Fighter Profile Sheets

[bbzwbbzw]

Here is the first in a series of completed profile sheets of military craft of the future. I ripped off the layout from a book I purchased from Borders. As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged!


http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4153/mig227profilefb4.th.png (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mig227profilefb4.png)
(this is the full size image)

[Major Diarrhia]

It's still your best fighter, great data page too. For the guns I would say "Do to rapid overheating of the original cannon, it was replaced with a laser system," since the data sheet says it has four lasers. However, lasers produce plenty of heat too.

[B.J.]

Heh. I've got the series of mail-order data cards that book originated from!

[Aethernaut]

Nice layout, man! When does the full set go on sale? :D :D

[bbzwbbzw]

lol. If only. I grew up in the UK in the late 70's and I think all those military magazines, sticker books, and subscription sets really began my interest in technical drawings. Here is another one.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6793/bansheeprofilexv9.th.png (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bansheeprofilexv9.png)


inspired by the BTA fighter from Enemy Mine

[Tolbert]

Are you planing any German fighters ?

[bbzwbbzw]

Are you planing any German fighters ?

As a matter of fact, I'm working on one this week.

[deltapax]

These are fantastic! I have a binder full of these aircraft charts, in almost the same format, that used to come in the mail. They were fun to collect. I can't wait to see your Northrop FT-19 Shrike & Mig 233 in this format!

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks deltapax, the MiG-233 is coming at the end of this week. Here is another one. When I started this one I was sort of meh about it, but it grew on me as time went by.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8025/thunderprofiledi4.th.png (http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thunderprofiledi4.png)

[CASUAL OBSERVER]

looks great!

The only error is a technical one. Usually the British don't use the same type of unit designation as do Americans. i.e.- Princess Sophia would be a member of "No. 55 Sq." , not the "55th Fighter Squadron".

But still, the work is outstanding! :thumb:

[bbzwbbzw]

Wow, didn't even occur to me but you are completely right. I'll fix and repost tonight.

[coolusername]

Awesome work man..

I seen something like those in a coffee table book authored by jim winchester...part of the aviation factfile series i reckon.

Keep up the good work and let us know when the book comes on sales :P

[bbzwbbzw]

thanks cool.

Here is this weeks release;

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6950/framerpv4.th.png (http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=framerpv4.png)

[B.J.]

Very cool! The MiG-233 is my favorite of your original profiles, but that top view came out a lot different than what I was thinking.

[bbzwbbzw]

Very cool! The MiG-233 is my favorite of your original profiles, but that top view came out a lot different than what I was thinking.

Me too, what were you thinking it would look like?

[sorceress21]

Your work is fantastic..but..I really think you need to credit the production designers for "The Enemy Mine" on that second fighter. It's not identical but it's a clear redesign...and BTW, your version is much better then the original...

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/kiribell/BTAFighter.jpg

[bbzwbbzw]

Well I'm glad you like sorceress, I'm a big fan of you work too, and your absolutely right, I discussed the inspiration from the enemy mine fighter in this post

http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/2d-gallery/36877-fighters-24th-century-2.html

and honestly, it just slipped my mind. I'll update the post.

[bbzwbbzw]

two new ones. I dig the retro german one myself

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3780/jayhawkoe8.th.png (http://img369.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jayhawkoe8.png)
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/904/haifischrm9.th.png (http://img369.imageshack.us/my.php?image=haifischrm9.png)

[deltapax]

Sweet, loved that MiG-233, although like B.J. I was suprised at the top view of it. For some reason I expected it to have a narrower profile, with the engine pods closed to the body and stubbier wings. Couldn't tell you why, really, but I'm glad you're doing these data sheets because I love the designs.

Really dig the german fighter, the engine placement and tail remind me a bit of the dropship from Aliens.

[bbzwbbzw]

Wow, you're right. I didn't see it before but now that you point it out I totally do.

[Major Diarrhia]

You keep making the soviet stuff cooler looking and the MiG-223 looks more advanced than anything else. You need to make a US fighter with an uninterrupted bubble canopy because all the US fighters, as well as everyone else's look like they're from the 70's.

