TerraLiner:12 m Globally Mobile Beach House/Class-A Crossover w 6x6 Hybrid Drivetrain

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Hi jbeem,

Many thanks for your kind words, and your enthusiasm.

You mentioned that you are a Tatra fan, and for a while now I've wanted an excuse to post about the 8x8 Tatra used in the Ridley Scott movie, “Prometheus”. Your quick mention of Tatra, and the posts on the previous page about the “biomorphic” styling of the VW Microbus (or more exactly, its “Art Deco” styling), suggest that this might be an opportune moment to post an aesthetic analysis of Ridley Scotts's extra-terrestrial Tatra......

So here's a “small” gift. Enjoy! :sombrero:


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1. Extra-Terrestrial Tatra 8x8 Rover


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A few months ago I was discussing Tatras with a friend, and he mentioned that the 8x8 extra-terrestrial “RT Rover” used in the recent Ridley Scott film, “Prometheus”, was a real working vehicle, and not an RC model. It was built on a Tatra T-813 ex-military chassis – see http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/RT_Series_Group_Transport , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_T813 , http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/?ref_=nv_sr_1 , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(2012_film) :












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Turns out that no less than three RT Rovers were made for the film, but the third, a flat-bed version designed to carry the orange ATVs, was not used – see http://artdepartmental.com/2012/07/31/prometheus-rover/ . The article just linked is worth reading in full, because it provides an in-depth aesthetic “critique” of the RT Rover's design.

One of the vehicles, the RT02, is now on display at the Coventry Transport Museum in Britain:









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Here are some exterior shots:









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A few more few shots of the R2 Rover outside:





And some interior shots:








For further information, see http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/RT_Series_Group_Transport , http://www.transport-museum.com/visiting/ , http://www.transport-museum.com/news/article/319/prometheus_vehicles_to_go_on_display
http://www.weylandchronicles.com/20...e-prometheus-vehicles-exhibit-and-their-work/ , http://www.weylandchronicles.com/20...s-rt01-arriving-at-coventry-transport-museum/ , http://www.therpf.com/f45/prometheus-vehicle-176217/ , and http://www.williams-shipping.co.uk/news/an-extraterrestrial-mission-for-williams-transport.


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3. A Few Disclaimers


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Now this series of posts is not a plug for the “Prometheus” movie, which had some problems, and was not nearly in the same league as Ridley Scott's original “Alien”.

The following are some very funny parodies of “Prometheus” that poke fun at the movie's crater-sized plot-holes:



[video=youtube;RBaKqOMGPWc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBaKqOMGPWc [/video]



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4. Dartz-Kombat Fascist Kitsch


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Furthermore, the styling of the Prometheus RT Rover is much too militaresque for my taste, and reminds me of all those tongue-in-cheek, mock-authoritarian, fascist-kitsch armored SUV's produced by Dartz-Kombat – see http://dartzkombat.com , http://dartz.us/en/dartz-world/index/factory-tour-121403 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/luxury-13028 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/luxury-13028/promrbon-exrussobaltique-13520 , http://dartz.us/en/dartz-models/pro...-iron-diamond-or-l4p-ladies-only/index-121493 , http://dartz.us/en/dartz-models/pro...s-main-car-models/english-121413/index-121533 , http://dartz.us/en/dartz-models/pro...s-main-car-models/index-121479/english-121409 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/military-13026 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/military-...otection--tactical-carier-troop-vehicle-36341 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/media-13030 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartz , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-98_Kombat , http://www.gizmag.com/go/4799/ , http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...expensive-armored-SUV-goes-sale--500-000.html , and http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/dartz,top/Interesting :










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Here are some Dartz-Kombat videos:


[video=youtube;TVzDiKz_l4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVzDiKz_l4k&index=30&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5 EB[/video]
[video=youtube;kRm3iLO8Ckg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRm3iLO8Ckg&index=6&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5E B[/video] [video=youtube;8Ljqfj4lUIQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ljqfj4lUIQ&index=3&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5E B[/video]
[video=youtube;qIt6wzZ2jow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIt6wzZ2jow&index=26&list=PL7A5A3F 745BCFC5EB[/video] [video=youtube;fT8CNbgeK0g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT8CNbgeK0g&index=2&list=PL056EC20A5F342D7 5[/video]



Also see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ529hPOw9k&index=12&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5EB , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY9LFHnqh8E#t=10 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmHr47b0DV0&index=42&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5EB , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlZ5j_y4s-g&index=43&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5EB , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCBIwSlHqrY&index=25&list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5EB , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb_RFaoyB44&list=PL056EC20A5F342D75&index=6 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fhBukrurRU&list=PL056EC20A5F342D75&index=5 , and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzWRYbLfkpw&list=PL056EC20A5F342D75&index=8 .

