"What Scale Is THIS Nuclear Blast Mushroom Cloud?" Topic

And, most importantly, how the hell would someone go about making something like that from scratch!

Dan
PS. I didn't know there was a dress code at Canadian wargaming conventions way back when. :)
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Checking Google Maps, looks like somewhere around Montreal. Anyone out there able to accurately place the location of that ground zero?

Duck

According to this, Ottawa:

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That miniatures convention was apparently a blast! :)

Dan

Expanded foam seems to be the ticket:

Discussed here:

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Tutorial for building one in Signs & Portents Wargamer No. 39:

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For smaller ones how about styrofoam mushrooms:

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Jason,

That looks absolutely amazing! Found the tutorial on page 61. Excellent.

Dan

Wow, really cool thread! I find it to be both disturbing yet strangely fascinating :P

To answer the first question, I would say that the mushroom cloud in the 1952 demonstration is like 3mm, maybe 6mm at the most. Judging by the size of the buildings down by his shoes, looks about right.

Of course, what scale an explosion actually is is entirely subjective. That model could be a much smaller mushroom cloud explosion for 15mm or 28mm. But technically if a model that size were "scaled up" to be a proper nuclear explosion of significant size for 15mm or 28mm miniatures, the model would have to be several times that height, at least twice as tall as the man in the photo.

I'm guessing that the civil defense model is made from paper mache or plaster over a wire frame or something.

Dang, the expanding foam method looks amazing! Also, styrofoam mushrooms are a GREAT idea!

Was it the Tsar Bomba?

Hmmm. At a rough guess, a base of 18" and a height of 4' representing a base of maybe half a mile diameter and a height of 16Km (? Lots of variables on mushroom cloud height.) You're probably looking a a A-bomb NOT H-bomb explosion and a scale of about 1/12,000.

And people wonder why I seldom wargame later than the FPW.

Dan,
I believe all mushroom clouds are modeled at the "OH, " scale.
BWW

Maybe its a conference on mushrooms. Someone found this unknown species in the local woods and brought it in for show and tell.

Interesting thread. The tutorial a plus. Gamers for Team Yankee in the audience rows?

Very cool. I love the ad for homes with a fallout shelter.

Of course, the effect of a Thermonuclear detonation is bigger than the circumference of the ground smoke base. Both the shock wave and heat blast travel much further, though gradually fade away dependent on the distance and unevenness of the ground.
Good idea using those materials for the cloud, though!

That's definitely a map of Ottawa. Too close to home for me!

I think the clue to where it is, is that it says Ottawa on the map lol

Wow ! I remember in 1st Grade doing Duck & Cover drills.

Oddly we never had those drills. And I grew up in the 50s.

I never had those drills either and I grew up in the 60s.

This is an excellent illustration of standard accepted attire for all Canadian gaming conventions, wargaming, board or RPG. Persons not attending in requisite period garb will be removed and transported by locally sourced dog sled to the nearest boarder crossing of the event organizer's idea of the attendee's country of origin.

In elementary school in the late 60s, we still had emergency drills where we all had to evac to the "fallout shelters" in the basement classrooms. It always felt creepy.

Winston Smith

Oddly we never had those drills. And I grew up in the 50s. grin

dragon6 10

I never had those drills either and I grew up in the 60s

Just another example of the lack of "standardization" of the US education system.

This is Ottawa, the leftmost model structure is the Parliament Building.

The base of the cloud is about 3000 feet in diameter, reaching from Albert Street to Frank Street. The epicenter of the blast is around the intersection of Metcaife and Cooper Streets. The top of the mushroom cloud is up at an altitude of about 6000 feet. Given the size of the cloud this appears to be a bomb of under 1 Kilotons.

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And please note that in Canada gentlemen are properly attired at all times. whether it is at a gaming convention or elsewhere.

Well they do look nicely dressed. But what would anyone wear to a Nuclear Blast anyway ?

SPF infinity. Aluminum foil?

Weird, I was in Ottawa this weekend and drove through the intersection of Metcalfe and Cooper yesterday (Sunday). Then I parked at Metcalfe and Gloucester to go shopping at the Fandom II game store! The weather was rather warm.

You know, I could see having a mushroom cloud model on display for running games of Nuclear War!, at a convention. What a fun idea! It would certainly draw attention… I think I would place some green plastic Army Men figures around the base of the cloud, just to make it more interesting. >;-) Cheers!

Tango shared this link on a different thread:

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It looks like they used loads of cotton for their mushroom cloud, doesn't it?

Dan