Orbital satellite-o-doom

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-12 04:23am

SB is having an October modelling contest and this is my entry:

WIP shots:

This is when the satellite is closed and in standby mode:

And when it's open and ready to fire:

And the final product (I have an unhealthy obsession with the color black):

I also made a few animations to go with the pics. Save-target-as should work:

http://members.fortunecity.com/shinova/ ... /satav.zip

Enjoy. Or tear your eyes out. Whichever suits you.

Personally I'm a bit disappointed in myself on this one, so I'm going to try going for a more complex model next time.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-10-12 04:56am

It needs to fold back up why exactly?

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-10-12 05:12am

The blue is a wee bit bright for my taste..

~ver

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2003-10-12 05:13am

all im getting is the fortune city pics

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-12 05:18am

Sea Skimmer wrote:It needs to fold back up why exactly?

1. Less of a target profile when in standby mode (it can't defend itself in that mode).

2. Movement. Having the fins secured in the standby position lets the satellite accelerate more with less stress. When it's in position or drifting without acceleration then it can open up and fire again.

3. As for the other sections (the rear section and the forward section that extend) for additional protection and keep them covered (one of their purposes is heat dissipation, and when it's not firing it doesn't need them out in the open)

JodoForce · Post by **JodoForce** » 2003-10-12 10:11am

[insert 0.0001pt font here]^^

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-10-12 10:39am

Hey dude.. where the hell have you been?

~ver

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2003-10-12 02:49pm

And here I thought that a satellite-o-doom was an Utu-class planetoid... tsk, tsk.

The glow is overkill. And how do the fins rotate? You need some form of link for the fins.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-10-15 06:10pm

Shinova wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote:It needs to fold back up why exactly?
1. Less of a target profile when in standby mode (it can't defend itself in that mode).

2. Movement. Having the fins secured in the standby position lets the satellite accelerate more with less stress. When it's in position or drifting without acceleration then it can open up and fire again.

3. As for the other sections (the rear section and the forward section that extend) for additional protection and keep them covered (one of their purposes is heat dissipation, and when it's not firing it doesn't need them out in the open)

No.2 would be better solved by making the fins not foldable and simply reinforced. A better reason to invent would be that it is easier to stuff in a rocket when folded.

Fins look too small though- larger but fewer fins look better- something like HW Ion Cannon Array frigate.

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2003-10-16 03:00am

1. Less of a target profile when in standby mode (it can't defend itself in that mode).

Dude, unless it can flit about the sky with several G's worth of acceleration to dodge anti-satellite weaponry, NO possible amount of shrinking the target profile is gonna help.

Kenny_10_Bellys · Post by **Kenny_10_Bellys** » 2003-10-16 07:09am

I beg to differ. My own satellite design has folding petals as well, and there are a number of valid reasons for it.

1. Makes launching so much easier
2. Protect vital lens/emitter elements from dust and micro-meteoroid impact damage
3. Reduces target profile. Nothing wrong with making it harder to hit, no weapons system is perfect and it might be lined with stealth RAM or armour too.
4. It looks nice. Nothing like a few moving parts and intricate morphs to make an animation look more interesting.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-10-16 04:36pm

The model looks good, but I would try to work on blending the colors a bit better (add some slight off colors) and perhaps create a metalic texture for the skin to add to the realism.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-10-16 05:48pm

Huh, when I was looking at the grey pictures, I thought they might be solar panels, but they are glowing. What exactly are they?

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-16 05:52pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Huh, when I was looking at the grey pictures, I thought they might be solar panels, but they are glowing. What exactly are they?

I was actually trying to make the glow only appear on the underside, the side that points downwards when the fins are extended.

The fins are part of the firing assembly---the satellite is internally powered.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-10-16 06:00pm

I see. What kind of weapon is it again?

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-16 06:10pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:I see. What kind of weapon is it again?

A particle beam-like weapon. You know, the usual.

*charge-up, fire. Watch half of eastern seaboard become part of the Atlantic*

something like that.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-10-16 06:36pm

Shinova wrote:A particle beam-like weapon. You know, the usual.

*charge-up, fire. Watch half of eastern seaboard become part of the Atlantic*

something like that.

I think you mean

::charge-up, fire. watch as the beam is diffused by atmo and noone notices a damn thing::

A particle beam aimed at the earth wouldn't do a damn thing.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-10-16 06:57pm

kojikun wrote:I think you mean

::charge-up, fire. watch as the beam is diffused by atmo and noone notices a damn thing::

A particle beam aimed at the earth wouldn't do a damn thing.

You mean a normal, un-concentrated particle beam.

Besides, I said particle beam-LIKE weapon.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-10-16 10:24pm

Shinova wrote:You mean a normal, un-concentrated particle beam.

Concentrated or not, it wouldn't do jack shit. The most you'd get is some nice aurora in the upper atmo.

Besides, I said particle beam-LIKE weapon.

Bah. Microwaves work better. Not much affected by weather, good at heading people and plants, and great for cause havoc with electronics.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-10-16 10:29pm

kojikun wrote:Bah. Microwaves work better. Not much affected by weather, good at heading people and plants, and great for cause havoc with electronics.

Plus, NO ONE takes a microwave orbital death satellite seriously until it's too late! They'll say "Microwaves... what are they going to do, cook my burrito *evil laugh then exploding noise as the villain pops in a giant clod of steam*"

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-10-16 10:32pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Plus, NO ONE takes a microwave orbital death satellite seriously until it's too late! They'll say "Microwaves... what are they going to do, cook my burrito *evil laugh then exploding noise as the villain pops in a giant clod of steam*"

Microwaves are REALLY neat. The US government has a cruise missile that pumped a huge amount of microwaves at a target to fuck with its electronics. And if you take a microwave oven apart (DONT DO IT) and turn it on (DONT DO IT) while your TV or phone is one (DONT FUCKING DO IT) the TV and phone will get all fucked up (DONT. DO. IT.) and the batteries will be drained.

DON'T DO IT.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-10-16 10:34pm

Make it a graviton pulse cannon.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-10-16 10:41pm

kojikun wrote:Microwaves are REALLY neat. The US government has a cruise missile that pumped a huge amount of microwaves at a target to fuck with its electronics. And if you take a microwave oven apart (DONT DO IT) and turn it on (DONT DO IT) while your TV or phone is one (DONT FUCKING DO IT) the TV and phone will get all fucked up (DONT. DO. IT.) and the batteries will be drained.

DON'T DO IT.

Wow, it shouldn't like you are trying to imply that I shouldn't take my microwave apart?

Trust me, koji, I'm stupid enough to disassemble it. In fact, that's what I told one of my ladies I work for when she said that her microwave was broke and wanted me to make it work again.