Comms, ECM and AEW

[Arkangel]

Ok ladies, gents and xenos time for a new topic close to my heart,. Well it should be the Military have been paying me for 10 years to be good at it! Communications, Electronic Counter Measures and Air Electronic Warfare. Warhound hasn't been bugging me about this but after I mentioned some ideas i know he's been itching for me to pull my finger out.
So what does that all mean, you may ask? In gaming terms think maybe a command drop ship, allowing you to give commands accross the battlefield or within 24 inches of the drop ship. If anyone has seen Blackhawk down think the Aerial Command Helo the guys try to organise the rescue effort from.
Without digressing too much, the idea of this thread/topic will be to pass on what I use in a practical aspect and turn it into useful gaming and hopefully some cool additions to anyones new plastic dropships, the old resin ones and some of the other resin models such as the fighters and bombers.
So here's my plan. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting some concept stuff for comms pods, anti missile/tracking pods, chaff and flare dispensers, and also Infrared/Laser designator pods too. All Real world application crossed over into the Gaming universe.
Rules etc will follow and hopefully you guys with put in your ten pence/cents worth

If anyone has any Q's about the real-deal stuff please feel free to PM me and I'll answer what I can or point you in the right direction. If you have any requests or ideas from a modelling point of view i.e. stuff you've seen in a film, on the tv or in a documentary that you think would make a good addition, post and I'll get back to you or pass on what i can.

Watch this space

[mangozac]

Well being an electronic engineer I'm always interested to hear about cool military sensor systems. I have a mate in the army who, last time I saw him, was telling me about a cool advanced anti-tank rocket launcher he had taken a training course in.

Forgive me but I'm a little confused: are your plans to make special pods for a certain well known plastic/resin kit or make the entire aircraft yourself? While both are cool, the latter would be simply awesome!

Sounds like we're going to get some cool stuff in this thread! Less talk, more modelling!

[Arkangel]

Well after spit balling with Warhound the initial plan is to design some pods/add ons for well know kits for others to convert their existing models. However I do plan to 'Heavily' convert an existing plastic drop ship to a 'Comms bird' myself, with all manner of pods and add ons showing off the end results. With an 'internal' layout too of course.

[Arkangel]

OK ladies, gents and xenos alike. Here are the first WIP pics of the Electronic Counter Measures Pod Sorry it's been a while for me to post them but work commitments have..... got in the way
Hopefully you'll like them and I'm looking forward to the feedback. I must also apologise for the quality of picts but as I don't own a decent camera the one on my phone will have to do for now.
As I post the varrying different pod's etc I'll try and post a pic of the 'Real-deal' I've used for concept, and it should help to give you an idea of my vision, before I stick a sci-fi/futuristic slant on it.

The first is loosely based on the 'Skyshadow' ECM pod fitted the Tornado GR4 aircraft.

Underside:

Left side:

Right side:

Fitted looking back:

Fitted looking down centre line:

Fitted looking forward:

Fitted Underside shot:


So there they are

ENJOY!!!!
Arkangel

[mangozac]

Interesting. So is the plan to add all of the curved ends of the tubes with putty?

OK I'll bite. What does an ECM pod do - i.e. what kind of Electronic CounterMeasures does it provide?

[Arkangel]

Yes that's kinda the plan Zac, but only to a couple of parts. If it's too rounded like the 'Sky shadow' it'll look more 'Xenos' than 'Military' ,I still want it to have blocky aspects.

The pod effectively 'jams' radar, preventing enemy 'radar locks'. Allowing the aircraft to effect a mission, usually at 'very' low-level. Having not worked on this specific piece of kit I'm unsure as to whether it's fitted to one aircraft per 'packet' (formation of 2 or more aircraft) similar to the American deployment of 'Longbow' on Apache. Or whether it's fitted to all aicraft for that mission. I'll ask one of the lads in work tomorrow Hope this helps.

In Gaming Terms:
I was thinking, when fitted ,the pod forces enemy models to fire using the 'Night fighting rules' with the aspect of the skimmer moving at full speed thrown in. Effectively making it very hard to hit, but with the pod fitted you dramatically reduce your 'offensive' capability.

With the addition of the 'Designator' pod I plan to add to this, it will be a handy additon to any dropship based army or one that uses them. The 'Designator' pod in gaming terms will aid orbital barrage scatter, maybe, but will definately allow for either a re-roll for artillery or something along those lines. Helping to designate for heavy support choices and allowing for automatic hits for things like hunter killer missiles etc, ie one-shot options.

Well something like that, actually a bit similar to a 'marker-light' I suppose

Tommorrow I hope to post the Enhance Self Defence Suite, which effectively is the Chaff/Flare pods with both the side/rear firing and forward firing pods.

Arkangel

[Warhound]

Hey Dan,

and about bloody time!

Tbh, the shots look really nice! I really like the rounded rectangle form at the front, and the adaptation of other shapes to create an item reminiscent of the RL kit, but also more futuristic.

I think the end of the front should be flat with rounded edges to match the existing part, and then green stuff blend on the other areas.

The only thing I am unsure about is how to detail the piece. Rivets would be too large, cables unneccessary and buttons irrelevant- but I do feel that it needs something??

I suspect that it will only be when I see it in person that I can nail it

Great work though, and I really think that you will nail a corner of the marker here!

cheers
WARHOUND

[mangozac]

[Warhound]

Countersunk:-)

I have some VERY thin plasticard that I will be donating to Dan which may help with details, but yes a great suggestion!

cheers
WARHOUND

[Arkangel]

Hi to all those who hae shown an interest or have been following this thread. Sorry for the delay but things have been hectic at work. This is my first post on here for 2010 so I hope you like. The main reason I've had the opportunity in truth is the fact I'm off work ill
Anyway here is an update

Flare pods and Both Variants of the ECM and Designator pods


Closer shot of both Pod Variants and Turret


Enjoy

Arkangel

[mangozac]

Hey Dan, good to see some progress (even if it is slow )!

Are you planning to have any visible optics or will they all be the covered type of sensor?

[Arkangel]

Hey Zac, it's nice to be back to be honest, work has been ridiculus My plan for the ECM pods is for smooth surfaces and no visible sensors as such. However with the Designator pod the small turret has two sensors on it and it rotates 360 in the pods and has roughly 200 degrees of movement itself, I'll post some pics to explain tomorrow. It's just a shame I've not progressed further, and very frustrating. I haven't even had the chance to get Warhound to give them the 'once over' in person. Soon though soon .......

[Arkangel]

So it's been a while...... I'm sorry to say work commitments have been extreme with a considerably horrible virus floating around at work with colleagues and students falling foul of it left, right and centre. Suffice to say........step forward Dan super-sub and all round go to guy for matters concerning someone to fill in for a broken instructor. (Yeah that's me )
So if this takes a while I'm really sorry for those who've been following or waiting for an update. However..... I'm hooking up with Warhound in a week and a bit so hopefully after some consultation, focus will be forced, and the fire in my belly flamed once more.

Apologies

Arkangel

[Arkangel]

To all that watched before...., I'm Back!!! I know it's been nearly 7 months but things are on the up.
Look out for WIP pics of the pods etc this week. Plans are afoot and all being well casting should take place by the end of september hopefully.

Watch this space

[mangozac]

Hey Dan great to hear from you again. There's no need to apologise about your absence - we all have to deal with being too busy for our hobbies at some point (I'm experiencing the same at the moment)

What's the story with the casting - will you be doing it yourself or roping somebody else in?