Battlestar Galactica Vipers

[Parker Midwinter]

late-model P-40s had 3 .30 cal guns in the wings, and no nose guns if i'm not mistaken... maybe i'm thinking of the models sent to russia? it's been a whie since i've built or researched a P-40 model...

your immages look great Talos!

[Talos]

Thanks Parker.

The P-40s had the following armaments usually.

P-40: 2x .50 cal MGs (nose), 2x .30 cal MGs (wing)

P-40B/C: 2x .50 cal MGs (nose), 4x .30 cal MGs (wing)

P-40D/E/F/K/M/N: 6x .50 cal MGs (wing) except for first 20 -Ds and some of the -Ns, they had 4. Some of the -Ns, -Ls, and the -Q had 4x .50s due to removing two to lighten the plane. These were frequently restored in the field or depots. The SC version of the P-40B (what I call the H81-A2SC), carries 6x .50 cal MGs instead of the standard armament. I love the P-40 series if no one can tell. Oh, the basic idea is that Dex and his team helped develop the six-gun wing with the designers and thus Cap's plane was refitted with it before the improved Warhawks with the F-series engines (P-40D onward) were produced.

[Talos]

Side view is pretty much finished now.

Added: Pitot tube
guns
radio attenae
ring-and-bead sight
exhaust stubs
etc

[Safe@2nd]

Nice work Talos!

I am a big fan of the WW2 planes. My favorite being the F4U Corsairs, and the Supermarine Spitfires. Had a soft spot for the P-38 Lighnting too.

Great minds think alike, I was looking up blueprints on the Spitfire to use as base for a retro style starfighter.

Never liked the Sky Commander movie. It had some good ideas but I felt was over Hollywooded.

[Talos]

Those are fun planes. When I was on the Yorktown a few months ago (spent two nights in racks, 'twas awesome), one of the planes they had was an F4U-1A, it was massive and gorgeous, as was the A-1 Skyraider parked next to it and the F4F-4 down the line. There are Spitfire blueprints at õÇÏÌÏË ÎÅÂÁ, those might help.

My personal favs from WWII include the P-40 series, P-51 series (especially the early models, including the Allison engine-equipped ones), the F4U, the Bf-109F, and the Hurricane.

I enjoyed Sky Captain, it reinterested me in the whole pulp, retro-futuristic genre, although it could have been better.

[Talos]

Just a quick update since I'm at a party, I just wanted to post some stuff I did today at work. First up is a new background history for the Viper Mk II. The pic is an early preview of the family of Mk IIs I'm going to do, I'll probably get some more done this evening and definately tomorrow.

Early in the war, the Viper Mk I starfighter was master of the skies. It was faster and more manuverable than the more heavily armored Colonial War-era Raiders piloted by the Cylons. Colonial military planners felt the need for another design to suplement the Mk I in fleet hangers. Ultimately, they decided on a pair of new designs, a heavy starfighter, capable of carrying heavy loads and absorbing heavy damage. The other was a lightweight, more austere dogfighter utilizing as many of the Mk I components as possible. The result of these design studies became the Viper Mk's II and III. The Mk II was the lightweight component and initially featured the Voram VM3-D15 a smaller version of the D14 engines on the Mk I, as well as a broadly similar cockpit and identical MEC-A2 autocannons. The Mk II had a newer and lighter composite fuselage and larger wings, enabling a heavier weapons payload, usually unguided air-to-ground munitions or air-to-air missiles. The new fighter lacked some capabilities of the Mk I, such as inflight refueling initially and had lighter, more compact, and generally less powerful dradis and avionics. Over the course of the war, the austere fighter was consistently upgraded, eventually becoming more capable than it's earlier cousin. The same engine modifications, including the /a and /b model engines were incorporated into later production blocks and depot refits. A new canopy with much improved visibility and cockpit space was installed beginning about midway through the war. A similar cockpit, differing mostly in that it was hinged unlike the sliding canopy installed on the Mk II. The newer MEC-A6 autocannons were also incorporated into the design later in the war, a simple modification due to sharing the same mounting brackets as the earlier cannons. The biggest modification during the war was the inclusion of an underbelly bulge containing either a fuel tank or small missile bay, relieving, along with finally installed inflight refueling gear, the short legs of the fighter.

After the war, the Mk's I, II, III, and IV were the fighter components of the Colonial fleet. The Fleet budget was dramatically slashed by the war-weary Quorum and procurement plans for new ships and fighters stopped. All of the main types of fighters were maintained immediately after the war, with early blocks being shunted to reserve and militia squadrons, as well as reserve stocks on Sagittaron and Leonis. The late model Viper Mk IIs were broadly as capable as their Mk I cousins and proved to be much cheaper to operate. After the retirement of the Mk I and the expensive Mk III, the Mk II was the dominant remaining fighter in fleet service, serving alongside the last active duty Viper Mk IVs. Decades later, following the short production of a new lightweight fighter, the Viper Mk V, and the failure of the Mk VI development project, the Viper Mk II wearily served on. The Mk II was never substantially modified after the initial postwar refits, mostly recieving software and electronics updates. Unfortunately, the aging spaceframes were beginning to wear out, the oldest of them were forced to be grounded from age and the heavy stress from nearly fifty years of active duty. The newer craft continued on, but they required increasing amounts of maintenance to keep in the air, upwards of thirty maintenance hours for each hour of flight-time in some cases. A replacement design was finally procured, named the Viper Mk VII. The Mk VII quickly replaced the remaining ancient Mk IIs, the last Mk II on active service completing it's last flight on the 35th anniversary of the end of the Cylon war. The Viper landed amid celebration, at it's new permanent home, the Colonial Museum of Flight at the Corinth Airbase on Aerelon. A few Mk IIs continued in Colonial Militia squadrons, piloted by warriors alongside the few remaining Viper Mk IVs and the new Scorpion Mk IV fighters that were in the process of replacing the few remaining Cylon War-era Vipers still in service.

[B.J.]

Originally Posted by Talos

Just a quick update since I'm at a party,....

If you're at a party, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!??

[Talos]

I was waiting for people to get there so I slipped out for a minute since I had my flashdrive with me.

Anyway, that was just a quick WIP I threw together. Here is a much improved one. I tried to post this last night but couldn't access SFM.

[Safe@2nd]

HAHA!! Have flashdrive, will travel!

Have a Merry Christmas Talos!

[Talos]

Haha, yeah, a great piece of technology. I came straight from work so I still had it in my pocket.

Thanks Safe, you too.