posted
Finally, I can use PSP again! Woo hoo! This is a variant of a TAS based shuttle I did some time ago (people with short memories click here and here) designed specifically for military use. Since this is something Masao first suggested to me I decided to ste...borrow some of the 'look' from a few of his own designs at SFM, including a very small version of his Type-7 missile.
This is still a WIP of course, but most of the elements are in place.
posted
Like it. But maybe you could let the missiles look a bit less like present-day devices. Okay, there can't be that much variety because they need to be streamlined (at least for orbital attacks), but how about submerging them into the hull.
-------------------- Bernd Schneider
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
And I suppose we'll have to modify the Indigo model as well, right? We'll wait until the debate about the missiles is done first, then it'll only take an hour or two to make the 'physical' changes and Rev can send me appropriate decals.
Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged
quote: Actually, I believe "Marines" is the correct terminology.
*coughs up hairball* Ghak..Uhhp..Blauh!
Yeah, anyway; last time I checked there wasn't a great deal of liquid water in space. Then there's Kirk's line in "Arena" about his 'Tactical Squad' (or something similar) and their big nasty photon mortars. Also I have something of an issue with too many Earth centric terms being used in a supposedly multi-cultural Starfleet. I imagine the term would confuse most species from planets with little or no open water, like Vulcan for instance.
quote: Like it. But maybe you could let the missiles look a bit less like present-day devices. Okay, there can't be that much variety because they need to be streamlined (at least for orbital attacks), but how about submerging them into the hull.
I had initially intended to do just that, but then I remembered what those side bulges contained. I don't think it would be wise to imbed heavy ordinance into the hull, right next to the main fuel tanks. Besides, having them on hard point struts like that allows a certain amount of flexibility in the equipment that the shuttle can carry. For instance, instead of those four missiles it could carry extra fuel in disposable 'slug tanks', or specialised sensor pods/comms gear for command and control duties. Maybe even a set of fixed position particle weapons.
I've altered the missile a little bit, made the fins a little more funky, the head and tail more bulbous and painted of a big command star, but as you say, it can't be too much unlike todays missiles since it's what's under the casing that makes the real difference.
quote: And I suppose we'll have to modify the Indigo model as well, right? We'll wait until the debate about the missiles is done first, then it'll only take an hour or two to make the 'physical' changes and Rev can send me appropriate decals.
That's entirely up to you Kenny, I just whipped this up purely for the change of pace as it's very rare that I do anything particularly militant. Aside from that I haven't used PSP in months, I wanted to see if I remember how to draw a circle. If you do decide to mesh it up, just give me a shout when you're ready for the decals.
posted
Having those missiles hanging off the ship seems a bit dangerous. If they are hit by stray phaser fire, you'd quickly have a bad day. Also a troop ship would want to maximize load-lifting capacity by having fewer weapons. I suspect Starfleet might have dedicated ground attack/close support ships, something like Cobra attack copters.
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
I'm not sure about the placement of those missiles myself, too.
How about putting only two missiles in the front? (under that '03' number)
Also, your plasma conduits look very complicated - that poor plasma must turn 180 degrees before it goes through accelerator, and then it must turn once more before it can get into nacelles.
The reason it bothers me is very simple - I think that each turn will cause plasma to flow slower, causing it to flow into nacelles at slower rate, which would indicate slower maximum warp speed.
I mean, NX-01 is so fast because it has three plasma accelerators, right? One would want to optimize and shorten path for plasma between reactor and nacelle...
How about moving those accelerators aft and rotating them 90 degrees?
Other than that, it's excellent work as usual. Who needs some stinkin' Marines anyway
-------------------- "Do I remember about my amnesia?"
Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
I must confess to hating both the missiles and the gun turrets. I mean, solely on the basis of them being so un-Trek.
For a more Trekky look, I'd suggest losing the barrels from the guns. Give the chin turrets a starship turret look, with just a steerable "lens" projecting from the side. That will be "mean" enough for a Trekkie. And who cares about what non-Trekkies say?
Come to think of it, the placement issue bothers me a bit. What does the top turret do? Fire at other spacecraft? The nacelles get on the way. Perhaps you should put the missiles up there - they'd only fire forward. They'd be safe from ground fire. And they wouldn't hit disembarking Mar.. Tactical Corpspersons, either!
The color scheme rulez. The disembarking bar is a bit sillyish, though. Why not a classic TOS two-piece door, with the lower half forming the step?
posted
Now that he mentions it, that little footstep-thing could also more easily get shot off by enemy fire. Of course, the hilarity that would ensue as the troops began to exit the craft would probably be worth it, but still...
