[TomShak]

Hello,


A long time ago Vertigo 7 started making an Assault Gunboat model ... it was going well, but we'd not heard anything in over 2 years. I'm guessing that effort has died :-(

So, being a big fan of the Assault Gunboat, and realising it's not high up the priority list I decided it was time to put my money where my mouth is and make a new model. This is a bit of a challenge, since I've never done much of it and I haven't done any in many years.

Still, here's what I've got so far:





 

What do people think? Look anything like an Assault Gunboat? It obviously needs a bit more detail, and the smoothing needs work .. but hopefully it's heading in the right direction.

The model currently clocks in at 1.6K faces, although I haven't triangulated it yet so I expect it'll be nearer 3K after that. Add the remaining extra detail and I think it's looking at about 4K tris kind of size.

Feedback welcome and wanted!

Edit: updated the pictures to have both wings, doesn't take long and gives a better impression.

[TopAce]

It looks good.

[chief1983]

Not bad.  But if we would want to do ballistic secondaries, you might not want to model in the missiles in those pods.  It'd be easier to add them in later than take them out at least, I'd imagine.

[Dragon]

Yes, missile launchers should have holes, not modelled missiles.

[TomShak]

Okay, removing the missiles is very easy any other feedback?

Shape okay? Obviously there's no "Reference drawings" for the AG, but I've been using this one

http://tpkc-klick.com/swda/images/swda/assault_gunboat_orthos.png

As a vague reference, as it didn't seem bad to me.

[Archaic]

looking good so far

[brandx0]

Fractalsponge did a relatively nice Gunboat.  I still think it looks too rebel and not imperial enough, but here's the pics anyways.  http://fractalsponge.net/gallery/Starfighters/XG1%20StarWing%20Assault%20Gunboat/index.html

My big beef with the gunboat has always been that in every iteration it looks like a rebel fighter, even down to the big red markings all over it.  Had I been modeling it, I would have taken a lot more design cues from the Lambda shuttle, lots of roundness with gentle angles, as opposed to the hard corners and angles of the rebel fighters.

[Commander Zane]

I don't know, grey and black model, looks plenty Imperial to me there.

[CountBuggula]

I dunno - in the spirit of the nu- series of re-imagined fighters, I like the idea of using the lambda for inspiration to get this to feel more imperial.  Nothing wrong with this, and it's a great start, but that might be a really good direction to go with it to make it really stand out.

[swashmebuckle]

Looks nice--I'm glad you've picked this up.  One thought I had when reading brand's post was that it might be neat to see how it looked if the cockpit module were redesigned to more closely resemble the lambda.  For instance, it could be reimagined as a side-by-side two seater with an unbroken black canopy and the whole front end angled down.

In addition to looking more unified with the other Cygnus Spaceworks craft, the redesign as a bulkier two-seater would have the added benefit of differentiating it from the Rebel starfighters--it would have a ton of a dedicated forward firepower, but significantly less space superiority capability than those craft, in keeping with the Imperial philosophy of specialization vs. the all-around performance of the Alliance.

Could be a really cool complement to something like the Stormtrooper Transport--a few of these going in with a DX-9 would be really terrifying for convoys.

[bobbtmann]

This is one that you could probably change quite a bit. It feels a bit assembled for my taste. Like the designers just put some boxes and planes together, and we're meant to assume something is holding it all together.

I like the idea of making it feel more like a Lambda class shuttle. It already looks like a smaller lambda with an extra set of wings, and a bit of resemblance would go a long way towards making it feel more imperial.

I would suggest using a cockpit similar to the lambda, only make it half again as big. That way you'd have the feel of a Lambda, but the scale would be noticeably different from the Lambda.

Yeah, I'd run wild with this one if I were you. Make it yours.

[Thaeris]

The Assault Gunboat as presented in the orignal Totally Games sims (X-Wing/TIE Fighter) were really cool looking fighters, at least in cutscene form. The fighters had powerful, armored lines while bearing the grace of the Lambda-class shuttle. I really wish someone could capture those lines again...

[Droid803]

Man, when I saw "Resurrecting the Ass..." I wondered what the hell it could be XD

[FekLeyrTarg]

Do you think your Gunboat will have movable wings for landing like shown in the screenshot above?

I'm so glad that you're building the Gunboat. It's my favourite imperial fighter next to the TIE Avenger, TIE Defender, TIE Phantom and Missile Boat.

[brandx0]

191st Imperial Fighter Wing:  Munchkin Group

Notable pilots of the wing include Boba Fett, Jango Fett, Baron Soontir Fel, Grand Admiral Thrawn, the half cybernetic Darth Maul, a clone of Darth Vader, Inquisitor Eisenhorn, Corran Horn, Wedge Antilles (temporary), the kid from The Last Starfighter and Captain James T. [Thrawn] Kirk.  =P

[TomShak]

Re FractalSponge's interpretation. I like it but I actually think that looks even more Rebel than mine. The hard lines around the cockpit really remind me of the X-Wing.

A lot of the discussion seems to come down to the cockpit shape. Which is something I'm not sold on in my design. It looks cool enough, but I agree the cockpit is a bit rebelish.

Okay so I'll have a play with the cockpit shape a bit more. I don't think I want to stray too far from the design established in the games. I agree the design in the games doesn't look as much like the lambda shuttle as it could, but if I strays too far it won't feel like the assault gunboat to me. I'm definitely not putting any red on mine though, I agree that's way too rebel.

Thaeris: I kind of used that as a reference for some bits, but not the cockpit. I actually think that cockpit looks more like the Lambda shuttle, as it goes all the way over and curves down much like the Lambda. Do other people agree?

[swashmebuckle]

I think if you want to sell the Lambda design heritage with the cockpit, you've got to lose the struts on the canopy--those say X/Y-wing as much as anything.  The Lambda's flat black panel that wraps around at the edges gives it a very distinctive look that to me says "expensive!", as opposed to the early rebel fighters, which make do with more primitively cut panels of flat transparisteel.  I guess that would require flattening that section out a bit which might take things further away from the original than you want to go, but it's a thought anyway.  IMO, it's good for Imperial ships to have that kind of polished look even in their design, whereas Rebel ships must look utilitarian and as easy to maintain as possible.

[TomShak]

@swashmebuckle: I agree. I'm fairly happy with the nose shape, it's quite distinct from a Rebel fighter and the curvyness still gives it some Lambda heritage ... but yeah my current cockpit screams "X-Wing". I also think that the Lambda's "sweeping" cockpit is one of it's most distinctive features, so it would be good to bring that out. I actually quite like the original cutscene art from that point of view, it's got more sweep.

I'll have a play with the cockpit shape when I get some time.

[Vertigo 7]

go go assboat! I srsly hope to see this in the mod.

Ya so, wot had happened was... I moved from truespace to 3ds max, brand was giving me lots of good infos on how to make things happen... anyways, i never could get the front end to look the way i wanted it, and i discovered that UV Mapping is a royal pain in the ass and i sux0red very much bad at it so yeah..i kinda gave up on it ~.~ I am ashamed.

[newman]

I love fractal's version, it'd sit nice in fotg. At any rate this is one of the ships that were designed for the early xwing games and was designed with then-current art specs in mind; while it should retain the basic shape a bit of reimagining and a lot of detailing should be done. So ideally, take design cues from fractalsponge's version and maybe combine it with what brand's suggested, and you'll have yourself a pretty sexy ship.