Modern Auxiliary Challenge

[Kiwi Imperialist]

Challenge Results
The community poll for this challenge is now closed. To the 33 people who responded, thank you. Scoring each entry can be quite time consuming and I am sure every participant appreciates your effort. Speaking of participants, I also wish to thank the 18 people other than myself who submitted entries. I was quite worried about the outcome of this challenge two weeks ago when our first entry, TimothyC’s Mount Tapochau class command ship, was still on the horizon. You certainly surprised me.



Congratulations to Mitchell van Os, the winner of Shipbucket’s modern auxiliary challenge! I am always amazed by the amount of detail Mitchell van Os includes in their work. Nothing feels like a greeble. The Kopenhuuwen class has definitely earned its place alongside other winning entries. Mitchell van Os also achieved the highest score in the drawing quality, design realism, and suitability categories. Second place goes to Garlicdesign and their Liathui. I am a great fan of Garlicdesigns visual style and the Liathui is another excellent example. Acelanceloet achieved third place with their ship Zuiderkruis. They took a risk and chose to explore an interesting concept. I am pleased to see that it paid off. They also received the highest score in the originality category,



64 people voted for the next Shipbucket challenge. For those interested, the Trainbucket challenge is now available here.

[TimothyC]

Well, congratulations to Mitch, but we firmly see that these are nothing but popularity contests. Maybe we should just call them that?

I'll at least post my reviews of the entries that I made up as I scored.

TimothyC's Cerro Punta: My drawing. I'd like to thank acelanceloet, erik_t, & Sea Skimmer for their suggestions as I worked on this hack job. The top view is a bit lacking, but mentally I just checked out in the last few hours of the time window (I hadn't started working on the top view until after the extension was announced).

Schlemm138's Gulflander: Schlemm138's ability to show off real concepts never fails to impress. The artwork is simple (very much like an older shipbucket drawing), but cohesive and coherent.

Hood's Tobol: Hood's work on Soviet-style designs continues unabated, and at his usual high standards. It is nice to see the reference back to his work on the STOVL challenge with the common hull.

dalamace's Admiral Jacques Ben-Harun: It's a sail training ship. It's well drawn for one, but I'm not sure it fits with the challenge all that well. Still, nice to look at.

APDAF's Mercy: I have ongoing concerns about a submarine from the late 1960s in the 2020s, even if she's had a number of refits. That said, I also think that if you've got a submarine for which the only/primary mission is to rescue other submariners, you might have a problem with your submarine fleet.

Corp's Stargazer II: An AU version of the Howard O. Lorenzen, it's a very reasonable design. While the ship itself doesn't have a lot of details to work from, I personally think that the details that are rendered feel just a bit off. Still, if we get the real ship out of this, that's a good thing.

Garlicdesign's Liathui: The first of the the Fast Replenishment ships, it's got a solid design, and I don't see anything that stands out as problematic, but relative to the other AOE, nothing sets it apart either. It's a diesel clone of the Supply class, and even says so in the text.

Soode's Anchungang: The second of the Fast Replenishment ships, it's well drawn, and realistic, but again, nothing to cause it to stand out. A solid entry in a strong field.

thegrumpykestral's River (III): The first of the smaller oilers that were entered, TheGrumpyKestrel continues to show off entries that are well drawn, and cohesive across his entire fleet. the drawing is however missing the RAM on the missile line.

superboy's Pailin: Superboy, as usual (it's cliché at this point), delivers a well done, small ship to a challenge.

WesleyWestland's Assistance: Big tugs have a fleet role too, and this one fits it well.

Heuhen's L3: Heuhen's design works, however whenever I look at it, there is a je ne sais quoi about it.

LtMaverick114's Kristianstad: I'm pretty sure I've seen this ship before in an AU someplace. There is nothing wrong with it directly, but again, there's a je ne sais quoi.

Farooqbhai007's 17,500 ton MLV: A quite standard modern underway refueling tanker. The large superstructure block reminds me of various real proposed designs, which helps the realism while also taking a bit off of the originality. Another art pass on it would probably help with some of the shading on cut-outs.

Mitchell van Os's Kopenhuuwen: Artistically tied for the best drawing, and representing the second fastest ship entered in the challenge, the fast JSS is one that adds capability at the cost of size and cost. The value of that trade is left to the reader and the Navy that operates it. I'll probably be using this as a good reference for top-view details going forward.

