Nuclear airliner "vintage" poster by duo
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Description
In the '50 the future was bright and the atomic power would solve every problem applying it to everything.
There was also plans for a sub-orbital airliner powered by atomic engines. One of them was "The Impetus":
"The Impetus is the proposed plane of the future. Created from the most advanced information available, this nuclear giant of tomorrow will be powered by two atomic engines. The plane will be 255 feet long, and will weigh over 330 tons. To get this tremendous aircraft off the ground, there will be a need for a "donkey" jet plane, pushing at her extreme lower aft end. It is expected that in three minutes, an operating altitude of 15,000 feet could be reached and the pilot of the donkey would release his jet plane from the impetus and return to base. The Impetus will climb to 200,000 feet, level off and cruise at 8.000 mph."
Fortunately it came out in 1959 only as a sleek plastic model kit by Aurora Company just for 98 cents.
Here is my perfect render of "The Impetus" rendered as a vintage advertising poster (in 1024x768 for wallpaper - better view it in full size).
The model is mine, with "decals" taken from the period model kit (I own it!). Rendered in Bryce 4 and postproduced in Photoshop.
Comments and rates are welcomed! :)
BTW: more to come on "The Impetus" on next days... ;)
Comments (13)
thecytron
Xcellent presentation!
Heathcroft
Excellent retro feel!
OrphanedSoul
Great Imagery!
Eugenius
Brilliant modelling and textures! Great image! Keep up the good work!
722
awesom work
rj001
nice classic model and image, great work
Biffowitz
Oh yes, I love the style of the period. Awesome modeling work, it looks great. Nice job on the curvature of the earth too!!
cmoree
Excellent work!
Radar_rad-dude
You've really done a fantastic job on this one! My hat is off to you for your fine creativity and mastery of the medium!
DavidEMartin
Ah, the good old days of The Atomic Age! The US Navy had its nuclear powered ships and everyone else wanted in on the action. A frustrated USAF General, angered at a Senate panel gushing over the rival Navy's nuclear fleet, blurted out that the Air Force had a nuclear-powered bomber under development. In fact, there was no such project, not that day anyway. But the next day there was. A decade and a billion dollars later, all that resulted was an extremely radioactive engine prototype (now buried somewhere in New Mexico) and an oversized hangar for a plane that had never been built. (I've got the article around here someplace and will send you a copy if you want.) Such planes were designed for a single takeoff (its maiden flight) and a single landing (its decommissioning). All the rest of its operational life would be spent in flight. Crews, passengers, and cargo would be transfered via midair rendezvous. I love your Retro-Future work. Hopefully some day a publisher will have the intelligence to collect them in a suitable "Wasn't the Future Wonderful?" artbook with suitable commentary by a wellknown SF writer. Looks like the aerospace designers at Aurora based their design on an enlarged F104 Starfighter. It's a lot nicer looking than the winged bottle the USAF were trying to build.
Rodma_Hu
Honorable representation. Long live Testors as well.
Pelican
What a beautiful model.... and the backroundstory wonderful.... yesterday sience fiction !!!
whiskeysierra
most excellent model !