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3DVir Inter Astrum Reboot

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Posts

  • TomboTombo0 Posts: 0Member
    That Commonwealth cutter does indeed look like something out of Thunderbirds, and I to can live with that. The colour looks good as well. Another version of the US cutter! What is this, the third, fourth version? :p

    I agree with Stonecold the CEGD cutter could be a variant of the old E-3.a design.
  • spacefighterspacefighter2 Posts: 0Member
    Starrigger wrote: »
    I love it when we do stuff in Sketchup and people say... " You did THAT in Sketchup?!"
    kind of waiting for that moment myself.
    great work on the raf rescue cutter, using the current air-sea rescue colour scheme is a great excuse for the striking yellow hull. can we see it from some more angles.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    @Stonecold; great links! very inspiring!

    @Tombo; nah, just the second. Thinking about changing the engines to something more Saturn V looking. I totally forgot about that imperial shuttle, going to see if I still have it around.

    @Spacefighter; when it's all done I'll do a couple different angles.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    Should have the uc cutter and corsarski sheets done by the weekend. Worked a bit on the US cutter... makes me want to go on the Rocket Jets at Disney World back when Tomorrowland was still cool.
    awjh.png
  • SchimpfySchimpfy396 Posts: 1,632Member
    Reminds me of an updated Gunstar. Cool. :thumb:
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Juvat wrote: »
    Reminds me of an updated Gunstar. Cool. :thumb:

    Nah. Looks more retro than that. TBH, it looks a lot like the model rockets I used to build and fly back in my younger days - kind of a cross between the Centuri LaserX and the Estes Mars Snooper (both kits from the early-to-mid 1970's). Of course, the kits were much longer and more slender than this though...

    Love the "short Atlas" wingtip boosters.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    MaxxRush wrote: »
    Love the "short Atlas" wingtip boosters.
    Good spotting!

    This was my inspiration BTW;
    RocketJets388x432.jpg
    104352.jpg
  • StonecoldStonecold331 Posts: 0Member
    That telescopic landing undercarriage looks legacy as hell. Just like it came straight from old soviet cartoon. Not that it is a bad thing. Well, great design, no matter how I look at it!

    25243_600.jpg s320x240
  • TomboTombo0 Posts: 0Member
    I've always had a soft spot* for space rocket-chic space ships, and those engines make it look very rocketship like :)

    (*from where I was dropped on my head as a baby :p)
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    Those are pretty interesting Stonecold. Sorta makes me feel like I'm tripping balls on peyote!
    Here is an update on the retro-rocket (see what I did there).
    2dui.png
    And this is a rough up of what I'm thinking for the CEGD cutter. Going to make it more angular I think, as it's looking a bit too 'Prequel trilogy' to me :nono:
    ye06.png
  • alonzo11208alonzo11208171 Posts: 0Member
    love love.Absolutely love what youre doing here BBZ. I don't have any critics at them moment but good work.
  • StonecoldStonecold331 Posts: 0Member
    Well, you hit the right feeling of "retro-sci-fi" with that cutter. Same as it was with "MiG-21 in space". It just looks "legacy hardware" even if it is supposed to be the future. Unique feeling of your designs, I must say. Sa for CEGD cutter, it looks cool, but try to do something with that polished material. "Star wars royal shuttle" was the first thing that comes to mind :) And mainly just because of that mirror-like surface.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    Here is the final WIP of the US cutter. Model's done and am strating to paint it. Wish I had a pic of the CEGD cutter but coming up with a shape I like is giving me fits!
    37x6.png
  • StonecoldStonecold331 Posts: 0Member
    Undercarriage retracts into the wings? That plate in the bottom of the main hull, is it a hatch for a ladder? Would be nice if it is :)

    Any way - swesome amount of details and really good and solid concept.
  • TomboTombo0 Posts: 0Member
    Given the scale of the thing an elevator that drops out of the bottom would be a good idea especially for loading cargo pallets. Looking good though.
  • Mikey-BMikey-B0 Posts: 0Member
    Always liked your designs, and the renders look photorealistic. Well done. The cutter reminds me of The last Starfightter and the atmospheric Star Fury from Babylon 5.
  • KhayKhay0 Posts: 0Member
    Oh wow looks like that landing gear is about to snap under the weigh ^^ A little bit too obviously "retro-future escaped from the sixties" for my taste, but i have to admit this is still a finely modeled ship.

    Btw did you ever finish the russian super low-tech passenger transport? I really looked forward to see more of it.
  • spacefighterspacefighter2 Posts: 0Member
    the cutter is quite good though i must say some of that retro stuff could be made to seem more modern and the design improved by having it as a space only craft without those all too retro landing legs.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    Well, I'm doing the final render with the landing gear up, I just did it to see how it would land. I've put the CEGD cutter on the backburner as it moved from 'challenging' to 'frustrating'. Started work on the Soviet cutter instead;
    oh4m.png
    and here is where I'm going with the US cutter color wise, going to redo the badge on the front.
    dvm0.png
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Like the Sov cutter. Looks much more practical than the US cutter.

    OTOH, I like the US cutter color scheme. Adds to the retro feel, and reminded me right off the bat of the Hawk from Space: 1999.
  • StonecoldStonecold331 Posts: 0Member
    Nose on Soviet one is somewhat strange. Any upclose images?
  • TomboTombo0 Posts: 0Member
    Yeah, it looks odd because of the way the nose wraps around and above the forward airlock(?). Still looks like a good, solid design though. Is it tailless?
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    I gave it a little nose job;
    58h0.png
    ayyy.png
    And thinking about leaving this one tailless
  • spacefighterspacefighter2 Posts: 0Member
    tailless seems fine to me, several of the current(and historical) ssto craft designs used little fins on the wing tips rather than a true tail. the "rib" structures seem a bit big though.
  • StonecoldStonecold331 Posts: 0Member
    I still think that the nose is strange. Can`t imagine how this thing, with flat docking port on the nose will perform re-entry. Maybe some sort of aerodynamic cover over the port will do the trick?
  • KhayKhay0 Posts: 0Member
    Stonecold wrote: »
    I still think that the nose is strange. Can`t imagine how this thing, with flat docking port on the nose will perform re-entry. Maybe some sort of aerodynamic cover over the port will do the trick?

    Yeeaaaah well, bbzw2, that might be the perfect time to make use of the space magic trick i told you about, don't you think? ^^
    Tailless looks really fine.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    Wow Khay! Have a prize! :)
  • spacefighterspacefighter2 Posts: 0Member
    what "space "magic" trick" is that?
    p.s. the use of those v2 rocket like chessboard pattern on the motors of your american cutter look too cartoonish, although the stripe round the cockpit area is a nice touch. just wondering if there is anything you could do so it lands belly down rather than as a tail sitter.
  • bbzwbbzwbbzwbbzw1 Posts: 0Member
    p.s. the use of those v2 rocket like chessboard pattern on the motors of your american cutter look too cartoonish
    v2a.jpg
    us_space_and_rocket_ctr_huntsville_al_usa_photo_al_tourism_dept2.jpg
    gemini-1.jpg
    Plenty of precedent for checkerboard patterns.

    And Khay was joking around with me about 'french perch effect' of blunt nosed objects.

    Landing on the side would be entirely impractical. The stripe on the nose is directly cribbed from the US Coast Guard.

    Took some time to 'up-detail' the existing model of the Intrepid carrier;
    vhv7.png
    Busy week for me with work so I don't know how much time I will be able to devote to VIA for a few days.
    104453.jpg104454.jpg104455.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    I have to say a couple things about the "checkerboard" paint patterns. First, they're called "roll patterns". The reason they are used is to determine the roll rate of the rocket during flight, or as targets for the cameras so that later analysis can determine which side of the rocket was in view at the moment. That's especially true of the V-2 rockets captured from the Germans and used at White Sands - most V-2s had a different pattern on each quarter of the rocket. Same thing with the service module section of the Little Joe II LES test rockets. Also on the Saturn 1B at the fins.

    After years of building scale model and high power rockets, I have roll patterns almost ingrained in my DNA.

    Much as I hate to say it, the use of roll patterns on your cutter are more to just look cool than to have any sort of function, since they don't help determine roll direction or speed. Now if each booster had a different pattern on it... But in the end, it's your design and you can do whatever you want with it. TBH, I'd leave it as is, because it looks cool:thumb:
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