I'm amused that you made the characteristics of the US and Russian fighters reversed. The Russians are obsessed with dogfighting ability and the US has always tried to get away from it.

[bbzwbbzw]

You keep making the soviet stuff cooler looking and the MiG-223 looks more advanced than anything else. You need to make a US fighter with an uninterrupted bubble canopy because all the US fighters, as well as everyone else's look like they're from the 70's.

I'm amused that you made the characteristics of the US and Russian fighters reversed. The Russians are obsessed with dogfighting ability and the US has always tried to get away from it.

Lol, I love your posts M.D., you don't pull any punches and I'm down with that. As far as the dogfighting versus standoff ideology, yes you are absolutely right. I'm figuring everything is cyclical and in this universe the technology is favoring the dogfighter rather than the missile platform. This is just an arbitrary decision on my part.

And all I can say about advanced looking fighters other than soviet ones, well, wait and see!

[BolianAdmiral]

Wow... this is some totally awesome stuff... I love the new look of these pages, and the Banshee page is my favorite. I love how you included a set of drawings depicting how it fights... great stuff, and keep it coming! :D

[Major Diarrhia]

Lol, I love your posts M.D., you don't pull any punches and I'm down with that. As far as the dogfighting versus standoff ideology, yes you are absolutely right. I'm figuring everything is cyclical and in this universe the technology is favoring the dogfighter rather than the missile platform. This is just an arbitrary decision on my part.

And all I can say about advanced looking fighters other than soviet ones, well, wait and see!
Yeah, I usually can't help it, it's a bad habit.:lol: It's still better than saying, "this sucks", how can you learn anything from a comment like that but the same is true of "this rocks".:D I've been trying to work on my criticism of aspects that I do like so people are more receptive to my criticism of parts I don't like.

Great stuff, keep it up, there's no reason philosophies like that shouldn't change.:)

[Tovette]

I must say these are really great. You are inspiring me to get to work on the Space Fighters for Project Cosmos. Great work, bbzwbbzw. :cool:

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Tovette.

[bbzwbbzw]

Redid this old chestnut. The nice thing about putting these sheets together is the more I do, the easier they get because I can reuse a graph here and there.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/1623/shrikecng7.th.png (http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shrikecng7.png)

[Aethernaut]

Very nice. Again, I really like those sheet layouts. Your FT-19 has a distinct F-104 Starfighter sort of look to it in the dorsal view. While the Sabre holds a certain appeal, the Starfighter ("Lawn Dart" heheheh!) has always been my favorite mid-century jet fighter and this one captures it perfectly... if it would have been crossbred with an F-8 Crusader! :D

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Aethernaut, and you are exactly right- it's entirely a cross between the F-8 and the F-104. I wanted it to look slightly outdated compared to more modern designs in the timeline. In my mind, 'more modern' equates to designs that look less like traditional aircraft and more like the design below;

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7704/corsairci8.th.png (http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=corsairci8.png)

This one is my favorite thus far. It's inspired from my memory of the fighters of a boardgame called renegade legion interceptor. Not based on any one in particular.

[deltapax]

These are great, I think I'm going to have to try my hand at a project like this soon.

It's just my own humble opinion, but I still like the Shrike, MiG-227 "Frank", and Haifisch the best, I think precisely because of their 'outdated' designs. They have a really nice sort of 'alternate history' vibe to them, they remind me a bit of the "Ministry of Space" comic series, about Britian going into space after WWII. IO also like the way those three in particular seem to marry 1980s aircraft design aesthetic to sort of sleak retro-60's kind of rocket shape.

That said I'm personally not so much a fan of the Corsair or Banshee designs. I really enjoyed the film "Enemy Mine," but the fighter design aesthetics were one of the things about it that always made me kind of go "huh? Why would anyone build something that looks like that?" I'd rather see some design evolutions leading to even sleeker, faster looking versions of your outdated fighters. But that's just personal opinion, and as far as execution goes I can't see anything to complain about with any of them. You're definately giving me to bug to try this.

[bbzwbbzw]

I'm glad you like! And yes, you should give it a go, its a lot of fun! I'm also glad that people like certain ones over others, I figure if everyone likes or dislikes all of them, their can't be much variety!

