Topic: Romulan Devilhawk Class Bird of Prey

[Wicked Zombie]

Some mesh tweaks and a new coat of paint for the Devilhawk, plus a totally new bird drawn up by Atolm:

[Anthony Scott]

 

Wow...some truly BEAUTIFUL work there! I always did like rommies...those paint jobs make excellent aiming points~

Really, excellent work as always!

Semper Fi, Carry On

[Rod ONeal]

Oooh! An early Halloween present.

Thanks for your efforts, guys. Any day that Wicked Zombie releases a new model is a good SFC day.

[Rogue NineCH]

Excellent work as usual WZ! She's beautiful.

[Don Karnage]

what are the circle under the hull?

nice BoP 

[markyd]

awsome...  such an impovement on an already awsome model

[Don Karnage]

if it is i didn't know it was able to land?

[marstone]

In the ships of the line books/calender there's shots of BoP#s flying extremely low over the Romulan capital, they aren't that big and are sturdily constructed so its very possible they could be capable of landing on the surface. Also if the Klink BoP is in fact a romulan design (I personally don't agree with the idea myself) then it would stant that other rommie ships would be as well. I'm going to say landing gear hatches or even a enlarged airdock that could contain a workbee or something that could help effect repair of the ship hile away from dock.

IIRC in SFB the BoP style was able to land.  As for how, well if a shuttle that is nothing more then a box can land why not a BoP.  I do believe that said they can land and take off, most Orion designs were suppose to be able to also. 

[FoaS_XC]

You know, they could just be stylized aztecs... But really i like the idea of the BoP being able to land. It looks aerodynamic enough - kinda flying wing-like. Even though thats not really needed when you have gravity control.

[Shadowfleet]

WZ - you talent never disappoints. Thanks for yet another great release!

[Atolm-Rising]

Okay let me put your worries at ease here, as those circles (the 3 of em) ARE landing pads.
It has been sited in numerous noncanon sources (novels, schematics, etc...) that the starships known as Romulan Birds-of-Prey can not only enter atmospheres, but also is able to land on planets without any difficulties
Also, don't forget the design itself is a lifting body in its configuration, so that too would lend itself to the idea of the vessel being more than adept enough to land on a planet's surface .

[Dizzy]

Bad ass.

[Don Karnage]

i was wondering something on the BoP, if it a pre warp ship, what are the tube at the edge of the wings?

since the impulse engine is under the dorsal wing i was wondering what they are.

and in the tos episode Balance of Terror was the BoP equiped with warp engines?, if not how long would it take to return to romulan territory on impulse?

[FoaS_XC]

Oh come on Don. That has been debated since the 1980s - try google. Or, even better read Ex-Astris-Scientia's article on it.

[Wicked Zombie]

This isn't a canon Bird of Prey so that tired, rotting old chestnut about the Romulan Warp Drive doesn't apply here anyway.

[Don Karnage]

This isn't a canon Bird of Prey so that tired, rotting old chestnut about the Romulan Warp Drive doesn't apply here anyway.

well i was not pointing to this mod, but a romulan BoP in general, well a tos one anyway.

[Vipre]

This isn't a canon Bird of Prey so that tired, rotting old chestnut about the Romulan Warp Drive doesn't apply here anyway.

well i was not pointing to this mod, but a romulan BoP in general, well a tos one anyway.

The answer is incredibly simple but depends on what pieces of fictional "reality" you accept as correct ones.

[Atolm-Rising]

My head hurts...

[GotAFarmYet?]

My head hurts...

LOL,
Atolm just give them the simple answer I told Don at WZs' forums:
Anything with a that big of a Plasma Cannon can be in any Era it chooses, You going to tell it No?

[Norsehound]

This isn't a canon Bird of Prey so that tired, rotting old chestnut about the Romulan Warp Drive doesn't apply here anyway.

Wait, this isn't the same BOP class from Balance of Terror?

The model's fantastic. Whenever I go shopping for BOP models, one of the things I look at are the thinness of the main hull and how the wings are angled. They need to be just right in order to capture my favorite angles of the BOP... and WZ's model captures it perfectly.

