Krant

S

Sadic

Spaceman
Hi,
After the Dralthi, I have just finished to model the Krant from WC1. So here she lies : http://www.multimania.com/sadic/WC/Krant.jpg. The model is not as accurate as it could have been because I had only one reference (the Claw Marks) and I can not spent too much time per model. In fact before beginning the animation I still have to model a Gratha, Dorkir, Ralari, Fralthi, Drayman, Hornet, Rapier, Broadsword, Exeter and of course a Bengal class carrier... A lot of work, but also a lot of fun :D
By the way was the Broadsword operational in 55-56 ? And if someone has an idea of a cool ship I could use in my anim, let me know ! (But not the Scimitar : I HATE that ship ;)).
 
You're right.
In fact, I was not sure when I saw the Claw Marks. I hesitate for a long moment, but it was very very ugly so I took some liberties and made a central cockpit...
Furthermore Dralthi's length is 28 meters and Krant's is 32. First, I did the two cockpits and respected the proportions shown on the Marks, but it looked very weird when placing the two ships on the same picture.
Of course, if I find a solution, I will modify my model and put the two cockpits back. But my main problem was the lack of references, specialy hi-res pictures.
BTW why does the Krant have two cockpits ? One for the pilot and the other for the co-pilot or something like that ?
 
Well, unless the Confed Handbook says something about the Krant, we don't really know why it has two crewmen. Nonetheless, changing the ship to a singe central cockpit is too much of a liberty to take, methinks.
 
Surprisingly, I agree with you. I am not very pleased either, but it really looked weird and ugly (the way I did it), when I put 2 cockpits.
As I said before I can not spend a lot of time per model (I have already begun the Gratha, and fortunatly I find it easier to realise than the Krant, so there won't be any "liberty" this time). That is why I turned around the problem that way. But I am not completly satisfied and if I find an easy and quick "design" solution I will correct my model. So I will watch WCA again, because if I remember well the Kilrathi use Krants.
 
Well, the main problem with the cockpits is that they are too small, right? So why not extend the cockpits, and perhaps even widen them a bit? Mind you, you could in fact use both versions... just say that yours is some special hardly-ever-seen single-pilot version :).
 
I think that if I have some time left after modelling all the fighters I want to do, I will modify this Krant. Otherwise I may use your "hardly-ever-seen single-pilot version" trick... ;)

By the way I have just seen that LOAF put the Krant at wcnews. Well, thanks a lot : that's pretty cool ! :D
But I have to mention that I am not working on a WC2 Confederation starbase model. It is Eder who is modeling that station.
I think I will model some confed ground base instead.
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
Pity we can't replicate this in the games yet, can we?
Click to expand...

I guess you are right. Unfortunatly I am very bad on low-poly modeling :( .
This one has around 36000 faces. Too much for any game.
 
I had a look at the pic and the Claw Marks diagram again last night, and I think the single-cockpit version seems more realistic in regards to scale. Who ever said that those two blobs at the front of the Krant were cockpits? It's an easy thing to assume that they are, but Sadic's interpretation looks fine to me.
 
Well, if you take a look at the original sprites from WC1, it's obvious that those two blobs were meant to be the cockpits :).
 
Ah well. Haven't played WC1 for ages and I was too lazy to look at the ship file. Well, not lazy, I was actually doing my economics assignment for a change. :) Despite what was in the game, I still go by Sadic's interpretation and the 'scale-is-more-correct-this-way' argument.
 
*gasp* An... economics assignment? Well, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. But you'd better not enjoy it! ;)

I also actually think that Sadic's version looks better :). So why am I arguing? Well, it's not that I think it should look exactly like it does in the game. It's just that I think that the fact that there actually are two cockpits is a fairly large detail... change their size and stuff, but there must be two :-).
 
Hey! It's my only first year subject this semester so it's really easy! Unlike statistics... <shudder>

Anyway, what are you suggesting he make the two blobs stretch the whole way across the two prongs? Seems rather isolated out there. And I want to know why two cockpits? It makes no sense to me, even for training purposes.
 
Ooh, I remember statistics. It starts off really easy, and then it becomes hard when you least expect it. A good calculator makes a world of difference though... but then again, I've never done statistics beyond the grade 12 level.

The two prongs are actually good places for cockpits - you get much better visibility from over there. Why two cockpits instead of one big one? Maybe it's a failsafe - a prong gets shot off, and the other pilot can take over. Or maybe the designer was drunk at the time... who knows? :)
 
It would be cool to have high poly ships in games *sigh* I guess we'll just have to settle for EVERY WC ship in lowpoly 3D. I need low poly modelers for Wing Commander Universe. Anyone interested? I need tons of wc2 ships to be made as well as a wc3 light destroyer.
 
Theres a feature in 3D Studio Max to automatically reduce the poly count isn't there. It removes and then interpolates, you occasionally get funny results but it works.
 
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