Knight26

@GC yeah the DVDs were originally suppossed to be double sided, and some actually are. However, from what I have read the very first pressings were double sided but there was a mix up at the manufacturer and they did not get enough double sided disks so did the rest as two disks, hence the lack of artwork.

Well you know me I love my registry pics, don't worry I still have a lot of work to do, but here is a quick glimpse into its future.

Looking over the pilot's shoulder.

Some shots with the pilot in the cockpit.

underside and rear

Ok, I spent most of the day cleaning and going through all my junk, took a large load over to the Salvation Army, so I did not work on the design too much. I ddi make some progress: 1) Reshaped the Dorsal wing fins, I think they look better and match up with the ventrals better. 2) Built up the wing root, adding much needed additional structuring. 3) Worked on the area around the cockpit, adding some greeblies. 4) Reshaped the nose, should have done that before detailing the area around the cockpit but, oh well i think it turned out nice. 5) Added several sets of anntennae will add several more bumps and blisters all over the main fuselage. 6) I added the initial set of nose RCS thrusters, still need to add those that go underneath and those in the tail. Any suggestions are appreciated. @CK: the craft is kind of like a B-52, intended as a strictly interim fighter to be used as a testbed for developing new technologies for the fighters to come. So it was not designed for grace and came out very bulky to allow for its intended continuous upgrades. However it became well loved by its crews and with numerous upgrades stayed up technologically so stayed in service. @GF: Interesting comparison, though the hellcat was never one of my favorite wing commander craft, I can just barely see the resemblance though, in design and mission.

That beast is beauty, I am all over it once it comes out.

Uh no, it's a fighter, way too small to be a bomber, though it would be entertaining to see what it would look like with a torpedo or two strapped on. Of course being that it was made by Sukhoi, that is entirely possible, lol.

Another shot:

Okay major update Time: The cockpit tub has been cut, though I need to fix it in a couple places, and the canopy has been hollowed out and framed, though I may frame it a little more heavily. I added a bunch of details to the engines including the thrust vectoring plates, which will shutter closed when using the manuevering vents. I've also colored the whole plane a sort of haze gray for now. Next I will get back into the main fuselage, I am still considering the large ventral fins and filling that trench in the rear full of hardware for the reactor. BTW the engines are designed to be interchangable left to right, just flipped over I've also added the main dorsal wing fins and ventral fins and I think they work well together, though I was originally only planning the ventral setl. Along with that I added the external generator coils on the dorsal and ventral sides. The ventral coild are strictly for powering the Gauss Rifle and the shields. The original model was unshielded and because of the power requirements of the gun and shields additional generators had to be added. The generators have stayed despite technological advances that made the various systems more energy efficient giving the fighter excellent power reserves, but if not managed properly the systems can overload. I also added lights to the engines and the cockpit, the cockpit glow looks ok right now, but I may need to turn it down a little. I'm trying to figure out how to proceed from here, I think I may build up the wing roots and start adding the external anntennae. Any Thoughts?

Update: Ok, the manuevering vents on the engine nacelles are in. Now I think I may have to come up with shutters for the engine exhaust to in order to make them effective, bugger. Right now, ignoring the open main exhausts, I have them set for a right roll combined with a nose over, to give you an idea how it looks with them in use.

I still have my old X35/36 from Saitek, replaced at least half dozen or more springs it in by now, mostly in the rudder rocker. I never found it that hard to program, heck it is easier then the Thrustmaster IMHO. Now it isn't Xp makes it harder to do now for some reason. However now it also looks like you can program on the sticks themsleves without the GUI software which would be nice. I think they are running about $100-$150. If I start to fly flight sims again seriously and my X35/36 dies on me I may consider getting one, provided I can grip test them first.

Update time: 1) I nixed the radiator fins. 2) Because of a program error I lost all progress on the model this morning. As an experiment I took the triple missile packs off of the later model Solaar fighters and with some modifications to make them dual launchers slapped them onto the engines. Each engine now has two standard launchers on top and two triple-mini launchers underneath. 3) I recontiured the area behind the cockpit. 4) The canopy is now a more bubble type, I will still need to frame it, and the framing will be pretty heavily done. 5) Small change moved the guns down a little. 6) Fixed the docking mounts I'm not sure how to proceed, I want this one to be a dirty design, so it will be covered in anntennae soon, plus I still need the reactor radiators and a lot of other details. I will work more of the manuevering vents on the engines tonight while I consider how to proceed, any ideas? Edit- Reuploaded, still having a problem seeing it?

