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3DF-44C Rapier

135

Posts

  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    An Epee?! Are you guys serious? I might as well model some bits of floating durasteel and frozen hunks of meat! What a hunk of junk! :)

    Think the Hornet is done for now. Alas, we won't be seeing the Raptors, but there'll be others!
  • TovetteTovette5 Posts: 13Member
    Looking good, Klavs! I thought the Hornet had long laser gun barrels that stuck out?
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    @Tovette: Thanks! I moved the laser cannons to a chin arrangement. The fuel tanks retain some of that visual cue from the giant laser cannons, but I'm going with less X-wing more fighter jet.

    The cannons themselves are also remodeled to present a sort of optical laser arrangement. Oriented in a forward fire arc, they can track objects at low power or act as offensive armament as long as they keep cool at higher power settings. Same goes for the Rapier.

    I had pictures up of the A-4 skyhawk when I was built the hornet, trying to think, "small and mean"
  • wminsingwminsing171 Posts: 0Member
    Think the Hornet is done for now. Alas, we won't be seeing the Raptors, but there'll be others!

    Ah well, beggers can't be choosers. Still interested in seeing what comes down the pipe! If you end up doing a Saber that would more then make up for the Raptor missing out. :)
    An Epee?! Are you guys serious? I might as well model some bits of floating durasteel and frozen hunks of meat! What a hunk of junk!

    Yep, definitely a flaming coffin. The shame is that I see what exactly it was supposed to do, but it did it so... badly! Oh well, a few designs that end up being mistakes adds versatility to the universe. :)
    Looking good, Klavs! I thought the Hornet had long laser gun barrels that stuck out?

    I always thought these looked a little silly, to be honest- the barrels were almost as long as the Hornet itself!

    -Will
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    Well if you do the Simitar at least stick closer to the WC1 version, I hated how the SWC version had those huge holes in the wing root.
  • Mikey-BMikey-B0 Posts: 0Member
    Looks fantastic. I'd love to see a Broadsword.
  • HaturodHaturod0 Posts: 0Member
    wminsing wrote: »
    Yep, definitely a flaming coffin. The shame is that I see what exactly it was supposed to do, but it did it so... badly! Oh well, a few designs that end up being mistakes adds versatility to the universe. :)
    -Will

    Well.... after the succes of a Fire and Forget missile they decided to make a fire and forget fighter ;)
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    Why all the hate towards the Epee, I really didn't hate it as much as others, sure it wasn't a great fighter, but it wasn't as bad say the Scimitar. I think most of the hate comes from flying it after the Rapier-II which in WC2 had few upgrades from where it was in WC1, no ITTS, no decoys, etc... Then you get the Epee with its two guns, but six missiles, and you don't fly it that much, so why the hate?
  • wminsingwminsing171 Posts: 0Member
    Why all the hate towards the Epee, I really didn't hate it as much as others, sure it wasn't a great fighter, but it wasn't as bad say the Scimitar. I think most of the hate comes from flying it after the Rapier-II which in WC2 had few upgrades from where it was in WC1, no ITTS, no decoys, etc... Then you get the Epee with its two guns, but six missiles, and you don't fly it that much, so why the hate?

    No, it was much worse then the Scimitar. The Scimitar was a iron bathtub when it came to flying, but it had the armor to bring you home. The Epee had worse armor and was no better in the shield department, so to get hit was to die. To make it even worse the Ferret had about twice the armor and just as good shields, plus was faster! I'd take a Ferret over the Epee for any mission.

    -Will
  • TovetteTovette5 Posts: 13Member
    wminsing wrote: »
    No, it was much worse then the Scimitar. The Scimitar was a iron bathtub when it came to flying, but it had the armor to bring you home. The Epee had worse armor and was no better in the shield department, so to get hit was to die. To make it even worse the Ferret had about twice the armor and just as good shields, plus was faster! I'd take a Ferret over the Epee for any mission.

    -Will

    Hell yeah man. The scimitar was the A-10 of the WC universe. I remember missions where I was literally shot to pieces, the ejection alarm was going off like mad, every system was shot to hell and I only had one mass drive working- still, beyond all that ol' bucket brought me home.

    The Epee was a dildo.
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    True, but the Scimm's a gun heavy slug. And she handles like a Centaurian mud pig!

    Thinking of her as an F-4, at the end of a long service life, pressed into a heavy attack role. She's got a lot of extra stuff tacked on her, a far cry from the sleek fighter she used to be.

    Also looking to the AH-64 and, since you guys mentioned it, the A-10 for inspiration.

    Made her a little larger than the Rapier, for effect.
  • wminsingwminsing171 Posts: 0Member
    True, but the Scimm's a gun heavy slug. And she handles like a Centaurian mud pig!

