Colonial Marines

[Gearz]

Confessions of a project junky ~ Hi my name is Gearz and its been five minutes since I last started a new project.

Well not really started.. Just a few ideas fleshed out in 3D so it doesn't fade. I think this one has interesting possibilities, so I thought I might just blurt it out and see if there is any interest, and maybe get some input to the idea.

Inspiration
cdwheatley has a several great pics of a very nice AH-1 Cobra model posted at his site (http://chrissmodels.webs.com/). So I'd guess you could say his model is the inspiration for his idea. Thanks Chris !

Idea
Just follow along with me here for a moment ( I won't be offended if its at a distance)

The Aliens franchise certainly has some iconic vessels, and the Colonial Marines is an interesting concept, however, like many great movies they leave you drooling for more info / back story / expanded detail. The Sulaco is a great looking ship, it looked like a Destroyer or larger class of ship, and if you build military vessels like that, you'd have to assume that there's a threat environment that requires it. Following on from there, I can't think of many military forces that would send a ships of that size out all by its lonesome, so the Colonial Marines would presumably have smaller / escort / fighter class vessels as well.

SO.. what would a Colonial Marines fighter look like..?

The Cobra gunship is a great looking bit of kit, and it definitely reflects its name. I chopped up a 3D model a AH-1 and went looking for a 'SF' looking body. By design or coincidence a fighter from the PC game Homeworld has very similar lines to a Cobra, so a bit of 3D kit bashing of the two and this is what I came up with. ~ pics

Its sacrilege creating non-cannon Aliens stuff you say..? well..Maybe, although it would make a tidy little model and it has great potential for variation..

* Squadrons attached to battle groups or planetary defence = Multiple scheme possibilities
* Multi roll capabilities = LOTZ of weapon loadout possibilities

Oh well, there it is, another long term project, any ideas are welcome.

cheers
Gearz

[ltla9000311]

Wow Gearz, that's very cool! While I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to Aliens, I would definitely (eventually) build that and put it next to the Sulaco.

And don't worry at all about starting a new project every 5 minutes, I do the same thing, Attention Deficit never killed anyone! (I think)

Keep on it!

[Gearz]

Another idea.. added from an abandoned project. A Mistel style planetary bombardment drone .

* The drone design was shamelessly nicked from a Design Comp at... Fantastic P****** I think. Can't think of the guys name of the top of my head. = Have to get his permission to use it, but its a brilliant design.

cheers

[Gearz]

Hi itla9000311.. You sound like me, I can't help it lol I run with an idea, alas it runs out of steam thanks to time constraints and interruptions.. If this bombs out maybe someone else may run with it..

cheers mate

[cdwheatley]

Inspiration
cdwheatley has a several great pics of a very nice AH-1 Cobra model posted at his site (http://chrissmodels.webs.com/). So I'd guess you could say his model is the inspiration for his idea. Thanks Chris !
Hey no problem Gearz, glad to have been of service :D.

[René]

Hello gearz,

this is a great project:), hope to see more to come, can´t wait to build this Cobra.

René

[The Orange]

Are you sure that's not official? ;) Looking great! So, what do you think of slapping on a color scheme that's related to the dropship? I think it might go pretty well.

[jacberk]

Great project.
I kept the legal pad printers in business for 40 years. lol

Now all you need is a Huey. Jan Rukr's dropship minus the APC hold would make one.
Hell! Jan's dropship is a Huey!

Just thinking out loud again!

Jack

[Gearz]

Hey Chris ..no worries mate. This is why I love seeing pics of the 'other guys' work ~ Inspiration.

Hey Rene Thanks mate, I'm sorry I can't say it'll be a quick project, but it has enough interesting possibilities to keep me motivated. I'll try to keep the build as simple as possible, and rely on the colour schemes to make it a fun build.

That's a very good idea Orange. .If its meant to fit into the Aliens universe, it should look like the stuff that's already established.. I deserve a rap on the knuckles for not thinking of that myself. thanks mate.

Hey Jack... hehe.. great analogy.. BTW. thanks for your comments over at 'Z' mate, much appreciated. :)


Umm.. Is the name Cobra to ordinary for the Colonial Marines / Aliens universe..? Exo Cobra..? anyone think of a more 'spacey' word to add to 'Cobra' + it would be kewl if someone could come up with a bit of back story / vehicle description / history..? I suc at that sort of thing ~ and if its supposed to fit into an established universe, it'd be good if it 'sounds' the part as well.



cheers

[kjev]

Coming from the guy who enjoys crossing universes (So Battletech meets Heavy Gear--Who will win?), I think it's awesome. And they need some back story. Everyone already knows what will happen: The Aliens come. The Predators come. The humans are France in WWII (apologies to any Frenchmen out there. I'm truly sorry your nation had to be the battleground so many times)--in a word, Roadkill.

