Bearcat Reimagined WIP

[TurboTim07]

Hi everyone! Haven't posted anything in a very long time, but I figured I'd share something I've been working on. With all the new stuff going on for Star Citizen and the 3D model prints through Shapeways, I started thinking about how one of my favorite fighters would work. So I give y'all the Bearcat. This is my first model, and I'm extremely new at this and still learning. Here're some of the things I changed/imagined how it would look when finished.

First, the engine thrusters. Instead of the Bearcat's six engine ports, I thought that two large thrust vectoring nozzles would be more fitting. Next, I moved the wingtip mounted tachyon guns to a more central position. I think with internal missile bays, the missiles would launch one by one out where the guns were. I also made small housing area for the guns in case anyone would want to swap the guns out (I honestly don't think I have the scale of the tachyon guns right, but that can be fixed). I haven't added the maneuvering thrusters yet. Still learning on how I could do that, but I think they'd work best right where the wings meet the fuselage and also near the cockpit. Instead of intakes right by the cockpit, I decided to make those the retro rockets for reverse thrust and leave the intakes by the engines. Finally, the last thing I can think of right now (it's 2 am) is the cockpit. Once that's finished, it's going to be a strut-less or near strut-less canopy to give the pilot an uninterrupted field of view.

Like I said, this is a work in progress, but I would appreciate any feedback on how to make this better or any ideas on features to add to the model. Also, if anyone can point me to tutorials on texturing, I have an idea on a paint scheme I want to use on this. I'm going to work on this when I can so progress might be slow, but hopefully the final product can be something everyone can use and enjoy.

 

[TurboTim07]

So I went on and decided to include an actual cockpit to the model. There's no instrument panel yet, and the joystick is pretty ugly. I'm also not entirely happy with the throttle. But at least they're there! Also, there's ejection handles in front of the seat. Also finally added maneuvering thrusters around the fuselage.

Still haven't learned how to do proper textures yet, have a lot of school work and things going on keeping me busy. Anyway, I'm actually using Sketchup for making this model, so it's easy yet sometimes hard to use. Easy for me because it's point-and-click and it's been 8 years since my high school drafting class so I've pretty much forgotten how to use AutoCAD and all of that. Hard because sometimes I have to do incredibly redundant steps and workarounds just to get the shapes and angles that I want.

The current textures on the model are "materials" available within Sketchup. Eventually, I'll be able to give it proper textures. I have squadron paint scheme in mind for this baby. Once I get around to it, I'd like to also figure out how to add panel lines to it so it doesn't look like one solid block of metal. But for now, this is what I have. As before, any feedback or advice is appreciated

 

[centaurianmudpig]

Looking good, the screenshot from the back makes it look like a fighter plan from today.

I never really like the Bear Cat, but I put it down to that WC4 mission where you fight against them in a nebula without shields.

 

[Ijuin]

The Bearcat was great except for the guns being so widely spaced that it was nearly impossible to get all four to hit at the same time on any but the largest targets.