[Major Diarrhia]

On your Legendary Workhorse card, you wrote "but with rapidly advaning technology.":D

I like that you added that the Corsair has fully holographic whatsit, since the view is bad for a dogfighter.

The Magic is a whipping boy.:D It's also funny how in the German colonial defense card, the Magic looks like the advanced Colonial fighter from nBSG.:)

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks for the spell check MD, I always manage to miss something. And yes, the Magic is very much a whipping boy! I imagine the French Empire having a sprawling bureaucracy and once a project gets enough inertia its impossible to stop, even if it sucks (hey, that sounds just like the U.S. Government when it comes to defense contracts!) And hopefully when the Magic's full size sheet is done I can make it as ugly and cumbersome as possible to remove any relationship to BSG vipers! For me its actually much more fun to design 'fugly but workable' rather than 'cool and awesome'.

[bbzwbbzw]

One more

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9995/vindicatorvk4.th.png (http://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vindicatorvk4.png)

[Aethernaut]

Nice! I like that four engine arrangement.

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks. Sort of taking a break from fighters for a bit, starting to seem like work! Here are a couple of redo's of capital ships I did a while ago. Influenced by the 'Sulcao' obviously, but not too much I hope. I had a lot if fun doing the patches.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/7968/stingrayuw2.th.png (http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stingrayuw2.png)


http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7594/enterprisebf7.th.png (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enterprisebf7.png)

[liam887]

love it

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Liam,
here's one more

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/726/hanyp5.th.png (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hanyp5.png)

[liam887]

do you make these models in 3d or just 2D, im not complaining im just curious. I like your posts here over everything on this site at the moment. A couple of years ag i got about 6 warplane manuals off my uncle i have about 1000+ technical specs on modern fighters, choppers, military transport so its nice to see somebody putting a new spin on the whole concept. Here are some pics every magazine has one giant fold out with info and about 10 data type pics very similar to the ones you have. Ive got about 200 magazines and then i have 6 manuals witch hold about 100 magazines each. So thats a lot of stuff!
After seeing your pics i think im going to give what you are doing a try as my next WIP. Anyway here are some pics of the datasheets. My scanner for my MAC is broke so i was using a crappy phone camera. The layout is really good ill scan a data sheet in and PM you it, its full of ideas you could use, in layout and extra info.

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Liam, I would really like to take a closer look at those. I used to have loads of those subscription sets when I was growing up in the UK.

To answer your question, I only do 2d artwork but am starting to muck around with sketchup. My plan is to build really rough models so I can use them for perspective drawings, but thus far its been an exercise in futility!

I look forward to seeing some of your work soon!

[liam887]

well im only using sketchup at the moment to and you can make some pretty fine models in it dont let it fool you, heres a pic or my orbital elavator and halo ship all done in sketchup, they have both sorta frozen at the moment due to other 'real' work but ill get cracking on them again in a month when ive got some spare time to model again.

[bbzwbbzw]

Jesus, those are good! I've got A LOT to learn!

[liam887]

it doesnt take long to master if you are patient ive been using it a little over 2 years now

[liam887]

yer id love to see some of your designs im getting the national express to manchester in a couple of hours i might start laying out a few templates for ship designs to go into on 'in design' and photoshop on the way. The magazines ive got are great they are very professionally done, no offence and not discrediting your work (because its great) but some of your info sheets have i suppose, a childish dumbed down look, if you get what i mean, im not critisizing them you understand its just ive had these technical manuals for years and they look so good i can imagine your craft in the way they are presented in the magazines I have here and then your sheets would be phenominal! ill scan them in asap when i get my MAC scanner working and you'll see what i mean!

yer there is a pretty steep learning curve for sketchup but once you have broken out of the basic limitations other people i see who use it have (eg, curves and rounded objects) you will be fine and if you can draw it you can certainly model it no problems

[sorceress21]

Your frigate design just kicks arse BB!!

[Major Diarrhia]

The Enterprise needs its battle honors painted on the side.:)

[bbzwbbzw]

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5745/dallasqu3.th.png (http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dallasqu3.png)

Also, updated the image of the stingray, added some defensive missile packs.