It's would be nice to see something come out where you "get a handle" on the whole Alien's/Predator universe.

K'Jev
:cool:

[Gearz]

K'jev ~ ditto! I'd love to see it come from fans ~ I recon the studio butchered the franchise with AVP2 = splloooot! What the H*** were they thinking??!?!?!??

Just a quick pic. Orange's suggestion of a cannon colour scheme, inspired a spot of doodling. The chin turret was a blank, so drawing from established hardware, the top turret from the APC ( I think Hudson called them phased plasma something or others..?) looks the part when flipped as a chin turret. ~ solved.

[Averjoe]

The chin turret was a blank, so drawing from established hardware, the top turret from the APC ( I think Hudson called them phased plasma something or others..?) l

According to the Colonial Marines Technical Manual they are twin 20mW Boyars PARS 150 phased plasma cannons.

Most of the rest of the vehicular armament featured in the movie and the tech manual appears to be more traditional in nature, mostly Gatling guns (albeit firing caseless rounds) and rockets/missiles.

Energy weapons are neat, but there is nothing like putting hot "lead" on target. :D

[Gearz]

Thanks Averjoe ~ I wish I had the CM Tech Manual. Hudson's mention of APC's weapon, was the only reference to energy weapons I recall in the movie. Your point is well taken, you can't go past a lead chucker. A few mods to the chin turret coming up I think..

btw. While I've got your ear...I was thinking of trying to grab a copy of that manual, Is there much reference in it to other vessels/ships besides the stuff seen on screen?. Ship names or vessel types, expanded stuff like that?

cheers

[Averjoe]

Is there much reference in it to other vessels/ships besides the stuff seen on screen?. Ship names or vessel types, expanded stuff like that?

Since the book is mostly about the marines and there support equipment there isn't a whole lot extra on the ships and vehicles. There are a couple of tanks, but I believe they are they only extra ground vehicles. They do have a listing and description of several dropship and APC variants. They also have a lot of info on the Sulaco, but as I recall there is no listing of any other ship names.

The detail on the stuff from the movies is insane, plus they have a lot of interesting pseudo-historical comments and stories that are fun. However, considering what it is going for these days (cheapest I've seen it $70) I don't know if it's really worth it unless you are a die-hard Aliens fan.

[The Orange]

K'jev ~ ditto! I'd love to see it come from fans ~ I recon the studio butchered the franchise with AVP2 = splloooot! What the H*** were they thinking??!?!?!??

Just a quick pic. Orange's suggestion of a cannon colour scheme, inspired a spot of doodling. The chin turret was a blank, so drawing from established hardware, the top turret from the APC ( I think Hudson called them phased plasma something or others..?) looks the part when flipped as a chin turret. ~ solved.


Gosh that texture looks great. :eek:

[Gearz]

Thanks Orange, textures are one thing I'm reasonably comfortable with, they are just a little tedious and time consuming to do..

Averjoe.. yep that price tag is a little daunting. Its more the expanded universe stuff, if there is any, I'd be more interested in. Thanks for the info mate, I might keep an eye out for a copy and try to flip some pages before I fork for it.. Your right about the guns N missles ~ established weaponry etc, so I'll stay clear of the fancy flashlights.

I swapped out the plasma's with a gatling type barrel. At this scale individual barrels would probably be to fiddly and twin guns looked over done, a bit of tweaking and test building should sort it out.

[ltla9000311]

Dang Gearz! That is coming along really well! I like the gatling change on the chin turret!

[Gearz]

lol yep.. guns guns guns..

minor update

I've simplified the the nose and canopy, and deleted some minor parts that weren't really doing much. Just have to come up with some missile pods that look the part to finish off the design. I was never happy with my build of these type of fins on previous models. Stabbing a model with bamboo skewers or wire is ok.. better to approach it from the inside out, instead of an after thought, so I've added two triangular prisms ( one top, one bottom) that will serve as braces/guides for tooth picks or similar, it should ensure a solid mast to fit the fins onto etc. Just bit of test building for a few critical parts now.

[The Orange]

Truth be told, took me a while to figure out what those diagrams were :P They are the back of the ship with the top section cut-away to reveal the guides for the toothpicks, right?

