to tell the truth i think it looks better without the arch structures above the wing roots, what do you think? Attachment not found.
have now started working on it's hyperspace drive and the hyperspace drives of the hellhound and banshee fighters(banshee fighter is yet to be started but as the hyperspace drive is it's main feature some of the fighter will be built around the drive)
giant turret is for allowing the fighter to have a greater arc of fire in all situations, as this craft does most of it's operations in space it should not matter if the turret is unaerodynamic(also as it is a laser turret there will not be any recoil so it can fire in any direction without affecting the fighter's flight). currently working on something else but will see if i can make the blended area larger.
just finished making that blended area larger, how does this look. Attachment not found.
oh, and colbmista what do you mean by flush with the engines.
its to plain it needs stuff to off set it and the arches would be good if they were in contact with the engine what u have them on looks to be a 1 foot gap
i agree it is too plain but the arches were not the right sort of shape to go with the rest of the hull, and yes the gap was atleast 20 cm. any ideas for other things i could add.
giant turret is for allowing the fighter to have a greater arc of fire in all situations, as this craft does most of it's operations in space it should not matter if the turret is unaerodynamic(also as it is a laser turret there will not be any recoil so it can fire in any direction without affecting the fighter's flight).
So...if you're not concerned about aerodynamics with your weapons why do you try so hard for such sleek aeroframes? It's like being an engineer in denial and building a car that you expect to float like a boat.
So...if you're not concerned about aerodynamics with your weapons why do you try so hard for such sleek aeroframes? It's like being an engineer in denial and building a car that you expect to float like a boat.
it does need to be sleek enough to enter an atmosphere at great speed without to much difficulty and also sleek enough to accelerate up to high speeds whilst in the atmosphere. it is primarily a spacecraft, and that turret will not have too severe an effect on aerodynamics in an atmosphere will it?i could think about making the turret semi retractable but cannot be sure this would work before trying it.
ok how about this, the turret is no longer in the way whilst it is moved to the up position but it can be lowered down when needed. i am not sure if some complex aerodynamic effect may cause problems with the current shape(the indented circular area when the turret is in the up position). Attachment not found.
...and that turret will not have too severe an effect on aerodynamics in an atmosphere will it?
Yes. You'll start creating harmonic vibrations throughout the craft that will initially decrease efficiency and finally lead to catastrophic structural failure especially traveling at high enough speeds to enter and exit atmosphere. Space or atmosphere...choose one and design accordingly.
Turrets, especially those on fighters need to be kept as small as possible, you are making yours very oversized, especially given that the cannon does not appear to be able to elevate. Basically turrets add a lot of mass and complexity that really need proper justification. So if you must keep the turret, you need ask yourself why it has to be so large, and how you can shrink it down. Maybe just make it a pop out cannon on a simple stalk, like on the Millennium Falcon's forward mandible. That way you have it now takes up far too much internal volume and really compromises your aerodynamics.
the gun itself is rather large but i could try an alternative set up Attachment not found. Attachment not found.
these images show an alternative set up i designed, there is still a turret but it is flatter and the only point where it bulges is where it contains the gun.
may also think of arrangements a bit like that on the commanche.
I like the Comanche turret idea, I've used it before as well on a couple dropships, it works very well. Also I still don't see that cannon elevating at all, just rotating, if it doesn't elevate, then just cut it, no need for it.
the cannon on the valkyrie does not elevate but it is still an advantage to have the 360 degree arc of fire in the one plane(in space it can swing round but this system allows it to fire on different targets in different directions at once). is that turret better than the previous ones?
oh, and the engines you see here are not the engines i will use in this design they are just there to show the positioning. can anyone suggest how to construct some really amazing engines for it, they would look similar to jet engines if that helps.
A turret that rotates and does not elevate is pretty useless, it requires you to compensate for the lack of turret elevation by rotating the ship, and if you are doing that you might as well eliminate it and just point the nose at the target while drifting/sliding along your previous vector.
