Details for ship sides

[Islacrusez]

Hi guys, I've currently got a ship model in the works, which I'm hoping to complete by the end of the month to go with an update to my project.

It's 1/5000th scale, putting meaning that 1mm = 5m, and the ship is a light cruiser around 280m long. The theme for it is modern military, in space, and sits somewhere between a star destroyer, a battlestar, and blindhorizon's pre-heresy heavy frigate in terms of aesthetics. However this being a modern military ship, I don't have BFG/40k's fallback of gothic arches to put along the hull as detailing.

Thus I am stuck, for a moment at least. Do you guys have any suggestions as to what might turn up on the side of a space warship? Defensive turrets notwithstanding; I've got enough of those plastered over the hull!

[RageofAchilles]

docking ports, lateral thrusters, shuttle bays, ablative armour,

having the same thoughts myself with the 1/3000th scale ships I'm doing, everything is so tiny! lol

[Islacrusez]

I'm currently planning a shuttle bay (with an additional turret protecting it), and some escape pods if that helps yours any. Not sure how to model on-hull ablative armour at this scale, but I do have spaced/ablative armour in the form of two outboard armoured winglets, protecting the flat sides from direct fire.

[mangozac]

That's a really good question, Islacrusez! Practically you don't want more than necessary on the outside of a warship - as much as possible should be under the armour!

The most effective thing is probably going to be interesting panel line designs. There's no reason that some panels can't be raised up higher than others also. Spaced armour (no pun intended ) is also a good idea - it adds a lot of visual interest while being very practical. Maneuvring thrusters, as suggested by RoA are a good idea also.

I'm keen to see what you're working on!

[Islacrusez]