Nonetheless, that fighter is probably one of the best I've seen! Where will the missile pods be added? It better be as sweet as the rest of this model ;) [ Which it definitely will be...] ltla is right, that gatling gun is superb!

If you don't mind, for a later varient of the fighter, will you include missile attachments to the fins and something at the back of the fighter. The design looks great, but the backside is looking a bit bare ;)

[Gearz]

Yep the gfx were done on the fly so not so great, but you got it. The missile pod will be mounted on a stub wing, similar to the AH-1 .. maybe.. I'll have to play with a few ideas and see what they look like. Probably no mounts on the wings, they are sort of atmo steering vanes, although there's no reason why a builder couldn't add some. There'll be mounting point/s under the fuselage, but no weaponry as yet. Its a valid suggestion, maybe I'll add some optional weaponry, that could be placed as you like..have you play Freelancer? Great wing mounted weapons.

Yes the tail is pretty sparse.. the small pads are a idea in progress for manoeuvring thrusters. My thoughts being the tail boom would be an ideal space for sensory equipment ( internally ~ due to proximity to engine exhaust) and far enough away from the CoG to give spectacular attitude change. Worth a second look though. when I have a beta build in my hands it'll be easier to judge..

[widget]

How about a second,smaller rear facing turret?
That way his "6" IS covered! :)

[Gearz]

Hey there Widget.. yep as Orange pointed out, the tail could do with a bit of dressing. A tail turret is a good idea, I did play with a tail turret design, but it just didn't look right, and the more elaborate I made it, the worse it looked. I tried a tail stinger type gun but I wasn't real keen on it, about the closest I came to 'ok' was a twin set-up ( attached pics) but that caused problems with the manoeuvring thrusters idea,,, maybe I could move the thrusters forward of a gun / turret.?!? Its just the further forward the thrusters are, the less manoeuvrability etc.. moot point I guess. I can't have anything above the boom, or the exhaust would roast it, and anything below kind of disrupts the slippery lines I'm going for. I might test a few different combinations of 'bits' while test building.

btw.. I've built Jan's drop ship, but I gave it away as a gift. Just from memory I think it was roughly 20 - 25 cm long? could someone give me the length of that model? I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep this model in scale, but I'll give it a go.

[ammoniumdichromate]

Gearz, were you not working on a very large Roger Young from Starship Troopers some time ago? If so what ever became of that model, as I recall the beta buildups were great.
Mike

[Millenniumfalsehood]

Nevermind . . . forgot what starship you were talking about . . .

[jacberk]

Gearz,

Hows about a simple rear ball mounted gun instead of a rear turret? Less busy and cluttered maybe? Hmmm?! Mental picture forming... Not good...Maybe too penis like. Bad mental picture!:(

Some of the German WWII tank chassis mounted guns always gave me that impression. Sorry. I am, after all, a redneck farm boy.:D

BTW Excellent so far. Your pics are super! Your design is spot on.:eek:

That's what I always liked about the Aliens genre, the machinery is clean, simple, functional, and to the point.

Jack

[Gearz]

Hi ammoniumdichromate

ekuth took over that project early on, the pics you saw were probably his beta version that a few guys were building. I haven't seen ekuth around for a while. I just had a quick look and he still has it hosted at RapidShare (http://rapidshare.com/files/73689466/NEW_Rodger_Young_Parts.pdf.html)

* I'm not sure if that was the last and complete version ekuth did ( the file name is NEW parts? ) I think there may have been a few modification files. If you'd liked to check, have a read through the thread at zealot = Science Fiction/Fantasy Models > Rodger Young Beta Build check through pages 20 ? onwards. Or try PM'ing ekuth through zealot.

cheers

Howdy jacberk. lol.. yep your description pretty much nailed it on the head as to why I moved away from a ball /stinger single gun design. It needs something.... just not to clunky.. I'll be test building the main fuselage for a while, when that's done, I'll slap together a few bits and do a spot of mix and matching. What ever ends up on the tail boom, Its going to be pretty small, so it'll have to be simple. I do like the rear gun idea though, so something along those lines.

[Gearz]

Just a minor update..

I've managed a bit of test building on a few critical parts for the Cobra. A few bitz need to be modified slightly, apart from that its a bog simple build. Its probably a little out of scale ( larger) in comparison to Jan Rukr's small drop ship ~ my ham fingers couldn't manage it any smaller. So I'll have to BS my way out of it, and call it a four man crew corvette size fighter. Just some texturing needed now. I still haven't come up with a practical missile pod /weapons pylon set up just yet.. something will come along.