[Andrew Boulton]

The Enterprise needs its battle honors painted on the side.:)

One for every woman Kirk slept with...

[bbzwbbzw]

One for every woman Kirk slept with...

"We're going to need a bigger boat."

[Major Diarrhia]

The frigate and destroyer are weird when compared to each other. I know stuff like that can happen but having the frigate being a heavier vessel than the destroyer is still weird. I like how the new anti-ship missile pack looks on the frigate but I miss the really huge missiles.

One for every woman Kirk slept with...
Yes! This MUST Be Done!:thumb:

[bbzwbbzw]

Here's my thinking; I wanted the Whaoo to be a 'heavy' frigate (it's really a light cruiser) to refer to the classic USN frigates of the early 19th century like the original USS Constitution that were significantly larger then their contemporaries. Plus I just think the word frigate is cool!

[bbzwbbzw]

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9576/coralseasu6.th.png (http://img219.imageshack.us/my.php?image=coralseasu6.png)

[B.J.]

Nice work! I like the patches, too. How'd you do that stitching effect?

[bbzwbbzw]

Glad ya like B.J. As far as the stitched effect, I used this pattern.

http://imageshack.us/thumbnmail.png (http://img514.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image2mg9.png)
It's too small for the thumbnail to register, but give it a click

Made a new layer, selected each color component of the patch, and flood filled with the pattern on the new layer, varying the angle for each segment. Finally, on the original patch layer, I selected each segment and added an inner bevel effect.

I didn't put a ton of work into these, but I think the end effect looks OK.

[liam887]

nice ive really got into the whole profile thing, im just going to throw a load out while i work on the 'master' templates in illustrator and in design. Thanks for the insperation and all!

[bbzwbbzw]

here is the latest

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2711/riograndelo2.th.png (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=riograndelo2.png)

[Major Diarrhia]

Now, that's a frigate. What's the gold stuff on the last two ships? It looks good whatever it is.

[liam887]

is it something to do with getting rid of engine heat? or a sort of solar panel?

[bbzwbbzw]

Well I added it from an artistic standpoint just to jazz up the design really. But the look I was going for was some sort of heat/radiation shield thingy.

[Major Diarrhia]

Well I added it from an artistic standpoint just to jazz up the design really. But the look I was going for was some sort of heat/radiation shield thingy.
You have them on the habitation pods and the engines on the respective ships but not both on both. What about adding it to both the engines and pods and see how that looks? It would also make more sense, although the ones on the pods don't need to be as big as the engine ones.

[bbzwbbzw]

After a short break, starting to work on stuff again.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6277/rooseveltqo5.th.png (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rooseveltqo5.png)

[Major Diarrhia]

Oh yeah, now that's a ship.

You're missing an 'i' before the 'a' in 'Presidential'.

[Tovette]

I just finished looking at, and on some, reading, all your ships and their info. I am impressed. It looks like you put a hefty amount of effort into creating a sufficient suspension of disbelief for viewers to dive into your universe. Do you have a backstory for your universe? I'm curious only because you have the nations of Earth still fractured. And I'm curious to see if only some nations have spacefaring capability or what. I'd be interested in seeing a layout of the spheres of influence for the spacefaring nations and things. This has a great potential to be something more.
I must admit I am inspired now to start on my fighters and capital ships for my Project Cosmos after looking at your's- I'm not easily inspired. Great Work.

Oh and you could probably sell these things. Register them for copyright and find a collective name for your work to Trademark so fans can place a name to your universe. Anywho, it's just a suggestion but I am betting you have some market to make some extra cash.

All of that aside, it's awesome stuff. :thumb:

[Nick]

These are some really excellent ship designs, with some really nicely balanced history data behind them. Nice clean layout too and the ship badges are a nice touch. You could make a very nice little self published book out of these. I look forward to seeing more. :D


@ Liam887 - deviating quickly, i can't believe those ships you posted several pages back were made in sketchup! If i can make a flight of stairs in that program it's a good day :P

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks all.

@MD
Fixed the spelling, thanks as always!

