Manual Art Reveal 2 (Stormwalker)

Posted on by scott

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.

72 thoughts on “Manual Art Reveal 2 (Stormwalker)”

  1. @50: They left out WAY too many details in the first Percy Jackson movie. Movies of books seem to be hard to do right.

  2. @51: I think the plot was just simplified too much to work. A second movie just wouldn’t work.

  3. @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.

  5. @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.

  7. 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

  9. @ 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!

  11. Didn’t notice how Starwars AT walker the Cyclops looked like until now. In all the other images the Stormwalker seemed to be wider.

  12. @61: Did you mean the AT-ST? And this picture doesn’t have the engines and legs, which make it considerably wider.

  13. 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 😀

  14. WTF means What The F*ck right? Im still not sure on these texting abbreviations. And IKR stands for I Know Right…right?

  15. @50: I agree! they totally killed Percy Jackson in the movie! the books are WAY better!

    @64: Thats right

  16. 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

  18. 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 🙂

  19. 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

  20. 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 ^^

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