Blackadder's Lucius Pattern Reaver

[Blackadder]

Apoc Rocket Pod Redux:

For those who complain I take too many images of the same thing heres more of the same.

That's what I'm talk'n 'bout; this is more what I had in mind when I first conceived of mounting the rocket array in the shoulders. A compact lethal self-loading system.....I still have to work out the self loading and rethink the elevation cylinders.

Anyway below are the makings of four arrays with the possibility of two more mounted on the centerline carapace for a total of three on each Reaver provided there is space for the center array to fit.

When finished the Reaver will have a broad shoulder look with Trapezoidal ridges where the pods and the reloading system are situated.

No, I'm not actually going to make the reloading system but I will insure there is adequate space were one to be installed.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/en4CrDL.jpg[/url]


You tend to lose sight of the scale of this thing as when I was cutting the chambers for the rockets they seem rather small but thinking about the size I realized these rockets are close to a meter in circumference.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/jTJkSuA.jpg[/url]


That's a fair sized rocket.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/QxeIei5.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

Apoc Missile Array 2.0:

Final images for today show the carapace pods in their approximate stowed and firing positions.

Granted at the moment they appear too high but relative to the Mars carapace and shoulder armour they are slightly lower that the Mars equipment.

Significant progress has been made today since I have also worked out the extending and stowing cylinders.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/Mz0XzAk.jpg[/url]


The front view shows the height above the left shoulder in the stowed position bearing in mind that all the hood and carapace components visible in this image are the underside skin not the top surface.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/RCKD5uM.jpg[/url]


My big concern at the moment is will the extending actuators lift the array high enough to clear the carapace during line of sight missile deployment.

Martini time!

[Blackadder]

Apoc Rocket Pods Two or Three?

Its the weekend again,
Tempus fugit
Before I realized it I had crafted an update not realizing that everyone will be away or otherwise occupied in short too busy to respond to my plebeian thread. But forge ahead I must now the the die is cast.

I have succeeded in making the four bare bones rocket pods and situated them on the carapace for review and I think that three may be necessary after all. just for the sake of maximizing fire power and aesthetic appeal

[url]http://i.imgur.com/nCfnjKT.jpg[/url]


Anyone around during the weekly hiatus may want to weigh in on the path to go?
[url]http://i.imgur.com/iZchJgA.jpg[/url]



This last post shows the left pod in the stowed position which appeals to my sense of balance. the center pod will not be retractable but will rotate as do the wing pods. an ominous triple threat to be sure.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/DRCou2Q.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

Here we see the evolution of this rocket firing system From the original FW design to the latest version granted my concept art(?) leaves much to be desired but I don't want to waste a lot of time on preproduction drawings as I tend to get too involved with the imagined finished product picture to the exclusion of the actual building; witness my preconstruction drawings of my Jaeger Titan Hunter which took weeks to produce.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/l0jFIkx.jpg[/url]


No, better to do quick sketches and better put the time to cutting plastic.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/LJx5cTw.jpg[/url]


Anyway here are the drawings as it stands at the moment:

With the first picture being the original epic Reaver titan and my original rocket array thoughts on the array showing a non rotating forward firing fixed battery on either side of the main carapace but still having the capability of ballistic launching.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/TmZkLQr.jpg[/url]


The most recent incarnation is the center battery being capable of forward firing the top two rows of rockets (9) fixed forward-line of sight in the stowed condition but also being able to firing all three rows of missiles in a ballistic trajectory.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/vFXxign.jpg[/url]


The two wing rocket pods stowed until the situation warrants their deployment whereupon they elevate, have the capability to rotate 360° as required, and fire in a ballistic trajectory; in all a grand total 39 missiles 8 of which can also be fired line of sight. Whew!

[Blackadder]

A Tale of Six Apoc Pods:

No much to show for the weekends work but there a six basic Apoc launchers now

[url]http://i.imgur.com/GiLyXdt.jpg[/url]


and all six have the lower angled skirt armour installed.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/T7ALi4D.jpg[/url]


For what its worth I did watch Pacific Rim this weekend, there's a couple of hours I won't get back.....................

[interrogator_chaplain]

Whaaa'??? Pacific Rim was my favourite movie of the year, it beat everything. How can the combination of giant robots wailing on giant monsters not do it for you? You're building a giant robot*!!

*More or less.

[Blackadder]

I'm sorry but I am willing to suspend my disbelief only so far i.e. how does Superman or Hancock fly? Some sort of controlled Flatulence? The Hulk bounds thousands of meters but still he is jumping, but where does he buy pants that can stretch dozens of inches in all directions when I have to loosen my belt and fly button after a Thanksgiving meal? How do transporters work without receivers? Why do light saber blades end at a meter in length? Ironman lands with a ground shaking thud yet his secretary (Gwynneth Paltrow![Blackadder giving his Homer S. drool.........])carries said suit around in an attache case? These inconsistencies bother me but not enough ruin the movie.

