Nice, looking good. With the turrets I assume you're envisioning them being operated by a gunner sat in the cockpit? So they're not going to have as much freedom of movement as say the Falcon's cannons?
Yes, I'm planning on having the pilot sit in the forward section of the cockpit, and the gunner sit behind him. Gunner is responsible for all the weapons, although the turret can be fired from a "locked forward" position by the pilot if necessary.
Bearing in mind the angle of the cockpit window as it is doesn't appear very steep, I'd still recommend it - or at least the top half of the vent.
I may change the vent on the nose in the future. I'm actually planning on building the inside of the cockpit as well. As I work through where things are on the inside, I might need to change up some things on the exterior to maintain good visibility. Or it might be good as it stands. I won't know until I get inside
Then again, regarding the visibility issue, how much do they really need to see through the window? I mean with an advanced heads up display, couldn't they conceivably look right through the hull in all directions?
True. That does look a little tight now I see the bipeds in there. Perhaps maybe even consider scaling the whole ship up a little. If those bipeds were just a touch smaller in scale and shifted up a little in that side on shot the view available though the front might be just about be acceptable. How big is the ship as it stands? It looks like the thing is about as wide as the wingspan of an X-Wing, so it could probably afford to be made a little bigger considering it's proposed assault bomber role.
I don't know, if I was piloting it I'd rather have the reduced cross section that it currently has - after all, why present more of a target that necessary?
I do have a different suggestion though: Since this is more of a fighter/bomber than the generally larger CEC freighters and couriers, why not make the cockpit with transparent panes below the pilot also (a bit like the Starfuries from B5)? Leave the existing panes in place, but add in a lower port&starboard viewport - even with a HUD it's a good idea to have a real frame of reference - especially if the former breaks for any reason!
That's a cool idea with the lower panes, that could work. Regarding the slight scaling up of the craft, it already is a quite fat target thanks to the disc shaped main hull, but by making it a touch larger that could equate to heavier hull plating and more powerful deflector shields, thus helping to increase survivability.
Even though the transparent bottom panels makes really good practical sense, I don't think it fits all that well into the Star Wars universe. I'll probably scale the ship up a bit, and re-work the nose a bit though.
I agree with NXN here, it just doesn't fit in the design lineage. Besides, the ship is a bomber, not a fighter, so you don't really need all that visibility.
Also, I'm loving the new turrets!
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I didn't expect ovoid hemispehrical shapes to suit the YT-2400 either, nor various other stuff that has been introduced over the years into the prequels - but that's mostly because they weren't there previously. You never know til you try it.
I had the day off work today (happy 4th of July!) and had some time to work on this thing.
I'm about 95% done with the top of the ship now.
Greeble pit!
Now that I've gotten the hang of detailing the ship, I realize that my engines are pretty bare. I'll be revisiting them later.
Close up of missile bay cover
I like this angle:
I DID resize the ship a bit, and visibility will be better, but I think I'll leave the cockpit as it is. Every ship has to have a design flaw anyway, it makes them more interesting
Love what you've got going on here with the detailing, nicely reflects the typical Corellian design aesthetic, and yet is very much its own animal. Comes across to me like the lovechild of a YT-1300 and a B-Wing. Really rich detailing job you've done there, great work. What constitutes the 5% of the topside remaining? Are you going to put a touch more detail into the outer rim hull plating or something?
Love what you've got going on here with the detailing, nicely reflects the typical Corellian design aesthetic, and yet is very much its own animal. Comes across to me like the lovechild of a YT-1300 and a B-Wing. Really rich detailing job you've done there, great work. What constitutes the 5% of the topside remaining? Are you going to put a touch more detail into the outer rim hull plating or something?
Looking forward to seeing more.
Oddly enough, the YT-1300/B-Wing mashup idea is what got me started on this! Glad that it's coming through.
the remaining 5% or so of detailing on the top will be on the outer rim hull. I want to add a few of those random rectangular bits that you see on the Falcon's plating. I also need to detail that circular part of the hull that the turret is sitting on.
You may want to reference the cockpit layouts of some attack helicopters like the Apache, Cobra, Tiger, etc. for some ideas, since they utilise the same tandem layout. Normally the pilot is in the rear seat and the gunner in the front (as the elevated position of the rear seat provides greater visibility), but the Tiger uses the same reversed arrangement you have here. I would suggest going for the more "standard" arrangement personally. Whichever you go for, you probably need to raise the rear seat a foot or two higher to give enough visibility.
I'd say go with a similar seat layout to the TIE Phantom, that had a pilot in the front and a navigator/gunner behind and slightly off set to one side with a control console in front and to the side of him, I think that might work well here, as since the guns can be moved the gunner will be using monitors to aim as much as actual eyeball contact through the canopy.
Almost done with the modeling. Just a little cleanup here and there to take care of. Next up is figuring out how to texture this thing. I've been coloring comics for the past few years, so I'm actually pretty excited about putting those skills to work here, and working out these textures.
Added the "notches" to the outer rim
Updated the bottom.
View from the rear
Updated front shot, added detail to the "mandible" area.
I've also put together some orthos. The image is rather large, so click on the attachment to view it.