@tovette
Well, my starting inspiration was the old role playing game 2300ad, but since pretty much everything here has no basis in that game's canon, I think I will take your advice and make it an 'all new' universe. It will allow a lot more creative freedom, that's for sure.

[liam887]

could you do maybe a giant sheet comparing the ships you have done so far to give a sense of scale, if you have time of course?

[bbzwbbzw]

Once I get enough done I'll put together a size chart. I've been following tovette's advice and am trying to unify all the designs into an original universe. I'm calling it Vir Inter Astrum, and it will detail mankind's adventures in space from 2109 until 2408. It will be inspired by 2300ad, but will be sufficiently different to distinguish itself I hope. I've got a few profile sheets done, but I want to get a bunch of stuff together before I post them. But here is one sheet in case you are interested;

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/620/zhenghene5.th.png (http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zhenghene5.png)

[Major Diarrhia]

Great ship, I thought it was a modern Chinese warship at first but it's still cool. I really like that you made a historical ship for the universe. Although, the artwork is excellent, the highlight of this has nothing to do with your drawing. It's overshadowed by the name you gave the Chinese's empire which is delightful in its ostentatiousness.:D I can't but be reminded of the fanciful nicknames some of the characters possessed in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or a certain Chinese comic I used to read. I think it was "Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

[bbzwbbzw]

delightful in its ostentatiousness

I'm going to try to use that phrase in my everyday conversation!

[chrono]

Actually I don't see Chinese naming conventions changing at all since tradition is so heavily ground into the society I'd say that it would be far more traditionally named. Either named after a politician or a religious/myth figure.

bbz, love the work mate! But when are you gonna work with someone to get these mechanical beauties into 3D???

[bbzwbbzw]

bbz, love the work mate! But when are you gonna work with someone to get these mechanical beauties into 3D???

I suck like Jenna Jameson when it comes to 3D! The furthest I've ever got is doing extremely rough stuff in sketchup, and then just as a basis for perspective 2d work in painter. This is my level of 'expertise' so far, feel free to ROFLMAO.

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/6187/corsair1op1.th.png (http://img123.imageshack.us/my.php?image=corsair1op1.png)
liam887 I aint.

[liam887]

hey thats not bad, you could export it into another programme and render it now?

[Major Diarrhia]

I'm going to try to use that phrase in my everyday conversation!

Why thank you.:)

That mesh of yours isn't bad, as was suggested it just needs a different renderer.

[Orion's belt]

actually your 3d mesch is pretty good sometimes less is more

[liam887]

i was thinking about your mesh and you dont need to make it any more detailed, you could just texture it, and if your trxtures are as good as your illustrations youve got a winner!

[Monkey Boy]

delightful in its ostentatiousness.:D


I'm going to try to use that phrase in my everyday conversation!


I suck like Jenna Jameson when it comes to 3D!

I challenge you to get *that* one into everyday conversation! :lol:

[bbzwbbzw]

Well thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate! I'm going to keep noodling around with sketchup and see what happens. Here is another ship from Vir Inter Astrum

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/6455/colonyfw0.th.png (http://img365.imageshack.us/my.php?image=colonyfw0.png)

[bbzwbbzw]

I challenge you to get *that* one into everyday conversation! :lol:

I doubt my parishioners would understand...

[Orion's belt]

lol... so are you going to take your 2300AD ships into this universe?

[bbzwbbzw]

lol... so are you going to take your 2300AD ships into this universe?

Yup, but only the ones that are original.

[Major Diarrhia]

That's a cool ship! I though it was going to be a Marine Corps lander at first but colony ship is cool too.

[Orion's belt]

which ones are original?

[bbzwbbzw]

which ones are original?

Actually, looking through it everything in this thread with the exception of the Banshee, which was inspired by the BTA fighter in 'Enemy Mine'

I'm going to be doing the majority of color work in perspective from here on out and the plan and profile stuff will be just line art. Here is the first perspective piece, my favorite fighter-

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/4313/corsairbeautyzr3.th.png (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=corsairbeautyzr3.png)


I did a rough model in sketchup (after being inspired by Liam) and then traced over the basic model in paintshop. As a first effort, I'm pretty pleased with it.

