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The amazing Spaceship Handbook has a perfect blueprint of the Polaris as it appears in the old TV show. |
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The basic body went together quite quickly. Though the fins on the main body were never explained in the TV show, in a real rocket they would be heat radiators. I've made them glow orange, though in reality they would not get above a dull red. |
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The thumbs protruding from the bottom of the fins are apparently some kind of shock absorber. I made the jets glow blue with atomic Cherenkov radiation, but in reality one would only see this underwater, maybe in the air if the reactant was about to blow the rocket into atoms, and never in airless space. The little exit hatch in the fin is adorable, but it seems a bit close to the atomic engine. However, there are no good solutions to that problem. |
In the Tom Corbett books, the artist uses a stylized eagle symbol on the Solar Guard spacecraft. After studying some samples, I fired up Adobe Illustrator and made a quick-and-dirty version (click for larger image). It needs work, the tail feathers should be larger, and "cup" holding the sphere needs to be more circular.
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A bit of triangular waffling on the radiators, a patchwork metal skin, and the name "POLARIS" in Microgramma bold extended. And the little eagle is perfect touch. I do have to re-set the focal length on the virtual camera, as is it makes the ship look like a six inch plastic model, not a 42 meter long atomic cruiser. |
But the real work is yet to come, adding the interior decks and equipment.