Don't feed the troll folks just point him to the truth.

Check this out the new Saitek X52 HOTAS setup. It looks like they've combined the best of all their sticks and the other out there into one super HOTAS setup. If I saw one at my local best buy or Circuit City I would hand test it, see how it feels, how natural, how comfortable. has anyone seen one of these with their own eyes yet? The only thing I don't like about it is that it they did away with the rocker rudder control on the throttle and replaced it with the twist stick rudder on the stick. I'm not a fan of that design, much prefered the throttle mounted rocker rudder on my X35/36 combo.

Small update: I started on the engine manuevering vents yesterday, but decided to start working on the larger salient features this morning instead. I was considering a large ventral fin for use a thermal radiator sprouting off the belly. It would fold for storage, but I just couldn't get it look right and still be able to fold. Instead I have opted for four fins sprouting out at angles from the main fuselage, but am not sure about those. I've also added the missile pods to the wings, the missiles will go inside and the front will split open to allow the missile to launch, then can close back up again. We will see where this leads. I am really unsure about those radiator fins though, thoughs?

Hmm, hoping we get some wookies ripping peoples arms out of their sockets.

Who the heck is Kate Bosworth?

Quick update, still adding the major salient features right now. I've cut out the engine exhausts installing baffle vents and added the fixed armament. I've changed up the armament from the two fixed gatling plasers to four larger caliber single barreled wing root mounted cannons, and added a single gauss rifle to the belly. Reason being that at the point in the war that this craft was introduced it was the only craft that stood a chance 1V1 against the confed craft of the day. So it was decided to add a single heavy Gauss rifle to it to give it some anti-bomber capability while the next gen interceptor was being developed. The weapon has stayed throughout the years though. Next up, I'm not entirely sure what direction to take this design, but here is what I am considering: 1) thrust vectoring plates on the engine exhaust, similar to the original (??) 2) Manuevering vents along the engine nacelles 3) External hardpoints for the missiles, on the wings and nacelles 4) Ventral fins (??) 5) ATM control surfaces 6) Recontour of the fuselage immeidately behind the cockpit (??) I appreciate any thoughts or ideas anyone has that they think will help. Oh and those colored bits midway down the fuselage are the dorsal docking mounts, just a stand in texture right now until I model them in. @Agent One: No the cockpit is about the same size, maybe slightly larger, the fighter just got a bit bigger.

here here

Is it just me or does something about Vader's helmet look a little off to anyone else?

I don't see what the big deal is, I think it's actually not such a bad idea, no worse then color coding the subs when multiple people are talking. Heck my Dad is going Deaf so I'm sure he would love it, it's cool to have a Dad who is also into Anime.

The preliminary redesign shot.

Well since the redesing kick has restarted in me with my friend Kevin showing interest in doing a colaborative book effort with me based in my sci-fi universe I decided to hit up another enemy fighter first. This one is the Phantom-4, a product of the Sukhoi design bereau and is one of the oldest active fighters of the war. As such the design will be clunkier then others in appearance, made for exo-atmospheric combat but with some limited trans-atm capability. As such it will have no under carriage, just the upper docking mounts. The design is pretty basic at this point and needs work, but the most major salient features are present. I appreciate any comments. I am attaching the old registry picture of the original and the first prelim shot of the redesign. THe other enemy craft, while finished will get slight face lifts along the way, and I have two more friendly craft yet to redesign, one minor, the other major, despite the fact that is an inactive in the main storyline. First shot is the old registry pic.

Thanks for sharing. If that star destroyer is the really deal, it's nice to see a preview of it. It's not the real ship from the movie, it is a fan creation see the thread over here on sci-fi meshes to track its development. Warnign you have to an account to view the larger pics. http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/showthr...77&page=1&pp=15