HummingBird Starfighter part I

Hello all. After another short hiatus, this blog once more forges forward !

    Below is the near-finished humming bird star-fighter, a very classic take at our beloved and highly unlikely little space fighters. Starfighter is a lot sexier than short-range autonomous manned interceptor kill vehicle, so we will stick to the less elaborate but slightly more appealing naming, shall we ? :)

Mini Starships series #11

Below are some pictures of dazzle-camouflage ships.

From left to right: a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, and a heavy frigate

Universe #1: Hubris

 With this post, I will start laying the foundations of some universes of mine -they are the spawning grounds were my designs hatch. The first universe is Hubris, a raving mad epoch were man and machine meet again.

Humanity is no more.

And nobody gives a damn.

    The reasons why the machines made the human race go extinct are obscure. Some say it was a theological dispute, others count tales of revolts against an oppressing master. Some creationists even claim that man never existed. Nevertheless, as it happens, nothing or no-one really cares about the disappearance of man.

     Machines have more pressing matters at hand.

Astral Arena boardgame cards

Are displayed below a few of the in-game cards of my boardgame Astral Arena.

The blue cards are technologies, the green events and the red ones battle cards, in space or on the ground.

MHD atmospheric cruiser Part I

Here is the unpainted model of a Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic atmospheric cruiser.

This ship uses MHD propulsion (use of strong magnetic fields that can induce conductive fluid movement) to fly through gas and liquids without using any moving parts. The large ducts and hull surface act as giant lifting surfaces in atmospheres, while in space a more classical mirror fusion engine is used. The ducts act as radiators in this last case. The nose antennas are a sensor array used in dense fluid mediums, sensitive to fields, chemical trails and pressure waves.

Silent Blade Starfighter part I

Yes yes I know, starfighters are absolutely unlikely creatures that crisscross the heavens like so many annoying little mosquitoes, buzzing and happily ignoring every law of physics devised. But hey, then again, they do look cool.
Here is my take on what a starfighter could look like if we did not violate too many laws and gave it a sensible role in a fleet. I will start from the selected sketch all the way up to the 3D model.

Mini Starships series #10

Here are two starships during a live fire exercise over their homeplanet.

 The specific scenario was a crash course alteration and long-range anti-missile fire. For obvious reasons, ships would avoid exposing their weakly armored flanks to any enemy in range, especially in such close formations.

Shock Runner Mech, part I

Here is the first post on the Shock Runner cybertank -or Mech.

Mechs and StuGs #1

Below are a few color profiles of armored fighting vehicles.

Mini Starships series #9, orbital stations

Here are some orbital installations.

Myasishchev Крокодил transport part II

The Myasishchev M-85 has been christened 'Crocodile' (Крокодил) by the troops due to its long nose and large mouth. The unofficial name stuck pretty well because the aircraft proved to have larger teeth than expected.

I remodeled this aircraft since the first post, to give it a pseudo-stealth shape with cut-diamond faces.

Mini Starships series #8

Continuing the display of my boardgame's small-and-fast ship designs, here are the Axolotl ships.

The Axolotl would be a cross between Van Vogt's Silkies and well...axolotls: they are a unique species capable of withstanding hard vacuum and at the same time aggregate themselves to construct ships, like giant cells that differentiate to perform given tasks.

Jian thermospheric fighter part III

Below are the final pictures of the Chinese Jian bomber-fighter.

Mini Starships series #7

Below are some twin-aspect ships.

Those ships' basic philosophy is that ships need a different profile/aspect to cruise and another to fight. So they use two sets of engines and stances, one for each purpose.

Steampunk SMS Emden, HG wells style

Here below is the SMS Emden, light cruiser designed specifically with aerial and space combat in mind.

This image, as everything else 3D in this blog, is straight from 3DS MAX, without tampering.

Mini Starships series #6

Here is a little collection of biological ships. It's crazy how fast they grow: I have the impression that it was just yesterday that it left its growth vat in orbit !

A fistful of aliens part II

Here are some more aliens !

H.G. Wells Amalfi armored cruiser

Here is an italian armored cruiser of the Pisa class, converted for aerial service.

A fistful of aliens part I

Below are a few aliens.

Jian thermospheric fighter part II

Hello all. Have a happy 2013 ! After a small hiatus, here we go again.

This is the Jian bomber-turned exo-athmospheric fighter, part II of III.