Skyder2598's T-160: Artistically tied for the best drawing, I like the addition of top view shading, but I am not sold on the lines on the hull (which look more like decks and bulkheads than hull plating). I am distinctly not sold on combining the well deck with the underway replenishment missions, but for a small navy in confined waters with occasional show-the-flag type missions abroad, it might work. I do think that a second helicopter should be shown landed due to the two-spot hanger.

acelanceloet's JLOS Zuiderkruis: The not-a-carrier & not-an-LHA entry. Solid all around, with some well done art. I don't think the pilots are going to like that port-side crane in the middle of their flight deck, but I understand why it's there.

Kiwi Imperialist's Toliara: Removed at request of the artist.

Schodact's Burg: A solid entry for a first-timer. the drawing quality is only low by the current standards, and even five or six years ago would have been very solid. The design does feel a bit let down by how conceptually derivative it is (amphib turned command ship is how the Blue Ridge class was designed), but that does help with a realism factor. I look forward to seeing what Schodact shows us going forward.

[heuhen]

Well I didn't expect anything, that I got some points... is an miracle in it self, It not the best I could post, it wasn't anything special or new or that "interesting"-factor... it was just some meter of boat! Perhaps I should have posted the ship that replace the L3 in my AU! but then I just dropped a drawing into the challenge, with out care

but for the top 4 drawings, I will say, that I like them a lot and they deserve the place, Acelanceloet's JLOS Zuiderkruis: I start to like more and more, thes more I look at it. At first it was "what is this weird monstrosity", but now I'm more toward "that's not so stupid" Altough I would give it a separate Drone deck, since that is something that is starting to be more and more part of Navies today. Heck even the Norwegian military are talking about it a lot now.

[eswube]

This challenge has produced a lot of extremely well made drawings and I'd like to congratulate all the participants for their efforts.
(while at the same time the Real-Life section was enriched with something like 5 new works or so)

But there's just one thing... I would really like to see the entry of Schodact...
I checked the whole thread back and forth, but for some strange reason I cannot find it. Could some helpful soul provide me with a link to the Forum post with it, please?

[Charguizard]

Oh yeah sorry eswube, I had to reset that fellow's password like just as the challenge deadline came around, I'll tell him to post it.

[heuhen]

(while at the same time the Real-Life section was enriched with something like 5 new works or so)

Yeah, it's look empty, we just hope it means someone is working on something big!


I haven't done something active in the real section, except updating drawings. But I am planning to do something about that, for example I going to the little known work horse of the Norwegian Navy:
https://images.finncdn.no/dynamic/1600w ... 450819.jpg
The drawing above is on of that was sold of, and being used in the fish-industry.

I have also blueprint of two other vessel, one that is... big...

[Rodondo]

(while at the same time the Real-Life section was enriched with something like 5 new works or so)

Hopefully, with the time off this month, should get about 70ish drawings in for the RAN that I have near done

[Kiwi Imperialist]

But there's just one thing... I would really like to see the entry of Schodact...
I checked the whole thread back and forth, but for some strange reason I cannot find it. Could some helpful soul provide me with a link to the Forum post with it, please?

It seems Schodact is having some trouble accessing the forum, so here is their entry:

The Lasafenian Empire desired an increase in amphibious assault capacity and capability in the late 1980s. There was still a degree of funding left from the massive naval bill passed earlier in the decade, so a series of designs were drawn up. One of them would be an amphibious command ship to be named the Burg class. It was derived from the earlier Feiserich class ASW helicopter carriers and would replace most of the hangar space with command and communications equipment. However, a small helicopter hangar aft and a twin 128mm gun would be included to allow for a degree of direct offensive capability during assaults, and this would result in a truly gargantuan ship.

The design would end up being scrapped as the Empire did not expect to conduct amphibious ops on the scale that would necessitate a dedicated command ship, especially one as expensive as this. Instead, a series of regular amphibious assault ship would be built that were better suited to the expected scope of their environment. The attached design is a theoretical rendition of what she would have looked like in 2021.

[eswube]

@Kiwi Imperialist
Thank you for providing this entry. Much appreciated.

But I have one further question: if that entry was not posted here, in the challenge thread, on the forum where the challenges are conducted and which is supposed to be the "base" of the SB community, then where it was posted for everyone to see and therefore be able to decide on their votes (as some apparently indeed saw and decided)?
(it is a rhetorical question, I think I know the answer and I don't think I like it )

@Heuhen, Rodondo
That's nice. In a week or so I should be able to start posting one major (well, not huuuge, but fairly sizeable) project - well, I could do it already, but want to post it chronologically and I started making it from the wrong end.

