proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Yes, I'm almost serious. Some of you may know Bruce McCall, an artist who appeared in many many magazines over the last 40 or so years. He makes some wonderfully whimsical pieces and I thought I'd share a few with you. Specifically, these would be of tremendous aid to anyone doing a Pulp/Anime style of game with large monstrous ridiculous vehicles. I'll put each pic/description in it's own post, as otherwise, this will be one long sucker, and if it hoses halfway through, I don't want to have to retype it all again. Okay, away we go. The Caproni-Maroni C2 "Scud", sometimes called "The Instant Reversing Fighter" was a design anomaly. The sleek pusher/puller prop design was fast and strangely manueverable with the addition of the centerline ailerons. But its main claim to fame was the ability to reverse thrust at a moments notice (comparitively) and zoom off in another direction entirely. The designers did not wish to ruin the lines of their creation with any unsightly guns, so this unique ability proved more useful than might be thought. Tim, AlHazred, OddHat and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Dinkel GX Kleinefeuerwerkswaffe. It was merely a metal tube and stuffed with every imaginable firework that the Nazi regime had banned! A novel idea for a point defense last ditch fighter, it did have an annoying tendency to pitch violently out of control as the "engines" were not exactly efficient at directing their thrust. One commentary from an episode of the Discovery Channel's "Wings" sums it up rather well: "The Dinkle wiggled and shot ahead on skids, rising into the air if the pilot was quick-witted enough to so direct its erratic course. Few Dinkels saw active service..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Dombrowski-Sedlitz Helicopter. A true behemoth of the skies, the D/S Helicopter was primarily limited by its meager payload. Most of the internal volume and payload capacity were relegated to lifting the increasing large mass of the engines that were designed to, paradoxically, provide more lift. It's rumored that after the war, the engine assembly was used to power an amusement park in Krakow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Humbley-Pudge Gallipoli, Heavy Bomber. Designed as the first British answer to the Intercontinental bomber question, the Gallipoli was many things deemed impossible at the start of the 1930's: She was roomy, spacious, well armored, and she had a staggering 10,000 mile unrefueled range. However, she was underarmed with only a single .303 machine gun in an open tail emplacement, and her top air speed of 134 MPH was considered a tad...slow. On top of that, her underpowered engines only gave her a 2000 LB bombload, far inferior to her soon to be brethren, the Lancaster and the Halifax. Still, many have wondered "what might have been" if the Gallipoli had been fitted with the extraordinary Merlin engine and her defensive armament revised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Harley-Fairfax K-55 Trainer. As the rumblings of war began to reach from Europe and the Far East back to the relative calm of the United States, many saw a need to get pilots trained in huge numbers and quickly so that the US wouldn't be facing a shortage of trained airmen if the war broke out sooner rather than later. One of the more bizarre concepts investigating this mass training idea was the K-55. Seating no less than 20 pilots (1 Instructor and 19 students) it had the theoretical capactiy to train many at once. The idea of the feedback sticks used by the students was that they would memorize the motions of the instructor's stick and the students would have to complete it correctly or a buzzer would sound to point out their errors. The idea was...intruiging, but operationally, the K-55 was a huge failure. However, the K-55 was reassigned to the Army Artillery Division and after a quick conversion, the new OK-55 Eagle Eye was used as the single most advanced Artillery spotter employed during the war. 10 crew were able to use the first simple computers for ranging and shot estimation and then relay the results to artillery batteries. In this guise, the 4 surviving aircraft had an effect on the war far beyond their numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Kakaka "Shirley", Amphibious Pedal Bomber. The Kakaka was designed to utilize non-vital materials such as paper and wood in its construction. Additionally, a multiple geared and pulleyed set of pedals provided the motive power to the aircraft so that the precious Sakae engines could continue to find homes in frontline aircraft. This somewhat bizarre craft was designed to be broken down into component pieces, noone of which weighed more than 75 pounds. As an insertion and terror device, the Kakaka seemed to have some chance of viability. Unfortunately, the only payload that the design could support was biological. The wicker basket attached to the bottom housed "Flu bugs" designed by the