Laser cut model rocket ship

System Product Images 952 Original Raygun Gothic Rocket Wooden Almost Scientific 1 Of 5

photo above by minor9th

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is a 40 foot retro-future rocket ship model created by Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, David Shulman. For those unable to climb aboard in person, Almost Scientific has created a stately and elegant scale model. It's laser cut from 1/8" ply wood, 13" tall, and ships flat in a envelope! Yours for $100 in the Boing Boing Bazaar at the Makers Market.

Raygun Gothic Rocketship Wooden Model

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Doug Sharp

Check out these retro rocket kits from Pemberton Tech: http://www.pembertontechnologies.com/

I want the Bucky Jones!
ultranaut

I saw that rocket at Burning Man. We went to watch it “launch”, we weren’t cool enough to stand where we were though and got asked to move back. So we moved back and watched as an art car of those cool enough to be where we were parked in front of us. Very lame. About an hour later nothing had happened still so we decided to go find something to eat. 10 minutes later as we sat in our camp we could see the lights of the fireworks and hear the crowd. We looked at each other and decided food was better than heading back. No regrets.
eeyore

Sorry, Antinous, I don’t buy it. We have a laser cutter, and do LOTS more complex work with it than this. It’s not an original design, nor is it especially elegant, difficult or complex, so it doesn’t pass the ‘high art’ test.

1/8in birch ply doesn’t qualify as a ‘high end material’, nor is it a ‘demanding material’ that requires a skilled designer or operator to get good results from.

To come anywhere close to charging that much for a piece like that, we would have to be done in a semi-exotic hardwood like Coco-Bolo, Olive or Padauk, and finish it post cutting… and it would still be very profitable for us.

The $15 material price mentioned is beyond generous. 1/8 in ply is cheap – even if you spring for a high end veneer – and those don’t look like they are. a 5′x5′ sheet of 1/8 walnut ply is $35. Baltic birch – which is the best we’ve found for prototypes and commercial models – is about $32.

The most expensive small table laser time you will find is $3/min and if they imposed the job as inefficiently as possible, there isn’t 5 minutes of cut time on one of these.

I’m not belittling the seller. Going back to classic sci-fi imagery for kits is a cool idea we’ll probably explore in the future. I’m also not criticizing the design. It’s not flawed, it’s just not very difficult to set up.

There is also nothing wrong with charging what the market will bear. I don’t ask *anyone* to work for free, but there is a metric fsck-ton of margin built into that – more than I – as a professional – think is justifiable. If they need to charge that much to make a (good) profit on that piece, they are doing something wrong.
Grey Devil

The model looks ok, but what exactly makes it worth 100 dollars? I’m not complaining for the sake of it, I’m quite curious as to the nature of the pricing.
- Stefan Jones
  
  Basswood: $10
  
  Laser cutting: $15
  
  Adding “retro” to the title: $75
  - Gloria
    
    Actually, it’s at least FIVE fancy adjectives:
    
    “rococo retro-futurist future-rustic”
    
    As the original model, on which this is based, is so described (
    http://www.raygungothicrocket.com/).
    
    But surely at least half the $100 pricetag is the “thinking of it before some smartass commentator on the internet” surcharge?
    - Grey Devil
      
      I hardly think that ply wood but into simple shapes qualifies as “thinking of it before some smartass commentator on the internet”. Nor does that excuse the high price tag.
      
      But if the makers of this think that the price is acceptable, then my original question still stands. How can someone reasonably pitch this being worth $100 when it looks like it should sell for $10 instead?
      - Gloria
        
        “I hardly think that ply wood but into simple shapes qualifies as ‘thinking of it before some smartass commentator on the internet.’”
        
        I was pointing to the idea behind it, not its production method. I don’t find “originality of production method” a useful evaluation criterion in most cases (except for novelty value); it would be a futile exercise to look at a painting — any painting, by your Aunt Mildred in the second grade or by da Vinci — and say, “What’s so great about this? Thousands of people have slapped paint on a board before. Next.”
        
        *How* can they reasonably offer it? The answer is before you, because they’re already doing it.
        
        *Why?* Likely because they genuinely believe somebody will pay that price, or that that is what their work is worth. That’s how it works in general, I think, laser-cut rocketship or no. I certainly don’t think a McDonald’s combo is worth $8, yet they keep trying to sell it to me for that price.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Basswood: $10
    
    Laser cutting: $15
    
    Adding “retro” to the title: $75
    
    Forgetting the cost of workspace, utilities, advertising, etc: Priceless
Michael Smith

There was a rocket in this shape in a playground at a shopping centre near by home when I was young. You climb up a ladder from ground level, then take different ladders up about three levels. There was a steering wheel at the top.
magdalen23

if i had the hundred bucks, i’d buy one. i really admired the big Rocketship itself — the experience of going through it, all the tiny amazing things installed inside it, what a cool & phallic monument to 20th century civilization it was if seen from outside.

and i’m sorry for the person above who missed the launch. that was the best pyrotechnic show i’ve ever seen, and i especially loved the astronaut running around exploding fireworks off his body everywhere…
Stefan Jones

I build rockets too. They’re not just skinless frames:

http://home.comcast.net/~stefan_jones/hustler_pose.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~stefan_jones/Rocket.JPG

For $50 more than the frame model, you can buy a retro looking rocket kit that is twice as long, and it flies!

http://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/all/pml_little_lunar_express.shtml
nutbastard

only 7 more months til burningman…. only 7 more months til burningman.

watching this thing go off in a flurry of fireworks was *awesome*.
Anonymous

This is the rocket ship Tintin used in the voyage to the moon. Paint it in red&white…
Anonymous

Reminds me of the rocket of the fusion festival in Germany.
Anonymous

I bought one of these from these guys and it’s great. The pieces really fit nicely and the finished rocket looks uber cool. I’m going to buy another to mount as bookends.
Anonymous

That amount of style requires flawless design and precise aesthetics. Check the price for having a portrait professionally painted.