[acelanceloet]

I would like to add my comments to these entries again, and I hope many other people will do so too! But first of all, this was an excellent challenge with great results, and I think almost every entry brought something new, interesting or unexpected into the mix.

TimothyC's CCBL
I loved this design. It's quite realistic, as a command ship developed from an existing hull design and powerplant does make sense. To do this from a combatant hull is not something that is often done but also certainly not something that is impossible. TimothyC is not known for tons of detailing on his drawings but this one is detailed to a nice level, but none of it feels as detail for the sake of detail: it could actually work.

Looking at the scores though, I do wonder if having a top view with less detail hurts someone's chances compared to having no top view? Because I personally felt this should be higher on the list.

Schlemm's Diamond Head class
This is a nice drawing of an interesting ship. I do wonder about the weight on top of that very low volume and very low strength stern, but there is no reason why it couldn't work. I dislike the shading on the bow though, it feels very contrasting and very sudden the way it is drawn and it does not continue under the waterline. I do wonder how this ship would look using the standard blue window colour, but that is personal preference. I think this was based on a real ship (design), can we hope for a drawing of that as well?

Hood's Tobol class
When everybody submits western style ships for the challenge, it is great to see Hood submitting an excellent soviet ship. I cannot see anything really wrong with this drawing, and the fact that it is a realistically drawn soviet ship (while the soviets IIRC had no UNREP ships like this) makes it an unique entry even when it follows more or less the standard arrangement of UNREP ships

Dalamace's sail training ship.
There is nothing wrong or unrealistic about this drawing and it is well drawn. It just doesn't seem to fit the spirit of this challenge very well.

Apdaf's rescue sub
The technical issues with launching multiple daughter craft from the back of a submarine while submerged are not something I like to write home about. The ship would also need tons of lead in the bottom to stay right side up, and would have a lot of drag making it unable to reach usable speeds. All in all, basing your rescue capability on these seems more of a risk then a benefit, seeing that their reactors and hulls are 40 year old technology when commissioned already. The drawing isn't terrible (although I don't think those propeller shafts work the way they are drawn) but it is not up to the standards set by the rest of the entries in this challenge.

Corp's Stargazer
A challenge entry being hindered by being close to the real design. I know from the talks on discord that almost every detail the real ship has is on this one, but it still feels bare and empty in many areas. That said: I am pretty sure the bilge keel isn't shaped like that, the hull shading seems strange, and I would expect a ton of openings on the (underwater)hull. If far less visible plating is drawn in, I would expect more noticable details to be present as well. All in all, a nice drawing that isn't bad, but the competition is strong this time around

Garlic's Liathui class
Well drawn, and everything seems to work well. Almost too well, to the point that it feels a tad derative.
The artwork is well drawn and well detailed, as expected of garlicdesign, but I personally felt that I would expect more.

Soode's Anchungang
An excellent drawing, which only real drawback was similar to garlic's: it feels as if I've seen this ship before, being so similar to real UNREP ships.

thegrumpykestrel's river
Another excellent drawing, well detailed and well drawn. This ship however has the advantage it also looks unique due to the straight bow and smaller size. I didn't like the shading not following sb standards on some ocasions (like the bridge wings), especially as this is not used in every instance on the drawing (the same shading style would also need to be applied on the satcoms, the crane, the control station amidships etc).

Superboys MV-47
Well drawn, nice ship, I only wonder if it isn't too many eggs in one basket. This is a good drawing but also nothing unexpected from Superboy, which might have hurt his scores

WesleyWestland's Assistance
This drawing feels a little toyish, I think because of the bright window colour and underdetailing in some areas and overdetailing in others. the crane looks very simplified, the boat seems to have no way to get into the water, the mast platforms are all in weird angles and the fire hose in the mast would never be placed like that in real life. With the design of the ship is other then that nothing wrong, although the bow thruster would definitely not be in the place it was put here. I am really not a fan of the hull plating as done here, detail like that would not be visible like that and other details (like openings in the hull) would be far more visible then these plating lines. I hope to see more drawings by WesleyWestland though, as with some others this isn't bad but just not up to the excellent standard set by others

Heuhen's L3
I really think we have seen Heuhens entry before. There is nothing really wrong with it, but it is small and nothing unexpected.