Not to sure if it deserves a stand, I've made a simple UC that will probably suffice ~ cc4.jpg

* I'll probably be flayed alive, however I'll try my hand a some back story and tech info, to place the craft in the aliens universe ( somewhere). :rolleyes:

[SJPONeill]

Looking good....

So far as the rear turret is concerned, tactically it would only be a worry if the ship were to operate alone...if it was operating in pairs or larger groups, the tactics would most likely allow for a figure 8 type pattern so that all arcs are always under one of the ships forward (and much heavier, scarier) armament...hence no tail guns of A-10s, Frogfoots (Frogfeet?), Hinds, Apaches, etc...though if yuou did want to make it more of a corvette than a fighter class, a Guns-A-Go-Go (ACH-47 style with 360 degree arcs would be way cool...

[Gearz]

HmmMMMmmm interesting observations, I hadn't really put much thought into that aspect of it, the cone of fire /operational requirements would play an important part in the design. Not much use in having a sting in the tail, if blows you own bloody wings off, or worse still allows the bad guys to do it for you.

I just did a quick N dirty test of the firing arcs in Metasequoia.. Eeeekk the first idea with vertically swivelling guns would be useless. ( they'd have to drag me screaming as crew) Blue

I guess a dual swivel mount type arrangement would be acceptable. ~ They'd have to be independently targeting. A considerable area that would only allow one weapon to acquire a target ( better one than none I guess) PINK

Good points, thanks for pointing it out. I'm locked into the weapons present mounting points. A little more though required in their design is called for.

cheers

[Rhaven Blaack]

I do have to say that is a interesting concept. It looks like it will be a good build as well.

[legion]

Gearz, EVE Online has good examples of multi-jointed turrets. Might be worth taking a look at them from inside the game.

[Gearz]

Thanks Legion, I'll scope it out.

Not a great deal of progress to report on this project, I've restarted / reworking the textures to dress the model up a bit, and keep it more in line with established colour schemes.

cheers

[Dyna-Soar]

That thing is seriuosly looking mean.

[Gearz]

Yep its starting to look the part, the Marines can't have a sissy ride lol, hopefully i won't get to many rocks thrown at me by the Alien purists.

It got the better of me, so here's just a bit of quick fiddling to finalise the undercarriage. Its as simple + functional as i could make it. Shame its so small, most of the texture detail will be lost in printing ~ on that note, although its a pain in the arse to use, Photoshop has some brilliant lighting filters. The simple UC shapes + textures scrub up a lot better with a bit of light tweaking. In these pics i just used the default spotlight.

In Photoshop you can find some great lighting effects for you textures in [Filter] [Render] {Lighting Effects] enough variables to keep you fiddling for hours, if you have Photoshop and you haven't used the lighting filters before, its worth a look see.

cheers

[Gearz]

More fiddling.. just to establish some sort of rough scale / size. The pilot figures and rough cockpit are just for reference ~ they'd be impossibly small to build (for the average modeler). I haven't actually calculated the size/scale this will make the Cobra, but it looks about right. I'm up to version 'zillion and one' of the tail guns, and their getting worse as i go along + the missile pods/ stores pylons are still MIA. I'll do a full dress rehearsal build of this scheme, sans the extra business bits, and see what it looks like in the flesh.

cheers

[Gearz]

Doooh... Just when you thought it was safe to test build..

After unfolding in PEP, I noticed a few glitches in the textures. My little cobra guy is crisp and clear on the texture, however he's coming out rather blurred in PEP. I hadn't noticed it before but META isn't displaying the textures that clearly either.. I must have screwed up on the dimensions for the texture and its being distorted just enough to blur...

While banging my head over that, I decided to go for a simple stub wing for the mid store pylon, with a simple cluster of missiles. They'll do for a release, perhaps some alternate loadouts will come to mind later.

Its a moot point at this scale, but I'll fix up the blurry texture ( just so PEP doesn't get the better of me)
" Infernal machines....."

[Millenniumfalsehood]

If this were a Terminator or BSG model, I'd suspect your machine was rebelling on you. ;)

Have you settled on a tail gun, yet? If it were me, I'd make a cutout in the tail on the end and put in a turret stylistically similar to the one on the front, but with an elevating mechanism.

[jacberk]

This just keeps gettin' better 'n better!! Keep up the excellent work.

I'm luvin' it!!

Jack

[Gearz]

I think your may be right MF.. all the little bytes seem to be saying " Quick lets change places... hehehehehe..."

