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[Captain_Party]

Is anyone trying to turn nixonshead's .blend files into parts? If not, I'll try but I'll need someone to help me, as I can't use blender very well. A few pointers so I can put windows and such on the Minotaur capsule and help turning into parts that are usable in game. Thanks for any help guys.

[CluelessModeler]

I looked at it for the S1C, and tit seems doable. Just got to find a way to consolidate textures without sacrificing quality.

As far as the solar panels and everything else goes, I don't think animations are already in place for them. So we'd have to do that for ourselves!

[Captain_Party]

Cool. Literally someone show me what to do and I'll do it.

[nixonshead]

I looked at it for the S1C, and tit seems doable. Just got to find a way to consolidate textures without sacrificing quality.

As far as the solar panels and everything else goes, I don't think animations are already in place for them. So we'd have to do that for ourselves!

I'm afraid many of these models will require modification to animate them. The Spacelab solar panels is a good example. It was one of the first models I did whilst learning Blender and I just wanted to show the on-orbit configuration, so I took the quick and easy path (sorry, Master Yoda...).

Here's a link to the ALS Carrack rocket.

[CluelessModeler]

Thanks Nixonshead, you don't by any chance, have a folder of the Delta 4000 series do you?

Captain_Party, at some point in the next week or so, I'll sit down and take a look at all of these models and figure out exactly what needs to be animated.

If you haven't done so already, start watching YouTube tutorials on blender animations! There's a bunch by BlenderGuru and Andrew Price that are pretty decent!

[nixonshead]

BlenderGuru is great, I'm a big fan. I've got a list of about a dozen of those tutorials I want to do, but somehow other priorities always seem to get in the way...

For Delta 4000, I'm afraid I've got nothing on those - so I guess that means whoever takes them on for the Kerbel mod gets a free hand in how they look! The only details I know of are on the Eyes Wiki, but perhaps e of pi can give more input here.

[CluelessModeler]

I hear ya on the other priorities thing... Stupid RL.

That's fine with me, I was just trying to see what kind of details I could get! That's all! I'll whip something up from scratch!

[e of pi]

I hear ya on the other priorities thing... Stupid RL.

That's fine with me, I was just trying to see what kind of details I could get! That's all! I'll whip something up from scratch!

I'll be quite honest that the Delta 4000 information didn't get quite as much love as other launchers, though, so you probably will have to do some messing around of your own. Here's what I do have for you to base off of:

Some basic numbers are here. The core is about 20m long, and 3.5m in diameter, with the four RS-27 (not the later RS-27A) clustered in a square underneath. The Centaur-D is basically the OTL one of the period, with twin RL-10s. It'll probably be the same color as the OTL Deltas--from what I recall hearing from people who worked on it, the bluish paint color of Delta was basically a branding thing, and they'd probably keep that for this new large one. The Castor 4 is as-real-life.

If there's any other questions where you'd like guidance, I'll be happy to provide what help I can. Also, feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and feel free to point out something better.

[NathanKell]

e of pi: on the wiki the thrust is for 3 RS-27s. Does Delta 4000 take four instead? Also, 3.5m....would that be 11ft 4in? Or would they have gone for 12ft?

You *could* fit 3 RS-27s on a 10ft core, I think, especially if you did it in a triangle rather than in a line like Atlas. It'd be pretty tall, though, and make mounting solids harder. Speaking of, though, how do you see the RS-27s mounted? In a triangle (Vulkan style), or in line?

[e of pi]

e of pi: on the wiki the thrust is for 3 RS-27s. Does Delta 4000 take four instead?

Hrm. I could have sworn I designed it for four engines, but maybe it was only three. We can see how it flies, perhaps? As for triangle vs a line...I could be sold either way. Like I've said up above, Delta 4000 has always gotten a bit less love than other LV2, so my mental image of it is a lot less complete.

Also, 3.5m....would that be 11ft 4in? Or would they have gone for 12ft?

11ft 6in.

[NathanKell]

1. For number of RS-27s, using 3 the payload numbers exactly match what's in the wiki, and it has a sea level TWR (with no boosters or kick stage) of 1.2 with max LEO payload.

