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Vertical Gun Stabilizer [Level: Hard]

5,714 TheSpartan  3 months ago

If you've checked out some of my builds, such as the M40 Joker IFV or the M16A2 TUSK I Valkyrie II, then you have an example of how I build stabilizers already. However, for those who haven't yet seen it, I will be trying to explain how I make my stabilizers with words (Takes a while to do images on mobile for me, PC is currently inaccessible).
Does this involve Funky Trees knowledge?
Part count:
14 Minimum: 8 fuselage blocks, 1 Gyro, 4 rotators, cannon
Mod(s) required:


Section 1: Outer Cradle
1. Take 2 fuselage blocks
2. (Overload Mod required) Edit "mass" property to show "0"
3. Turn upright (Front faces up, back faces down), set length to 1
4. Edit Front width to be 0.05, height to be 0.25
5. Edit Back width to be 0.05, height to be 0.75
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for second block
7. Take a third fuselage block, set on its side (Front faces right, Back faces left)
8. Repeat step 2
9. Edit Front width to be 0.05, height to be 1, repeat for Back end, edit length to 1.5
10. Attach the two blocks from Steps 1-6 to the ends of the third fuselage block, nudge into place. The bottom end of the upright blocks should appear to connect to the front and rear end of the horizontal block.
11. Re-attach the vertical blocks, hereinafter referred to as "Walls" to make ends meet.
12. Take a Small Rotator, repeat Step 2
13. (Overload Mod required) Go to the "Rotator" page in the XML editor
14. Add a new string, title it "disableBaseMesh" (Name of te string is located on the left-hand side)
15. On the right, type "true". Apply to the Rotator
16. Set rotator characteristics to these specifications:
- Range: 15°
- Speed: Floppy
- Input: Disabled
- Activation Group: None
- Invert: No (This bit doesn't really matter)
17. Place rotator on the inside of the wall at the top, facing towards the center.
18. Using the Mirror function, mirror ONLY THE ROTATOR to the other side.
Section 2: Inner Cradle
1. Repeat steps 1-18, but change these inputs:
- From Step 3, change block length to 0.75
- From Step 5, change height to 0.25 and length to 1.25
- From Step 16, use this set of specifications:
- Range: 40°
- Speed: 80%
- Input: Trim
- Activation Group: 1
2. (Overload Mod required) BEFORE mirroring rotator to the other side, Go to the middle page in the XML editor, and modify the "min" and "max" setting to this:
"min": -0.25
"max": 1
3. Mirror part to other side
Attach the inner cradle to the outer cradle.
NOTE: The walls of the inner cradle should be connected to the ROTATORS on the outer cradle, nothing else.
4. (Overload Mod required) Take a gyroscope, edit "mass" to show "0"
5. Edit "scale" to show "0.1,0.1,0.1"
6. Place gyro in the center of the horizontal plate on the inner cradle
7. Edit these properties:
- Gyroscopic Speed: 30%
- Gyroscopic Stability: 30%
- Activation Group (Pitch, Roll, Yaw, and Gyro): None
- Auto Orient: No
- Pitch Input: Disabled
- Roll Input: Disabled
- Yaw Input: Disabled
Section 3: Cannon
1. Take a fuselage block edit "mass" to "0"
2. Edit fuselage block to fit the cradle (Make it wide enough to connect to both inner cradle rotator)
3. Attach cannon to the front end of the block
4. Edit cannon properties to your preference
5. Take a fuselage block and attach it to the rear of the block from Section 3 Step 2, DO NOT MODIFY
6. Find the CoM (Center of Mass) for the cannon assembly
7. If CoM is not in line with the cradle rotators, edit dead weight property until achieved
8. Test gun and tweak as necessary.

Congratulations, you've made a vertical stabilizer using a different method. This is for a minimalist stabilizer that only requires 14 parts, however, this method was designed for full breech and cannon assemblies.
Thanks for taking the time to read this ridiculously over-engineered method of making a vertical gun stabilizer.
If you've followed the instructions correctly, you should get a product something like this:

These two cradles are for some 125mm cannons I've made for my tanks, the M160 (Right) which is mounted on the Valkyrie II, and the hT-125 (Left) which will be mounted on the M16A3 Valkyrie II, M20 Valkyrie III, and XM21 Mjölnir.