There was flu here at Casa Larbfeld South this weekend, so FAF is taking another holiday. SORRY. But you’ll get lashings of fan art this coming Friday.
I’ve never seen the Manual of Aeronautics art reveal voting so close! I might have to actually count the votes by hand, AND THIS WOULD BE HARD.
So let’s just say this: today we do the Stormwalker, and in a couple of weeks the Clanker uniforms (AKA Cosplay Color Guide). And I’ll keep the Sultan’s Elephant in the running for the next vote.
Okay? Okay.
Then here is . . . the Cyklop Stormwalker, revealed!
Image by Keith Thompson. Click here for the BIGNESS. You know you want to.
As you may know, the images for the Manual were first created as world-building exercises. In other words, they started life guides for my writing and Keith’s future illustrations, and only later became fodder for The Manual of Aeronautics.
I first saw this one very early on, about halfway through Leviathan. Until that moment I hadn’t realize how cramped the Stormwalker would have to be, especially with five people riding around in it. Seeing this cutaway changed the whole way those interior scenes were written, because it was so cramped. (No crossing of legs or waving of arms. Just constrained movements and facial expressions?)
But seriously, just imagine riding around in this thing for weeks on end. It would be super oppressive and make everyone cranky. I hope I got that across.
BONUS WRITING ADVICE: I recommend that all you aspiring novelists to create visual aids like this. Even if your book is set in a regular civilian house, making a floor plan can be incredibly useful. Even if your readers never see these plans, they’ll sense whether you know how your world is put together or not.
For example, seeing this cutaway made me add the bit where Volger sticks his head out and then prods Alek with his feet. So it was good not only for atmosphere, but also for a moment of comedy between the two.
Note that this isn’t the only image of the Stormwalker in the Manual. There will also be:
1) Two outside images, comparing Alek’s Hapsburg House Guard Stormwalker to the standard Austrian Army issue.
2) An interior image, showing how the controls work!
Okay, see you Friday, and probably before then. The cover of part 2 of the Uglies manga Cutters should be here soon.
June 11th, 2012 05:53
Wow, this is so amazing! I voted for the uniforms, but this is great too. I’ll have to re-read the series again when the manual comes out!
June 11th, 2012 06:05
Barking spiders this is trollin awsome
What else is there to say
Maybe how awsome it is ! Scott you need a day or some thing named after
You
Weeeerrrrroooooo
Did i mention how awsome this pic is man
June 11th, 2012 06:31
Thats so cool! I love it. Now I just need to reread the book with this in mind to make it more epic.
June 11th, 2012 06:41
Awesomeness!!!!!!! The interior is very similar to how I envisioned it.
June 11th, 2012 06:46
yessssssssssssss
June 11th, 2012 07:24
cool!!!
DONE WITH PRETTIES.
June 11th, 2012 07:46
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! The Stormwalker AND the fact that the Cutters cover is comin’ out!!!!!!
June 11th, 2012 07:49
I never thought there would be any humor in Volger’s life.
June 11th, 2012 07:54
That’s awesome, though I did want to see the uniforms.
Oh, well! Patience is a virtue that Scott is apparently trying to train us in. xD
June 11th, 2012 08:05
Oh my freaking AWESOMNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Five unwashed bodies in a cramped stormwalker for five weeks….GAH! My brother smells bad after two DAYS without a shower! Eew!
June 11th, 2012 08:06
Barking spiders, this is pretty amazing. Can’t wait for the Manual!!!!!!!
June 11th, 2012 08:44
@10
AHAHAHAHA!!!! i was totally thinking the same thing.
didnt Dr. Barlow ride in the stormwalker with alek, deryn, clopp, and tazza all at once??? PRETTY CRAZY
June 11th, 2012 13:20
Pretty detailed! But I wonder how you can move in there…
June 11th, 2012 15:32
That description makes me want it to be August already.
June 11th, 2012 16:54
Huh. I really imgained it differently. Maybe I should just stare at it more, I don’t htink myy mind quite gets what it’s seeing.
June 11th, 2012 17:14
Wait. Where’s the access hatch from the bottom? I think Deryn or Alek climbed up a ladder near the end of the 1st book, through a hatch on the bottom. Apparently in that shot the crew was seen standing up inside of the walker.
June 11th, 2012 19:22
@16-Maybe it’s hidden. Also, the person was Deryn. YAY HEROINES.
June 11th, 2012 19:31
@15-Me too. I thought it’d be WAAAAAAAAAAAY bigger.