    :)
    Made her a little larger than the Rapier, for effect.

    Looking good! My only suggestion would be to add more bumps and 'blisters' to reflect extra equipment added later in the service life. Overall she looks the part though!

    -Will
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    Love the scim so far. IF you are drawing on the A-10 for inspiration, then I would suggest making her mass driver, Gatling Cannons, 30mm seven barrels, just like the GAU-8A. And like WM said I'd add a bunch of bump, blisters and other equipment that was obviously not part of the original equipment package. Also, it doesn't look like there will be much room in the nose for sensors, might want to slide the cockpit back a meter or so to all room for the forward targetting array and sensors.
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    Well, I decided to go in another direction. This one is more Wing Commander Academy, I feel like it fits better with the other ships, almost like a giant proto-Hellcat. And more like a ship that was so simple and rugged it could be upgraded and kept in service for 50+ years.

    The other Scimm might find a home somewhere eventually.
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    OOOHHHH!!! I like it. It looks like a cross between the scim, the Hellcat-V, a WW2 torpedo bomber and one of the early SAC bombers. Are those torpedoes it's carrying? Makes it look like the Scim was refitted as a light torpedo bomber or strike fighter. You know if you treated the Raptor in a similar manner you could probably bring it back as well. Maybe have those big round "Wings" it has become thermal radiators for its old style, high powered neutron guns, and then have them fold up when the guns are cold, and unfold when they are in use to better dissipate the heat.

    One last question, what are the poly counts on these beauties coming out at? They almost look like the could go into a higher end game engine, perhaps the engine the Pioneer guys were working on, if that ever went any further. These could honestly make nice craft for a WC reboot.
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    Yeah, definitely better with the stupid cylinders. I still hate them though.

    When I do my animations, these things are going to get the hell beat out of them.

    @ Knight, definitely reminds me of a B-47, now that you mention it.
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    Regarding the Raptor: there can be only ONE!
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    I'd say turn those cylinders into some kind of jammers and cover them with "do not touch" "do not paint" and "warning radiation" markers.
  • TovetteTovette5 Posts: 13Member
    It looks great. I'm digging the scimitar so far.
  • wminsingwminsing171 Posts: 0Member
    Hmm, definitely looks the part the part of an old fighter pushed into service as an attack boat. Are the weapons on the pylons supposed to be torpedoes?

    I do like the resemblance to the Hellcat-V. One of my minor complaints about the WC fluff is that we little or no indication of who builds the Confederation fighters, so there's no room for a company with a history of successful designs, or unsuccessful designs, or odd company quirks, etc.

    -Will
  • ComcoComco317 Posts: 1,281Administrator
    wminsing wrote: »
    Hmm, definitely looks the part the part of an old fighter pushed into service as an attack boat. Are the weapons on the pylons supposed to be torpedoes?

    If I had to guess, I'd say they look like torps inside a launcher with a sensor/targeting packing bolted to the launcher...

    Either way, the Scimitar looks great, Klavs. :)
  • HaturodHaturod0 Posts: 0Member
    wminsing wrote: »
    I do like the resemblance to the Hellcat-V. One of my minor complaints about the WC fluff is that we little or no indication of who builds the Confederation fighters, so there's no room for a company with a history of successful designs, or unsuccessful designs, or odd company quirks, etc.
    -Will

    I think Douglas Aerospace is mentioned in some of the handbooks/manuals
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    Hornet update: Found some canards I liked.
    85843.jpg
    F36.jpg 127.1K
  • TovetteTovette5 Posts: 13Member
    It's coming along nicely. Are you gonna do the Arrow from WC3 or just stick to the classic WC fighters?
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    Look more like strakes then canards, canards are a control surface. Also, I saw on the CIC forums some of the features that are on the models, can you do a quick diagram showing all the salient features, i.e. intakes, ram scoops, weapons bays, etc...
  • Klavs81Klavs81224 Posts: 197Member
    Scimitar update. This is turning into one ugly mother!
    85897.JPG
    1.JPG 300.3K
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    Scimitar, Go Ugly Early, I'm loving it and am gaining a new appreciation for that old gun heavy slug. Hey how did you end up doing the MDCs, did you make them gatlings or cannons?
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Phoar! Woof! Woof! You keep pumping out some handsome ships mate! Splendid job!
  • TovetteTovette5 Posts: 13Member
    The Scimitar is coming along great. It looks good. I'm curious- are you texturing via UV's and what's your texture size? I'd love to see your texture maps :)
  • sorceress21sorceress21269 Posts: 577Member
    WOW! Great work on some classic designs!
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