And see the excellent playlists at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7A5A3F745BCFC5EB and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL056EC20A5F342D75 .


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At least one hopes that Dartz-Kombat vehicles are intended as mock-authoritarian. Dartz-Kombat seems able to laugh at itself, in a way that perhaps some of its customers cannot?

You gotta love a company that names one of its vehicle the “Pombron Black Russian for Chinese Taste-Impaired Coal Boss”: http://dartzkombat.com/en/luxury-13...ese-taste-impaired-coal-boss-2011-model-32455 .

And the mouthful, “ex.RussoBaltique” sounds like a Baltic-separatist, revengeful poke at former Russo-authoritarian masters: former masters who now pay top-dollar for fascist-kitsch SUV’s produced in Estonia, by a company headquartered in the thoroughly democratic Republic of Latvia……:sombrero: ... Both Estonia and Latvia have been EU members for bit longer than a decade, and both just recently joined the Eurozone as well – see http://dartzkombat.com/en/history-13025 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/luxury-13...que-the-car-with-the-golden-wheels-2011-13518 , http://dartzkombat.com/en/contacts-13027 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia , and http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25567096 :



.....


So for an EU-based manufacturer of armored SUVs to celebrate central-Eurasian-style dictatorship on its website, just must be an exercise in "subvertising" (subversive advertising), or what the French call "détournement" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Détournement and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subvertising ): ironically poking fun at the product one intends to sell, and/or one's intended buyer.

Dartz-Kombat is the only luxury car manufacturer that I've seen do this with its own vehicles. But hey, there's a first time for everything!

The contrast here would be with some other fabricators of armored SUVs, who do not seem to demonstrate nearly as much humor about their products:






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5. The Narrative Necessity of Fascist-Kitsch Rover Design


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It's important to realize that-Sci-Fi vehicles like the RT Rover tend to adopt this sort of fascist-kitsch aesthetic because it visually contributes to a dystopian storyline. In "Prometheus", a mega-corporation controlled by a pseudo-aristocratic haute-bourgeoisie family rides roughshod over the lives and dignity of the hoi poloi, and in the process puts everyone in danger. Futuristic present-tense? Maybe yes, maybe no. Either way, the designers who worked on the RT Rover were probably asked to create a vehicle that expresses the movie's vision of an inegalitarian, militaristic-corporatist-fascist future.

Much of the industrial design concept-work for the film – and the most of the design of the RT Rover in particular – was done by and/or directed by David Levy, in collaboration with Joe Hiura, Ben Proctor, Steve Messing, and Steve Burg. As they all admit on their websites, it was difficult to say who was exactly responsible for what elements of the RT Rover design, because the collaboration was so intense – see http://vyle-art.com , http://vyle-art.com/portfolio/ , http://vyle-art.com/works/corporate/ , http://vyle-art.com/some-storyboards/ , http://vyle-art.com/some-storyboards/ , http://vyle-art.com/contact-2/ , http://conceptartworld.com/?p=15114 , http://www.deathfall.com/forums/content.php?8373-Prometheus-Concept-Art-of-the-Rover-by-David-Levy , http://www.deathfall.com/forums/content.php?8359-Prometheus-Concept-Art-of-Sets-by-David-Levy , http://www.deathfall.com/forums/content.php?8351-Prometheus-Concept-Art-of-Medpod-by-David-Levy , http://www.benprocter.com , http://www.benprocter.com/prometheus/ , http://www.benprocter.com/prometheus/costumes-props-rovers/ , http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3107972/ , http://www.deathfall.com/forums/content.php?8300-Prometheus-Concept-Art-by-Steven-Messing , http://www.maxon.net/en/customer-st...leverages-cinema-4d-to-create-cg-designs.html , http://steveburg.blogspot.com/ , http://www.deathfall.com/forums/content.php?8294-Prometheus-Concept-Art-by-Steve-Burg , and http://www.awesome-robo.com/2012/06/developing-look-of-prometheus-by-steve.html .