June 11th, 2012 19:55
Wow! This is so amazing! And on my birthday
Thanks for the present!
June 11th, 2012 20:46
the second uglies manga is called CUTTERS???? what happened to the first, like, 3 months of shay being pretty? What’s the 3rd one going to be about? will there be 3 or 4? toooo mannnyyyyy quesstionssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the stormwalker-thing was cool.
June 11th, 2012 22:05
I am sure I can name every character in there correctly. TOP: Volger is put the hatch; Klopp is just behind Alek, who is at the controls. BELOW: Bauer is polishing off the munitions, and Hoffman is the bro hiding behind the protective plate.
Scott, who should make characters profiles. I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT VOLGER AND BAUER. SCHEISSE MAN!
June 11th, 2012 22:12
Wow. Just wow. I voted for the uniforms, but this is awesome! I always thought that there’d be room to breathe in a stormwalker, but apparently not. I’d get so claustrophobic in that thing…
June 11th, 2012 22:13
WHOS EXCITED FOR UNIFORMS???
me.
June 12th, 2012 01:31
*falls off chair and onto the floor in fangirly joy* YES. This is so~ awesome!!
D
D
@Rue – I AAAAAAAAAMMM!!
June 12th, 2012 01:55
yay:) 25!
June 12th, 2012 01:57
oh, yeah, and thanks for this one! I voted for it!
By the way, I heard that Newkirk’s first name is Eugene. Is that correct, anyone?
June 12th, 2012 02:02
wow… i always, like, wanted my own Stormwalker, and now that i see this one, even though it’s kinda cramped, i want it even more!
June 12th, 2012 02:17
i voted for the uniforms, but this is awesome! its so cramped in there now, i cant imagine it with Dr. Barlow, Deryn, and Tazza in there too.
June 12th, 2012 02:22
me neither, but i think this is the standard military issue, not the Hapsburg House issue, which i’ll bet is bigger
June 12th, 2012 03:38
Although I see it’s cramped, stormwalkers weren’t made for luxury (well maybe Alek’s family stormwalker was) but clankergurl98 made a good point. (@29) The military ones only need to be efficient, not roomy. Plus the more compact they are means they are a smaller target. Regardless… not like they can be missed but still…
And I might be missing out on something but…. Cutters is going to be coming out? I mean, I just figured Shay’s Story was it for the entire UPSE series.
June 12th, 2012 03:47
On the oh-so-vague topic of Shay Story/Cutters:
Can I vote for a Leviathan manga series, told from the point of view of any one of the amazing supporting characters?…On second thought, seeing scenes in a different style than the illustrations might ruin the affect a little. Unless Keith does the art, then it would be awesome (of course)….But that seems like a lot of work….
How about a live-action movie with Scott as screenwriter?
June 12th, 2012 04:10
@31: Last idea: Wonderful!
June 12th, 2012 04:50
I voted for the uniforms but the Stormwalker is still so AWESOME! But now I gotta re-imagine all the Stormwalker scenes. XD
June 12th, 2012 05:15
@26-Yes. It is correct.
June 12th, 2012 05:17
Newkirk’s full name is Eugene William Newkirk.
June 12th, 2012 06:07
And now we know why Newkirk is only referred to by his last name throughout the entire series.
June 12th, 2012 08:01
@36-Eugene is NOT a bad name! Neither is William! So don’t say that!
why must everyone pick on poor Newkirk?
June 12th, 2012 08:02
Sometimes I want to say “sorry” to Newkirk. Haha, imagine. Me saying sorry to a fictional character! …but I still want to do it.
June 12th, 2012 15:57
@38- Someone needs to say sorry to Newkirk. I dunno. He just seems like one of those people that needs an apology.
June 12th, 2012 20:52
yaaaa!!!! stormwalker! its so awesome i love it!
June 13th, 2012 02:59
@35: Thanks! i’ve been wondering about that
June 13th, 2012 03:01
@31: i argee with @32!!!!!
June 13th, 2012 03:17
This makes me stupidly, unspeakably happy.
It’s so cramped….<3
A manga of Leviathan? Or movie with Scott as the writer? Barking spiders, yes! But the manga would have to be by Keith…. And what supporting character would it be about? Bovril? It should still be from Deryn and Alek's POV.
June 13th, 2012 03:50
@43-Maybe Newkirk’s POV or Barlows or Volgers or even Captain Hobbes! Or maybe they could do a manga about JASPERTS POV!!!!!
June 13th, 2012 03:52
@39-I agree. I mean, he’s not even THAT wimpy! If he was a REAL wimp, he wouldn’t have joined the barking Air Service anyway! (wait…did his mom make him? Dunno.)