That said, compared to the FCA model (A Will Decker re-rexture model) I have currently, she's big. Bigger than what I expected of BOPs next to TMP-era ships. Ah well.

[Wicked Zombie]

Actually mine is far from what the "real" BoP is supposed to look like and is closer to the larger SFB class and the inaccurate AMT model kits. The wingspan is wider, the hull details are different, the bird on the belly is totally new, it has weapons hardpoints on the hull and on the engines, the size is about 60 meters longer, and it has impulse engines where the original was bare.

[Norsehound]

the root of my question was whether this was supposed to represent that same class, not be completely accurate to the studio model.

Though I've seen variants of the BOP mounting the PH-1s on the top of the hull (bank style, like the connie), I think they were supposed to be represented by the tubes on either side of the plasma cannon. That said, I still like the way the phasers were mounted on the wingtips here. Better, in my opinion, than placing them at the center of the bulbs like some models I've encountered.

[Wicked Zombie]

This one is a separate hull class than the canon version, at least for me anyway. While the SFC specs peg the BoP as a cruiser, it's weapons loadout and overall capabilities are closer to the frigates of other races. Of course the cloak and systems tend to make up for it's armament. That aside, the Devilhawk is intended to be a more dedicated, full-on heavy cruiser that can handle enemy ships with or without the hit-and-cloak maneuvers. Think of it as the BoP's big sister.

All that aside, I really just made it because I liked the wider wingspan of the AMT/SFB/Micromachine birds but didn't want to bother with all that accuracy and detail scrutinizing needed for the canon one. Plus I wanted it to have guns...lots of guns.

[FoaS_XC]

Thats really interesting WZ.

According to SFB, early romulans, of course, had the power and speed deficiency, and so bought and adapted several klingon hulls. To have SFC tell it, it seemed as if their entire fleet was practically replaced with Klingon hulls. D7s, Kilnk BoP FFs and DDs, etc. It was later, according to SFB, that romulans came up with their own tactical-warp capable late-era fleet.

To be honest, this always felt like such a cop-out to me. It makes sense that the Romulans would buy some klingon hulls, sure, but that many? Naw, I don't believe it. The devilhawk works perfectly as a second-generation BoP, something that didn't lack [insert Warp Drive or Anti-matter Reactors, which ever mythos you go with] but didnt come from the klingons. This later led into the third-generation Killerhawk, and Firehawk classes.

[Don Karnage]

so what weapons this BoP will have?

beside the oblivious plasma cannon on the nose?

This one is a separate hull class than the canon version, at least for me anyway. While the SFC specs peg the BoP as a cruiser, it's weapons loadout and overall capabilities are closer to the frigates of other races. Of course the cloak and systems tend to make up for it's armament. That aside, the Devilhawk is intended to be a more dedicated, full-on heavy cruiser that can handle enemy ships with or without the hit-and-cloak maneuvers. Think of it as the BoP's big sister.

All that aside, I really just made it because I liked the wider wingspan of the AMT/SFB/Micromachine birds but didn't want to bother with all that accuracy and detail scrutinizing needed for the canon one. Plus I wanted it to have guns...lots of guns.

so you want this baby to have a lot of phasers?

[JohanobesusII]

It looks like it has enough phasers for point defense, but mostly relies on the six heavy weapons on the nacelles.

By the way WZ, I'd say you have perfected creating the illusion of depth on the windows.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

This is really looking great. Will the model be small enough that it could replace the stock R-WB+/R-WE and not look too large?

[FoaS_XC]

so what weapons this BoP will have?

beside the oblivious plasma cannon on the nose?

This one is a separate hull class than the canon version, at least for me anyway. While the SFC specs peg the BoP as a cruiser, it's weapons loadout and overall capabilities are closer to the frigates of other races. Of course the cloak and systems tend to make up for it's armament. That aside, the Devilhawk is intended to be a more dedicated, full-on heavy cruiser that can handle enemy ships with or without the hit-and-cloak maneuvers. Think of it as the BoP's big sister.

