The Name Means Phoenix

[Knight26]

Man LGs are a pain to design. I had an idea becuase looking at the first concept I realized that in a particularly rough landing they could collapse pretty easily if there is a pressure loss in the system. So I put together the following. Upside it should keepe mains pretty well locked in place, downside, it will take up more interior volume, something I want to try and avoid. The pics from left to right show, fully deployed and locked, deployed, not locked, and retracted.

And haterist, the color scheme is temporary and the fighter can be repainted in a number of schemes, and hey even microfig scale is fine, though I admite 1:18 scale would be cool, shakes that off. Just be sure and give credit where it is due, I would lvoe to see what you can come up with, and like I said if it come out well I would be willing to buy a copy.

[Knight26]

Ok, landing gear are in, with some slight modifications. And yes before anyone asks I do realize that the nose gear skid is too long, I will cut it in half and turn the other half into a door. I still need to add a couple small details, but overall the landing gear are in and done, let me know waht you think.

[Knight26]

skids down, the reason the mains are so far back is becuase, well that was the only place I could fit them, the area right before them are the missile packs, which are removable, so taht is no place to put the landing gear.

[Knight26]

Standing view on the mirror plane.

[Knight26]

Ok I fixed the landing gear.

[Knight26]

And a rear view, sorry the lower tail is blocking the landing gear view, I still need to add the interior of the landing gear wells.

[Kin]

Maybe you oughta try placing the rear landinggear diagonal in stead of standing straight? Great job with the landing gear. I like the mechanic detail of it!

[Knight26]

OK, since I can't work on the design at work because my machine is not powerful enough I have worked on side projects, that are still related, like the landing gear and weapons. THis one however are the warning signs, not just for this fighter but for all fighters and ships. Let me know what you think they are as follows:

Top Row: Self-Starting Machinery, Open Machinery, Flammable, Explosive

2nd Row: Bio-Haz, Corrosive, High VOltage, Radiation, Normal air Pressure, High air pressure

3rd Row: Laser, P-Laser, Electro-Mag, Sensor, Hard Vacuum/Open to Space, Low Pressure

4th Row: 1 Grav, 2 Grav, 3 Grav, Null Grav, Reverse Grav, Variable Grav

Please excuse the poor pic quality, best translation I could make from ACAD to Jpeg at work. I used current international/universal warning signs as a reference and went from there. As always C&C are welcome, are there any I missed BTW?

[Knight26]

Ok, worked on the forward energy cannon today at work, I need to bring the rest of the weapons with me tomorrow to work on. I went in and detailed it, still need to texture it, just call this one factory fresh and super clean, lol. I will mount it tonight after I do some work on the main model first, mostly just cleaning out the unused textures, which can sometimes be tricky with ACAD if any inserted parts have not been exploded yet. Oh and the gun is a partially deployed position here.

[Knight26]

Update time:

I attached the redone energy cannon, namewithheld of security purposes, lol. I also installed the overhead docking mounts, the latching mounts may look familiar, the small indentations are the umblical hook ups. I then changed the left wingtip, I may or may not keep it that way, any thoughts? Basically it is that way just to make it easier to redesign that wingtip bio cannon mount, the angled one is a pain. C&C are welcome.

[Knight26]

Right Rear quarter:

[Knight26]

A quick shot of the first test pilot crew with the design to date, the pilot will by buddy Peter C. "Rambler" Hantelman, marine corps aviator, certified flight instructor, Instrument... (I'd go on but his full intro if a full paragraph, hense the callsign). And the WSO is Phillip "Grunt" Grissom.

[Opus]

It looks good but since you asked. I think it needs wheels. Skids just don't seem practical. The canopy needs to be a little more streamlined. It seems kinda amorphous and over complicated. I'd also like to see some details on how the crew get in and out of the thing.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Dude thats aweomse!! Those pilots people you know? I really like the design though I don't really like the program used to model it. Nonetheless very very sweet!!

[Knight26]

It looks good but since you asked. I think it needs wheels. Skids just don't seem practical. The canopy needs to be a little more streamlined. It seems kinda amorphous and over complicated. I'd also like to see some details on how the crew get in and out of the thing.

