While American rocket science pioneer Robert Goddart was busy experimenting with real rockets, the popular newspaper comic pages was serializing the exploits of space buccaneers like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.
The 30’s is one of my favorite decades for American design. Bulbus, rounded and gilded, the style embodies a sense of largess that doesn’t wilt under pressure – as neither Buck or Flash did.
Their ships of each series varied based on the antagonist or hero role. Tubular with angel-like wings, rounded nosed and bristling with porthole and glass, they embodied the bold architectural designs sentiments of the time.
Tinkercad is a pretty good tool for creating the kind of primitives that make use of rigid flow with little consideration for function. They looked awesome in both their simplicity and their overstated bravado. Here’s my quick tribute to the science fiction space cowboys of the 1930’s
