Poseidon - Large Bomber

[LyCheSis]

Hi, my first post here after having watched these boards with amazement for quite some time.

This one is right from the beginning originating from a very rough pencil sketch I made. I usually transfer the basic shape to 3D and continue "skribbeling" in Lightwave. The shape is inspired by a lobster. The tail, the wings and the underside getting detailed while the upper side remains pretty flat.

The biggest part missing at the moment is the main engine and the link to the front body. I already have a rough idea how I want to do it but I'll probably have to have a couple of go's at it before I'm satisfied. Also the wing blades are not yet good enough.

I don't know how much time I will have to work on this constantly but I will try to keep this updated (posting it here should certainly provide a nice incentive ).
Working fulltime makes it somewhat difficult to allocate time to these "fun stuff" things.

[Ozylot]

Hey! Cool looking design! I like it!

[Berkut]

nice design, has a homeworld feel to it. The only thing I'm not too fond of is the big tail, it somehow seems out of place atm, but if you stick a big engine under it I'm sure it would look good

P.S. damn work, I know how you feel, I haven't been able to do almost any 3d in a while too

[LyCheSis]

Thanks, I loved the Homeworld spaceships and my designs are very likely influenced by them, although I would say that my influences also lie in japanese manga and 70s / 80s space art like the work of Peter Elson.

The tail is currently dragging the shape down at the back end a bit to much but I want to keep the spine of the ship as flat as much as possible. The intake and engine on the underside will have to counterbalance this. The size of the tail could very possibly change but I'll make that dependant on how the overall shape flows together.

[S.W.Ninja]

Nice design kinda looks like a cross between a tie fighter and the hiigaran bomber. Very cool design. I agree with Berkut a nice engine there would look great.

[LyCheSis]

From what I've seen I am working for something more streamlined than the hiigaran bomber

I have started with the engine but I have still got quite a gap on the underside of the ship.
I am also testing different jet-thing-engine combinations (two long + two round, three round + two round, two long + one vertical long, etc...), so I am not sure that it will stay like this.

[Berkut]

nice engines, but yeah the big empty space in front of them still looks awkward, maybe put the power source there? the void also makes it look as if the "tail" has weak structural integrity and the large engines would break off if you hit some Gs

[LyCheSis]

I have now completed the rough body shape (added a segmented body piece which, although not very original, will fit my lobster theme quite good).

I spent most of the time doing (and redoing) the weapon mount points underneath the central body where the bombs are going to be transported. This part is also conveniently protected by the large wing blades.

This also marks the end of me sketching. Most parts are there where I want them and I will now be refining and detailing everything.

[Dallidas]

very cool! so this is going to drop physical bombs and not shoot plasma bombs right?

[LyCheSis]

yupp, the largest type of bomb would be capital ship bombs. Two will fit on the underside of the Poseidon filling the space between the main body and the wing blades quite nicely with a length of roughly 1/3 of the Poseidon.

Smaller variants are carried in bomblet dispenser rack that are attached to the weapon mount points.

I haven't yet decided the scale (that's something that usually changes several times during the design) but I am planning on having people being able to walk upright right up to the part of the nose of the Poseidon where it begins to get tapered. That would make it quite big