3Da history of space fighters

spacefighter

you may have seen my article on the late 21st century(in my SF universe) in the sci fi writers section of this site(and on my blog). it is not very well written but it is not supposed to be as it really is just a timeline, anyway...

another article i am going to write on my blog is going to be about the "history" of space fighters. i was planing to make some 3d models with sketchup showing the evolution of the advanced fighters used in my sci fi stuff from the "simple" technology we currently use. the first fighter will be an orbital spaceplane similar to the x 37 spaceplane. it will be capable of making a fair few changes in orbit before running out of propellant and it's main purpose is to destroy satelites and other orbital installations. it will be launched aboard a rocket but return to earth like the now retired space shuttle. it will also share some features with the x20 dyna-soar craft as it will be manned by a pilot although i do not know if i will detail the insides. i may model the rocket booster for placing it in orbit aswell.

after that i will be modelling a series of craft getting closer and closer to the tech level of the models i have previously worked on in this forum.
changed the front pic again, was getting bored of seeing the banshee there
hellhound render1.png

Mikey-B

Sounds like a fun idea. I found an article on the X-37C, if that'll help: http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/2012/06/x-37c-and-new-ride-for-military.html

spacefighter

so far i have this
Attachment not found. quite similar to the X20 i plan to change some things to make it look more modern. the ring of vents around the rear end is the intake for a jet engine that allows the craft to fly like an aircraft in the atmosphere after reentry. there will be a large module attached to the back of this for extra engines and fuel tanks. ht eexcat type of engine i will use i something i have yet to decide. oh and thanks, good article.

spacefighter

and now thisAttachment not found.

Borkless

That's some cool stuff, I'm liking this idea. Hmm... in fact I might make some birds of my own.

spacefighter

Borkless wrote: »

That's some cool stuff, I'm liking this idea. Hmm... in fact I might make some birds of my own.

glad you like it, i am planning to model:
american rocket launched space fighter (circa 2020)(boeing x-474 orbital fighter " star strike")
Solar1 (not a fighter but the first ramjet ship and quite small)(2043)
British interplanetary space fighter(2048-2058)(Wellington class MK II "battleaxe")
British MK I hyperspace fighter(2084)(Hurst class MK I "banshee")
British hyperspace fighter(2110)(Bishop class MK IV "valkyrie")

the british fighters have official types named after great commanders(Wellington class) or the main person responsible for designing them(Hurst class, Bishop class) and common names in the same way as a Mig 25 is a "foxbat", an F-111 is an "aardvark" and a B-1b is a "lancer".

colbmista

i dont see similarity to the x-20 other then the wings in ur current model

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/X20_Dyna-Soar_diagram.png/800px-X20_Dyna-Soar_diagram.png

spacefighter

the similarity is in overall purpose and method of launch, you may notice that somepictures of the x-20 show it with and large rocket booster behind it, intend to model one of these for my fighter once i have completed the capsule i am working on.

spacefighter

just finished the armament(ten missiles) in the bays on either side of the fuselage. like on the space shuttle the surfaces of the bays that are exposed when open act as heat radiators.
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colbmista

engines are a bit big imo specially if your going to add that engine module on x-20 there are only 2 small engine one on top of eachother(you dont need that must thurst to move fast in space) and then it has the maneuvering thrusters the engines you have on now should be the size of engine s on the engine module

Schimpfy

I like this design. Simple. Sleek. Fast.

The idea for the missile bays is cool but I'd be wary of using the doors as heat radiators. It runs the risk of being damaged during weapons launch.

Knight26

hard to get a sense of scale, can we get a scale reference? are the missiles a real world unit or something of your own?

spacefighter

the missiles are of my own design and their dimensions are: length 1.6 m, radius 4cm
the ship is(without the booster) 15.9 m long.
good point about the radiators, the rocket blasts from the missiles may damage them but the doors are some distance away from the missiles which would use a lower power engine setting to get clear of the fighter. just a note the large engine in the centre is not a rocket it is a jet engine for maneuvering in the atmosphere when landing or conducting fast strike runs(leaving orbit ,"diving" on a target,firing and returning to land at a base). i am now working on some landing skids.
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i have now completed the skids and think that the forward capsule is finished so will start work on the booster.

spacefighter

the first work on the bosster
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i know it needs more details adding but i am not sure what.

spacefighter

some of my posts on here were lost, i do not know what happened to them. anyway i have started work on the second craft(the solar1 ramjet) but have become stuck as the model is looking too much like a cartoon ship( i am not sure why, it might be too slender). the image of it is at the start of this thread, i have also made somebasic design shapes for one of the other fighters(one of the hyperspcae ones) but as i based the fuselage on that of a real aircraft the model is currently slightly too large.
here is that model
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spacefighter

and now i have this...
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what do you think of the engine supports

colbmista

for "futuristic space fighters" its kinda odd that the engines are mounted and not internal or fused to the body

spacefighter

back to work on the fighter with the "odd external engines", have taken a break from it recently as unsure of how to continue. did some modification of 3d models of attack helicopters using blender to see if any features from them might look god on this. thinking when i come to the mk1 hyperspace fighter(banshee) i may style the cockpit like that of a helicopter. now i am working on the valkyrie again i might see about putting the engines elsewhere.

