Science Fiction Cover Art

[Sineva]

A problem we wouldn't know of today with computer generated imagery. Syd Mead thought that a sphere would be a logical design for a spaceship, so he came up with these designs for the Colonial Marines ship, the Sulaco for Aliens. However, James Cameron pointed out that keeping depth of field in focussing on a physical model of a sphere would be difficult compated to the more slab-like design. These are the early spherical ideas.

He did finally get to do a spherical ship for the movie Solar Crisis [1990]

Its an interesting design,I think it resembles an excised eyeball more than anything else.
I think the gun inspired Sulaco that we got was the way to go tho.

It certainly is a rather avant-garde design

 

[Michel Van]

ATOMIC ROCKETS!

How they Work here

Atomic Rockets - Atomic Rockets

www.projectrho.com

 

[robunos]

Designed by Ron Cobb, the Nostromo in Alien underwent some changes during the preproduction. At first it was a relatively small vessel called the Snark.

That first image just screams USS Defiant . . .

cheers,
Robin.

 

[Sineva]

I just stumbled across this,its the Bonhams auction of costume designer John Mollos archive.
https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25245/designing-an-empire-the-john-mollo-archive/
I knew the guy was a designer and constructor of costumes and props,he was the one who took the single drawing that Moebius did and produced the spacesuits based on it that we saw in Alien.He designed the Outland suits
But I didnt realise that he was also the costume designer for a little film called Star Wars.

Theres some pretty amazing stuff.
Pressure suit from Outland [these had a long life in other productions]

I always remembered the name of this organisation from the blurb at the beginning of the movie.
The League of Industrial Nations

 

[Michel Van]

Mollo label Star Wars as "sort of a space western and one of the heroes is a dustbin"
after that he made costumes for small B-movie directed by Ridley Scott called ALIEN
follow by the Empire strike back and Outland.
Event Horizon was last movie were he made costumes.

 

[Grey Havoc]

He did finally get to do a spherical ship for the movie Solar Crisis [1990]

From the look of things it has internal centrifugal artificial gravity decks.

 

[Michel Van]

A problem we wouldn't know of today with computer generated imagery. Syd Mead thought that a sphere would be a logical design for a spaceship, so he came up with these designs for the Colonial Marines ship, the Sulaco for Aliens. However, James Cameron pointed out that keeping depth of field in focussing on a physical model of a sphere would be difficult compated to the more slab-like design.

Syd Mead got a sphere for Solar Crisis space Ship Helios
only that Japanese SFX crew run into that trap, James Cameron evaded with Sulaco...

 

[Michel Van]

From the look of things it has internal centrifugal artificial gravity decks.

The Original sketch from Helios show centrifuge crew deck
Source: Syd mead - Kronovecta. page 135
part of Kronolog, 1991 Bandai.co.ltd.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Some more Cobb for Aliens. The APC first. The one used in the actual film was based on an airport tug, which required some changes from the concepts.

 

[Brett Davidson]

The drop ship. It evolved from a trimaran-type form in the early sketches.

 

[Brett Davidson]

The colony and stuff.

 

[Sineva]

Mollo label Star Wars as "sort of a space western and one of the heroes is a dustbin"
after that he made costumes for small B-movie directed by Ridley Scott called ALIEN
follow by the Empire strike back and Outland.
Event Horizon was last movie were he made costumes.

Did someone say space western with one of the heroes being a [robot] dustbin?

 

[Sineva]

Some more Cobb for Aliens. The APC first. The one used in the actual film was based on an airport tug, which required some changes from the concepts.

LOL!!
I like the wedge shape,very 70s supercar.
However I think that what we got in the end actually looked a lot better.

 

[robunos]

The drop ship. It evolved from a trimaran-type form in the early sketches.

That's not a DropShip . . .
THIS is a DropShip . . .

cheers,
Robin.

 

[martinbayer]

That's not a DropShip . . .
THIS is a DropShip . . .

cheers,
Robin.

Looks a bit like an armed Fabergé egg...

 

[Arjen]

Outsize Dalek. I wonder if it could climb stairs.

 

[southwestforests]

Looks a bit like an armed Fabergé egg...

"In soviet Battletech, armed egg cracks you."

 

[Brett Davidson]

Outsize Dalek. I wonder if it could climb stairs.

This is a Dalek that's eaten too much cake.

Beehive (New Zealand) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Brett Davidson]

Speaking of obesity...

Remember that James Cameron rejected Syd Mead's spherical concepts for the Sulaco? For the original Alien, close up exterior shots of the shuttlecraft Narcissus were needed so they could matte in footage of Ripley preparing it for her escape but a convincing depth of field wasn't possible with an accurate model, so they built a foreshortened version, nicknamed 'Miss Piggy.' It's compared here with a smaller model.

 

[martinbayer]

Outsize Dalek. I wonder if it could climb stairs.

In their defense though, Daleks look like they could unclog any toilet in a jiffy...