Thanks Jack, but i think i may have ziged when i should have zaged.

Uuuuhhh... Well this test build was pretty disappointing. Hats off to the modellers that achieve such amazing results in 1/72, sadly my building skills just aren't up to the challenge of building small.

Converting to bitmap patterns ( letter ratio pages) only reduces the model by 5 - 8 % from my first 'PEP' test build on A4, but that was enough to wreck the build sequence ( you can't get your fingers inside the model at critical points) Its an ideal size, roughly 20 cm and in scale with the drop ship, however its not a fun build, i didn't even try to build the weaponry or some of the smaller UC parts. There's just way to much chance of getting twisted joins /parts. Also the textures look great in 3D, however there's no where enough contrast, when printed they all blend into a sad green goop. In a nut shell ~ not a happy camper..

[Sigh] .. I guess I've got a few options.

Try to keep the model at this size ~ go back and redesign the forward/nose section + assembly sequence ~ simplify it even further etc

Or abandon the size limitation and just go bigger ~ That would mean the fuselage will have to be broken into two longitudinal sections, also a redesign, however it would make a far more enjoyable build, and give everyone a fighting chance to build the weaponry..

curses!

* The colour correction in the attached pics is rather crappy, the model is actually shades of green.

[ARMORMAN]

I think it looks fine.

[hawkman67]

I agree totally!! thing looks wicked sweet and will go so good with the drop ship.:):D
Jeff

[Millenniumfalsehood]

I would suggest working with someone who builds small and has designed a kit before. This way, you can know that the model is suitable for small-model-junkies and it'll save you the headache of redesign.

[kjev]

I think it looks great. My only question is, "Why a 4-man crew?"

K'Jev
:cool:

[Gearz]

yeah... it's getting there.. sorta... I'm probably being pedantic, but i want it to be an easy/fun build for everyone, so if my fat fingers can assemble it (without throwing things) i'll be a happy camper. Its my own dumb fault for straying from my usual methods. At any rate i think a solution is at hand, I'd prefer the fuselage to be in one piece, however, breaking it in two will solve several problems ~ just a re-arrangement of parts.

hey K'Jev, why 4? long answer shortR. I'm aiming for the model to be in scale (approx) with Jan Rukr's smaller drop ship, which from memory is around 1/150 give or take?. I'd like to retain the look & feel of the Cobra AH's canopy/forward fuselage, so I'm using the canopy of both models as a visual cue for scale. To retain that look and keep it in scale, I can either shrink the model, or shrink the crew and say it a larger vessel. uuummm ... clear as mud.?

Actually, saying its a larger vessel will suit many purposes. Part of the vessel background / history suits a larger fighter / four man crew. I'm sadly behind the eight ball when it comes to concocting expanded info, however, I don't believe there's any mention in the franchise of protagonists, other than the Aliens themselves, and i'm reluctant to invent any.. apart from the obligatory renegade mining guild maybe lol. So the Cobra's all dressed up with no place to go. Its primary deployment would be that of Escort to provide protection against ( insert bad guys) or perhaps long range patrol and policing action [sigh] where are all the bad guys when you need them. ~ A four man crew / larger vessel would be more practical for extended long range missions.

btb.. Just a point on the canopy / scale reference

Its all Hollywood physics of course, and this is just IMHO without doing exact calculations, but the movie dropship design seemed out of scale with APC or vise versa. The scale or the interior of the APC (crew) made it look a lot bigger than the comparative size of the Drop ship's cockpit, so i recon the Drop ship's cockpit is to large for the supposed size of the vessel. ( using the APC & Marines as reference)

[Millenniumfalsehood]

Actually, the Xenomorphs are the antagonists. ;) Hey, you get to be pedantic, so do I! Nyah! :p

I like how you're basing your cockpit off a real-world design. It lends realism and gives people a subconscious visual link to the real world quite nicely. So just how big will this sucker be when built?

[Gearz]

MF ~ Ouch!... got me.:o. lol. Yeeaaahh... who would have seen that coming.. 'Ripley versus the Marines'. I'd better pass any extended info past you guys for proof reading lol. ~ antagonists.... How big..? bout 28 ~ 30 cm, just a little larger than the dropship at this stage.


Cobbling together a believable niche within the Aliens universe, for the Cobra to slot into, is proving ...difficult. The Colonial Marine Tech manual aside, there seems to be lots of conflicting info online regarding the USCM's. By the looks of it, some of it may have been generated for table gaming etc. To cut it shortR i need a parent vessel for the Cobra to call home, and for obvious reasons the Sulaco out. I found a reference to a Bougainville class attack starship, the Conestoga Class starship (Sulaco ) replacement ~ whether the Bougainville class is 'cannon' i couldn't determine..?

