Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson

liam887 · 24 Dec 2010, 01:34

Although I have my long running 'scifi sketchup thread' every now and again I make a model that really deserves its own space. Although still scifi this is an important model and has taken a long long long time.......

I started this model in 2009 and developed my own take on the helicopter form Avatar. Well since then I have gone back to create a version that follows the one seen in the movie. I wanted something to do over the Christmas holidays I already started on some iron man marvel comics but I like to do more than one thing at once so I have reactivated this model. Hopefully I can get to the same standard as silver shadows black hawk model with this build and maybe get some serious thea rendering done!

The Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson is a human light ducted-fan craft designed to carry out mostly non-combat missions. The Samson is armed with door guns, detachable rocket pods, and is a general workhorse. It is used to transport cargo and personnel to and from isolated sites. A hook point for sling load operations allows the Samson to carry extra or oversized cargo.

The Samson has been in use on Earth for decades. Its various trial runs in Antarctica, the Himalayas, and Honduras proved the aircraft could fly well in thin or thick atmospheres or in extreme temperatures with minimal maintenance. The cockpit is separately pressurized at 0.3 psi, to prevent leak-back of toxic gases and the flight crew can operate without them even with the rest of the aircraft depressurized. In the event of an uncontrollable influx of toxic air, there are emergency breathing masks (BIBS) plumbed to each of the four seats.

As a utility craft, the Samson's primary defense is its speed and maneuverability. The armaments usually seen on the SA-2 are a pair of door-mounted MBS-9M Hydras, or M60 Machine Guns (which are also capable of being fixed forward to be remotely operated by the pilot), and missile pods on pylons immediately aft of the cockpit. An alternate configuration is one Hydra on the left pedestal and a 30 Caliber Machine Gun on the right pedestal.

Here is the work so far, enjoy....

P.S. When its done ill unleash it on the masses and hopefully have somebody do a better job at rendering than my final outcome will be

liam887 · 24 Dec 2010, 05:36

Just finished the doors ill pick this up next week sometime when the christmas festivities have ended I guess!

tomislavm · 24 Dec 2010, 07:19

Beautiful!
Wher is the rotor!

dolphus · 24 Dec 2010, 10:03

Very sexy, looks good well done.....

CoreMaster110 · 24 Dec 2010, 12:22

WOW that looks nice

Ollo81 · 24 Dec 2010, 14:27

Looks very good

liam887 · 24 Dec 2010, 15:11

@tomislavm said:

Beautiful!
Wher is the rotor!

I can work quick but not that quick lol! haven't got round to that yet!

liam887 · 25 Dec 2010, 19:52

Happy Christmas...

massimo · 25 Dec 2010, 19:53

To you too...and very nice model.

liam887 · 26 Dec 2010, 22:43

@massimo said:

To you too...and very nice model.

thanks, if I can render this at 10% of the level of your cups model it will be even better. Ignore the rotor assembly its still very much a WIP as well as many other parts. The refueling boom retracts but I have left it extended for the shot. Started work on the cargo area, have just finished roughing out some doors.

Frederik · 27 Dec 2010, 09:23

Really nice, Liam...
But you seem to have an issue with the geometry...
In some places it loos as if the surface isn't smooth...
How does it look in SU...??
I would assume that you can eliminate it completely from the renders...

notareal · 27 Dec 2010, 09:50

Some smoothing issues indeed. Are you using latest Thea RV446 http://www.thearender.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=1849 as it does handle terminator artifacts fairly well. If smoothing is not exported correctly from SU (for my understanding it should export just fine when default SU smoothing is used), you could give 30 degrees geometry smoothing inside Thea.

massimo · 27 Dec 2010, 11:57

@unknownuser said:

if I can render this at 10% of the level of your cups model it will be even better

Maybe...And if I can model at 10% something like your helicopter I would be pretty happy.

liam887 · 27 Dec 2010, 12:09

@frederik said:

Really nice, Liam...
But you seem to have an issue with the geometry...
In some places it loos as if the surface isn't smooth...
How does it look in SU...??
I would assume that you can eliminate it completely from the renders...

yeah its not a problem, parts of the model with issues are just parts im still working on

meak · 29 Dec 2010, 13:36

I've always admired your work.
small details, and the general impression of reality.

TonyLloyd · 29 Dec 2010, 20:33

That is beautiful I like the nod to Weyland-Yutani in the title bar too
Is this going to be released into the public domain ? I'm trying to build a radio-controlled version of the Samson, but my draughting skills are severely lacking and trying to find good quality images from which to take dimensions is proving harder than I thought.

liam887 · 29 Dec 2010, 23:16

I will release it eventually when its finished but in the meantime I could make some orthographic plans for you to work with if you want? I thought about making a RC version but I dont have the skills for a dual ducted fan model. I have a scale spitfire its pretty big with an 6ft wingspan but not finished as I havent had any spare change to buy a two stroke engine of multi channel RC controller those things are expensive so its on ice in the attic for now, good luck with it however! Contact me via email if you want to sort out some scale plans liamk887@gmail.com . Here are some simple orthos of the basic shape if they are any help.

More work on the samson, have replaced the rocket launchers with extra tanks for more fuel as this version will probably be a search and rescue so no need for weapons.

solo · 30 Dec 2010, 18:41

Ooooh! these are great, screaming for a Thea render.

If you have not got the time...I do (hint).

liam887 · 30 Dec 2010, 18:42

Here are some shots of the other two helicopters for some scale comparison. I have stripped out the interiors and tiny details from all three (thank god for layers) to make the file smaller do they all fit on the screen at once without melting the computer.
Im going to do some illustrative renders like I did for the batman tumbler http://liam887.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/final-shot1.jpg
but the newest version of the search and rescue will have the full works in Thea. I only have access to my laptop right now so dont expect anything special ill probably just be playing with materials and lighting for the next few weeks.

liam887 · 30 Dec 2010, 18:45

Yeah I was eventually going to be cheeky and just ask you to do it for me lol and them make a background in vue

Its still got a lot of work to do but im making a test model for thea, basically stripping the interior and closing the doors and windows and using the lighter model to test materials and environments on my already strained laptop. Ill email you the file next week will have finished it by then.
I also need to update my Thea im about two releases behind doh!