LtMaverick114's Kristianstad
A nice little support ship, along the lines of the Pelikaan and Snellius it seems. I do wonder about the lines of sight forwards with the crane and cargo there, and I suspect the bilge keel is a tad oversized. The ship could use a tad more detailing near the waterline and I cannot find the logic in the deck lines on the hull.

Farooqbhai007's 17500t fleet tanker
The ship feels a bit basic in some areas (UNREP masts, crane, masts) While other areas like the boat bay and the waterline are nicely detailed. I am worried about sight lines from the pilothouse forwards. Shading isn't matching shipbucket standards, as well as the lack of black outlines on some overhangs (notably, the lights in the masts) as a suggestion, some deck level weld lines would make this superstructure look a lot better, and I am personally not a fan of this window colour

Mitchell van Os' Kopenhuuwen
An excellent drawing of an unrealistic ship. Not unrealistic in design (Because I think with these requirements this would be about what it ends up at) but beause I think a navy that needs fast UNREP vessels would have enough ships and crew available to separate them from transports, not needing this JSS. Minor quirks on the drawings are that I don't like the cargo door details without black outlines on overhanging/extending parts, the fat lettering on the bow and the weird shape where the bow meets the bulbous bow, near the waterline. Design wise I think the bow thrusters are a tad big (they result in a lot of drag on a high speed hull, so I would minimize them myself) and I suspect a different kind of propeller would be used (controllable pitch) but I am not entirely sure on that.

Skyder2598's multirole fleet support vessel
I highly doubt it is an good idea to put a dock on an UNREP ship, especially one that feels a tad small already for it's 18500 t. The big overhanging stern shape that the sideview suggests with the shading also seems a bit against having a dock there, especially in combination with the high placement of the stern thruster suggesting a narrow single skeg. The drawing is excellent however, especially the top view with it's shading, but I cannot help but notice some parts don't have shadows while others of similar heights do. The specification and top view shows a double hangar, so the helicopter should be shown landed . I am not a great fan of having deck lines lighter then the painted colour. I am curious how most of the container spots are loaded, as the cranes do not cover all of them (but a few good forklifts could fix that issue of course , if not ideal it works)

acelanceloet's zuiderkruis
I do wish the hot weather did not make it so troubling to work on this ship as I wish I would have had a bit more time (it was so hot in my workspace that it was hard to work a lot on this vessel) to add further details and fix small issues. In the end it came out reasonably well. The design was based on an IRL conceptual idea for the Dutch JSS to have a full length helideck and 6 spots, but I wanted to keep the role as an auxillary ship primary so created this fore and aft deck with UNREP area fitted between the 2 superstructures.

I guess my goal in that wasn't met entirely as I got a suitability score far lower then my other scores. Design realism is what I normally go for, or at least I try an original concept and create a realistic result of it, so I am happy I got good scores on originality and drawing quality, I wish I had gotten my design realism a bit higher with a concept that was highly based on a real ship (just with the impact of more flight deck and hangar)

Kiwi imperalist's Toliara
I like kiwi imperialist's design quite a bit, it feels realistic while also being a tad different. I do think the helicopter hangar is a bit low, the UNREP masts are a bit close together, the forecastle deck is a bit long and I would really expect an propeller that size on a single shafted ship, but all in all nothing about it looks wrong, just 'unoptimised'. I personally dislike the hull plating lines like this, I would really recommend just drawing the most visible lines (which is IMO none under the waterline, deck lines and mayor bulkheads above it, possibly all structural bulkheads in the superstructure with it's thinner plating)

Schodact's Burg
I too wish to see more of Schodact's drawing in the future. This drawing is not up to the standards visible in these challenges, but comparing it's design with the real life Blue Ridge and we see both the inspiration and realism of this layout. Could it work? I think so. Could it use tons of details? Certainly. Personally, I would recommend taking a good look at deck and mooring gear, boat gear and ventilation, followed by some attention to the hull shape and the details there. But, all that said, this drawing tells ,e that this artist has a good basic grasp of how to look at real ships to create own designs, a skill that many a shipbucket artist has only gained after drawing multiple real ships.


I want to congratulate Mitch on his victory in this challenge. We did some cooperation on our entries and I suspect we should do so more often, as it seems to have gotten results