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Shard Concept Art
🕑 Added 2023-12-19 07:05:25 +0000 UTC"Early designs of the Drake can rightly be said to be the template from which all other designs were born.
Though the original variant's air-frame was made of lacquered wood, it wasn't long before advances in elemental alchemy allowed the creation of variants with aluminum fuselages. Leading to many jokes about coating even later designs in gold.
Slower, but sturdier than the wooden designs that preceded them, the new Drake variants were for a time all-but invulnerable to enemy bolt-bow fire - with only a direct hit to the cockpit being the only real means of downing them.
An advantage that was used to great effect in repelling early incursions by both Lunite and Solite reclamation forces from the Elven homeland.
Over time, the Drake's reputation for invincibility has been somewhat diminished with the growing proliferation of enchanted-ammo-belts, but the variant still remains a workhorse design amongst many Lindholmian noble houses.
One of the main criticisms of the design is its rather lackluster armament, with only two aether-powered 20mm repeater cannons mounted in the nose. A deadly armament in a time where it was the only aluminium skinned beast in the skies, but decidedly lackluster in the modern age."
- Artwork by Fortune Clement.
Comments
MarakEvans
Hey, Blue. I'm sorry for what I am about to post. Remember that cursed mid-mounted prop-plane? If you ever decide you want to design or fly some concept planes, there is this game called FlyOut I saw a YouTuber using to design suggestions from his chat. Chat can be a horrible master to have sometimes. https://youtu.be/ltCb-YM5cdA?si=b5N2cD_jZeLZsw-y This Stealth Cessna is one of the more recent suggestions. Don't know if you will see this, but I hope it will be a useful experience, if not a blursed one. Sincerely, Nerded-out YT-Blackhole-Victim
Jon Thorn
Was just asking in a much later post how airships look, and this shard gives me an idea. So the Push propellar design is interesting and ingenious. If the back release of aether means that it's a steam push turbine in the back with the shard core likely being in or closer to the front, then this thin's is highly maneuverable. I admit the wings are a bit larger than I imagined. The whole thing if it's ussing lighter than air methods of flight instead of speed based propoltion I imagined would have had simple maneuver wings in the back to not cause undo-lift so they would not have to slow down to stay in the battle. However, I do like that you added in a lot more maneuver fins which a high speed lighter than air aircraft could exploit in the same way as a space fighter. I appreciate that it looks areodynamic without looking like a dart. I half imagined most would look like a bullet with tiny tailwings because it's an effeciant desing that is easy to make and does not use a lot of material... but it also would have looked terrible. Where as this gives fancy hotrod feels. I am intensely curious as to how and where the weapons are mounted. Also it's interesting that these things would have need of a carrier. Do shards have a fuel time limit? Say a half hour in the sky and the pressure tank the Mithril core is refilling would be depleted enough that they have to land and let it charge as not to entirely drain the tank and drop out of the sky? The reason for the question above being that generally the nead for current aircraft carriers is fuel. It just makes aircraft patrols and missions more possible if your fuel and ammo source is right there. However if we reach the point where you can make a plane fast and hard hitting while still having the fuel capacity to take off from the states, fly across the world, patrol for several hours, and land back in the states? Aircraft carries would not be as important.
Blue Fishcake
Beta readers have it :D
Blood Raven
It took me a few moments to realize it was pusher and not puller design. Thats bold for a starting full monoplane design.