[liam887]

lol as a first effort you should be pretty pleased with it! really good, I should try my hand at painting one of my models in photoshop with my tablet ill let you know how it goes

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Liam. And again, I can't tell you what an inspiration your work was to get me to buckle down and learn sketchup. I know you work in sketchup pro and I have to ask, is it worth getting, and what features does it have that the basic version doesn't?

And after looking at the illustration, I just wish I'd have angled it differently so you can see the starboard wing because I think it sort of looks like an asymmetrical ship right now.

[Tovette]

Hey nice job man! You fooled me as I thought the textures were done in the 3D rendering. Did you apply the textures in a layer below the rendering of the model or another method?

[liam887]

sketchup pro is only worth it for the option to export into obj or 3ds so you can put it into other apps.
Yeah i was wondering about the right wing it does look a bit weird, however Its excellent already and only a minor imperfection, I dont think you have to go to the trouble of doing it again. I cant wait to see more ships in this technique in the future!

[bbzwbbzw]

Hey nice job man! You fooled me as I thought the textures were done in the 3D rendering. Did you apply the textures in a layer below the rendering of the model or another method?

Everything is done in paintshop, I just use the model as a guide. Here's an example of the workflow, it's exactly the same as what I do for 'flat images'. Going from left to right, I do the outline and panel lines, add color, then texture and vary the colors of the individual panels, then shading, weathering, and finally markings. All said, just 6 layers. And then I smacked on a photographic filter at the end and added the cockpit details that I did separately.

[Major Diarrhia]

Holy things on a plane! You can model and texture and light awesomely!

[liam887]

are you going to go back and put this image in your original fighter profile sheet or just make a new one?

[bbzwbbzw]

I'm going to do all new ones with the perspective shots as the centerpieces. I haven't given any thought to the layout yet

[bbzwbbzw]

Got the mig done. Not 100% happy with it but I want to move on to other things. I might come back and redo the cockpit all the way, but not right now.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7484/migfinalgu2.th.png (http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=migfinalgu2.png)

[liam887]

wow excellent. Its great but not as good as your first if you do go back to change it i would note this (btw im only nit picking lol i thin its great this is only constructive criticism)
1. shadows are to dark so you loose some of that awesome panel details.
2. i thought the weapons where cool but they have been reduced to shadows, would of been cool to have them a little into focus.
3. the 77 looks like its been literally painted on in paint shop, which it has obv lol, but if you broke it up to look more weathered?
4. the cockpit doesnt seem right it looses a lot of details that could of been added.
5. your excellent markings from your previous models are absent, some badges would look awesome on this?

but still looking great cant wait to see a capital ship next!

Keep up the good work!

[bbzwbbzw]

All good points Liam. The shadows are a bit too harsh upon looking at it. Some of the sight lines are a bit off, so I over compensated with the shadows to try and hide them. I was going to add more badges and dodads, but to be honest working on all those curved surfaces in paintshop was almost making me weep! I think I'll revisit this one when I get more SkIlLz in this sort of thing.

The next one will be the Rio Grande frigate, partially because it's the least complex.

[liam887]

goodgood, cant wait for a capital ship, i think im going to model one of your capital ships this week when im away in manchester and have spare time, looking good though keep it up!

[bbzwbbzw]

i think im going to model one of your capital ships this week when im away in manchester and have spare time, looking good though keep it up!

Well that would eliminate my delusions of competence!:D

[Tovette]

I love the chipped paint on the nose. Love little details like that! :)

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks. Here is my first go at something bigger;
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/6558/rgft3.th.png (http://img396.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rgft3.png)

[Major Diarrhia]

It's alive!

What are the boxes before the engine and on either side of the forward hull?

[bbzwbbzw]

The forward boxes each hold 2 anti-ship missiles, the aft ones are just doo-hickys.

[Orion's belt]

doo-hickys..nice..so 4 asm and is the quad turret the 8 missle space dart launcher then?

[Orion's belt]

also what is the role of that laser cannon it looks to unwildly to be very effectice as area space defense...the UTES on the other hand....

