3D Troop Transport

[sandmanninja]

TROOP TRANSPORT

This is a Troop Transport / Drop Ship, designed to be deployed from orbit and capable of transporting a small team (18 Grunts, 1 Sgt, 1 Lt) to a Hostile Landing Zone on-surface.

Later variants included a Missile Pod mounted on top between the two wings.

Requires 1 Pilot and 1 Navigator (who doubles as the EWO).

Hull: 40 tons
Man Drive: 2G
Agility: 2
Armour: 40G

[NOTES: Modelled in 3ds Max with 750,364 Polys. I plan on unwrapping this and texturing it.

I'd like to do a 30-second animation, showing it leaving the bottom of a BIG ship (all we see is the hanger bay door open and this drops out). We see it fall away from the camera, and then the engines fire up and it moves away under its own power.

Cut to a front shot and zoom out a little bit, showing more background, and we see a few more of these in the background/distance.

Then a fighter flies past, much faster than the transport.

Cut to upper atmosphere (more blue than black) and a transport is prominent in the foreground, with 15-20 additional transports in the background. Fighters fly past then every now and then. Black Flakk erupts around them.

The transport gets caught in some flakk and starts trailing black smoke.

Then we cut to a ground shot and the transport slams into the ground, dirt flies up, then the ramp drops down. All the while we see fighters flying over head and other transports in the background on 'terminal trajectories'.

View other renders at:
http://www.virtual-interiors.net/scifi/badger.html

Thank you]

 

[Andrew Boulton]

It's ugly, but I like it!

 

[pendragonman]

Assault craft should be ugly. They are not race cars.

I like it as well. Now I'd like to see this put into one of Andrew's film clips of an assault landing, but not of just one but of dozens. You know a full regimental drop!

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Better still, I could let sandmanninja do all the work

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

I second Andrew...

Better still, I could let sandmanninja do all the work

After all Andrew still has to put together his new stellar film LE v. AHL.

Also nice work Ninja. I also am of the school that assault craft are supposed to be pretty, that just for sqiddies and zoomies, Marines want it to survive a beating and still work. Who cares if it looks good, can it fight?.

 

[Patron Zero]

Aptly Named

TROOP TRANSPORT

This is a Troop Transport / Drop Ship, designed to be deployed from orbit and capable of transporting a small team (18 Grunts, 1 Sgt, 1 Lt) to a Hostile Landing Zone on-surface.

Badger definitely fits that wee beastie, now does it have a 'littermate' that can deliver an IFV-AFV ? Put me down for a mixed burrowful if you're taking orders.

 

[Major B]

Sandman, this is perfect for the drop ship I am looking to place IMTU. Mind if I work it up using MT and keep the name?

 

[sandmanninja]

Thanks everyone!

Andrew Bolton - you've got a great name in Traveller 3D circles - compliments from you are great to have.

Pendranonman - yup, planning on it. Just got to slap some paint on her.

Magnus Thornwood - I'd like to put a lot of dings and what-not in the details. I like ships that have a few miles on them...

Patron Zero - I was considering a ground wheeled or tracked vehicle (as in 'Aliens'). Ship slams into the ground, ramp drops, headlights from within the inner cabin turn on, then the vehicle rolls down the ramp. Missile Pods extend (they were held internally during the drop) and the vehicle lights a few missiles off while the Badger claws its way back up to the Carrier...

Major B - Yes, feel free to do so. I have a softspot for MT. email me scifiguy@tpg.com.au with the faction that you want it for and I'll do some renders of it with that particular logo.

Thanks for feedback everyone!

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Nah, the way to land an ATV is to come in fast, a few metres up. Drop the ramp, pop a drogue 'chute, which yanks the vehicle out the back, and the dropship's gone before it hits the ground. (That's actually the way the military do it).

 

[Zutroi]

Nah, the way to land an ATV is to come in fast, a few metres up. Drop the ramp, pop a drogue 'chute, which yanks the vehicle out the back, and the dropship's gone before it hits the ground. (That's actually the way the military do it).

Assuming you have an atmo... if not, just put the thing into reverse and drive out the back... just be sure to change gears BEFORE you hit ground!

 

[atpollard]

Assuming you have an atmo... if not, just put the thing into reverse and drive out the back... just be sure to change gears BEFORE you hit ground!

Won't it roll out on it's own when the Dropship begins to climb? Then you don't need to mess with shifting gears.

 

[Patron Zero]

Have the T-shirt

Nah, the way to land an ATV is to come in fast, a few metres up. Drop the ramp, pop a drogue 'chute, which yanks the vehicle out the back, and the dropship's gone before it hits the ground. (That's actually the way the military do it).

Yeppers, been there-done that and trust me, you learn to stay out of the way when the pallet is exiting the aircraft.

 

[Ran Targas]

Hell, if you don't have atmo, drop the vehicle from orbit with some sort of retro-rocket package. No need to worry about re-entry so the only thing working against you is gravity.

I like the drop ship! She's one ugly Betty but looks like she can get the job done!

 

[sandmanninja]

Wow - 2 great ideas! I'd like to see a Drop Ship get tagged by anti-aircraft fire just as the ground vehicle clears the cargo bay...

And thanks Ran...

 

[dccarles]

Okay, I need to know.

I've made some ships with Google SketchUp. (Sadly, a hard drive failure wiped out Amondiage's Cantabre-class freighter, which was virtually done, and Esperanza's Caraza-class battleship, which was mostly done.) I don`t know how to put nice textures on them or play with the lighting; I`ve tried Blender, and I believe one of the great tragedies of the world is that Blender`s design team think its user interface is intuitive.

I`m very satisfied with my meshes, or whatever you call `em, but without a nice texture, they look flat.

Anything I can do to improve my models? Get Andrew to skin them, maybe?

My samples:

Serendip Belt Unity-class Jump Scout

Esperanzan Mirador-class Raiding Cruiser

New Home D-class Battle Cruiser

--Devin

 

[RockyMountainNavy]

Troop Transport

One thought of mine is that the landing gear is too light. a tripod arrangement is inherently unstable...for a "rough n' tough" drop ship I see at least four articulated legs so it can land anywhere and be somewhat stable. This design is definately a "drop" ship in that with that landing gear it either lands on good ground or does the "skim n' go" routine.

 

[aramis]

Actually, tripods are VERY STABLE, provided they are low. The vast majority of aircraft have tripod gear.

Stable tripods basically have a center of mass lower than the shortest distance between two contact points.

 

[Supplement Four]

Good looking troop transport. It's a bit "Star Warsy", but I like it (and I always liked the Star Wars vehicles).

 

[Patron Zero]

GW Nod

I saw a bit of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K in the transports 'heritage' but not to suggest such would be a bad thing. The vehicles and vessels of said setting do have an extreme industrial flavor, considering the environments and engagements such operate in, would one expect anything less ?