Star Citizen: "Fully Functional" X-Wing

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Formation and spotlights, and just playing around with showing the S-Foils. Obviously in the final version the forward faces of the shield boxes will be different on the UR and LL. Already fixed the pilot tabs so they're not elevated above the wing surface so far.

As always, right-click for the full-size version.
 
Work on the hull panels and decals progresses. I've also fixed the materials on the markings that were causing them to render extremely dark, and I went ahead and added an "astromech hatch" to get the nice, snug fit for the droid as shown on the effects miniatures.

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One of the big challenges is trying to decide on what constitutes the "default" markings and stencils, considering there really AREN'T any standard markings, other than the hull stripes and pilot ID tabs. The Rebel X-wings have seen a lot of use, so they've been patched up and rebuilt who knows how many times, and keeping those markings standardized is likely not a priority for the ground crews.
 
SFoils.png


A quick look at one of the S-foil assemblies, showing the axel and the actual pivot. Also a look at the interior surface of the wings.

I decided to use the most common of the engine variant to start with for the interior well, and will be using the Star Citizen component system to implement the other. The engine seen here is the Incom 4L4 Fusial Thrust Engine, used on the T-65B (the most representative X-wing of the films). The other engine type will be the 4j.4 used on the T-65C A2, which never actually appeared in the Original Trilogy, but was first introduced in the WEG RPG. I believe at least some of the X-wings in Rogue One were this later model (at least they were identified as such in one of the tie-in books).
 
bigpetr said:
Hello Ambaryerno, great work here. I am looking forward to your progress.

I do not know about reliable schematics, but reliable model is this model: http://scifi3d.com/details.asp?intGenreID=10&intCatID=10&key=572
I found it very precise in comparison with photo reference material. Most accurate free model I know of.

I also have x-wing model from Battlefront game with cockpit as seen in game. I do not consider myself expert, but I have studied x-wing cockpit and RED 2 x-wing for some time, so if you want to consult something I will gladly help.
View attachment 748661View attachment 748662
Click to expand...
Where do you find these 3D designs from Battlefront?
 
I have them for some time now, I do not remember exact web adress. I found them accidentaly on some game mod development forum. If I find the link I will let you know
 
Re: Star Citizen: "Fully Functional" X-Wing

And another quick update on the S-foil assembly, with a feature you don't seem to see very often:

SFoilPlates.PNG


I'm not exactly sure what these hinged plates are supposed to be. However they're clearly evident on the Blue One prototype model (and thus are also on Red Two). They also appear to be present on Red Five, as you can just make them out in this image:

trenvc.png


I'm guessing they're either part of the actuator system for the S-Foils, or possibly an armored cover to protect the internal mechanism. Regardless, you don't see them too often.
 
MainGearExtended.PNG


Main landing gear, showing the materials (from what I can tell, the main struts are entirely a metallic golden color, with shinier silver metal on the shocks, and on either side of the red bands. The gold extends to the mounts on the skid itself). Also a look at the details on the inside of the gear doors (texture with Normal Map, AO, etc.).

Now, here's where I'm stumped. I've modeled the gear as accurately as I can tell from the screens I have available. If there's better ones I don't know of them. The problem is: HOW do I make these retract into the wells in such a way as I can keep the design as accurate as possible to what we see on the films, while still accounting for the mechanics of the gear themselves?

As far as I can tell the fore and aft struts are the same, at least from what's visible in my screens. They're arranged in tandem with no left/right offset.

I'd considered some sort of mechanism that pulls the rear strut aft into the space behind the gear bay, with the engine components fitted around it, but that still leave what to do with the forward strut. Perhaps some sort of hinged joint in the upper part of the bay that pushes the top of the forward strut aft? The problem is that the rear strut would have to retract much too far aft for the front of the skid to clear the forward wall of the bay. Although looking at my model, I may have made the skids slightly too long and tall, so adjusting that should help somewhat.

Any thoughts?
 
Some puling mechanism as you wrote and I would make some parts of the struts telescopic, where their design alows it.
 
Yeah, I'm already planning for the shocks to allow the gear to telescope a little. Another problem is making sure the struts are able to clear each other without clipping.
 
That could work. It then shifts the question to what's actually anchoring the struts themselves. As I'm sure you've noticed, the struts I've used so far don't extend all the way up into the bay.
 
After considering a number of options, I think perhaps the best solution would be one of the following:

1) Offset the struts, so that the forward strut is to the inside or outside of the main strut, rather than directly in front. This will allow it to clear the rear strut when retracting without excessive use of telescoping.

2) Suck it up, and put joints at some point(s) in the landing gear struts (particularly the upper portion) so they can scissor when extending and retracting. I think i can do this without significantly altering the visual appearance.

It may even require some combination of the two.
 
Here we go, I can use something like this:

Concealed-Cylinder-Hinges.jpg


To hinge the struts in such a way that they can fold to retract, yet without disrupting the shape of the struts when extended.
 
By Jove, I think I've got it.

MainGearRetracted.PNG

Tweaked the skid a bit more to fit the references, and slightly scaled down the front strut. There's also two telescoping points: The shock absorber itself is able to telescope completely for storage, and the upper half of the oleo is two telescoping pieces (I'm model some locking mechanisms). I was even able to fit it without having to offset the forward strut.

Now I just need to model the actuators that move the struts aft when retracting the gear, as well as create and rig the armature, and set the poses. I'll also have to figure out how to plumb the engine around it, but that will be relatively simple by comparison.

I think for the gear positions, there will be:

Retracted: Gear in their "stowed" state.
Extender: Gear in their fully "extended" state. This would be for when the ship's gear are out, but the ship is airborne (so the shocks aren't compressed)
Landed: Gear are extended, with the shocks slightly compressed by the weight of the ship.
Compressed: Gear are extended, with the shocks fully compressed by the weight of the ship settling as it lands.
 
I'm still working on it, though I've got a LOT of other things going at once. I'll be sure to check these out. I think I may already have them, but if not, you can never have too many references.
 
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