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3DHonorverse stuff

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  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    some nice features on them, they all look very similar though.

    Yes, they do. So do current real life naval warships, both ours and theirs. The difference is only in the fine details. Once a basic design is found to work, and work well, it gets copied. And physics has a lot to say about design.

    There's an in-universe explanation for that. In a nutshell, the physics of the drives used require those particular shapes. And *everyone* in the Honorverse uses the same type of drive, so *all* ships from the various navies have the double-ended spindle shape.

    Here's a basic explanation of how the impeller drive system works: http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Impeller_drive

    And here's an illustration of the layout of the wedge and sidewalls: http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/entry/Harrington/100/1

    Continuing on from talking about how they all look similar, this is a point of contention with Evergreen Studios, who are making the Honorverse movie (and have contracted Top Cow for the comic books). They understand why the ships look the way they do, but for reason$$$, they are changing the designs quite a bit. Anyone familiar with the books and understands what the ships are *supposed* to look like will recognize certain critical features in Evergreen's designs, but after that, they have gotten pretty "creative" in the designs. They also want to make it easier to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys, since both sides have similar designs. That would be considered "movie canon".

    If you want "book canon", just look at my stuff. This is all vetted and approved by David Weber and the rest of BuNine (co-writers of House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion, including myself).
  • sojournersojourner0 Posts: 0Member
    Those look great! Where do I sign up to become a captain of one?
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    sojourner wrote: »
    Those look great! Where do I sign up to become a captain of one?

    http://www.trmn.org/portal/
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    New ships. Finished all the House of Steel light cruisers, and started on heavy cruisers earlier today. As with the DD class ships, there are ships from different generations, and the differences are similar to those on the DD's

    Spent a good portion of the day making a template (three, actually) to liven up the images a bit. It took me so long because I don't (didn't) know how to do any of what I did in Paint Shop Pro, and there was a lot of trial and error, as well as some back and forth between myself and other people in BuNine who know more about this sort of thing than I do.

    The side view group shots for the destroyers and the light cruisers were all taken with the exact same settings, so you can do a side-by-side comparison. It probably won't be that way when I do the same for the heavy cruisers, though, but I will still include the Star Knight as a reference (in fact, the SK will be in all group shots I do in the future for size reference purposes).

    Speaking of the SK, since I'm on CA's, I think I'm going to rebuild her, as making these past few renders has highlighted a few issues with the current SK. There's artifacting in some areas, and I want to rebuild her to more closely match the lineart in HoS. I know what's causing the artifacts, so that won't be a big issue to fix, and I want to lighten her up a bit - she's pretty polygon-heavy, and the way I've been doing the newer ships should reduce her ploycount quite a bit - maybe 50% - which will make for quicker renders.

    This will be the fourth time I've built her from scratch. :o This particular rebuild will be externals only (the current version has a few decks and other interior stuff that I'm going to leave out for this series of renders), but will be done with an eye towards expanding to include interiors later on.

    So, here they are:
    106562.jpg106563.jpg106564.jpg106565.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Stats for the light cruisers:

    Courageous-class light cruiser
    Mass: 88,250 tons
    Dimensions: 389 × 40 × 31 m
    Acceleration: 519.6 G (5.096 kps2)
    80% Accel: 415.7 G (4.076 kps2)
    Broadside: 7M, 2L, 2G, 3CM, 3PD
    Chase: 2M, 1L, 2CM, 2PD
    Total Built: 62
    Service Life: 1820–1909

    Avalon-class light cruiser
    Mass: 146,750 tons
    Dimensions: 461 × 48 × 37 m
    Acceleration: 749.9 G (7.354 kps2)
    80% Accel: 599.9 G (5.883 kps2)
    Broadside: 10M, 4G, 8CM, 8PD
    Chase: 2G, 4PD
    Number Built: 196+
    Service Life: 1919–present

    Valiant-class light cruiser
    Mass: 154,750 tons
    Dimensions: 469 × 49 × 38 m
    Acceleration: 516.4 G (5.065 kps2)
    80% Accel: 413.2 G (4.052 kps2)
    Broadside: 8M, 6L, 2G, 5CM, 4PD
    Chase: 3M, 2G, 3CM, 3PD
    Number Built: 83
    Service Life: 1902–present
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Okay. Heavy cruisers are now done.

