I guess it's Sunday already. I have had a very busy week of 12hour -long, night-shifts as guard commander and it has really taken it's toll on me. My sleep patterns are shot and as a result I have not picked up a brush or sculpting tool for over a week now. All I have managed to do is unpack ten Copplestone Castings, Future Wars troopers and put them on my table. I also decided to unpack an old army and take a few pix...when you see the quality of the pix you will quickly realise why I haven't done any hobby stuff lately:
Catachan Jungle Fighters (Click the link to see the album).
The army (above) is an all metal Catachan army that I painted a while ago. All gloss varnished and based using Milliput!
So...fliers.
What sorts are there when you think about troop transport and support? I have been thinking and I have come up with three that appeal to me:
1) Dropship - A craft that is able to breach the atmosphere, go into space and ferry troops from ship to planet surface and back again.
2) Surface troop transporter/equipment lifter - A futuristic version of a helicopter that is big enough to carry a squad of troops and maybe under-sling loads...or even fold all the troop seats up to carry cargo inside.
3) Surface gunship - I think a futuristic Apache helicopter would be where I'm heading with this idea.
Obviously, there are other fliers that could be thought about...fast interceptors, dog-fighters, bombers, heavy lift fliers (think Antonov) and jet-bikes...but I am a helicopter man and I am thinking that is the route I would like to take.
So...a dropship. Flying controls would have to be able to function in a vacuum and in an atmosphere so it would need to be a mix of thrusters and standard ailerons/flaps/rudders. The propulsion system would need to be able to fire in a vacuum...so no air intakes...maybe solid rockets or propulsion fields? The shape must be such that it looks like it could take on re-entry easily...maybe with the help of some protective fields? How large should it be...squad sized or platoon sized? Should it be armed and if so would it have guns or just protective missiles/flares/rockets?
All just thoughts and whimsy at the moment...but the idea is there...
Well...that's it for today. Sorry I haven't got any pictures to show off but I hope to be back on form soon :) .
See you through an optimistic sense of purpose.
1 comment:
on dropships... they need not have standard control surfaces, just a lift wing, and thrusters, since after all, they will fly like a pig anyway, so might as well just go with that. Platoon size seems more likely than squad sized, unless your tech is very advanced, they will be expensive, so you want to get a good compromise size. Maybe something in between, like a chinook.
Anyway, certainly looking forward to whatever you come up with!
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