June 13th, 2012 03:53
I’m trying to let my nails grow but it’s hard cause I have a terrible habit of nibbling them short.
June 13th, 2012 03:53
…last comment:TOTALLY RANDOM. sorry.
June 13th, 2012 04:23
Poor Newkirk
June 13th, 2012 04:40
No. I say NO to a movie with a script written by scott westerfeld. There would be TONS of vital parts that would bw cut out. It should be a tv show. ( just as long as they dont slaughter it like the secret circle…)
June 13th, 2012 06:12
@49-I agree. I’m actually KINDA fine with a movie, as long as its not like the Percy Jackson movies. Which it might be. So I think a TV show is better.
June 13th, 2012 07:52
@50: They left out WAY too many details in the first Percy Jackson movie. Movies of books seem to be hard to do right.
June 13th, 2012 07:53
@51: I think the plot was just simplified too much to work. A second movie just wouldn’t work.
June 13th, 2012 07:57
@51+52-Yeah. I LOOOOVED the books, but hated the movie. Even if it did have Logan Lerman in it. <3
I just love that guy.
June 13th, 2012 07:59
I have a friend who looks like Logan Lerman. But he’s too old for me. ‘~’
June 13th, 2012 08:36
@51
If Scot was the screenwriter, he could make sure that nothing (important or otherwise) gets cut out. Suzanne Collins worked on the script for the Hunger Games, which turned out about as good as the books.
June 13th, 2012 08:37
Sorry, that was meant to be @49
June 13th, 2012 18:37
Now that I look at this more, this must’ve been EXTREMELY uncomfortable for Dr. Barlow and Deryn with Tazza and Alek even if Volger ad Klopp weren’t up there. Lol I have this hilarious image of all of the main Clankers plus Deryn and Dr. Barlow up on the cabin oh my godf
June 13th, 2012 20:26
THAT’S SOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 13th, 2012 21:27
@ 53 (and others)
i loved those books so much, about two years ago i read them all eight times.
yup. way too much free time!! amazing books though!
June 13th, 2012 22:04
@57, only Volger wasn’t there.
June 14th, 2012 02:21
Didn’t notice how Starwars AT walker the Cyclops looked like until now. In all the other images the Stormwalker seemed to be wider.
June 14th, 2012 04:18
@61: Did you mean the AT-ST? And this picture doesn’t have the engines and legs, which make it considerably wider.
June 16th, 2012 04:34
My sister and I painted sticks to make walking sticks at camp, and I left mine in her room, so I went looking for it. My sis pointed at it and said “There’s your stick.” and I said “That’s what she saaaaaaiiiiiiid!!!!” and my sister said “Wait…who?”
EPIC FAIL
June 16th, 2012 04:36
WTF means What The F*ck right? Im still not sure on these texting abbreviations. And IKR stands for I Know Right…right?
June 17th, 2012 01:17
@50: I agree! they totally killed Percy Jackson in the movie! the books are WAY better!
@64: Thats right
June 17th, 2012 01:19
i think if they did do a movie, it would be kinda hard to show Deryn as a girl dressed up as a boy… because in a movie you don’t really get all of the unspoken info given in a book… but if they got everything right, a movie would be cool
June 17th, 2012 18:21
Hey Scott, this image got posted to my Facebook page under the steampunk group. Thought everyone might find it very interesting … and familiar-looking!! https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/c0.0.403.403/p403x403/538139_10150972275732300_143609445_n.jpg
June 18th, 2012 13:41
Yesterday I was looking at Emma Watson’s pics and she with her pixie cut completely reminded me of Deryn. She might’ve been a good act if there were a movie and if she were a bit younger
June 20th, 2012 08:06
Young men and soldiers, 1914
Marching through countries they’d never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a Children’s Crusade
June 20th, 2012 08:10
I cut my hair because of Deryn…. She gave me the guts to do it, before, you know, I got too old to take care of it. But my parents didn’t want me to (I had 14 inches of beautiful Hermione hair) so I had to wait until I was 15. LIke Deryn is in Leviathan…. Although since she was “barely fifteen” she could have cut it when she was fourteen…. A birthday would help…. *pointed look at you, the author, Scott* For both of them….
So, yeah, anyway. My hair is now boy short ^^
June 26th, 2012 19:42
@67-WHOA THAT’S SO COOOOOL!!!!!
June 26th, 2012 19:43
I really want a pixie cut. My friend has one and it looks soooo cute!