To me it was like watching one of those Saturday morning robot anime cartoons. The laws of physics were completely suspended for example; five helicopters cannot lift let alone transport thousands of tons of robot. Dropping said robot for any appreciable height would create less of a fighting machine than a pile of twisted rubble. Tossing said robot a couple of kilometers would destroy it even further.

Case in point; the Titanic broke in half because of the real world stresses on its hull could not sustain the gravitational stress forces it was subjected to merely by having its stern lifted out of the water but here we have Gypsy Dancer dragging a (out of scale) ship through the streets of Hong Kong and using it like a baseball bat BTW Gypsy was only 260 feet tall, in no way were the scales commensurate............the monster shown in the beginning of the movie poised in the skyline behind the Golden Gate bridge would have to be a mile tall for that image alone to be accurate! The list goes on and on. Going to the biological limitations of large scale animals an elephant cannot lift more than two feet off the ground at the same time in the simple act of walking and will sustain fatal injuries if it falls down a small embankment but these creatures are frequently being tossed thousands of feet without sustaining any physical damage.

Then we have the dubious political, economic and technological inconsistencies. Our present Governments could never be able to get their acts together for the mutual good to sustain such a retaliatory project, nuclear power robots could neither be produced nor piloted without sanctions from the NRC, EPA, and OSHA; environmental impact studies that would take dozens of years to get approved etc. Large animals so few in number could not be slaughtered without protests from PETA, Green Peace and the Humane Society. And the ALCU would castrate the Government for destroying the aliens and their dimensional tunnel without due process.

The USA has a problem in putting up a 1000 mile long chain link fence along its southern border; it took ten plus years to replace the World Trade Center but you are expected to believe a 30,000 mile long (conservative estimate) skyscraper tall retaining wall be built around the entire Pacific Ocean! No I have difficulty rationalizing how my titans can walk let alone maintain a suitably stable gun platform. The antics of the PR robots suspend reality. Cognitive estrangement in fiction involves using a person's ignorance or lack of knowledge to promote suspension of disbelief I.E. Saturday morning cartoonzzzzz or in this case 'Pacific Rim.'

[talinka]

You sir, are my hero!

[Kyban]

Haha, totally agree, the battles were fun enough to watch (excluding the really silly parts) but by no means was it an excellent movie.

I can't wait to see your completed titan though, It looks like it's starting to come together well.

[Blackadder]

Haha, totally agree, the battles were fun enough to watch (excluding the really silly parts) but by no means was it an excellent movie.

I can't wait to see your completed titan though, It looks like it's starting to come together well.

My remarks regarding the PR movie were meant primarily to amuse; I actually found the technical scenes and the human interaction plausible and informative. The anime-like action scenes not so much; it was just too unbelievable but that's just me, I require a modicum of credibility in the movies for me to enjoy them.

The biggest problem with Pacific Rim is the time period in which this is all suppose to happen. Right now western civilization is edging close to the death throes of its existence. I see acceptance of mediocrity, indolence and outright parsimony and corruption de rigueur.

I found most unbelievable Guillermo del Toro's Pollyannaism that our Western Democracies would have the wherewithal to meet any of the real world challenges present today and triumph let alone one of the magnitude presented in the movie. The real threat to civilization surrounds us every day and is readily apparent to those who bother to look.

Whoa! ease up Blackadder (smiley face)

Apoc Pod Prototype:

Now that the basic missile array is complete its time to add the armour and detail.

I chose 2,0 MM for the thickness of the plating but used 1,0 MM styrene for the sides as 1,0 MM easier to work with. I used 2,0 MM styrene for the top plate as all that need be done is dressing the edges at about 60°. As usual there is a lot more detail on even such a simple construct than that which meets the casual glance. This is the true beauty of any FW model and the lack of which leaves the average scratch build bland in comparison regardless how many skulls and aquilae be it festooned.

In the image below I try to capture that detail and still have the ability to have the pod rotate when finished. The recess on the underside (left) will house the elevating and rotating mechanism.

The component at the right show the layered 1,0 MM side armour which the 2,0 MM top panel in the background.

[URL=http://i.imgur.com/65blUsJ.jpg]http://i.imgur.com/65blUsJ.jpg[/URL]


This image below shows the front end view of the pod which may need added thickness to the armour; I haven't decided as yet.

The small gray nurdle seated on the yet to be attached top panel is one of the original FW rocket nose cones supplied with the Mars APOC rocket pod to demonstrate that my Lucius rocket arrays are sufficiently robust to launch comparable sized missiles.

[URL=http://i.imgur.com/CDNXqBq.jpg]http://i.imgur.com/CDNXqBq.jpg[/URL]


The top panel in place and I'm thinking another half millimeter of styrene thickness is in order.
[URL=http://i.imgur.com/9d0iVMU.jpg]http://i.imgur.com/9d0iVMU.jpg[/URL]


Finally the side view showing the over extended front overhang that will be beveled about 43° undercut above the rocket nose cones and the greatly over extended rear of the pod because I haven't yet decided how long the pod needs to be................
[URL=http://i.imgur.com/eyZeVc5.jpg]http://i.imgur.com/eyZeVc5.jpg[/URL]


in relation to the yet to be detailed carapace.