Broadside!! - USS Trenton (CA 1)

[amaysingstories]

Her launch and engineering alpha trials complete, the crew of the USS Trenton (CA 1) puts the astrodynamic cruiser through her combat paces for her bravo trials. In a defensive broadside to port, in orbit over the darkening Earth, the Trenton fires six diode-laser emplacements and two railguns at a distant virtual target. Should this phase of the trials prove successful, the cruiser will launch her Excalibur missiles on an asteroid target, and confirm her place as the flagship of the growing Earth Defense Fleet.

From my perpetual novel-in-progress, "A Sword Into Darkness", a sample chapter of which can be found on SFM in the Writers' Forum. Many thanks to the visitors and contributors to the "Astrodynamic Cruiser" WIP! Done in C4D and Photoshop.

Comments appreciated.

V/R,
Tom Mays

[D.M.J.]

Perhaps you might get a more dramatic image if you place the camera a little lower, and closer to one of the beams, so perspective causes the beams to splay out a little and (projecting backwards through the barrels) converge on a point within the image.

One thing I've noticed is that all the images I've seen you make with this model feature the entire model, usually from the same or similar angle. You have no constraints on your camera bar the ones that come with your package, so experiment a little, and while you are rightly proud of the ship, restricting the field of view to part of the model might help an image. Just suggestions, of course

[amaysingstories]

Thanks for the critique, David!

Yeah, I'm perhaps a little too enamored of the design, and really should look at some more dramatic placement. I did try a shot like you suggested with one of the laser beams, but my beam detail or granularity or composition or whatever you call it is very basic and not that compelling up close. It just looked fakey -- which it is of course, because you can't ever see a laser in vacuum anyway, but you know what I mean. Yeah, I like this pic, but it's not very exciting. More of a beauty shot than anything else. But, now that it's out of the way, I'll try to run with some more dynamic, arty compositions.

Thanks again, and I'm glad you like the mesh!

[Animaniac]

Nice Work,i like the Lighting on the Ship.

[D.M.J.]

Ever since I read Nyrath's site I've thought that "hard science" lasers could actually look quite good and accurate in a scene like this if you use open-cycle cooling. Venting coolant gas and a lack of visible beam would make the broadside look quite reminiscent of a sail-ship's gunpowder broadside, which might look quite attractive while remaining closer within the bounds of science.

[amaysingstories]

Thanks, Animaniac! Your work is amazing, so it makes me feel good to know you like it.

[amaysingstories]

David,

Absolutely. Nyrath's site is a treasure. I love the rigor of it, though the -- hmmm -- I guess you'd call it my "cinematic" sense still loves the complete violations of hard physics that a lot of our favorite visuals go for. Like laser beams you can see and tight, compact little ships that don't have a mass ratio like 90 to 10 in favor of reaction mass.

That being said, you almost have to have some sort of open cycle cooling system, either as a primary or a back-up for your weapons. My cruiser has these enormous radiators because she has to shed a ton of waste heat (reactor, drive, weapons, environmentals, etc.). Since they're so big, I didn't see any practicality or realism in having them stow completely, so they end up being quite vulnerable. I mitigate that by having a secondary set of reserve radiators that are under armor, but can be deployed out the dorsal and ventral spines. Plus, all the critical systems have internal phase-change heat sinks (essentially blocks of ice). If both the primary and reserve radiators are destroyed, each weapon system can still shed heat for a short while by first melting and then boiling off their coolant. (those are the vents you see spotted around the hull)

[nyrath]

Originally Posted by amaysingstories

Absolutely. Nyrath's site is a treasure. I love the rigor of it, though the -- hmmm -- I guess you'd call it my "cinematic" sense still loves the complete violations of hard physics that a lot of our favorite visuals go for.

Thanks!
But it is talented artists like you who use the resources I've patiently scraped together and turn them into stunning artwork.