    First up are the Warrior Class CA, and the Star Knight again. The SK has appeared in all of these because it's the "baseline" ship BuNine is using to work out major layouts and such. It will continue to show up in all the subsequent group images as a size reference. This is the fourth time I've built the SK, although this one isn't as detailed as the previous version, and also doesn't contain any internals.

    Specs for the Warrior only, since the Star Knight was posted upthread already:

    Warrior-class heavy cruiser
    Mass: 227,250 tons
    Dimensions: 474 × 57 × 48 m
    Acceleration: 513 G (5.031 kps2)
    80% Accel: 410.4 G (4.025 kps2)
    Broadside: 6M, 6G, 2CM, 6PD
    Chase: 2M, 1G, 2CM, 2PD
    Number Built: 46
    Service Life: 1794–1906
    106655.jpg106656.jpg106657.png106658.png
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Next up is the Edward Saganami-C Class CA, as well as the usual group shot.

    Saganami-C Class CA_001.jpg
    Saganami-C Class CA_002.jpg
    HeavyCruiserGroup_001.jpg
    HeavyCruiserGroup_002.jpg

    Saganami-C class heavy cruiser
    Mass: 483,000 tons
    Dimensions: 610 × 74 × 62 m
    Acceleration: 726.2 G (7.121 kps2)
    80% Accel: 580.9 G (5.697 kps2)
    Broadside: 20M, 8G, 20CM, 24PD
    Chase: 3L, 2G, 8PD
    Number Built: 149
    Service Life: 1920–present
    The Saganami-C-class is one of the few new classes BuShips managed to get approved under the Janacek Admiralty, which had focused all construction on LACs [Light Attack Craft] for system defense and lighter classes for strategic roles. Six of these were approved as an initial design study, although the first did not commission until after the war resumed.

    The Saganami-C is uncompromisingly optimized for missile combat, with a total of 40 missile launchers for the new Mk16 DDM [Dual Drive Missile]. The 3rd generation launchers and missile allow them to fire off-bore up to 180 degrees, launching a 40-missile salvo into any firing arc, and telemetry arrays have also been upgraded, allowing full control of up to three “stacked broadsides” in any aspect not blocked by the wedge. Additional control channels in the broadsides allow the class to handle large missile pod loads in addition to the shipboard launchers. Its energy armament was reduced to only eight grasers, but each is significantly more powerful than those carried by the Saganami-B, with an output yield closer to the weapons some navies mount on smaller capital ships, and improved fire control modeling increases hit probability per mount significantly. Moreover, simulations indicate the larger beam diameters and larger plasma throughput of the new battery will actually increase the probability of kill against other heavy cruisers. It remains to be seen if combat experience will bear this out but early reports are promising.

    Another advantage of the Saganami-C design are its two-phase bow and stern wall generators. A traditional endwall closes off the wedge at one end or another, reducing acceleration to zero for as long as it is active, but the two-phase generators carried by the Saganami-C allow the ship to produce what the RMN refers to as a “buckler.” This is a smaller endwall projected across the throat or kilt but not directly connected to the wedge. Its arc of coverage is not as wide as a traditional endwall and leaves vulnerable gaps in some engagement geometries, but the ship retains the ability to accelerate and maneuver when it is active.

    Combat experience has been limited to date but early reports have been extremely positive. These are the most modern, powerful heavy cruisers available to any navy; and, between the salvo size they can control and the range advantage granted by the Mk16 DDM, they could easily destroy at least twice their tonnage in older battlecruisers in a stand up fight.

    Notable Sag-C was the HMS Hexapuma (aka the Nasty Kitty, or the Kitty), commanded by Aivars Terekhov, in the book, The Shadow of Saganami.
    106659.jpg106660.jpg106661.jpg106662.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Okay. Finally some new stuff. It's going a little slower than it has been because I started a new job in mid-August that also required me to move from Ohio to S. Carolina.

