posted
That actually looks dead on! Make a note though, that the telescoping section on Voyager seams to double as a shock absorber so if you do a landing sequencec try and get it to give a little on touch down.
Don't worry about changing the design, since it's always difficult to draw anything that translates exactly into 3D, never mind something with moving parts!
This is probably stating the obvious but if you come to do an interior for the aft section, remember where the landing gear is in relation to the deck level. We wouldn't want the same TARDIS anomolies as the Delta Flyer.
posted
No problems with hiding the gear under the deck, it's quite a deep ship and all that space is ideal for techno-wizardry. One place I will have to cheat a bit is how deep it goes back into the body, the gear will actually clash inside at the centre. Since no one will see this I can assume it folds up more compactly than I've made it currently do, and we can get on with our lives.
I'll add detail to the gear once I finish detailing the ship itself, best finish that now that I know where I'm putting the bays for the landing legs. The extending joint will indeed be the shock absorber, along with a little rotation at the top joint to stop the foot having to move inwards slightly as the leg shortens.
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posted
I know this is being a little fussy, but how difficult would it be to round off the corners of the landing strut bay doors at this point? Because nothing give CG away better than an impossibly harsh corner. Also if we're trying to emulate Voyager and the Defiant (since they supposedly had the same legs) would it be too much hassle to have the bay doors split horizontally instead of just sliding forwards?
What are your thoughts on the front gear? A small triangular version of the on you did already, the same as the other two, a generic skid or just another pair?
posted
No problem with the bay doors at all, that was just a quick test to check the movement and joint system for the leg itself. I just roughly chopped a hole in the side of a model and loaded in the appropriate leg setup, it took 5 mintues to make the bay and the door. The final item will have doors that split and the edges will be bevelled in to avoid the tell-tale sharp edges.
As for the design of the front strut I'm not sure what would be best to go with, a triangular setup might look nice but it may take up more than it's fair share of room as the fingers wont shut all that tightly. We'll be left with quite a large 'fist' if we're not careful. How about a 2-toed design that comes out horizontally and then as the leg starts to angle downwards the foot rotates 90 degrees at the ankle as the toes open out. The foot then touches down with the toes pointing fore/aft and it makes the animation look that little bit edgy.
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posted
I had the same thought about the Triangular "fist", it'll probably be a little too cumbersome for this design.
The two toed design seams like the way to go, although for stability it might be wise to make the toes a little longer than their counterparts on the back legs.
Before you start detailing the legs, I have a very specific idea as to what to do with the underside, toe pads. If you can make the underside of the toes look like these electro-magnetic clams then I think it would really convey a sence of weight to the design. Plus of course it gives the shuttle the ability to lock onto metal surfaces, like starship hulls, other shuttles and landing pads...no real reason but it has some dramatic potential and it'll give whoever we rope into doing the technical writeup something to do.
posted
I remember this image from previous ASDB mail flying around, it was my intention to make it look like that anyway. If I can drag my fat arse away from Vice City for a little while I'll try and get some detail on the landing legs and do the magnetic boots.
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posted
It's been a while since our last go at this design so I wasn't sure if you'd remember.
Do you still have the stuff on the Voyager struts I gave you for detail reference or would you like me to repost that too? While these struts won't need a ladder like their much larger cousins, I'm sure some of the detailing could be transferable.
Hmm, this thread is turning into a bit of a two man show. Doesn't anyone else have anything to say? The design isn't THAT bad!
posted
I really like the design. You have done a wonderful job with the rendering of the landing struts. I know it's hard to come up with digital models and render them but the shuttlecraft you designed is quite awesome. It's so aerodynamically stable and stays well within the starfleet design code for small craft. If you are able to put all the suggestions Reverend gave the shuttle should come out pretty nice
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"Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge" - Albert Einstein
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posted
Rev: I've added some detail to the landing struts now, made the magnetic footpads and suchlike. I can barely remember the landing pad diagrams you sent for Voyager but I no longer have the pics. I dont want to rip there design off wholesale anyway, this is a much smaller ship and I think we can probably get away with some small details of our own on this. I redid the animation too, made the deployment smoother and lit it better but I never got the time to post it here. Maybe later.
Shik: Boring I can handle, it is after all just another bloody Trek shuttlecraft, of which there are millions. I came up with a shape while pottering around with my modeler all those months ago and thought 'hey, this might make a nice Trek shuttle'. We ran with it and got the Archangel. Out of place I can't see, in a universe with something like 190 members in the Federation alone there's plenty of scope for ship designs beyond the very few we get to see in episodes and the occasional films. If we were seeing more then people wouldn't be all over boards like this on the net trying to catch glimpses of ships in backgrounds, pictures, desk models, etc. With so many types of environment, planets, species and technologies I think there may be a mryiad of roles for a wide spectrum of ships, and I'd rather design something new than take a couple of bits of existing designs, turn them 90 degrees and stick them together as yet another variant of a variant. I see too much of that onn the net and I think it's a bad thing. The only time we catch Trek doing it is when they have no cash or time to go think up a new design. I always like to see someone come up with a new design that at least partly conforms to Starfleet parameters, it's so much more interesting.
Adm Amit: Thank you for the vote of confidence, as Rev says this was becoming a bit of a two-man show, I was about to start doing this by e-mail instead to save boring you guys. I really do appreciate all comments, good or bad, that help with refining these models we make. It's always good to get the opinions of those with experience or knowledge outwith your own. Thanks.
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posted
OK chaps, another small update in the form of a test animation showing the gear being deployed as the ship lands rather clumsily. This is just a test, I'll have to smooth out the animation cycle later on when I do a decent setup, this is just to show the gear in action for the first time. As always your comments and crits are welcomed.
posted
Looking great. The detail on the gear looks fine, the front rotating pad looks nice and dynamic, however (I know, there's always a "however") I think the shuttle touches down a little quickly. Would it be possible to have the aft gear touch the ground a split second before the front? Also it might convey a greater sense of mass if the shock absorbers had a little more bounce and didn't settle quite so quickly.
Other than that it all looks good, the gear seams to work quite well and seams appropriate enough for the design.
posted
Great animation. The landing gear struts look extremely well. A good idea to convey the greater mass is to have the nose of the shuttlecraft be pitched up as it lands and have the nose pitch down as soon as the two rear struts touch down.
I just have a quick question on the blue lights below the "wings". Are they just lights or are they thrusters?
-------------------- Amit =/\=
"Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge" - Albert Einstein
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posted
Dont worry about the animation, this was just a quick test setup to make sure the legs worked at all, and to check out how they looked. I plan to do a finished animation with it, something a damn site better set up than this one, but that will have to wait until I finish making the ship itself. As for touching down at the back first, I thought that chestnut might crop up. When i do the final scene I'll have the shuttle flare a little as it comes to a halt, but it will probably land flat. It's not got wheels like a plane, it's designed to land flat and has extremely powerful computers to help it do just that.
The 'light' at the back is actually the warp nacelle glow lighting up the underside of the wing, it's just more obvious because I accidentally left a corona/bloom filter on and it makes the glows more noticable. Now, on to finish detailing the ship, and then design something for it to land on.
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