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
Lest we all get bogged down in bits getting shot off, let me remind you of a few 'facts' in Rev's defence.
1. This is supposedly a ship in an era where field technology rules, that means it only flies because it has amazing anti-gravity fields, inertial damping fields and probably a little thing known as a 'shield'. Therefore it doesn't have to be aerodynamic or particularly airworthy (it isn't) and it doesn't have to worry about small arms fire. Anything powerful enough to really damage it should have been taken out beforehand by a starship or the long-range intelligent missiles it carries for defence suppression.
2. Who gives a damn if the footrest is blown off.
I've noticed a lot of Trek fans like to think that the Federation must build ships that can do anything and everything perfectly. While they certainly make superb all-rounders they also contain a lot of compromise and potential for disaster if used for the wrong purpose. We cant expect a shuttle to be invincible, invulnerable and all conquering, the most we can ask is that it gets your team down safely and reliably under the conditions it was meant to operate in.
-------------------- www.kennyscrap.com - where I download crap I make.
Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
Amen to that! In treknology, it's the shortcomings and risks that make it interesting...
One does wonder. If this were just a landing barge for starship-deployed Mar.. Tactical Corps, why have warp nacelles on her? She could rather be an independently operating special ops deployment vehicle instead, so she'd need all that armament to oust herself from trouble. There'd be no backup or orbital fire support there.
Then again, for a special ops vehicle, the Gemini is a bit conspicuously painted... Perhaps she should have adaptive camouflage paint. Atmospheric blue-grey, ground green-brown, night/space black. Could this be made to look sufficiently "low-tech" somehow? You know, not everything magically changing color, but only select parts of add-on hull paneling being of adaptive color.
posted
I would imagine that colour and suchlike would be pretty unimportant in the time period we're discussing, it's much more important to be able to sneak past automated sensors and technology than it is for it to be the right colour for the environment. Makes no odds if it's green, black or blue to a radar or similar system, and you can bet that even on the ground they'd detect it half a planetary radius away with tricorders before they ever clap eyes on the thing. Green might make you feel safer in a forest once down, but if you're detected 30,000 kilometres away...
Rev, I've made the main body of the missile but I can't bring myself to put those poxy fins on it, they interfere with panel lines and suchlike and it looks pretty damn mean without them. I'll post pics in a little while to show progress on the ship and to sort out the camp missiles.
-------------------- www.kennyscrap.com - where I download crap I make.
Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged
posted
Cheers Kenny, you're quite right. Sheilds are for sheilding vulnerable things and they do it quite nicely.
quote: Also a troop ship would want to maximize load-lifting capacity by having fewer weapons. I suspect Starfleet might have dedicated ground attack/close support ships, something like Cobra attack copters.
It's tricky because I don't think that there is any direct analogy in modern day hardware, on the one hand it's a short range interstellar craft, on the other it's a landing vehicle with moderate weaponary. My thinking is that these craft have warp drive so that they are not dependant upon a mother-ship with large shuttle support facilities. Instead they can travel in groups of three or six with a reletivly small task force, say only a Cruiser, a couple Destroyers and some support ships and perhaps a fighter escort. The large turret on top of the craft (which I am in the process of revising) is really for supressive or dispersive fire against buildings, fortifications or weapons emplacements. It's not really suitible for vehicle-to-vehicle combat given it's limited field of fire, infact I'm not sure if I even want it to be a phaser.
I've come up with an alternative design for the fron ball turrets, which are primaraly anti-personnel in nature but can be effective against hostile craft, but again the limited feild of fire is, well...limiting. I made it a little unusual, in that it has three mounted emitter crystals that rapidly rotate around the center, giving off a high rate of fire without overheating too early. I also happen to like moving parts on ships plus this kind of thing give's the 3D modelers migrains.
Again with the missiles, I've been very lazy by just sticking four of them on the hard-points instead of giving it a more moderate mix of sensor equipment, fuel pods and lower yield ordinance. What you see here is the most destructive payload available, not the most common. As Kenny suggested they are probably smart-missiles, launched before landing to take out significant threats near the landing zone or to help clear orbital defences/obstructions.
posted
OK, I made a missile that doesn't quite make me gag the same way the original did. This one has panels that will open even if the fins are attached, and I've made a little image map with warnings and numbers and stuff for variety. If you want the original Photoshop pic of this with the guide pic in place then let me know Rev, you might want markings and stuff that i can't draw.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