One reference to a likely candidate for a Cobra's nest, was the 'Okinawa' class assault carrier 'The Shirow'. Sadly it was from a single page I'd saved way back and the URL is dead now, so i can't establish if it was just some fan fiction or what.

Sooo.. a question for any Aliens Techsperts that may be following along here. Does anyone recognise this pic, and is it cannon from an established tech manual or game..? the author / creator..?

The following text accompanied the picture. * I'm a little foggy on the time lines, however i think the dates quoted at the end, place this vessel + action around the same time as the Sulaco was in service.. 'Aliens' or shortly after ?




The Shirow is more than a ship, it's a force unto itself.
At the outset of the Linna campaign, we hauled into low orbit while the interdiction ships were still deploying the surface-detection sats. We kept the Shirow on an active defense state; its sensors are wide enough to protect itself and any other vessels in a compatible orbit for 5000 clicks. That means the ship will react to deflect or destroy projectiles as soon as the enemy aerospace launches are detected, regardless of the trajectory. The thing is, it's not supposed to retaliate against the installations themselves without confirmation or intervention from us, otherwise it could saturate our own groundware when the enemy fires on a shallow track.
We picked up the launch of an eightfold MAGNAlance pattern far south of the principal population centre, their active homing screaming as they reached the stratosphere and all of them heading for the Shirow due to its larger EM profile from the ventral antenna. The Shirow took this rather personally. It instantly powered the particle beam cannons and directed fire at the warheads, frying all eight in rapid succession and turning two into 'deadheads' before they made atmospheric break. But that wasn't enough for the Shirow - according to StratCom our own divisions were deployed half a continent away, and weren't expected to engage the rebels until aerospace superiority had been achieved. The Shirow considered that safe enough: it armed two strike nukes and dropped them on the position of the launch, much closer together than is usual. Even from orbit, the detonation looked like the fires of hell.
Several days later, we got the word from surface command that they'd reached ground zero, and tried to confirm the remains of an ASAT installation; there was nothing left - nothing. They had to redraw the territory maps for that one.
Seems the Shirow was dead on.
Sometimes, I think its AI enjoys playing god.
- Admiral D. Yates, USASF '62 - '78

[ElectricMonk]

If anyone is still paying attention.

The Shirow and Ohio (Okinawa and Conrad classes, respectively) can be seen here: Aliens Starships (http://kell.quaddicted.com/aliens/aliensships.html)

Neither are canon in design (the Okinawa is mentioned in the technical manual), but both are pretty cool.


Named ships in the Technical Manual:

STRIKESHIPS

strikeships
AD-17A Cougar
AD-19C/D Bearcat

gunship
UD-22 Navaho
UD-4C Cheyenne
—C = gunship, adding gatling + secondary weapon bays, losing storage space

tactical transport
UD-4 Cheyenne
—H = refit, 1.5m longer (C + E)
—J = "B" models upgraded to "H" standard
—L = "H" upgrade (movie model)

transports
UD-4B, UD-4E Cheyenne
—E = extended range
CS-14 Briareos (heavy lift shuttle)
UD-24 dropship (proposed), capable of carrying the M40 Ridgeway heavy tank


GROUND FORCES

M577 APC (movie APC)
A = twin 20mW Boyars PARS 150 phased plasma cannons
B = twin Republic Dynamics M2025 40mW free-electron lasers
C = twin 20 MeV charged particle beams

M34A2 Longstreet light tank

M22A3 Jackson medium tank

M40 Ridgeway heavy tank

(Various self-propelled or carried weapons, such as HIM-122 Lancer ABMs)


SPACE FORCES

Conestoga class light assault transports (as of Block '74 revisions, prior to that straight up transports) (the Sulaco)
-27 of 36 built in service
-considered a light armament = 8 missiles, two neutral particle beam cannons, two twin railguns, two laser point defense turrets, 60 orbital fragmentation mines, 80 ground attack missiles.

Bougainville class attack transports
-will replace Conestoga class
-both replacement and "attack" implies more weapons and perhaps more troops/equipment/vehicles

Valley Forge class
-unknown role (frigate/destroyer/cruiser?)

Henderson Field class transports
-presumably heavy transports, if the Conestoga class was turned from light/medium transports into assault transports.

Okinawa class assault carriers

[Vorcha]

Very impressive!!!