 

[Orionblamblam]

Make of this what you will...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1926380181859553362

View: https://x.com/PulpLibrarian/status/1926380181859553362

 

[Graham1973]

Getting back to cover art. The cover by Kelly Freas for the November 1965 issue which held the last story completed by legendary SF author H. Beam Piper, 'Down Stryphon'.

 

[martinbayer]

Getting back to cover art. The cover by Kelly Freas for the November 1965 issue which held the last story completed by legendary SF author H. Beam Piper, 'Down Stryphon'.

What exactly about this cover do you find visually remarkable? And yes, this is an honest question.

 

[starviking]

The artwork by Chris Foss for the 1988 UK reprinting of Jack Vance's 1967 novel 'The Palace of Love' the third in the series 'Demon Princes'. This science fiction revenge series was how I got introduced to Jack Vance. As to the cover, it's actually based on a scene from the book.

And being a scene from the book is quite rare for Chris Foss…

 

[starviking]

What exactly about this cover do you find visually remarkable? And yes, this is an honest question.

For me, it’s obviously supposed to control a high-tech device - but the controls and readouts are almost all 60’s standards.

 

[Graham1973]

And being a scene from the book is quite rare for Chris Foss…

At least three volumes of the 1980s UK reprinting featured covers that seem to have been based off the books contents.

2. 'The Killing Machine'
3. 'The Palace of Love'
5. 'The Book of Dreams'

The covers for the first novel 'The Star King' and the fourth 'The Face' use 'neutral' covers.

When DAW Books republished the stories in the 1970s/80s they used artist Gino D'Achille for the first four books and Ken Kelly for the last, their artwork evoked pulp SF.

 

[publiusr]

Ohh, I do very much like that ship with its 'appliance handle' wings.

View attachment 768959

After severe palm cuts inflicted in swatting F-104s from the sky, Greenpeace insisted on kaiju friendly designs.

The Mars Snooper

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/attachments/a3dbec181086050ea5d29e7eef51e7a1-jpg.769926/

Super Mars Snooper Model Rocket Kit Estes 7309

hobbybenchstores.com

 

[martinbayer]

For me, it’s obviously supposed to control a high-tech device - but the controls and readouts are almost all 60’s standards.

As long as they do the job?

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Did someone say space western with one of the heroes being a [robot] dustbin?

Howard the Duck's planet has robots?

 

[Graham1973]

A John Berkey mystery, possibly a rejected cover for the 'Sector General' science fiction series.

 

[Graham1973]

Courtesy of the ISFDB, the Chris Foss covers to Jack Vance's 'Demon Princes' science fiction vengence series. As noted earlier in the thread the covers to books 2, 3 & 5 in the series were inspired by the contents of the books. The full artwork for 'The Book of Dreams' had been posted earlier in the thread. I'm reposting it here as the scan of the book cover from the ISFDB is from a copy of the book affected by sunfading.

 

[southwestforests]

From a WordPress blog about aviation,

Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird: Screamin’ “Let me out”.

What it should be up is down in this incredible underwater “Habu”. And many more extras. Artist: Rich Sternbach (1976).

elpoderdelasgalaxias.wordpress.com

What it should be up is down in this incredible underwater “Habu”. And many more extras.
Artist: Rich Sternbach (1976).

 

[Sineva]

From a WordPress blog about aviation,

Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird: Screamin’ “Let me out”.

What it should be up is down in this incredible underwater “Habu”. And many more extras. Artist: Rich Sternbach (1976).

elpoderdelasgalaxias.wordpress.com

View attachment 771783

And just to make it even more surreal the artist has named the craft "Fenian Ram".

 

[Arjen]

That's the name of the submarine towing the oil in the novel.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

From a WordPress blog about aviation,

Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird: Screamin’ “Let me out”.

What it should be up is down in this incredible underwater “Habu”. And many more extras. Artist: Rich Sternbach (1976).

elpoderdelasgalaxias.wordpress.com

View attachment 771783

Question...

Why is an SR 71 towing an SSBN in an aquarium?

 

[Sineva]

That's the name of the submarine towing the oil in the novel.

Is the "submarine" on the book cover an accurate representation of how its described in the novel?
ie,"it looked like a giant underwater SR-71,but with a submarine conning tower sitting on top of it."

 

[martinbayer]

Question...

Why is an SR 71 towing an SSBN in an aquarium?

Because Annoying Orange (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annoying_Orange) willed it so.

 

[Arjen]

Is the "submarine" on the book cover an accurate representation of how its described in the novel?

It is described as pear-shaped, length 45 meters, can dive to ± 2000 meters. Retractable conning tower. One propeller, shaftless drive by induction.

 

[Graham1973]

The cover art by Richard Hescox to the 1993 novel 'Dancer of the Sixth' by Michelle Shirey Crean. This is a novel I've read but no longer own. It was clearly intended as 'Book 1' in a series built around the title character but the way the storyline developed it headed in some unsavoury directions and it's clear I was not the only person who felt that way as no sequels appeared to my knowledge.

 

[Michel Van]

Picture by Peter Elson
Source: X