Damn you Kelly (SketchUp Model)

[Teleros]

Yes, I've been trying my hand at a little 3D modelling with SketchUp 7 thanks to Kelly_10_Bellys here, and so decided to do one of an Alliance Navy (see sig) cruiser. To scale mind you (you may just be able to see the SketchUp man hovering above the bridge window), I'm just glad the program's so easy to use . Decided to give the guns a little colour too just to make it appear slightly less monochrome .

What else... yeah it's got one annoying glitch on the bridge tower, and I ran & hid in the corner rather than attempt all manoeuvring thrusters on the nacelles . Still, rather pleased with how it turned out.

Top View
Starboard
Stern
Prow
Undercarriage
Dorsal Armament

The standard type Sirius class cruiser is the most common warship class employed by the Terran Alliance, and forms the core of most Alliance Navy formations. The tiny crew size - just 334 - is balanced by the reliability of the technology and the large numbers of cutting edge Restricted AIs. Twin plasma generation drive nacelles (PGDNs or pigeons) provide high acceleration in normal space, and like all Aliiance Navy warships can be used equally well in reverse. Whilst there is a shuttle docking point on either side of the bridge tower, the prow hangar contains larger shuttles and Viking Dropships for larger groups, including the 10% of the ship's crew trained to act as infantry forces in emergencies. Like all modern warships, the Sirius class cruiser taps hyperspace for power, enabling it to dispense with the need for reactor fuel and even reaction mass, thanks to its PGDNs.

As with almost all Alliance Navy ships, pulse cannon broadsides form the primary armament, with Raven Star relativistic missile launchers used to knock out crippled enemy capital ships or fired en masse to a sub-capital ship's point defence and destroy it. Although the standard missile warhead is simply more solid mass, 50MT antimatter warheads exist for non-relativistic orbital strikes, mopping up wrecks, and for the rare occasions in which a missile can be launched into hyperspace against enemies lacking in hyperspace shields. Heavy Scythe turrets are used for point defence against missiles and small craft, but the ship's main defences are its various specialised shields.

Dimensions:
Length: 679m (691m with gun decks)
Width: 128m (172m with gun decks)
Height: 69m (84m with bridge tower, and another 8m for the bottom of the nacelles)

Armament:
Broadside Turrets: 50 per broadside
Prow Turrets: 2
Missile Launch Turrets: 30 (12 tubes each, reloaded through hull)
Point Defence Turrets: 70 (I think )

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

First off, Bravo! Well done for actually getting the finger out and making your own model, something so few people can be bothered to do. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by it as well, I was expecting a couple of boxes with a circle on top or something. For a first model you've really done yourself proud. There's not a lot of detail on the hull yet, something you'd be looking to add on such a large, slab-sided model.

The more detail you can build into a model, the more realism you add. With something like this you also help convey scale, showing just how massive this thing is by adding features that we can relate to. Windows, shuttlebays and docking ports are the usual for this, since we know roughly how big we are compared to an average window or door. Think about all the stuff you'd need and how you access it, and you'll get plenty of ideas. Cargo bays, maintenance access hatches, loading hatches, umbilical connects, docking latches, escape pods, radiators, vents for heat, waste or thrusters, spent ammo ejection, fuel tanks, that sort of thing. None the less, very well done.

now...

As for the design itself, it does my head in. Is this your own invention or from an established 'universe' of some kind? I have a number of issues with it which I will now bore you with.

For years I have seen people wallpaper their large models with turrets and weapons, and it always reminds me of the sort of thing 8 year olds do when drawing battles out on paper. It usually makes no sense and often spoils the look of the design. Even when they're deemed appropriate, they're often badly misplaced and no thought goes into them. I could bore you with history, but wont for now.

Now lets look at your ship. It has 100 turrets which cover just the broadsides, showing very 2-dimensional thinking. If the turret mounted gun is the primary weapon and you only want to fire sideways, then 25 turrets each on the top and bottom would do the job just as well. You'd still have a 50-gun broadside but half the turrets. If the limiting factor of your guns is power, then you've just freed half your power to either manouver faster, improve shielding or install much more powerful main guns. With that in mind, why not just have 5 guns (with good elevation) that are 10 times more powerful than the ones you have? Why???

[Teleros]

There's not a lot of detail on the hull yet, something you'd be looking to add on such a large, slab-sided model.

Some of that is intentional - I don't really like the idea of all that exposed cabling and such around the engines of Star Destroyers for example, and even I've referred to this design as a flying brick . The aliens tend to be the ones with the fancy ship designs. Anyway, as for extra detail... figuring out how to get some stuff written down on the hull will help add some detail around the bridge tower & prow, the engines need a fair bit of work, and I may add some extra retro thrusters on the rest of the ship too. Dunno about the escape pods - ships tend to be either working fine or clouds of vapour and being happy to use Culture-style mind backups is a basic requirement for any crewman.

Is this your own invention or from an established 'universe' of some kind?

My own; been doing bits and pieces for it for a few years now (see sig for a short story set in it).

It has 100 turrets which cover just the broadsides, showing very 2-dimensional thinking.

The barrels allow for a fair bit of elevation (they don't extend as far back into the turret as you might think), and the ship can manoeuvre pretty well, but yes. On the other hand, ships like this are rarely encountered alone, which always helps. Still, I figure if other people can have winged space fighters with engines just at the back then a little 2D thinking for the big guns is ok . The Alliance Navy is also something of a tradition-loving organisation (hence why they still have, you know, human crews), but they are moving towards developing spherical warships. Naturally there are also more specialised designs currently existing (planetary bombardment ships & carriers in particular), but this is just their standard warship.

With that in mind, why not just have 5 guns (with good elevation) that are 10 times more powerful than the ones you have? Why???

Without going into too much made-up technobabble, most individual systems have their own discrete hyperspace tap as it works out that you can get more power out in total that way than just a big centralised one. Bigger guns would be more effective, but there'd be other trade-offs, especially in terms of defence, as a lot of that internal volume is taken up by shield generators, and the 2:1 defence:offence ratio is something of a sacred cow to the designers too. At the same time, concentration of firepower is the key principle of ship combat; the result is lots of guns.



Anyway... also thinking perhaps of trying a Lensman ship or two, to see how that turns out. Lord knows if I can get one of their flying teardrops to look good then dealing with a few nozzles and such on this one should be fine .

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

50 small guns firing at a similar sized enemy vessel would be nowhere near as effective as 5 or 6 huge guns. The 'hail of fire' argument was used in the late 1900's when some people thought volume of fire would be better than a few huge guns, but they were soon proved wrong in battle. Apparently you hardly notice 6" and 8" shells exploding around you when 14" shells are going off. If you were hiding behind a door would you want your enemy to be firing dozens of snowballs or a bolt action 50.cal anti-material sniper rifle at you? You can have your zillion turrets, but you know it's just fashion.

I'm not too fussed about spherical ships, I dont see it being a great improvement on any other shape in an airless environment. It's the most interior volume for the smallest surface area, but that only matters if surface area is a factor. The only one I can think of that I like is the Aries 1B from 2001. I've never read any Lensman novels but I've seen people attempt models of the ships before, and generally they looked rather ungainly and odd. I'm also not sure how well Sketchup will perform with smooth surfaces, it seems happier making sharp stuff.

I think you'll get more mileage and more fun from sticking to your own stuff. Lets see some more from your own universe before you start churning out other peoples ideas. Original is usually best.