infamous Unit 731. Custom designed fleas laden with enhanced bubonic plague and designed to be dropped on population centers. Fortunately, the endurance of the human pilot was the main limiting factor as the Kakaka did not possess sufficiently refined aerodynamics to function as a long endurance glider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Septum NC 2501.2, High Altitude bomber. Gloriously Gallic in design, the NC 2501.2 was the French answer for the Medium Bomber role. She was fast, clocking in at a blistering 306 MPH. She could carry a decent bombload of 2500 LBS, and her range was considered acceptable at roughly 1000 miles with a full load. Unfortunately, she was thin skinned and underarmed. One .30 machine gun was mounted in a top copola, but with her speed, that might not have mattered. The main issue was production. Only 13 NC 2501.2's were ready at the start of the war, and fast as they were, they fell prey to the superior tactics of the ME-109's of the Luftwaffe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Snud U-14, Soviet Transport. "The bent fuselage shape was not an aerodynamic experiment, it was a wrinkled blueprint that nobody during the Stalin era dared comment upon!" This was just one of the many legends that cropped up about the massive U-14 Transport. The bent nose design was actually to facilitate ground loading/unloading, though it did admittedly make for some dicey take-offs and landings as the margin of clearance at the nose and the tail were slim. Due to a rubber shortage, the wheels were cast metal, which led one pilot to set an endurance record in flight, as due to the mentioned clearance issues, he feared to land! However, it is hard to deny the effect of these large transports carrying some 300 men and all of their equipment into battle. Not until the days of the C-5 Galaxy and An-225 Condor would mass transport have such a powerful voice. Unfortunately, the U-14 did suffer from many of the typical defects of pre-war aircraft. Underpowered engines, lousy electrical systems, unpressurized cabin, poor range and difficult handling relegated this plane more to the curiosity section of aviation history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork And I'm done. Enjoy. Susano and Supreme Serpent 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Very groovy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Wild Repped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Great stuff. Reminds me of an article I read in "Playboy" about cars, including one that was manufactured from recycled hula hops ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Great stuff. Reminds me of an article I read in "Playboy" about cars' date=' including one that was manufactured from recycled hula hops ![/quote'] Playboy has articles? Who knew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Humbley-Pudge Gallipoli' date=' Heavy Bomber.[/b'] Designed as the first British answer to the Intercontinental bomber question, the Gallipoli was many things deemed impossible at the start of the 1930's: She was roomy, spacious, well armored, and she had a staggering 10,000 mile unrefueled range. However, she was underarmed with only a single .303 machine gun in an open tail emplacement, and her top air speed of 134 MPH was considered a tad...slow. On top of that, her underpowered engines only gave her a 2000 LB bombload, far inferior to her soon to be brethren, the Lancaster and the Halifax. Still, many have wondered "what might have been" if the Gallipoli had been fitted with the extraordinary Merlin engine and her defensive armament revised. that one is awesome! THough it probably would have been a GREAT anti-submarine patrol plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Ooooo! Good point Gewing! Okay, add a line about them being used for maritime patrol instead of the B-24. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Great stuff. Reminds me of an article I read in "Playboy" about cars' date=' including one that was manufactured from recycled hula hops ![/quote'] Same guy as far as I know. I /think/ the plane pictures are from Playboy originally, or he had othert pics in Playboy. These are from another forum I frequent about "What if" models, and the poster lifted them from a book called "Zany Afternoons". Thag13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest daeudi_454 Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork If anyone wants to see the truly bizarre stuff that was REAL... check out: http://www.luft46.com/ ... Unfortunatley, its all german designs, but they were the forerunners of the strange aviation designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest daeudi_454 Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series aircraft artwork The Caproni-Maroni C2 "Scud", sometimes called "The Instant Reversing Fighter" was a design anomaly. The sleek pusher/puller prop design was fast and strangely manueverable with the addition of the centerline ailerons. But its main claim to fame was