To get a sense of the messy, complex, multi-contributor design process for the RT Rover, check out Ben Procter's website in particular, at http://www.benprocter.com/prometheus/costumes-props-rovers/ . The range of possible RT Rover designs was quite broad. They even considered flying rovers, both at the beginning and near the end of their design process – see http://www.prometheus2-movie.com/community/forums/topic/21432 :









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Particularly fascinating is the number and variety of initial designs they explored for more bulbous, organic, and curvilinear vehicles:








But clearly, none of these more “ovoid” concept vehicles looks even remotely aggressive enough. None of them communicates “inegalitarian, militaristic-corporatist-fascist threat.” Instead, they suggest a future in which our vehicles are partially humanized, because their shapes are almost as biomorphic as we are.


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The design process for the Prometheus RT Rover only began to “lock down” and finalize once they ditched biomorphic, organic design, and adopted an aesthetic they described as “angular Rover” instead:









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And the final Prometheus RT Rover:





Now in the overall context of a dystopian Sci-Fi movie, the "militaresque" styling of the RT Rover makes sense, and it's good design. Indeed, the Lambo or “scissor” doors in front and the gull-wing doors on the sides are functionally speaking not necessary, but again, they contribute to the movie's overall dystopian aesthetic. They are aggressive, knife-like appendages that feel like they could cut.

But if you're a civilian, and you find yourself needing to drive around on a daily basis in an armored vehicle that looks like an RT Rover or Dartz-Kombat SUV, then perhaps you need to rethink your lifestyle and/or sources of income?

And perhaps the same line of argument applies to those who want to tour the Third World in aggressive-looking, angular, “militaresque” expedition motorhomes that do not look much better?


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6. Tatra Split-Axle Retro-Futurism


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One closing thought. It's kinda funny that “split-axle suspension” is explicitly touted in the movie's fantasy-advertisement poster as a futuristic feature of the RT Rover, along with “reinforced-touchscreen blast-shield”, “carbon-matter sensors”, and “integrated bio-nomic telecom unit” (whatever that is….):





If Tatra survives another 80 years, no doubt our grandchildren will still be thinking of “split-axle suspension” as the coolest, most futuristic automotive technology they've ever seen.

In any case just thought I'd post about the Prometheus RT Rover, because it's a fascinating example of a Tatra conversion, and an “fully integrated” design to boot, albeit not a motorhome. It's a fully integrated 8x8 whose swinging half-axles will probably still seem innovative to our descendants, 80 years from now…..:sombrero:

All best wishes,



Biotect

 

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Addendum


Here's another way of making the same point.


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7. Farscape's Moya: Literally Organic


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I am a big fan of “Farscape”, the Sci-Fi television series.

And for me, the bio-mechanical spaceship that figures so centrally in Farscape, named “Moya”, is (almost) the greatest spaceship of all time:










See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farscape , http://www.henson.com/fantasy_scifi.php?content=farscape , http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187636/ , http://www.farscapecaps.com/101/index.php?page=1 , and http://www.farscapecaps.com/?seasonone .


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The greatest spaceship of all time is Doctor Who's Tardis. But the Tardis is great mostly at the conceptual level, because the Tardis is both a time-machine and a space ship, and it messes so shamelessly with our spatial and temporal expectations. In only one episode do we learn that the Tardis is alive, sentient, intelligent, and that she is madly in love with the Doctor. In almost all other episodes the Tardis seems a fairly “mechanical” sort of thing that the Doctor attempts to drive.

Whereas in every espisode of Farscape it's made clear that Moya is alive, intelligent, and capable of independent action. And her design says it all: Moya is organic –









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8. Peacekeeper Command Carriers: Not so Organic


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Moya's “Peacekeeper” adversaries do not exactly have angular spaceships. Peacekeeper spaceships are kinda curved too, but in a very rigidly geometric sort of way:







And unlike Moya, Peacekeeper spaceships are not alive.

It's interesting that these different morphologies seem to so “naturally” conjure up certain moral and political connotations. Just imagine if Farscape's designers tried to do the reverse. Just imagine if they tried putting the rigid, aggressive, fascistic-militaristic “Peacekeepers” inside living, organic space-ships; and the free-wheeling rebels and anarchists inside angular, rectilinear, lifeless vessels.

It just wouldn't work, neither visually or thematically. The aesthetic of the spaceships would constantly undercut the storyline.

All best wishes,



Biotect