I think triangular makes the most sense; should make for a slightly shorter vehicle and you don't have to worry about (maaaaybe) needing to bulge out the aft skirt around the engines.

2. Sorry, math fail; must have typed it wrong when I was converting, because I swear I got 11.28 instead of 11.48, for 3.5.

[Beale]

I'll give the Longxing a shot!

Though I'll need help on the numbers (thrust, fuel, diameter, weights, etc.)

What's the "protocol" just add my name to the sheet?

Edited September 13, 2014 by Beale

[NathanKell]

That's great!

Per the OP, if you could fill out your line on the Contributor page, "and mention on the Asset Groups you're assigned, and add each individual part you make to the assets list." Due to how the mods work, and for mix-n-match, it'd be great if you could model any engines / RCS as individual parts, instead of having the service module have built in engines and RCS (same for anything else with RCS). As for stats, for size you can directly use nixonshead's source; for performance, I'm happy to help with that.

[Reddragon]

I'm ready to get back to work this week. I think, we'll need to exchange some technical information to get the parts together, making them look like they are from one mod. Edge number of cylinder parts/ type of texture etc.

[Beale]

First texture of the Longxing return capsule.

Thoughts? It's currently missing a bump map for the door.

It's very basic at the moment, mainly just some ambient occlusion around the windows and near the bottom at the heat-shield.

I think a certain amount of "stuff" would be needed on the texture to make it more realistic, but the blend files don't give much to go on (though they are very helpful model wise)

The craft blend file is based around a 2.5m diameter, which fits just perfect with normal sizes.

See how the Shenzou has multiple ports, etc.

So should I stick to the concept art or take some liberties with "stuff"?

I think, we'll need to exchange some technical information to get the parts together, making them look like they are from one mod. Edge number of cylinder parts/ type of texture etc.

This would be really helpful!

Edited September 14, 2014 by Beale

[NathanKell]

I think some amount of liberty is basically necessary

Looking at real life Shenzou and Soyuz capsules would be the best bet; as you can see even from that pic there's a fair amount of dimples and protrusions here and there, though you're going to want a picture of the capsule from before reentry and without its thermal blankets, I think.

[CluelessModeler]

Looks great for a start!

Promise I'm not dead guys, trying to buy a house is turning out to be a helluva lot more stressful than I thought...

But, my obligations haven't been forgotten!

[NoMrBond]

Looks great for a start!

Promise I'm not dead guys, trying to buy a house is turning out to be a helluva lot more stressful than I thought...

But, my obligations haven't been forgotten!

Urg, you have my sympathies

My friends are trying to buy a house right now and I've never seen two people more in need of a drink every weekend

[CluelessModeler]

It's about as fun as a colonoscopy without anesthetics...

Luckily, I woke up to learn that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel!

[Captain_Party]

Beale, any updates? This mod seems to be going off and on again

[CluelessModeler]

Work continues on my end, finding time to throw into the Deltas around midterms as best I can!

[MysteriousSteve]

Dude, this is awesome.

[Beale]

Beale, any updates? This mod seems to be going off and on again

I would like to continue.

But it seems there is a bit of a dead stop?

It is very hard to go forward until there is a consensus on overall style / part diameters, in my opinion (Plus a few more people jumping on board would be helpful! ).

Of course it is not always possible with people's IRL schedules and commitments.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Beale

[NathanKell]

Regarding part scaling, I think the best policy is to make everything at 100% actual scale, and then scale down if desired for Kerbal play. That should give the most flexibility.

Regarding style, since the source art we have is photorealisitc, and this is all either real, or derived-from-real, or as-real-as-possible hardware, I think maintaining a photorealistic style makes sense.

[Beale]

Regarding part scaling, I think the best policy is to make everything at 100% actual scale, and then scale down if desired for Kerbal play. That should give the most flexibility.

Regarding style, since the source art we have is photorealisitc, and this is all either real, or derived-from-real, or as-real-as-possible hardware, I think maintaining a photorealistic style makes sense.

Thanks for the info! Good to go!

I'll get back on the Longxing when I have a bit of spare time