spacefighter

an image of a redesign of the valkyrie's hull is here. the engines are now on either side, similar wings have yet to be attached and the seat you can see is just there until i design one speciallly for this class of fighter.Attachment not found.
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spacefighter

thats the cockpit shape and canopy done, the control panel has still to be designed.
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how about this for a wing configuration, i wanted it to be similar to the later hellhound fighter(something still does not look quite right about it though)
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on second thoughts try this...
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Knight26

I really like the second wing configuration a lot, really one of your best design, IMHO. I am a big proponent of FSW designs, but not every design needs to be FSW, and that one looks really good as a regular swept wing. However, given that is earlier tech level that your older designs, you might want be beef up the structure around the engines leading to the wings a bit or go with a four engine configuration, with each pair stacked, so that you can have a central wing spar running between them, which you can't right not because it would go right through the middle of your engines,

spacefighter

before you posted that i had just reached this level of design
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i wasn't really intending to add extra engines but i can add some support frames extending around the engines to support the wings rather than a central spar running straight through the centre.
UPDATE: perhaps something like this?
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I.G.88

Looks great man wish i could do fighters that well lol i like my bigger projects thou with lots of small things to work on

spacefighter

I.G.88 wrote: »

Looks great man wish i could do fighters that well lol i like my bigger projects thou with lots of small things to work on

i can give you some advice but i do use sketchup so much of my technique might be non transferable. i find that whatever size of ship you do you should construct all the small details down to a size of a certain percentage of the ship's size so on a huge ship yo are alright to just build the turrets whereas on a small one you must construct every rivet/etc(if you have any).

have just finished setting up the control panel, i reused switches and groups of switches from other models because this fighter is only a decade between this fighter(i skipped to doing the valkyrie and will go back to the rest afterwards) and the other models so the basic switches and neccessary functions will be the same. the difference is in the amount of power, the hyperspace compression factor(see my "article" on hyperspace on my blog) and the efficiency of certain components. the engines are more or less the same as well but have around 70% of the power of the Titan Neptune engines from 2120. at this point(2110) in time when the valkyie entered service the technology to make ramjet boosters does not exist, so the main engines provide all the power/thrust. if you want some help with fighters of your own i will be happy to offer some asistance.

spacefighter

have now completed rear landing gear, it is also of the same type as that on a hellhound, the technology for landing gear(on craft under 8 tonnes) has barely changed since the invention of the ion column in 2073.
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UPDATE: and now i have started the forward landing gear
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Schimpfy

I really like the structures you added over the engines. That's more a form over function thing, but it just looks cool. I like the landing gear as well. The placement is great and all they need is a bit of support. Whether or not the handwavium in your universe allows it it just makes for a bland design without any support structures.

Knight26

Instead of that structure what I might suggest is just increasing the diameter of the engine nacelles, say 6 inches and then blending the wing into the nacelle more, ala an SR-71 or F-16 it will look much nice and faster. Those bits you have on their now just scream drag magnet and shear points to me.

Schimpfy

Knight26 wrote: »

Instead of that structure what I might suggest is just increasing the diameter of the engine nacelles, say 6 inches and then blending the wing into the nacelle more, ala an SR-71 or F-16 it will look much nice and faster. Those bits you have on their now just scream drag magnet and shear points to me.

Adjusting the size of the engines would help structurally, but I still like the look of the added vanes. You could even explain them as radiators.

spacefighter

Knight26 wrote: »

Instead of that structure what I might suggest is just increasing the diameter of the engine nacelles, say 6 inches and then blending the wing into the nacelle more, ala an SR-71 or F-16 it will look much nice and faster. Those bits you have on their now just scream drag magnet and shear points to me.

exactly which part are you referring to? i am not sure what you are suggesting i do. also if i add some support structures(not that they are needed because the materials are pretty strong and there are bolts and such to lock the landing gear down at the 45 degree angle) where would you suggest i put it and what kind?(i would rather only model support structures that can be easily manipulated(not some really complex system of rams and hinges that i cannot manage to move to stay perfectly connected when the gear folds up))

spacefighter

i have completed the landing gear, i think.
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planning to add laser guns just inward of the engines where the fuselage bulges out.
what other details should i add, i think the model is too plain at the moment but do not want blocky greebles breaking up it's smooth lines.

Knight26

Ok the best way I see to improve the wing structure would be the following, in simple terms.
Your ventral fuselage (belly) blends into the engine nacelles, but not the dorsal (top side). The wings, your primary lift surface then jut out of the nacelles with no further support. If you blend the main fuselage into the nacelles better on the dorsal side, then blend the wings into the nacelles that will give you space for your spar and better mounts for the whole structure. Right now you appear to have worse than this going on:
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