fan of this 1982 film, I've seen models of this flying car vehicle before, but this has to be the best one yet! Highly detailed, free download. Thank you, Mr. Smith!

Police Spinner by Daumier Smith.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Found this little gem of a blog this morning. No models here, but brilliantly crafted paperwork.

People as old as me will remember "back in the day" doing Shadow Portraits; you would set up a light by the side of your face to leave a shadow of your profile onto a piece of paper taped to the wall. Someone would trace the outline of the profile and then it could be cut out, pasted to a background, and framed. A famous example of this are the pair of portraits of President's Washington and Lincoln found in many classrooms.

This artist has taken this technique to the next level.

Visit "Paper Cuts" by Olly Moss for wonderful Profile Portraits of many pop culture icons and well known personalities.

Take a look at these two and I think you'll see what I mean: