Okay, so the quality of these images isn't spectacular, but I'm trying to get a feel for how this crane thing is going to work. Basically, TB3 landing vertically as in the original is retarded. Handwave the technology all you like but how can it hit the silo perfectly, yet alone in the right orientation to land on its launch pad? Ballistic entry like that is just suicidal, IMO. So, my plan is for it to fly in and land in the water by Tracy Island, certainly under retros and perhaps under paracute (actually, I'm imagining it paragliding down but that seems a little silly, has NASA ever considered it? Sounds right up their street!) before sailing into a cave for recovery. This would require a crane to lift it out of the water and into position. Then it needs elevated onto the crawler and moved into place. Naturally this is for recovery so is done at the end of the mission - so it's always ready to go. The reboot in my head concentrates just as much on how these things land and recover as much as they launch as it's something I don't think was done very well in the original! So out of the water, moved in, repaired (I'm going to use the gap below to make some sort of raising maintenence platform, as I think that'd be cool), shifted upright onto the crawler and moved into place. That would be one bitch of an animation to do...
Anyway, as always, pointers and feedback welcome. This idea is so half-baked I think I need all the help I can get!
It suddenly occurs to me I can do this model-making style and only have half the background hanger so I can light it and still show the hanger in context. D'oh.
what about having T3 submerge upon landing on the water and submarine-ing to a landing platform which is then lifted up by the crane, rather than having the crane directly on T3?
EDIT- or even have the thruster ports on the crawler hinge up to slot over T3's thrusters, instead of rotating the ship into an upright position and then slotting it into the thruster ports?
what about having T3 submerge upon landing on the water and submarine-ing to a landing platform which is then lifted up by the crane, rather than having the crane directly on T3?
That'd be the plan when it's done, hopefully.
EDIT- or even have the thruster ports on the crawler hinge up to slot over T3's thrusters, instead of rotating the ship into an upright position and then slotting it into the thruster ports?
Good point. It might be an awkward rebuild but it's the best way, I think.
Hmmmm. What about she lands on the water as planned, and subarine-ing her way to the crawler itself. the crawler's tracks are continued directly from the silo out into the ocean. But at the far end the tracks swing up so the crawler is 90 degrees to the view we have of it now. Then TB3 simply backs toward it and locks on. The crawler starts along it's track which pulls TB3 to the vertical position and takes it directly up to the launch point.
That way you loose the crane and going through the how do be go from sideways to vertical.
And it's still in the grant over the top machine style of the show.
Sorry about the sketch being so rough but you get the idea.
Insane....you say that like its a bad thing.
The idea of a rocket flying out of a swimming pool is normal and OK, the idea of having said rocket belly land on water is normal, but my idea is insane?
I should dang well hope so.:cool:
I just thought that while under water the weight of TB3 is reduced to a small degree and water is a natural break on anything moving. So really why not use the crawler, all the more so with the new added cradle assembly.
Run the animation through in your head and tell me its not over the top Thunderbirds style. (although granted it is a little more UFO than TBs.);)
Insane....you say that like its a bad thing.
The idea of a rocket flying out of a swimming pool is normal and OK, the idea of having said rocket belly land on water is normal, but my idea is insane?
I should dang well hope so.:cool:
I will give it some thought. Putting it upright directly out of the water and then transporting it vertically, as shown in the third image above, may work nicely too. Perhaps I should just throw caution to the wind and do something that would give a real aerospace engineer a heart attack!
Not much in the way of massive progress, I'm working on a set of umbilical arms and still thinking about how the crew accesses it. I might skip ahead and work on the roundhouse next.
Okay, just a quick bump for this one. I was playing with particle effects and looking at pictures of the Space Shuttle. The grainy background image almost makes it feel like the 60s TV series.
Although I think I might rebuild TB2 it as the mesh is very clunky and inelegant and generally I don't think it looks very good compared to this TB3. Also, I have a few extra ideas and it'd just be easier to rebuild it than modify it. 4 and 5 will come with time, but I need to get the inspiration for what to do with them. If it was up to me I'd just steal Librarian-bot's TB4 (http://librarian-bot.deviantart.com/art/Thunderbird-4-Specs-173709122) as it's a very impressive design, but obviously that would be a bit too naughty...
