Traveller Calender 2009

I had promised Andrew Boulton a page or two for this years calender so I thought they should be Akhilleus based (for a bit of a promo.)
I've done one (below) but I could do with an idea for the other maybe a bit of Akhilleus vs. Zho action?

This is 'Leaving in a Hurry'

Looks good, but is that really where the airlock is? Curious....

Been gone a bit, and for a bit longer, being broke sucks, moving and being broke sucks more....

Magnus! Somehow you must get in touch with me. I have emailed you other accounts awhile ago. Hang in there, buddy!

Maybe bring it into an over the shoulder shot of the soldiers, with one in Parital full view in the foreground, and maybe in a more agressive posture?

The Zhos.. you mean a Zhos atacking the PArty scene?

Am rushing in a last minute post...Saarthuran, check your mail.

Also, not to be a nit picker, but that does seem to be the role I fell into sooo...

Shouldn't the Zho's have Clamshell face plates?

Anyway, off to check the other posts then off and bloody apartment hunting....

Magnus von Thornwood wrote:Shouldn't the Zho's have Clamshell face plates?

These boys are not Zho's, just average generic spacestation guards, I'm saving the Zho's for the next one

Magnus von Thornwood wrote:Looks good, but is that really where the airlock is? Curious....

Based on far-traders deckplans for the Akhilleus he's swung them round 90º from the usual position (unless I'm reading it wrong )

Beech wrote:

Magnus von Thornwood wrote:Looks good, but is that really where the airlock is? Curious....

Based on far-traders deckplans for the Akhilleus he's swung them round 90º from the usual position (unless I'm reading it wrong )

Correct (you're reading it right Beech), for my deckplans, which are made to be more accurate dimension wise and maintain the same general layout and look of the canon versions.

However...

...the scale looks wrong. Like it's been compressed both length (check out the conical turrets) and width (that ramp should be twice as wide from my deckplans. And it's a bit different in operation too, minor though).

In general I like it

(well, there is the "force field" keeping air in the hanger meme from Starwars that doesn't exist in Traveller canon which bugs me just a little )

(another nit-pick, have the guard on the left step back to his right just a bit, it looks like he has a horn coming out of his helmet where the ventral turret barrels are )

Hmm, the more I look at it critically the Akhilleus just looks "wrong" there. Like it was pasted in, badly. Sorry. The rest of the scene is great and has your style but the ship doesn't match it. Maybe fixing the perspective would help? I dunno. Know what I mean?

Yes. I think that's it (mostly, partly anyway). The perspective IS different for the ship from the rest of the scene. Trace the lines back to the different points of view and they don't match right?

I think maybe push the ship back further so it can have the correct perspective and scale and still fit in the frame and then match the sight lines. How hard is that

Thanks for the critique Dan, pick those nits, thats the reason I posted it, sometimes when you work closely on something (especially on my little laptop) you lose sight of what is wrong with it.

The ship is out of perspective, you are right, when I did it originally, the ship was pointing in another direction and the ramp was done in the standard Beo position, then I realised it was wrong for the Akhilleus, so I did a bit of cut and paste (late at night and badly )- hasn't really worked.
So a bit more tweaking & I'll redo the ramp too (let me know how you see it working, in retrospect I think it more likely to be a opening or sliding hatch with a ramp that then extends out rather than a single integrated hinged unit -it doesn't really work with the body shape the way I had shown it).

The view outside was supposed to be a viewport but I think I'll make it a view of a landing field so there is no confusion.

I'll repost it again soon with a few changes

Beech wrote:...I'll redo the ramp too (let me know how you see it working, in retrospect I think it more likely to be a opening or sliding hatch with a ramp that then extends out rather than a single integrated hinged unit... )

That's pretty much it dead on In my take (from the mini) the lower half of the hull is cut out square and flat from the back of the cargo area to the central drive hull. It's hard to describe and my deckplans don't show it well. It's the curved triangular area if that helps. For the upper half of the hull it's as you show it, but for the bottom half it's not there at all. So, again in my take from the mini the hatch for the cargo locks opens directly to the outside (with the upper half of the hull's curved triangular area serving as an overhanging roof if you will). The ramp is stowed in/under the floor and slides/rolls/extends out to the rear. I tried envisioning a way to make it a lift ramp but nothing I tried "worked" quite right.

Beech wrote:The view outside was supposed to be a viewport but I think I'll make it a view of a landing field so there is no confusion.

Ah, got it. Simple fix (maybe), just narrow it so it's not floor to ceiling, and maybe add some "glassy streaks" (if you know what I mean). I like the view of space suggesting it's a highport Might be a bit much to make work in such a small bit of the background.

Frankly, to be the usual big PITA that I am, I must vote to keep the pull down stairs.

I think it has the feeling of a Lear Jet or Gulfstream, you know a nice mid-size luxury aircraft which for the Traveller Universe, it is.

Again, just my arrogant and obnoxious opinion....take it or leave it.

It was crap so I have redone it big time, and cleverly avoided the ramp/door problem until another day.

Oh yes! NOW that is a keeper

I love, well, everything about it. One thing that jumps is the shiny bronze look of the hull. Nice. And the port buildings. Great! The guards, excellent.

Outstanding!

Very good, this one is indeed a keeper, nice work Beech.