"What colour for drop pods? " Topic

I've finally put my ClearHorizon drop pods together but don't know how to paint them. I sort of want to paint them in the same scheme as my infantry and vehicles. However, I think there is an argument that they should be different as they are attached to the space fleet or should be white to reflect heat.

What do people think?

If it were me I'd paint in my army color scheme, metal bits and scorch marks.

Lots of charing and burnt off paint

camouflage so they are hard for the enemy to see once landed? Bright colours so they can be easily found by fellow droppers? don't paint them as they are just one way, one use pods? Depends on your idea of how they will be used I guess…

Take a look on the NET for photos of modern-day paratroop operations.

Drop chutes are normally in drab colors, to match the terrain into which they are dropped -- green for temperate, khaki for desert, off-white for arctic.

Parachutes are normally recovered, rehabilitated, and re-packed, when operational tempo permits, so I assume your futuristic drop pods would be likewise.

Finding a drop pod should be easy since each will look like a meteor falling to earth, with flames and trailing smoke. They should be easy to shoot down as they fall to earth, making an easy Target for shoulder fired heat seeking rockets. I'd hate to be in a drop pod.

I agree that the scheme would be dependent on how you plan to use them.

As escape pods – bright and visible.
As stealth insertion pods – dark and stealthy.
As large scale deployment pods – Dark but with bright markings for ground recognition.

Are they sheilded (energy sheilds)? If not then white/silver may be the way to go for heat dissipation.

Are they actually part of the spaceship or are they cargo? If they are part of the ship (like escape pods, for example) then that would probably point you towards the ship colours. If they are cargo, then they may be part of the deploying forces inventory so they could feasibly be painted in a way to blend in with the infantry/vehicles of the deploying force.

Basically, paint them how you want :)

Mr H

As a thought, have you considered making some optional pods in the fully closed position? A one piece casting might be cheaper and easier for those who want a mix and match approach to this.

Just a thought.

Oh, my other thought: one busted open with a hole right through the middle burried into the ground somewhat that got caught by the tripple A on the way down.

All would look very cool, I think.

John T

Thanks for the suggestions, all.

Knew I should go for the "paint them however I want" stance but it's nice to get some other ideas on operational and technical considerations. This has given me plenty to consider.

+1 for John T's closed and destroyed castings.

I am really impressed with Mr Harold's drop pods. They look fantastic.

A picture is worth 1000 words.
Soyuz capsule after landing:

Wow! That doesn't even need highlighting.

Do I understand this right? It's the 24th century and your landing technique is "put you in a bucket and throw you out the window?"

Seriously?

So yes, black everywhere except the top…

And I'd think the Pods would have Breaking Thrusters/Retro Rockets to slow their decent. Like on Russian chutes for AFV drops … The Epic Drop Pods even have some on the bottom of the models …

Keep 'em the same color.

I'm glad you like them!

Here are some paint pics from different folks:

Drop Pod painted by ThirdFateCreations (http://thirdfatecreations.blogspot.com/)

Drop Pod painted by Dwartist

and here is one I painted up:

Mr H

As a thought, have you considered making some optional pods in the fully closed position? A one piece casting might be cheaper and easier for those who want a mix and match approach to this.

Just a thought.

Oh, my other thought: one busted open with a hole right through the middle burried into the ground somewhat that got caught by the tripple A on the way down.

All would look very cool, I think.

John T

I'd love to do some actually! At some point I will, of course right now you can model them in the closed position, but having some nice terrain pieces as one-piece castings would be nice too.

I consider these a "stealth" insertion method. They can be used for "shock and awe" operations, but in general they would be inserted via stealth cruiser from low orbit. Their speed, size and design make them exceedingly difficult to detect. Much more so than any aerospace designs. And they travel at top speed almost all the way down, firing the retro rocket just before touchdown, reducing the window of detection.

Once on the ground, they can either be destroyed on site, or retrieved via a Raven-Class VTOL once the area is secure from AA fire.

Yeah… I was trying not to look at those other examples as my efforts will be nowhere near as good.

Mr Harold, I've noticed that everyone else that has published images of their pods has put the fat ends of their hydraulic struts at the top but yours are at the bottom! Are we missing something?

@Extra Crispy, I often do NOE my grav APCs into a game and that would make more sense but… Rule of Cool!

You could always try a primer coat of the base color you like, wash it heavily, and then use weathering powders to make it look "burned". Or even a "stealth" black color, with some red details and a edging or drybrush. Like the SR-71, that might look pretty cool!

Mr Harold, I've noticed that everyone else that has published images of their pods has put the fat ends of their hydraulic struts at the top but yours are at the bottom! Are we missing something?

Haha, good point! I didn't even notice, I would say it's personal preference, but I'm curious if there would be an engineering reason behind either way…

Natural metal, with a bit of scorching on it, but not as much as that staged photo of the 1:1 scale guys shown back on Earth.

Blaze Orange. I can't imagine that the GIANT FREAKING FLAMING THING FALLING FROM THE SKY can be easily camouflaged, that the people in it are going to "linger" for very long after it lands, and that presumably you want to easily locate the things for (best case) recovery to reuse or (worst case) salvageable supplies/lifesupport.

Other than that, just COVERED in soot, as Mr "Space Bucket" (I laughed GOOD and hard at that) above said, it's not like these things are the pinnacle of modern technology even TODAY, let alone in the "Future"

Haha, good point! I didn't even notice, I would say it's personal preference, but I'm curious if there would be an engineering reason behind either way…

I'm not really a hydraulics guy, so may be off, but as I understand it…

If all they do is open the door, then there's no reason I can think of beyond that's how it's normally done in real life as far as I know(fat end on the stationary side).

If they are hydraulic actuators that connect to a hydraulic pump so they can close the door too, then you'd normally shorten the length of the tubing running to the pump and put the fat end on the stationary side, not the door side.

Regarding the hydraulic struts, fat end on top because that's closest to the "pump" which creates the fluid pressure. The thinner"rod" which extends and opens the door should be on bottom

Yeah… I was trying not to look at those other examples as my efforts will be nowhere near as good.

Dwartist and Third fate have set the bar pretty damn high :(

John T

I'd say 'well toasted' by the re-entry. Lots of charring on the underside of the pod and up the sides of the doors (I assume that the outer doors partially open up high to act as speedbrakes.

Bright orange is the new green, as far as camo. goes, for Sci-Fi.

"Mr Harold, I've noticed that everyone else that has published images of their pods has put the fat ends of their hydraulic struts at the top but yours are at the bottom! Are we missing something?"
Instructions say that way up!

My three year old lost my instructions so I was working blind. Mind you, the pins and recesses were definitely different top and bottom. It seemed the right way to install them.

dwartist, I made the mistake of looking at your drop pod while I was painting mine last night. I believe, at one point, I really did shed an envious tear.

Yes, apparently I'm not very good at following my own instructions, d'oh!