Has anyone ever modeled Colonial Bombers?

[jjrakman]

I've always wondered what a colonial bomber might look like.

For instance, if we use WWII craft as our reference and the Viper could be compared to the Corsair:

http://www.airventuremuseum.org/images/Chance%20Vought%20F4U%20Corsair-1.jpg

Then how would a colonial bomber look compared to the B-17:

http://www.trinketstotreasures.com/images/b11b634.jpg

[Sept17th]

I think we should draw more from early jet flight. The F86-A Sabre to me seemed the inspiration for the Viper.
http://www.ascho.wpafb.af.mil/START/PHOTOS/PG20-A.JPG
http://svsm.org/albums/f86ausaf/DSC00212.jpg

[Titon]

Check this out.

http://www.johnlomax.com/bomber.htm

:)

[ernie90125]

Titon......thanks for the link......it was very interesting to see a Colonial bomber.....

Hopefully, as a Continuation progresses we'd see ships not seen in the original series. Both the classic series and new series included the Galacticans building Viper variants, so it stands to reason that other ships have been developed in space over the last 25 years...

You're own Millenia shuttle is another example.......wonder if anyone had every thought about modifying a shuttle into a bomber...but perhaps it would be too slow....

[jjrakman]

Check this out.

http://www.johnlomax.com/bomber.htm

:)

Well that's pretty cool. I think it could use some gun turrets, with the glass bubbles though like the B-17, or something similar to that.

[Darrell Lawrence]

If you have the game, John Lomax's bombers are the ones you see in it.

[jjrakman]

If you have the game, John Lomax's bombers are the ones you see in it.

I like it alot. But I think it would be more in place in an updated Continuation. I had always hoped to see more with Viper stylings and reminiscent of the WWII ship designs like the B-17 bomber, something with more of a fuselage I suppose, and the canopied gun turrets. Somethign that would have been more likely to have appeared in TOS.

[BST]

Question: Would a bomber be necessary?

In the show, much of the fighting was shown in 'open space' which wouldn't really be conducive to a bomber. For ground target attacks, wouldn't quick strafing runs by Vipers be more effective?

[TwoBrainedCylon]

Bombers in the rag-tag fleet wouldn't be of much use since they don't plan to go toe-to-toe with a baseship -- with good reason.

Gunboats on the other hand would be useful. Amid the Vipers flying about, gunboats that fire missiles, jam targets, and toss explosives in the paths of raiders approaching ships in the Fleet would increase the defensive capabilities and allow raiders to get caught in a crossfire between the battlestar and the gunboats.


Sandy

[Titon]

There's one concept that was built by James Betterdige for the second coming trailer called the Scimtar shuttle. It was designed as a heavy armored transport for troops but had the ability to attack as well.

I can't locate the render i had of it and James site is not longer up.

To bad, i thought that had potential.

[jjrakman]

Weren't B-17's used for paratroopers as well?

[BST]

Bombers in the rag-tag fleet wouldn't be of much use since they don't plan to go toe-to-toe with a baseship -- with good reason.

Gunboats on the other hand would be useful. Amid the Vipers flying about, gunboats that fire missiles, jam targets, and toss explosives in the paths of raiders approaching ships in the Fleet would increase the defensive capabilities and allow raiders to get caught in a crossfire between the battlestar and the gunboats.


Sandy

I hadn't thought about it in that regard. Initially, I was thinking more of a bomber as being somewhat bigger than a Viper, like a B-24 or B-52 is to a Corsair, i.e., from an "air force" point of view. Now, thinking in terms of a "naval" viewpoint, a gunboat would be similar to a Destroyer or Battleship, in a Carrier Battle group. Interesting. Loads of potential with that idea.

:)

[jjrakman]

But since we've seen Vipers conduct atmospheric missions, wouldn' it be safe to assume a bomber could be used for planetary purposes? Or to bomb an asteroid colony? Perhaps it could have been of use against the Gun on Ice Planet Zero. And couldn't they use it for paratroopers?