the ability to reverse thrust at a moments notice (comparitively) and zoom off in another direction entirely. The designers did not wish to ruin the lines of their creation with any unsightly guns, so this unique ability proved more useful than might be thought. Cute concept- but between Newton's First Law, and Bernoulli's Principle.... This thig is a lost cause. The rest of them were at least possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork And I'm done. Enjoy. But ... where are the stats Prod? j/k ... awesome find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series aircraft artwork Cute concept- but between Newton's First Law, and Bernoulli's Principle.... This thig is a lost cause. The rest of them were at least possible. You cite luft46 and then claim aerodynamic law on one of these things? Now that's rich. Beyond the difficulty of the V\TOL tail sitters that had greater visibility and resulted in reports such as "We do not recommend landing the plane" and the response "We agree", the majority of the paper designs from late 44-45 have been pretty much dismissed as "interesting doodles". The vast and I do mean vast, majority of them wouldn't ever make it off the ground, and if they did, they'd very quickly auger into the dirt as uncontrollable monsters. Heck, look at the gestation of the ME-262, The Bachem Natter, the Heinkel HE-162, the ME-163, The Arado AR-234, etc. etc. Each of them was years in testing or they were killing off test pilots, or both. Sorry, again, this is my biggest pet peeve. The luft 46 designs were interesting, but the vast majority of them were no more airworthy than the push me/pull me concept by the comedic artist I cited. I realize this is counter to most people's beliefs, but when Jane's, Bill Sweetman and Bill Gunston tell me it's so, I believe them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series aircraft artwork Sorry' date=' again, this is my biggest pet peeve. The luft 46 designs were interesting, but the vast majority of them were no more airworthy than the push me/pull me concept by the comedic artist I cited. [/quote'] I think it's a question of technically unfeasible vs. blatantly impossible. I don't dispute that the luft46 designs weren't flyable, but to the untrained eye most of them at least look like they might be remotely possible. At least in an animated series, since that's the title of the thread. But if I saw the push-me-pull-you design in a cartoon, even a dumb `ol history major like me would have suspension-of-disbelief problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proditor Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series aircraft artwork I think it's a question of technically unfeasible vs. blatantly impossible. I don't dispute that the luft46 designs weren't flyable' date=' but to the untrained eye most of them at least [i']look[/i] like they might be remotely possible. At least in an animated series, since that's the title of the thread. But if I saw the push-me-pull-you design in a cartoon, even a dumb `ol history major like me would have suspension-of-disbelief problems. Which is fair, and I agree actually. I just have a knee jerk reaction to the "Look at the weapons that could have WON THE WAR!!" when most of them wouldn't have worked. If the push me/pull me in two directions concept bothers anyone, make the thing like the DO-335, a push me/pull me in the same direction type of plane. Then it's just faster than pretty much anything else until the late 40's, and stable as all get out (theoretically) since the engines turning in opposing directions would counter each other's torque. I preserved the original intent of McCall on the descriptions for the most part, though I edited the criticism of the Italian Military out of it. Seriously though, you want to give a germany a shot at winning WW2? Then in 1938 when Admiral Raeder asks if he should make a surface fleet or a submarine fleet, have Hitler say submarine, and then watch how things turn out when Germany has roughly 200 EXTRA submarines at the start of the war, as opposed to the 57 they had... One little decision that might have allowed things like wolfpacking the miracle at Dunkirk. PhantomNarrator 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomNarrator Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Repped. Most impressive. Most impressive, indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork Ah yes, Major Howdy Bixby's Album of Forgotten Warbirds. For sheer absurdity, McCall's "Zany Afternoons" is one of my favorites. Tank Polo, Autogiro Jousts, The Zeppelin Shoot ("They Fell So Much More Gracefully Than Grouse")... inspired goofiness. His anthology of the same name is a periodic read for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Re: Pulp Hero: The animated series artwork More good stuff - my pulp games are getting sillier and sillier by the moment! (Keep up the good work!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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