    That said, I now have meshes for Honorverse RMN battlecruisers. Another reason these took longer was I had to build some new components that none of my previous ships had, as well as work out a new design for the Agamemnon BC(P) (Battlecruiser(Pod)).

    Without further ado, I'll start off with the Reliant BC:

    Reliant-class battlecruiser
    Mass: 877,500 tons
    Dimensions: 712 × 90 × 80 m
    Acceleration: 488.7 G (4.792 kps2)
    80% Accel: 390.9 G (3.834 kps2)
    Broadside: 22M, 8L, 6G, 2ET, 10CM, 10PD
    Chase: 4M, 1L, 2G, 6CM, 6PD
    Number Built: 95
    Service Life: 1896–present
    107044.jpg107045.jpg107046.jpg107047.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Next up is the Agamemnon BC(P). The Aggie was an attempt to give a battlecruiser a heavier throw weight for missile combat than any previous battlecruiser. Her normal pod loadout is Mk-16's carried 14 per pod with a total of 360 pods. She can roll a four-pod salvo every 12 seconds. An optional loadout is pods loaded with 10 Mk-23 missiles, although because the Aggie is not equipped with Keyhole II, she can't take advantage of the Apollo system that allows FTL C&C of missiles.

    The major downside to the pod battlecruiser design is that it is very much weaker than a non-podlayer BC. Basically (as described in the books), the Aggie is an eggshell armed with a sledgehammer. Also, despite having 360 pods, she has a very short time in combat before she shoots herself dry.

    Agamemnon-class pod battlecruiser
    Mass: 1,750,750 tons
    Dimensions: 815 × 118 × 110 m
    Acceleration: 692.6 G (6.792 kps2)
    80% Accel: 554.1 G (5.434 kps2)
    Broadside: 10G, 30CM, 30PD
    Fore: 4G, 12PD
    Aft: 4MP, 4G, 12PD
    Pods: 360
    Number Built: 85+
    Service Life: 1919–present
    107048.jpg107049.jpg107050.jpg107051.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Last up is the Nike class BC.

    The HMS Nike is the pride of the RMN fleet. Not just this particular ship, but *all* ships in the RMN named Nike. There is *always* a Nike in service, and she is *always* a battlecruiser. The first HMS Nike was commanded by Edward Saganami, who sacrificed himself and his ship to save a merchant convoy from privateers, also earning the first Parliamentary Medal of Valor (the equivalent of the Medal of Honor). Posthumously, of course. The Nike previous to this one was a reliant class ship.

    She carries the Keyhole I platform, which is designed to maintain station outside the wedge of the mothership and relay communications to other ships and provide C&C to missiles launched by the ship while rolled. In the Honorverse, a ship's "propulsion" is also its primary defense, as the wedge is completely impenetrable. A common combat tactic is to "roll wedge" to interpose the wedge between the ship and incoming fire. The downside to this is that it is also impenetrable to radar, radio, lasercomms, etc. So, while it's great protection, you can't control your missiles or even track your target while rolled. Keyhole allows that by sitting outside the wedge and relaying targeting and control to the ship.

    The third image shows the ship rolled with Keyhole deployed. Distances are not to scale, as the KH platforms would normally maintain station about 150 kilometers away from the ship. Current distance in the image is about 200 meters.

    Nike-class battlecruiser
    Mass: 2,519,750 tons
    Dimensions: 1012 × 129 × 114 m
    Acceleration: 674.3 G (6.613 kps2)
    80% Accel: 539.4 G (5.29 kps2)
    Broadside: 25M, 12G, 32CM, 30PD
    Chase: 4G, 12PD
    Number Built: 12+
    Service Life: 1920–present
    107052.jpg107053.jpg107054.jpg107055.jpg107056.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Last up are the usual group shots with a Star Knight class heavy cruiser as size reference.
    107057.jpg107058.jpg
  • HelotHelot391 Posts: 164Member
    Outstanding job. You have really made the line art from House of Steel come alive. Too bad the comic / game / movie (sure, that's gonna happen) have deviated so much from this design aesthetic.