Anyway, I guess my desire to see a bomber outweighs my desire to explain one. ;)

This is kind of what I was thinking. It's really crude, but I think it looks more like something Dykstra would have built.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b365/JJrakman/Bomber.jpg

[BST]

But since we've seen Vipers conduct atmospheric missions, wouldn' it be safe to assume a bomber could be used for planetary purposes? Or to bomb an asteroid colony? Perhaps it could have been of use against the Gun on Ice Planet Zero. And couldn't they use it for paratroopers?

Anyway, I guess my desire to see a bomber outweighs my desire to explain one. ;)

This is kind of what I was thinking. It's really crude, but I think it looks more like something Dykstra would have built.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b365/JJrakman/Bomber.jpg

Interesting design, JJ. Efficient too, considering that the engine units are essentially the same as those used for the Vipers, just flipped 90 degrees. That would make the manufacturing end of it easy. All they would need is just a few modifications to the unit, to connect it to the bomber fuselage.


:thumbsup:

[jjrakman]

Thanks much. Not that my idea is any good, but if any expert CG modelers out there want to grab this and go with it, by all means do so.

[TwoBrainedCylon]

A bomber isn't the sort of thing you'd develop for the rag-tag fleet. You would AVOID engagements with ground targets whenever possible not try to bomb them.

Bombers are inherently offensive weapons. Pre-destruction Colonials would have infinite use for them. Post-destruction colonials wouldn't -- Commander Cain notwithstanding.

Sandy

[jjrakman]

Bombers are inherently offensive weapons. Pre-destruction Colonials would have infinite use for them. Post-destruction colonials wouldn't -- Commander Cain notwithstanding.

Point taken. But wouldn't have some of them survived the Colonial Holocaust and been taken with the fleet? I can't imagine them just leaving behind perfectly good bombers that had already been built an were in good operational order. (Just trying to find a reason for Commander Cain leaning CG guys to model a bomber.)

[TwoBrainedCylon]

The problem here is that if they had them, they would have used them ... the Gun on Ice Planet Zero being one example and Living Legend being another. If Cain had them on board, he'd have certainly used them going toe-to-toe with two baseships ... although you could make an arguement that he'd hold off bombing fuel dumps when he wanted to get the fuel.

The best premise for a bomber would be someone on the Council of 12 arguing something like:

"Hey, what if we run into some group like the Eastern Alliance again? Wouldn't it be great to just knock out their base and fly past without having to get into a big fight?"

If I were to model some sort of bomber for the Colonials, I'd probably either go with the game design, since its sorta "canon" to some degree and not a horrible conception, or do a Viper/B-17/B-52 infusion. It would have to come off as something like a heavy fighter to launch and land in the battlestar's bays.


Sandy

[Darrell Lawrence]

I agree with Sandy. Myself I'd go with the game design.

As an alternative option though, perhaps the Capran Freighter I did a while back could fit into a "bomber" type.

[TwoBrainedCylon]

Darrell,

Which one is the Capran fighter?

Sandy

[Darrell Lawrence]

This one-

http://www.colonialfleets.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9827

[jjrakman]

The game design is cool, but it doesn't really look like something out of TOS IMHO. It's too boxy, and doesn't have that WWII feeling that Dykstra captured so well. It looks more like something that would appear in an updated Continuation, comparable to a stealth bomber maybe.

or do a Viper/B-17/B-52 infusion.

I think something like that would look more like something Dykstra would have built for the show. Would love to see it.

[jjrakman]

This one-

http://www.colonialfleets.com/forum...read.php?t=9827

Yeah, that's pretty darn cool. The only suggestion I'd make is to have some of those gun turrets canopied.

[cobrastrikelead]

a colonial heavy bomber.

sketched one over the weekend (front veiw)

http://www.geocities.com/cobrastrikeleader/pagefourteen.html

think I like the designs shown earlier. This one ended up looking too much like a Klingon ship from Trek TOS.

[Stevew]

Cobra
How about this?
http://www.firedragon.com/~cfleets/SWPIKS/BSG/scout1.JPG