CORE Diplomat +1

[MR.D]

I really hope that something simpler is what you're thinking of Zsinj..

[Warlord Zsinj]

Closer to this:

[Erom]

That's pretty win.

But of course I can't resist making a suggestion... to keep the "different camo for different types of units" distinction without losing the consistent color scheme, you could try to make another green camo with just a different scheme - like a olive green camo rather than the saturated "forest" green you've been using up to now. Might be cool. Might look like crap, too, what do I know.

[DemO]

Forest green? I had to LOL at the irony.

[rattle]

Closer to this:

In before magic eye textures

[MR.D]

The camo pattern and colors from each of my units while being different, was totally unintentional..
I do each camo pattern for each unit from scratch, so its just a given that they would all be different slightly.

As far as the pattern ect.. to me, it mostly resembles US army BDU camo from around 1990-2002 before they started using the computer generated patterns.

I don't get it Zsinj..

What does a wood overlay have to do with making tech noise?
enlighten me plz..

[Warlord Zsinj]

I was just one-upping you on stupidly complicated images

That's by a favourite artist of mine, Lebbeus Woods. He likes to draw highly complex mechanical things that take on an organic form when you look at them as a whole, sort of like muscle tissue.

In terms of what I'm recommending, really you just need to think about where you've done armour plating before, you might rather have wiring and other mechanisms that would typically be covered up by armour plating on something like a tank be exposed on this unit, because typically it is going to be employed away from the rough and tumble frontlines, and so armour would be an inefficient use of resources.

[DemO]

Electronic parts exposed on the exterior would likely just look plain stupid. I mean, they would at least need to be covered up to protect from the elements (rain, dust etc?).

Only place that it would look fitting would be in the inner workings of the vehicle, i.e. areas that are rarely exposed on the exterior (inside the missile bay for example) - and it looks like there is already what is supposed to be mechanical/electronic "greebles" there.

Personally, I think any electronic looking noise is likely to make the vehicle look slightly stupid, considering its basically an exposed platform which acts as a missile launcher. Mechanical greebles on the other hand could look pretty cool, especially if they are textured in a way that they look large/primitive/robust such as large piping/valves or whatever. Basically the sort of shit you see when you look at a large vehicles engine. Robust mechanics that are able to remain slightly/totally exposed because they can cope with the strain of everyday exposure.

[MR.D]

Which is exactly where I will be putting them Demo

Support vehicle or not, adding in unnecessarily exposed circuitry and components is not what a mobile combat unit should have.. ever.
Just my opinion though.

Exposed and vulnerable mechanical parts and external eye candy is more suited to the StarWars universe IMO, you see it religiously through all of the movies and the rest of the Star Wars universe.

While external mechanics looks neat sometimes, it always has me scratching my head as to "what if" it actually took damage, it would knock out a system of that vehicle so easily, besides the fact that it makes the vehicle look more fragile in that regard.

The only exposed soft spot which is acceptable, and rather un-avoidable is exhaust ports and vents for the engines, or on externally mounted weapons and gunpods.

In the case of the MERL and Diplomat, the missiles were fairly exposed on the originals, and I can't imagine a missle loaded with fuel and explosives reacting kindly to enemy fire, which is why it is encased in armor and only opens during its launch cycle.

[Erom]

The only exposed soft spot which is acceptable, and rather un-avoidable is exhaust ports and vents for the engines, or on externally mounted weapons and gunpods.

Sensor packages too! Also cockpits, but not for surface vehicles.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Exposed parts was pioneered by lucas as a 'guts on the outside' approach - but it was generally succesful, and has really infiltrated almost every sci fi produced since. People want to see guts.

Further, as I noted, there is a clear reason for having exposed parts in reality. These units are artillery - their job is to fire at the enemy from a distance. Therefore, it would be inefficient to armour these units in the same way you would armour a tank.

Compare these two:
http://www.baha.be/Webpages/Navigator/N ... ofs_01.jpg
http://www.honornetwork.com/i/military/ ... illery.JPG
to this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... lujah.JPEG

It's just a completely different design mentality.

[smoth]

it is. However, that is not what they did with that artillery. Your truck is just a rail launched missile. it is not minimalistic because armor was not a concern it is minimalistic because it is a cheap thing. The towed artillery is minimalistic because it has to be towed.

crusader

or this

both are heavy vehicles. however, that russian missile truck should have support around it to protect it and even with that glass driving area it still is armored.

Guts on the outside is because people thing needless greebles = techy. However, pointless bits exposed exposes things to weather, including lightening, sand, snow and kick up rocks. Also pointless bits exposed reduces land/airspeed due to wind resistence. Having things tucked away under many panels makes a lot more sense then exposed bits. I do not rail on starwars about it as that is part of the style. However, just like gundam, I will not say that it reflects any form of reality.

[Zpock]

Even tanks have tons of greeble-like things on them:



Those are maybe not exposed engine parts, electronics or some such that is popular in sci-fi, but they are closely related as being details. They break up otherwise flat and easily boring surfaces.

[DemO]

LOL I love how you put a box on the gunner with his upper body popped out the tank:D

[Zpock]

Yeah haha, there might not be exposed those highly erotic and sexy but sensitive fragile engine parts Zsinj wantonly desires. While others preach their urge to dogmatically cover them up under many thick layers of prudent armor plating according to their "principles of realism". Instead you got some of the human crew as sitting ducks on top.

[Warlord Zsinj]

I can understand the logic behind not wanting to put it into Gundam.

But Star Wars pioneered and popularised the concept of the 'used future', and I don't think you would have the "decimated", "crippled" and "ravaged" world of TA without first seeing things like Star Destroyers with all sorts of guts on it's outside (Rather then the crisp Metropolis scifi that had been the mainstay of futuristic designs up to that point), and watching Solo bash at the falcon to get it working.

A quick look at most of the scifi around definitely conveys that feeling. It is popular because we like to see it, because it looks good, and (in my opinion) it feels right, and sets the mood appropriately. Not just because it's the 'star wars theme'. It's like saying the use of an electric guitar should be kept to the blues, because they were the first ones to popularise them.

What I'm suggesting here is not that it looks like the insides of an engine. I was just saying that there should be more mechanical detailing then you have seen on some of the other tanks that Mr.D has done. As with the camo, I think the detailing needs to indicate the different function and usage of this vehicle compared to a front-line tank. Just more vents, more wires, more latches and rotors, etc, then you would have seen otherwise.

[yuritch]

...Instead you got some of the human crew as sitting ducks on top.

This tank is not in 'battle mode'. When not in direct contact with enemy, tank commander is very likely to pop his head up the hatch - this gives much better view of what's around compared to what even the most sofisticated cameras can provide. Plus it's a bit of fresh air (tank interious aren't the best smelling places in the world).
As for exposed greebles, take note of what is exposed on that tank. A block of smore mortars, some rails for attaching things (nothing is attached atm) and something like a spare roadwheel. None of that needs much protection and if it's blown off, no one will care.

[smoth]

yuritch nails the point in starwars many things look like they are piecemeal or partially restored. This is a world where the tanks are build from a preprogrammed set of nanomachines which execute a stored pattern which perfectly recreates the unit. These patterns are not some hodge-podge or restoration or USED they are a perfect version of X unit.

While many things IRL have lots of neat greebles:

they exist for purpose and are not exposed sensitive equipment like sci-fi likes to show.

[Zpock]

I'm not sure about that, you got plenty of stuff like radar, lasersights, antennas, optics, and such things. It's easy to imagine tons of future hightech stuff that need to be exposed in order to work.

[smoth]

optics lasers and antennas are tiny. Radar can be behind protective domes.