ground zero

[1-32]

hi all
as if i need another distraction i have taken on a new little project one of the houses that was built in the nevada desert in the early 1950 by the usa energy department.there were 3 built filled with the most beautiful maniquens.we all most likely know the story there purpose i find out the potential of the nuclear bomb.

[imghttp://images60.fotki.com/v367/photos/3/1816483/12801717/DSCF2457640x480-vi.jpg]http://[/img].

.

there is a reason why i am building this example of middle america  this will come later.i feel i must be mad most of my stuff is made up if i gets too hard i will find a new way.not with this project.no known scale no plans just working out the dimensions from the wooding sidings sidings and then converting them to metric.all scratch built.17 windows 7 different styles all with shutters and a basement.2 different doors at least i have good referance.

.

all the best kim

[1-32]

[finescalerr]

I like your hand-applied clapboards. But I especially like how I'm not the only one who builds crude looking sub-walls! -- Russ

[1-32]

hey russ
funny there were 3 houses built at varying distance from the blast tower.at first we thought that they were all the same but no.as more pictures appeared the building that i am building needed to be changed so bits needed to be added to the frame and the windows changed.it is all a bit of fiddle especially the cladding which is cut to size from bass wood sheets,in the full frount shot you can see that they sprayed the whole building white and they did not bother masking the chimney,either they painted the chimney or just cleaned the paint off size of the model-260 mm long,215 mm wide ,215 mm heigh[10.5 ,9 ,9 inches ].each weatherboard is 5 mm heigh or just under a 1/4 inch .
kind regards kim

[1-32]

.

fraction till destruction.
either they held the tests at night or the device turned day into night.quite a erie photo the building looks like a little white styrene model,

[Ray Dunakin]

either they held the tests at night or the device turned day into night.

I think the cameras had extremely dark filters to prevent overexposure.

[marc_reusser]

Look at the circle of light/perimeter of light beyond...I think this was immediately after the blast, but just prior to the heat and shock wave.

Somewhere I have the photo book American Ground Zero, I will see if I can find it, IIRC as there are lots of photos of the various test sites, tests and such, as well as people that were living near and working in the sites, and in the fall-out zones.

[finescalerr]

That last photo is an outstanding example of our U.S. military training soldiers to be good, order-following Americans. Makes ya proud to salute the flag, doesn't it? -- ssuR

[1-32]

they look really close to the blast brave men.
there are a lot of stories going around about what went on i feel we will never know.
here in australia the british used a fair amount of the south australian desert to test there there bombs.the difference is they used plutonium bombs-dirty bombs.funny to compare nuclear weapons.this part of the world in the 1950 had nomadic aboriginals ,they were never told- popular legend.
kim

[marc_reusser]

Last photo caption IIRC was within 1 mile....but I am probably wrong.

[marc_reusser]

Nope...was right, Here is the caption text:

"American soldiers in a trench just over a mile from ground zero just moments after the detonation of a 43 kiloton nuclear device at the Nevada test site, 1953."

[1-32]

hi imark.
the house in the photo that is burnt was the last one of the three idont know how far from the blast tower it was built.it is different why they did not build them all the same is a question.when they built the windows they took a page from the movie busniss they just stuck  on the glazing bars.
kim

[Ray Dunakin]

I guess this was before they knew that being inside a refrigerator could protect you from the heat, radiation, and being blasted a couple miles through the air and crashing to the ground.   

[1-32]

hey ray
i have been following your posts and you seem to spend a lot of time in the western desert usa.have you ever been near the old blast sites and if so what is the it like today?
regards kim

[Ray Dunakin]

All of the above-ground test sites are highly restricted. However there is one underground test site that is outside the military base and accessible to the public. This is the "Project Faultless" site in central Nevada. I was there in 2009. Very strange to stand there knowing that there is a radioactive cavern a few hundred feet down.

Being an underground test, there are of course no blast effects at the surface, and very little to distinguish it from the surrounding prairie. However if you know where to look, you can see where the ground subsided, such as this surface fault:




Near the center of the depression there are several fenced-off, excavated pits; as well as some "monitoring wells" capped with bright red metal covers; and solar-powered sensor-transmitter arrays. There is also an 6-foot diameter, concrete-filled pipe sticking up out of the ground, though I somehow missed this when I was there. It was the shaft where the bomb was lowered into the ground.

Only one blast took place here, but they originally planned to do more, and there are at least two other shafts nearby, covered with concrete slabs:



I want to go back there again someday and look for some of the things I missed on my first visit.