It's been a little while since I posted on this thread (should I just amalgamate them all?) so, I've been going back to TB3 and lighting the hanger a bit better, among trying to get a few more details to work.
renders look good, especially the ones on the first page of the craft in orbit. nice engines too, what power source are they supposed to use? the launch equipment looks good as well, similar to that used for the russian soyuz rockets that supply the ISS.
nice engines too, what power source are they supposed to use?
Fusion, of course. The entire concept being the setting of Thunderbirds was that it was specifically 100 years in the future - so the setting was really the hopes of the 60s projected forward. Hence everything was nuclear powered. These days, we're a bit more concerned about fission, and so I've built this re-imagined/rebooted continuity around it being 100 years from now, hence nuclear fusion playing a large part of it. How that exactly powers a rocket, I don't know, but liberal handwavium and "THE FUTURE" helps.
Good spot with the Soyuz. The equipment is based on Russian stuff including the Soyuz, Buran and there are some details from the ill-fated N1 in there. And, indeed, "in universe" it is a Russian-based/stolen rocket. So it helps to research a few details and references for that.
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I haven't given much thought to the couch at the moment! I'll work on it, though.
It helps give her a sense of size as well. (like you said add a gantry...)
Was never offended mate, so everything's cool ...
@Armondikov:
Great work Chris ! ... like that Crawler, ... nice detail ! :thumb:
Jas
Anyway, as always, pointers and feedback welcome. This idea is so half-baked I think I need all the help I can get!
It suddenly occurs to me I can do this model-making style and only have half the background hanger so I can light it and still show the hanger in context. D'oh.
what about having T3 submerge upon landing on the water and submarine-ing to a landing platform which is then lifted up by the crane, rather than having the crane directly on T3?
EDIT- or even have the thruster ports on the crawler hinge up to slot over T3's thrusters, instead of rotating the ship into an upright position and then slotting it into the thruster ports?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-irOfrXy4N4&feature=related
That'd be the plan when it's done, hopefully.
Good point. It might be an awkward rebuild but it's the best way, I think.
That way you loose the crane and going through the how do be go from sideways to vertical.
And it's still in the grant over the top machine style of the show.
Sorry about the sketch being so rough but you get the idea.
The idea of a rocket flying out of a swimming pool is normal and OK, the idea of having said rocket belly land on water is normal, but my idea is insane?
I should dang well hope so.:cool:
I just thought that while under water the weight of TB3 is reduced to a small degree and water is a natural break on anything moving. So really why not use the crawler, all the more so with the new added cradle assembly.
Run the animation through in your head and tell me its not over the top Thunderbirds style. (although granted it is a little more UFO than TBs.);)
I will give it some thought. Putting it upright directly out of the water and then transporting it vertically, as shown in the third image above, may work nicely too. Perhaps I should just throw caution to the wind and do something that would give a real aerospace engineer a heart attack!
and i like the thruster effects
Also, will you be doing the rest of the Birds once T3 is complete?
Although I think I might rebuild TB2 it as the mesh is very clunky and inelegant and generally I don't think it looks very good compared to this TB3. Also, I have a few extra ideas and it'd just be easier to rebuild it than modify it. 4 and 5 will come with time, but I need to get the inspiration for what to do with them. If it was up to me I'd just steal Librarian-bot's TB4 (http://librarian-bot.deviantart.com/art/Thunderbird-4-Specs-173709122) as it's a very impressive design, but obviously that would be a bit too naughty...
Fusion, of course. The entire concept being the setting of Thunderbirds was that it was specifically 100 years in the future - so the setting was really the hopes of the 60s projected forward. Hence everything was nuclear powered. These days, we're a bit more concerned about fission, and so I've built this re-imagined/rebooted continuity around it being 100 years from now, hence nuclear fusion playing a large part of it. How that exactly powers a rocket, I don't know, but liberal handwavium and "THE FUTURE" helps.
Good spot with the Soyuz. The equipment is based on Russian stuff including the Soyuz, Buran and there are some details from the ill-fated N1 in there. And, indeed, "in universe" it is a Russian-based/stolen rocket. So it helps to research a few details and references for that.