"The Aerolyth" Topic

"In 1889, Sears, Roebuck and Co. commissioned the Buchanan Motor Works to develop a small Aerolyth vehicle to be sold through their new catalog. In spite of some design delays, and poor reliability with the directional propeller steering system, the Model L became a highly coveted vehicle. Its two ton cargo capacity and lifting capabilities made it the choice for the growing farms of the American West. Its cost, £440 + shipping, was high, but not unattainable, and ownership became a status symbol for wealthy ranchers and farmers.
The novel catalog based sales method opened up sales to a new, larger market. Shipped by rail, they soon appeared across the continent. By 1892, many had been resold around the world. Several dozen appeared in the Dungan revolt in China in 1895. Equipped with machine guns and mortars, the surprise ad hoc armor almost turned the tide of the revolt. These converted vehicles, called punts or carts, became the weapon of choice for warlords from Shanxi to Hardap"

What a nice vehicle for 15mm or 28mm!

See this link.
link

Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

Okay, that thing makes no sense. A smokestack from a coal burning steam engine rising through the passenger cab? I see the boiler, but where's the firebox? How is fuel added? Where is the fuel supply? And that smokestack would carry heat to the cab, roasting the passenger and driver to a very high level of discomfort, if not causing severe burns outright.

Yeah, it's a goofy model for an obvious steampunk setting, but some elements could have been better thought through to produce a more believable design.

I like the way we discuss these vehicles as though they are somehow supposed to make sense or be believeable. If you want to do that, why not start with the fact it doesn't have any wheels?

Sorry, I have to agree with Parzival. This is just a badly thought-out design. Even if you don't know anything about steam engines, it just looks wrong.

For one thing, the mix of the streamlined Art Deco boiler and "fenders" with the boxy 1950s cab and the Victorian pickup bed is a non-starter. It's like putting the wings from a Wright Flyer on an F-104 Starfighter, with a wicker basket from a hot-air balloon as the cockpit.

Then there's the smokestack. If you eliminate the stack altogether, then I can buy that this is some new kind of Buck Rogers engine with a small but powerful fuel source carried in the boiler. But the stack belching black smoke tells me that some kind of bulky fuel, probably coal, is being burned, and that means you need a firebox as well as a container for the fuel.

The stack running through the cab is just stupid. Even if you set aside the heat problems, from a purely ergonomic standpoint any first-year design student would place the stack outside the cab, either in front, behind, or to one side.

Really, this is like some game designer 100 years from now designing a 20th century jet and routing the intake through the cockpit because it looks "cool." (Okay, that might make sense for Orks, but not for humans.) Anyone who had seen pictures, videos, or models of real 20th century jets would know that something was wrong about the design, even if they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

I like the way we discuss these vehicles as though they are somehow supposed to make sense or be believeable. If you want to do that, why not start with the fact it doesn't have any wheels?

Suspension of disbelief only goes so far. I can accept the lack of wheels by assuming some new technology that enables this contraption to fly. Eliminate the stack, and I assume the fuel is self-contained. But for me, the stack is just a (suspension) bridge too far.

Actuall in the hive queen and country universe we do look at designing believable technology.

In this case the boiler us fired with parafin not coal and the fuel is stored in the "fenders" next to the boiler. Fire and water tube boilers don't have traditional fire boxes. The smoke stack is not in the cab but is in the bed. You can bet it had a wrapping of asbestos to keep the heat to manageable levels.

Aerolyth is a mineral that allows contra gravitational flight as well as having other interesting properties.

It still looks like the stack is angled through the cab, not completely in the bed. Maybe the render just needs to be tweaked a little.

But would paraffin generate that much black smoke? I know my wife loves candles, but she wouldn't if they burned that sootily.

Parafin in this context is a fuel more like kerosene and was used by the British in very large steam traction engines. It was known to be horribly smokey and foul smelling

The pipe may be between the seats a bit but it would have a bulkhead and asbestos insulation so it shouldn't be so bad

I like it. The only quibble I have is the stack looks like a piece of sewer pipe. Something more ornate for the top perhaps. Orange peel top like you see on steamboat smokestacks would help it lose the sewerpipe look.

The ornate top was a stock option on certain model years but was often removed but was often removed by owners after it got bent up a bit!

What if they moved the exhaust stacks to the sides like a diesel truck?

I could also see that!

Or perhaps a really cool hood ornament!

If you are interested in more of the technical details, the detailed design rules are available for free at:

PDF link

Arun and I let folks look under the hood often for FREE! We figure that the design rules aren't everyone's cup of tea but that those who want to know how we did our design work deserve to see it (I guess all the times we were told to "show all work" on math tests stuck!)

We respect the people who want to have realistic vehicles (we also respect the desire to have fun ones and think those two things aren't mutually exclusive!) We do the rivet counting so all you have to do is play!

Terry