Looks great NXN, nice work. Your last geometry details have really set it off a treat. My one crit would be that the outer sides of the engines look a little bare. Maybe a little simple panelling there would help give that just a touch of detail to be more in keeping with the rich detail covering the rest of the ship.
Additionally, are you planning to give this ship a variable orientation cockpit and main fuselage? I can't remember. It is probably just a mental throwback due to the cockpit looking so much like that of the B-Wing, but it might be a useful ability to give this ship, and could look quite dynamic with the wide disc shaped fuselage rotating around the cockpit as it zips through space in the midst of a big space battle. The practical uses could be in making the ship a harder target to hit, and allowing the cannons pretty much complete defensive coverage of the vessel. Might be an idea worth thinking about.
Either way this design is looking great and I can't wait to see the texture job you do on the thing.
Looks great NXN, nice work. Your last geometry details have really set it off a treat. My one crit would be that the outer sides of the engines look a little bare. Maybe a little simple panelling there would help give that just a touch of detail to be more in keeping with the rich detail covering the rest of the ship.
Additionally, are you planning to give this ship a variable orientation cockpit and main fuselage? I can't remember. It is probably just a mental throwback due to the cockpit looking so much like that of the B-Wing, but it might be a useful ability to give this ship, and could look quite dynamic with the wide disc shaped fuselage rotating around the cockpit as it zips through space in the midst of a big space battle. The practical uses could be in making the ship a harder target to hit, and allowing the cannons pretty much complete defensive coverage of the vessel. Might be an idea worth thinking about.
Either way this design is looking great and I can't wait to see the texture job you do on the thing.
Thanks for the comments Talon. I agree that the side-engine panels are looking a little bare. However, I felt like I was beginning to go overboard with the modeled details on the ship. I'll do something with those panels when I texture this beast.
As for the variable orientation cockpit, that's a NEAT idea. I'll definitely incorporate that into the design (plus it'll be pretty easy to implement - bonus!)
question: how does the crew get inside? not seeing any hatches or doors, otherwise looking great!
Talon is correct. The canopy lifts up. I was going to skip modeling the cockpit... but I can't leave well enough alone. You'll see how it all works when I get that part detailed up.
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Yes, I'm planning on having the pilot sit in the forward section of the cockpit, and the gunner sit behind him. Gunner is responsible for all the weapons, although the turret can be fired from a "locked forward" position by the pilot if necessary.
I may change the vent on the nose in the future. I'm actually planning on building the inside of the cockpit as well. As I work through where things are on the inside, I might need to change up some things on the exterior to maintain good visibility. Or it might be good as it stands. I won't know until I get inside
I'll need to tweak the front of the nose to improve the pilot's visibility a bit. I will probably replace the top half of the vent like you suggested.
Good catch!
I do have a different suggestion though: Since this is more of a fighter/bomber than the generally larger CEC freighters and couriers, why not make the cockpit with transparent panes below the pilot also (a bit like the Starfuries from B5)? Leave the existing panes in place, but add in a lower port&starboard viewport - even with a HUD it's a good idea to have a real frame of reference - especially if the former breaks for any reason!
Also, I'm loving the new turrets!
I'm about 95% done with the top of the ship now.
Greeble pit!
Now that I've gotten the hang of detailing the ship, I realize that my engines are pretty bare. I'll be revisiting them later.
Close up of missile bay cover
I like this angle:
I DID resize the ship a bit, and visibility will be better, but I think I'll leave the cockpit as it is. Every ship has to have a design flaw anyway, it makes them more interesting
Let me know what you think.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Oddly enough, the YT-1300/B-Wing mashup idea is what got me started on this! Glad that it's coming through.
the remaining 5% or so of detailing on the top will be on the outer rim hull. I want to add a few of those random rectangular bits that you see on the Falcon's plating. I also need to detail that circular part of the hull that the turret is sitting on.
I promise I will post orthos once this thing is done and textured.
IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!!!
Added the "notches" to the outer rim
Updated the bottom.
View from the rear
Updated front shot, added detail to the "mandible" area.
I've also put together some orthos. The image is rather large, so click on the attachment to view it.
As always, all comments are appreciated.
Additionally, are you planning to give this ship a variable orientation cockpit and main fuselage? I can't remember. It is probably just a mental throwback due to the cockpit looking so much like that of the B-Wing, but it might be a useful ability to give this ship, and could look quite dynamic with the wide disc shaped fuselage rotating around the cockpit as it zips through space in the midst of a big space battle. The practical uses could be in making the ship a harder target to hit, and allowing the cannons pretty much complete defensive coverage of the vessel. Might be an idea worth thinking about.
Either way this design is looking great and I can't wait to see the texture job you do on the thing.
Thanks for the comments Talon. I agree that the side-engine panels are looking a little bare. However, I felt like I was beginning to go overboard with the modeled details on the ship. I'll do something with those panels when I texture this beast.
As for the variable orientation cockpit, that's a NEAT idea. I'll definitely incorporate that into the design (plus it'll be pretty easy to implement - bonus!)
Talon is correct. The canopy lifts up. I was going to skip modeling the cockpit... but I can't leave well enough alone. You'll see how it all works when I get that part detailed up.