As for the banshee, my suggestion would be to go with a box wing design, and put your engines at the root between the upper and lower wings, and at the tip if you still want to do that. Those dorsal boosters of yours just don't look right, and will give you all the issues we have written about before.
the jet engines u have fine just change the outershell that goes around them cuz all jet engines pretty much look the same so there isnt really anything you can do and if u want to look at some designs just google jet engines cutaways and they will bring up detailed diagrams of several configurations
A turret that rotates and does not elevate is pretty useless, it requires you to compensate for the lack of turret elevation by rotating the ship, and if you are doing that you might as well eliminate it and just point the nose at the target while drifting/sliding along your previous vector.
As for the banshee, my suggestion would be to go with a box wing design, and put your engines at the root between the upper and lower wings, and at the tip if you still want to do that. Those dorsal boosters of yours just don't look right, and will give you all the issues we have written about before.
ok right, i think i will leave the valkyrie as it is unless i have any sudden ideas. as for the banshee i like the box wing idea but i do not think i will join the wings at the end so it will have the shape as is but forward and downward sloping wings will project from the sides of the upper engines and almost touch the lower wings. i WILL be leaving those engines up their as the centre of mass in this design is somewhere between them and the wing tip engines on the z(up-down) axis and I like that configuration. thanks for the box wing idea.
on to colbmista's post, the engines are fusion ramjets(bussard ramjets/ramscoops by other names) but look similar to jet engines even though there are some radical differences but i was going to model new engines of some sort.
the latest work on the banshee
i built the rough shape of the cockpit but not the control panel yet. the engines still need to be done along with the upper parts of the box wing. Attachment not found.
latest update, have completed the engines and attached them, i constructed the fins holding the upper engines in position but have yet to model the top of the "box wing". she is looking pretty awesome. Attachment not found.
constructed some fins at the rear of the engines and added some parts to the wings(i am not sure what the technical term for them is). Attachment not found.
added details along the foreplane edges and added the upper parts of the "box" wing structure. not sure if it looks better with or without them. Attachment not found.
added extra engines to the valkyrie as the upper surfaces looked far too plain(as some of you mentioned before). used the engines from the banshee to provide extra power, they are not technically boosters like the triton engines on a hellhound but fulfill a similar task whilst running as a normal engine but providing a lot less power than a booster ramjet. Attachment not found.
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have now started working on it's hyperspace drive and the hyperspace drives of the hellhound and banshee fighters(banshee fighter is yet to be started but as the hyperspace drive is it's main feature some of the fighter will be built around the drive)
just finished making that blended area larger, how does this look.
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oh, and colbmista what do you mean by flush with the engines.
So...if you're not concerned about aerodynamics with your weapons why do you try so hard for such sleek aeroframes? It's like being an engineer in denial and building a car that you expect to float like a boat.
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Yes. You'll start creating harmonic vibrations throughout the craft that will initially decrease efficiency and finally lead to catastrophic structural failure especially traveling at high enough speeds to enter and exit atmosphere. Space or atmosphere...choose one and design accordingly.
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these images show an alternative set up i designed, there is still a turret but it is flatter and the only point where it bulges is where it contains the gun.
may also think of arrangements a bit like that on the commanche.
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Liking the banshee so far.
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oh, and the engines you see here are not the engines i will use in this design they are just there to show the positioning. can anyone suggest how to construct some really amazing engines for it, they would look similar to jet engines if that helps.
As for the banshee, my suggestion would be to go with a box wing design, and put your engines at the root between the upper and lower wings, and at the tip if you still want to do that. Those dorsal boosters of yours just don't look right, and will give you all the issues we have written about before.
ok right, i think i will leave the valkyrie as it is unless i have any sudden ideas. as for the banshee i like the box wing idea but i do not think i will join the wings at the end so it will have the shape as is but forward and downward sloping wings will project from the sides of the upper engines and almost touch the lower wings. i WILL be leaving those engines up their as the centre of mass in this design is somewhere between them and the wing tip engines on the z(up-down) axis and I like that configuration. thanks for the box wing idea.
on to colbmista's post, the engines are fusion ramjets(bussard ramjets/ramscoops by other names) but look similar to jet engines even though there are some radical differences but i was going to model new engines of some sort.
i built the rough shape of the cockpit but not the control panel yet. the engines still need to be done along with the upper parts of the box wing.
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