    Seeing the Keyhole platform in place is pretty cool.

    I like your take on the pod laying arrangement as well. Well render too!

    Looking forward to a dreadnaught!
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Helot wrote: »
    Outstanding job. You have really made the line art from House of Steel come alive. Too bad the comic / game / movie (sure, that's gonna happen) have deviated so much from this design aesthetic.

    Seeing the Keyhole platform in place is pretty cool.

    I like your take on the pod laying arrangement as well. Well render too!

    Looking forward to a dreadnaught!

    Well, the movie is still on as far as I know, and the game just had a recent upgrade. As for the comic, issue #5 is due out on the 8th, and will be the last covering On Basilisk Station. Starting with issue #6, they will be covering the events of The Honor of the Queen, and I believe Nimitz will also be getting a bit of a makeover. They will also be using a different artist, so maybe we will see some other changes as well. Hopefully, some of the fan feedback will have gotten through to Evergreen and they can pass any changes down to Top Cow.

    I'm not holding my breath, though.

    Thanks for the comments on the renders. I was especially happy with the way the lighting really popped in the pod bay, and it's not like I did anything special - just threw in some area lights and adjusted the distance. Otherwise, they are just copypasta lights from the boat bay(s).

    The most difficult part was figuring out where and how to place the aft hammerhead grasers. Although I wasn't told specifically, I assumed the grasers would be superdreadnought-grade, and found out very quickly that placement locations would be very limited... because the damn things are so long, they barely fit into the hammerhead to begin with. Then I had to place them so that they wouldn't cause issues with the aft Point Defense clusters, or get in the way of the pod bay hatches, *and* have room for the graser weapons port hatches to open into without clipping through anything else.

    And then there was the staring at the computer for two days trying to figure out a workable transfer system for the pods in the bays if their launch rail(s) were damaged in battle...:rolleyes:

    At some point, I plan to do an animation showing the operation of launching a salvo of pods, as well as the transfer system, but that's going to be a ways down the road. Next on the agenda is the Keyhole refit Agamemnon, as well as the Queen's Royal Yacht/official transport conversion of the Aggie, neither of which are depicted in HoS.

    After that, I get to start trying to figure out how to model a LAC so that I can not only do that, but also have a few available for the CLACs which are next in order. Happy happy, joy joy!
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Here's the Keyhole refit Aggie. The KH platform takes up the spaces used by the five lower graser mounts, so her broadside energy weapons mounts have been cut by 50% to allow it. It's not really a great loss, as in the age of dual-drive and multi-drive missiles (DDM/MDM), most battles never reach energy range.

    The pods below the ship are how they are arranged inside the pod bay, and except for the four at the very aft end, are just blocked in.

    You may have noticed the "corner" pods aren't exactly at 45A°. They're at 35A° to allow clearance for the PDLCs and CM tubes and magazines. Also, the corner rails do not rotate to the vertical position at all. They rotate to the horizontal as the horizontal rails empty, again, because of issues with the PDLC and CM mounts.

    The ends of the outer layer horizontal rails have equipment to transfer pods to the inner layer of pod rails, and the gap at the far end (with a matching gap at the forward end of the inner rails just before the outer layer starts) is for rotating inner layer pods to adjacent rails. This can also be done at the extreme forward end of the inner rails.
    107092.jpg
  • MaxxRushMaxxRush180 Posts: 168Member
    Last of the Agamemnon variants. This is the Royal Yacht/transport for Queen Elizabeth III to replace her previous transport. Half her missile pod loadout was taken out and the space freed up by that is being used for conference rooms, accomodations for the Queen and her court, as well as visiting dignitaries. This also freed up room on the ventral surface to enlarge the main boat bay, as well as adding a second smaller boat bay. Normal small craft complement is 4 oinnaces and two cutters, with room for six more pinnaces from the aforementioned VIPs.

    I also included a group shot of the three Aggie variants, along with their pod loadout.
    107108.png107109.png107110.jpg
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