All that aside, I really just made it because I liked the wider wingspan of the AMT/SFB/Micromachine birds but didn't want to bother with all that accuracy and detail scrutinizing needed for the canon one. Plus I wanted it to have guns...lots of guns.

so you want this baby to have a lot of phasers?

I don't think Plasma Torpedo Launchers can be oblivious.. Obvious perhaps.

Just looking at it, I would say this load out.

1 ph1 FAL
1 ph1 FAR
1 ph1 ALL
1 ph3 LH
1 ph3 RH
1 PlasR FA
1 PlasF FAL or FA
1 PlasF FAR or FA

just my two cents. Kind of like a CC+ to the CA.

[Don Karnage]

so what weapons this BoP will have?

beside the oblivious plasma cannon on the nose?

This one is a separate hull class than the canon version, at least for me anyway. While the SFC specs peg the BoP as a cruiser, it's weapons loadout and overall capabilities are closer to the frigates of other races. Of course the cloak and systems tend to make up for it's armament. That aside, the Devilhawk is intended to be a more dedicated, full-on heavy cruiser that can handle enemy ships with or without the hit-and-cloak maneuvers. Think of it as the BoP's big sister.

All that aside, I really just made it because I liked the wider wingspan of the AMT/SFB/Micromachine birds but didn't want to bother with all that accuracy and detail scrutinizing needed for the canon one. Plus I wanted it to have guns...lots of guns.

so you want this baby to have a lot of phasers?

I don't think Plasma Torpedo Launchers can be oblivious.. Obvious perhaps.

Just looking at it, I would say this load out.

1 ph1 FAL
1 ph1 FAR
1 ph1 ALL
1 ph3 LH
1 ph3 RH
1 PlasR FA
1 PlasF FAL or FA
1 PlasF FAR or FA

just my two cents. Kind of like a CC+ to the CA.

so this baby got punch

nice, but i hope it got enough power to power the plasma?

[FoaS_XC]

Well, thats where the cloak comes in - Dip into cloak, cut power from either the Plasma-Fs, the phasers, or naturally the engines, and charge your Plas-R.

[Don Karnage]

yea but you are vulnerable when you cloak, you still need some power for the shield.

[FoaS_XC]

I never said to pull power from shields.....

[Don Karnage]

cloak is not good since they still can see you, if you slow down to power you're plasma each time you're easy target 

[Tus-XC]

cloak is not good since they still can see you, if you slow down to power you're plasma each time you're easy target 

It doesn't work for those who don't know how to use it... I should know, i know how to use it and win quite a bit w/ it

[Rod ONeal]

Indiscriminately firing on a cloaked ship is a good way to die. The cloak is not, and isn't supposed to be, the "Shield of Invulnerability".

[GotAFarmYet?]

Not Really that is what ECM is for
Once the Phaser Charge all that power becomes available to to, and in SFC you can trickle charge heavy weapons. The War Eagle which is a under weaponed CA has more than enough power to Cloak Charge is Plasma R and still maintain a good Speed. Unless you are bad at power management any CL or CA usually have enough power to work, including the Fed CA which is one of the most power starved ship in SFC.

[FoaS_XC]

Seriously, the cloak in SFC is diesel if you know how to use it. It's not a TNG cloak, never meant to be.

The SFC cloak works by having weapons fired at you act as though you are farther away than you really are, increasing the likelihood that they'd miss, and having a chance to decrease the damage done. If you keep running your ship fast, you'll actually diminish the benefit of the cloak. I tend to run around speed 3 or 4 when i'm cloaked, depending how far away I really am. Never suck power from shields just in case something does hit. Throw your power into charging your weapons. Wait for your enemy to do something stupid, like showing their weakest arc to you, decloak, and open up. Knock down an entire shield face with your plasmas, and then tag internals with your phasers. If you're facing someone with drones, don't use your ph3s, save those for when they might get a drone or three following you. If they aren't a drone race, then add those to your internal barriages.

Now, please Tus, correct me on any point if I am mistaken. You are a better Rom flyer than I am by far.

EDIT:

In any event, lets get back to the awesome ship that people have worked long and hard on.