Gliese

[kborak]

ok different paint for the mig. I think this looks better, its still not done mind you, but overall she is getting close.

[kborak]

ok here is an area I NEED feedback on, the soviet carrier. Heres a block in of an idea that I had today. Any comments extremely welcome.

[kborak]

....and one more

[Keyes]

Looks pretty good, I'm guessing that the opening in the bow is the hanger deck/launch bay area. If so maybe try to jut out the bottom part of it (sort of like the flight pods from BSG.

This would allow the pilots a greater choice of angle of attack for when they need to land, rather than having to fly straight into the opening.

This could also make your carrier look more aggressive, as we all know the Soviets are

[Meph]

Hmmm, avoid flight pods at all costs. As it's an original design in an original universe, try to avoid any cliche layouts that might be immediately linked to other current and popular franchises.
As for layout, keep a couple of things in mind and the shap will fall into place itself.
-How are the fighters launched? Launch tubes, catapults on the deck, catapults on the outer hull with airlock/lifts to bring them to the surface (in space, think 3D) Is the launching mechanism mechanical, electrical, magnetic, force-field driven?
-How are the fighters recovered? Free landing on skids? VTOL or STOL? Arresting mechanism? In case fo a bad landing, can they 'touch & go' or will they smack in to the fighters standing ready to launch? Once recovered, how can they be prepped and moved to the launch position?
-How do the fighters make the transition from atmosphere to vacuum? Star-Wars-like field? Airlock? BSG vagueness?
-How can the flight deck be defended against attack? Forcefield or shield, giant blast doors, segmented 'garage-doors' or nothing and damn the stray missile?
-Is this carrier atmo-capable? If so, you could take some design elements into account to keep it plausible. If it's a true space-born vessel you don't need to take some basic aerodynamics into account etc etc.

In general, the shape is looking pretty good and solid. A way to make it easier is to extend the hull both aft and bow a bit further than the actual hull opening, so that you create a sort of landing pad or runway that the pilots can use as visual reference for theur approach. A bit like the Tiger's Claw from Wing Commander or even just current day frigates and destroyers where you have a small flight deck sticking out of the helicopter hangar.



Those last two Gliese renders are looking mighty fine by the way, you're improving yourself with every render you make mate

[kborak]

@Keyes: Good Idea on bringing the bottom out. I am going to incorperate that. TY!

@Meph: I was thinking, maybe the magnetic tracks on the decking for moving the birds around, with a back up system on the birds themselves. For landing them I put an opening in the hull towards the rear on the port side so that they will land like on a modern carrier, at an angle. The trap system needs more thought! And that may mean giving the mig wheels after all. Im just not sure yet. I know your suggestion is go with the whels. I will post a more updated prototype for the carrier tomorrow.

Night for now Gents!

[a.dove1984]

hey, i just had a lool at your work.
that kind of thing looks like it belongs to some military magazine or web page images. very very good.

what programm did you use this again? i forget, but i knew someone who used to come up with something similar

[kborak]

@dove Im using 3dsmax. And thanks for the compliment.
Still slowly working the textures on the mig, and the thought of how the ships are going to be recovered has prompted a little remodling of the landing gear on it. So in the mean time a little more work on the carrier.

I hope to have an update on the mig textures soon!

but here is the redesign on the carrier at this point.

[kborak]

...and a couple more!

[Monkey Boy]

There seems to be an expectation in sci-fi that ships must land into an opening in the front or back of a ship - personally, as long as you have artificial gravity in your universe, I see no reason why you could not bring your fighters down onto the top deck of the carrier just like a sea-going one, surely the artificial gravity could have some degree of force up to 5-10m above the deck surface? (I personnally would not feel comfortable walking around if the artificial gravity only acted on my feet, and my head was in free-fall - projectile vomit for sure!). widen your top deck a little and narrow your bridge and have runways down either side perhaps? with a raised housing down the center that the fighters can turn into and ride elevators down into the lower hull (the elevators themselves can be airlocks, removing the worry about feilds, shutters etc to close off the air across the hanger opening), th weapons can mount on this center structure also. Perhaps have launch tubes down the sides or lower hull. you would not need an angled deck like a real carrier because there is no requirment to take off "into the wind" so to speak.
With artificial gravity, there is also no reason why only one direction must be up - just look at the flight pods on the pegesus in BSG! It would be possible to have a runway upside-down down the centerline of the belly also.

Ah, sorry, getting verbal diarrhea again - at the end of the day it's *your* design! But don't feel it needs to confirm to the famous movie or TV show design rules - it only needs to fit your concieved universe. Go wild!


sorry I've been missing the thread for a while keep getting sent to locations with patchy comms (I'm on a satellite connection with slower than dial-up right now!), the Mig looks fantastic by the way!