[Major Diarrhia]

Seeing the missile turret in 3D, I feel it's too simple. What about something like this (http://navysite.de/launcher/tartar.htm), it rotates to the vertical to load additional missiles automatically from below deck. Or maybe this (http://navysite.de/weapons/sparrow.htm#launchers), although I don't know if you would really need to cover the missiles completely like that in space. Some phased array radar (http://navysite.de/weapons/aegis.htm) wouldn't be bad either.

[Orion's belt]

Seeing the missile turret in 3D, I feel it's too simple. What about something like this (http://navysite.de/launcher/tartar.htm), it rotates to the vertical to load additional missiles automatically from below deck. Or maybe this (http://navysite.de/weapons/sparrow.htm#launchers), although I don't know if you would really need to cover the missiles completely like that in space. Some phased array radar (http://navysite.de/weapons/aegis.htm) wouldn't be bad either.

THe phased array radars...Ageis were in some of the orginal drawings of the Abraham Lincoln..... or Roosvelt class back from a year ago...honestly i think its good not to have them as awsome as they are there is kinda of a oversaturation of them in alot of scifi work

[Major Diarrhia]

Really, I recall usually seeing no sensors, or dishes. The guys making realistic space ships have been using phased arrays though. Although, on a spaceship infrared cameras are far more important as a detection method.

[Orion's belt]

hold on i will provied you a link....At the Same time he is taking considerable Artistic licence IMO...thus there really isnt a strong need to be hyper realistic and use current day stuff...Im not disvaowing Aegis and Phased array becuase in reality it is the way of the future and i always loved the old ticonderoaga class ddg's but i think its better with oit them...and you are right E/O is more important and mostl likly the ships would also have an intermix of tradtional Lidar, Radar, X-ray and optical telescopes and probably other things i dont know about

[bbzwbbzw]

Well, as you guys know, I always work from an asthetic approach first, and hope to make things look vaguely plausable. The spire's above the flying bridge are meant to represent the sensor package.

[Orion's belt]

http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/attachments/2d-gallery/45819d1199941603-capital-ships-24th-century-size-chart-caps.png

http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/attachments/2d-gallery/45314d1198951445-capital-ships-24th-century-roosfinal.png

i figured that and i think you do a good job

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Orion. Man, those are some old chestnuts you dug up!

[liam887]

wow youve done really well with that last model, did your 2D image justice!

[bbzwbbzw]

Thanks Liam.

Here's a hard-serving Brazilian missile corvette. Ive got to start putting these all together into sheets soon.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9278/yyyyg8.th.png (http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=yyyyg8.png)

[ST-One]

The capital ships in this thread here are really good designs :)

[Major Diarrhia]

That's a neat ship.

[liam887]

i thought id show you the ship so far, ive been unsure about lots of things its taken ages lol. Im not sure if the hull is rounder on top or it has a straight edge. The stingray fish is pretty streamlined so i assume it is rounded lol fingers crossed. Ill put the bridge in, bear in mind this is only a rough cut all the details come when the main shape is complete. However ive finished the main turret on top.

[bbzwbbzw]

Wowzers! It's perfect!

[liam887]

well its nearly finished PM me your email address and ill send you the sketchup file, then maybe when you've got time you can paint over it like you have the rest with panels etc. I was a bit unsure how the engine section worked out so you may need to change that yourself?

'finished now might have gone south on the engines but it was hard to tell what was happening back there from he 2D pic lol, so change if you you need to. I didnt get round to finishing the engine cowls as i imagine they are wrong so you can finish up if you like. Sorry no anti-A on sketchup renders!!!'

[bbzwbbzw]

Wow again! I PM'ed ya my email. I'm sure I'll learn a lot by checking it out!

[liam887]

ive sent you the file. I had to break it into two as the file was to big to mail in one, good look putting it together and cleaning it up cant wait to see it painted.

[Major Diarrhia]

The turret won't be able to retract without the barrels pointing up, which means the turret needs to go lower than it would have in order for the hatch to close. If you move the turret back in the cutout then there will be no problem as long as the turret points forward when retracting. Other than the meshes look great.

[liam887]

oops i wasnt aware that the turret retracted! wellive sent the mesh already after its cleaned up maybe bbzwbbzw can fix it?