Good comments Opus and in reply. I will have to put up a pic of the underside of the "skids" They all have de-grav generators in them, self powered or powered from the fighter that basically make the fighter float about 1/4" above the surface of a 1G planet when activated, thus eliminating the need for wheels. The canopy is still not final and I may make some modification, even debating multipiece canopy instead of a one piece like now. It may become something like the original canopy again, I just need to figure out the whole shape and everything. As to crew access I am considering a fold down ladder similar to an F-14 then a walk strip on the "canard." Man this beast is getting complex, lol.

Yeah Shin those are old buddies of mine I used to work, some of my best friends. I agree AUTOCAD isn't the best modeler, but I like it and it gets the job done. Also, little know fact but the renderer is the same as the old 3DS renderer, maybe two or three releases behind the 3DS renderer.

Edited September 16, 2004 by Knight26

[Knight26]

Not really an update, just a joke picture.

Looks like Grunt isn't pleased to have me in his seat, lol.

[Knight26]

Plasma LASER, aks PLASER Cannon updated. I added many things to it that it needed, heat sinks, emergency vents, reserve plasma tanks, mounting nuts, quick release latches, etc... C&C are welcome. I should mount it tonight and also model the boarding ladder, I have design in mind, I just need the model to make sure it will fit. Oh yes, it also an 8 barrel gatling weapon, thought I would mention that.

Edited September 16, 2004 by Knight26

[Knight26]

update:

New PLASER Cannon and Boarding ladder are in.

[Knight26]

Ok, busy day at work so I couldn't work on the model, lol. ANyway the wingtip bio cannon is finished along with the remodeled wingtip itself, which has a de-grav generator on the underside. I appreciate any comments on the design, especially the colors.

Edited September 18, 2004 by Knight26

[Kin]

I'm afraid the plain will fall over cause the rear landing gear are too close to the centre.

[Knight26]

Update time:

Finished building up the missile packs yesterday, that will be the first pic. Today I panelled the wings, including adding control surfaces and access panels. Here are the pics.

[Knight26]

Now the wing, the panel lines show up best from these angles.

[Knight26]

Last pic for now, tomorrow I will do the empanage planes, and start on the dorsal and ventral surfaces. I am so not looking forward to starting on the engines and cockpit. Before I start on the cockpit though i am going to experiment with the canopy, also with the main landing gears, find a way to extend them and angle them out, without cheating.

[EXO]

[Knight26]

Nice pic Exo, a little overdone on the motion blur but not bad.

Edited September 19, 2004 by Knight26

[Knight26]

Got some tail: The tail planes are finished, including a couple extra antennae, position and formation lights.

[Knight26]

Baby Got Back:

Finished the Ventral hump, you might be able to make out a couple more nods to the VF-1 in the panel lining, anyone guess what they are?

[Knight26]

Line look a little cleaner from this angle, man texturing this thing is going to be fun when I get around to it.

[Shmitty]

That looks so awesome, maybe it's just that im biased about FSW planes. Either way, all the detail really brings it to life, great work.

[Kin]

Hey that looks awesome! Nice textures!

[Knight26]

What textures, its all modeled in right now, except for the cockpit interior all else are just straight color maps.

[Graham]

Baby Got Back

Got some tail

Finished the Ventral hump

Knight26, this really is the wrong forum to be discussing your sex life!

Oh, and the fighter's looking nice, but can we have some pics without the reflected image underneath please.

Graham

[Knight26]

Shark in the water:

The ventral Torpedo Tubes are done, and so are the engines. The engine panel lines came out really subtle for some reason, hopefully they will look better once I texture it. Man texturing the engine will be a pain.

[Knight26]

Kick the tires and light the fires big daddy:

A better view of the aft end, you can see some of the panel lines a little more clearly here.

I have tomorrow off from work, so I will play with the cockpit a little, experiment with the canopy then start on the cockpit and nose. I will probably ask for opinions on the canopy mods so C&C will be welcome.

Shmitty: Thanks for the comments, I like how it is turning out too.

Kin: Already commented on.

Graham: lol, I was wondering when someone would comment on those titles, though I admit I messed up one, that was the dorsal hump, lol. And the mirror plane is gone, i just like playing with it, plus it gives you a decent view of the underside.

Edited September 20, 2004 by Knight26

[Knight26]

Ok, was a busy day and didn't get as much done as I had hoped, just redesigned the canopy will work on the nose more later. The question is though, should I keep it a single piece as it is now or go back to a double piece like on the original?