My first low poly object since 2003! I still need to do more texturing. (half done)
This runabout was a testsubject: from Powernurbs to low polygon model. (In other words: from 500.000 polygons to 7500) This worked a lot better then I had anticipated. Currently I'm streamlining my workflow, but the basics are there. I learn a lot from this one.
Time to do some work on Voyager!
I've always liked this odd design. I've always wondered if it is a waste to bother putting bussard ramscoop collectors on shuttles, runabouts, and tactical ships that either regularly refuel after flying relatively short distances or where this design component is a vulnerable part of the design.
ReplyDeleteGood point Aqua, I think it's a question of survivability. In this design they have a pretty prominent position, however on a normal nacelle based design, having or not having Bussards would not matter much. In that case it's better to have them. I think it would outweigh the possible risk that a Bussard would add, certainly on such a small craft. My design has them because of it's multipurpose role. A Bussard can also be used to scoop up or emit exotic particles, so I had to add them. :)
ReplyDeleteThe second thing I have always wondered about is the placement of the bussards. On most ships they have clear forward access to act as designed, but not all, and in most designs they still have severe constraints (usually the saucer section) impinging upon efficient collection. There is no actual reason they have to be mounted to the nacelles, that seems to merely be a design tradition.
ReplyDeleteWould it not make more sense to have the bussards integrated into the forward saucer section?
from what i understand there on the nacelles so they can collect stuff that can be used to Turbo charge the nacelles think a NOS injection,and some other things on top of the hydrogen collection thats there primary function. Also the main deflectors fields help steer the hydrogen into the bussards. So they're placement on the nacelles puts them in a good spot this is also why the nacelles are always above or bellow the Saucer and never right behind it. I'll have to dig out my TNG tech manual and read that section.
ReplyDelete~Admiral T'Var aka X'ar Kha'an
Bussard ramscoops are primarily designed to collect interstellar hydrogen for the purpose of replenishing the onboard fuel supply. That said, they would be far more effective skimming hydrogen from nebulae or off the tops of planetary atmospheres.
ReplyDeleteThe main deflector fields also have nothing to do with this, the primary deflector field is like a targeted lance that deflects objects of non-negligable mass (think asteroids) from the ships path, the secondary deflector field hugs the skin of the ship to protect it from particles with negigable mass.
Bussard ramscoops use shaped magnetic fields (possibly other technobabble fields) to funnel hydrogen and other usable particles to the collectors for processing. If you'll examine the TNG tech manual the ramscoops do not appear to have anything to do with the warp field generators behind them.
One thing that has always puzzled me, why does releasing gas in front of a ship clog its "intake manifolds" and cause impulse drives and warp drives to not work until they are purged. From a close read of the TNG technical manual and other documentation I find no explanation for this as impulse and warp fields are driven by an internal reactor using internal fuel.
yea i just read the manual. I have no idea where I got that other stuff I said from.... Its been years sense I had read the manual... as for intake manifolds getting clogged that would most likely be some idiot writers idea of drama... so basically having the bussards on the nacelles is just for aesthetic purposes makes the nacelles look purtier (misspell intentional)
Delete~Admiral T'Var
For some people The Bible is their religious document of choice, for me it was the TNG Technical Manual :p
ReplyDelete