Land Speeder Conversion (assembled & with crew/passengers)

[Silent Invader]

I have a project on the go with a few land speeders and I'm a bit stuck on the 'science', so thoughts would be appreciated.

My understanding is that in the Firefly and Star Wars franchises, landspeeders 'hover' a 1m or so above ground level, possibly higher but I don't recall them 'flying' at any altitude. In 40k, I understand that landspeeders also hover but can glide to earth if released from a mothership at altitude.

I'm not sure how the 40k landspeeders manage to glide without wings but what seems really odd to me is that, as far as I know, no franchise equips its landspeeders with hull-mounted thrusters (or some other similar device) to selectively push the craft to a height greater than the paltry metre or so.

IIRC in 12 Monkeys The Fifth Element*, the taxi cab driven by Bruce Willis is akin to a landspeeder that is at height albeit it generally follows defined lanes in an urban environment (so 'pushing off' buildings, maybe, or following a 'track'?) rather than soaring and diving over an open landscape.

Does anyone know of a portrayal of land-speeders that can adjust their elevation?

I know I can do whatever I'd like in my project but am pondering the background fluff.  

PS: the science in the project is very Firefly, so present-day firearms rather than lasers and light sabres



*Edited for wrong film title  

[Mason]

Wookiepedia explanation of repulsorlift technology:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Repulsorlift/Legends


Scientific bumpff:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/gpot.html


I doubt any of that really answers the question, though....
 

[gamer Mac]

My understanding of speeder was that they were lifted of the ground by some sort of anti-gravity plate hence the low altitude,  they need something to push against. I imagine it as a more advanced version of maglev trains
Not sire if that helps or hinders
As for 40K science ignore that it's not realistic

[Silent Invader]

Thanks chaps - you're both very helpful!  

Paul's first link mentioned airspeeders, which - in the context of Star Wars (of which I am mostly ignorant) - ultimately led to the following:

"Airspeeders were repulsorlift vehicles common throughout the galaxy. They were distinguished from landspeeders by a higher operating altitude and normally higher top speed. Sometimes they were also equipped with boosters that enabled them to achieve low planetary orbit for a short time. They were not designed for orbital flight, though they could attain such high altitude that they pushed the boundaries of atmosphere and space."

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Airspeeder/Legends

The Star Wars airspeeders don't seem to have much in the way of wings, which is fine if it's boosters doing the hard work.

So my project has airspeeders, not landspeeders!

Thanks again  

[Wachaza]

40k land speeders can effectively fly below about 100m. Under the model are a ring of anti gravity plates.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Land_Speeder

[Silent Invader]

Thank you!  

From the link for 40k:

The Land Speeder is not an aircraft, and is not capable of flight in the truest sense. While it is capable of reaching altitudes of up to 100 metres and is capable of gliding down to a planetary surface from orbit, it is much more suited to skimming the ground.

Which is also really helpful.

[Daeothar]

Also; the 40K speeders' thrusters are for forward motion, much like the enginepods on SW speeders, not lift. The lift solely comes from the antigrav plates on the bottom. One could theorize about the winglets being used for altitude adjustments though.

Also, the use of speeders in SW is more a replacement for wheeled vehicles. In the many books, larger speeders are often referred to as cargo speeders, commercial skiffs etc. In other words; like present day vans and lorries. they have very little clearance other than the 1m or so they levitate above the ground.

How the speeders in Coruscant's manic traffic lanes maintain altitude, I don't know though. Perhaps there are repeating transmitters or some other Handwavium devices  planted along the lanes? That could explain why they would all follow similar paths, as opposed to zipping about where ever they want to go (that, and enforced traffic safety, I suppose ).

The 40K speeders though, are much rarer and are used much like low altitude attack planes and/or helicopter gunships. They have some lift to carry them over terrain features like buildings, but then bounce back down 'on the deck', following the terrain.

So yeah; speeders in Star Wars and Firefly: cars and lorries. Speeders in 40K: helicopters...

[Silent Invader]

That's a great summary Ruben, thank you 

Perhaps predictability, my troops follow the 'Nam' arc that was core to Aliens with the speeder taking on the role of helicopter.... fast, mobile, limited firepower, low altitude, etc.

[area23]

Sail barge and sail skiffs float much higher than 1 Mt but don't fly with wings. Actually the same with the twin-pods of Cloud City, they fly but dont have wings so I suppose its antigrav.

[OSHIROmodels]

Where's the wip?

 

[Silent Invader]

To give an idea of what I have in mind, here are some WIP shots of what are planned to be three of the same. It's presently missing it's comms unit, weapons, optional flight base and a magnetic floor (so the minis don't fall off in-game). For weapons I'm waiting on some .50 cal perforated barrels with - probably - one fitted directly in front of the co-pilot and the other on a pintel under the nose. It will carry 10 troopers in the back, who notionally clip in to the centre frame, with 4 'fast rope' points. The source vehicle was a GW Land Speeder Storm.







With WIP troopers (only 7 made so far):



Showing the height relative to a trooper when it's grounded:

[Supercollider]

Great idea!  Consider it well and truly stolen

[Silent Invader]

Thanks Area23 - makes sense.  

James - it just so happened that while you were typing I was typing ....  

Great idea!  Consider it well and truly stolen

Cheers Super: aside from plasticard, wire and magnets (to come), the only only non-kit parts are the gun barrels I've ordered, which are to fit with my fluff.  

[Mason]

Nice work, Steve.
I had something similar in mind to do to a LS some time ago, but not so long.
Yours is definitely more stretch limo, whilst I had something along the lines of a mini in mind, for a five-man fire team...
 

I shall be watching for ideas to steal too.
 

[Silent Invader]

Nice work, Steve.
I had something similar in mind to do to a LS some time ago, but not so long.
Yours is definitely more stretch limo, whilst I had something along the lines of a mini in mind, for a five-man fire team...
 

I shall be watching for ideas to steal too.
 

Cheers Paul. My unit structure is 4 man fire teams in squads of 2, with 3 squads plus an HQ that includes a launcher team (it's loosely based on a WW2 British airlanding - glider borne - platoon). So 30 men in the platoon puts a squad of 8 plus 2 HQ elements in each ride (plus the flight crew of 2 for which there'll be dismounted alternates).