What would a plasma weapon really look like?

[antique_nova]

I've been wondering. What would a realistic plasma weapon look like?

 

I'm not sure if it would be realistic to expose the coils like they do in the 40k universe, but what if they did.

 

Would they glow just like an other weapon that overheats and if they do, I'm guessing they wouldn't radiate the colour blue, but if not that, then white? Not blue? Because while blue is a popular colour for plasma, it's weird now that I think about it that they would glow blue, especially when it looks like those are copper looking coils.

 

I'm no scientist, so please excuse me if I'm making some grave mistakes about plasma weaponry. 

[Canadian_F_H]

Most of the plasma we see at work appears to be a bluish white. But it is so freaking bright it will cause legit retinal damage without welding lenses or very dark cutting hoods.

 

I work with MIG and Tig Welders and use a plasma torch from time to time. All visible electric arcs contain plasma. Being matter that is hot enough that electrons have seperated from the molecules.

 

My guess would be a weaponized plasma would be so bright it would damage eyesight. It would need to be throughly contained, but if a semi translucent guard was used. The color would depend on the material. But of course you wouldn't want to be visible to the enemy...

 

Now I would assume with a legit plasma weapon the firer would have to have auto darkening lenses (welders often use them today) so thst the discharge of the weapon doesn't blind them also.

[antique_nova]

Ok, but you don't have exposed coils, because then it would blind you and everyone around you right?

 

So, no exposed plasma coils, only the light coming out from the barrel right?

 

Because I'm thinking of painting the coils on my leman russ executioners silver and the barrel black and maybe add a spot of white inside the barrel.

[The Unseen]

The "coils" create magnetic fields to contain the plasma, which you would in fact want outside the containment vessel itself. Electromagnetic coils don't work if their melting. So the coils realistically shouldn't give off any visible light at all. If those coils we see on the outside are actually cooling units of some kind, they could be glowing any sort of color, dependent on what their made of and how hot they are. Plasma can glow any color really, as "plasma" is an incredibly broad term. Neon/Flourescent lights work thanks to a kind of low temperature plasma, whereas the welders mentioned earlier are of course incredibly hot.

[Stercus]

All of these speculations of course rely on plasma weaponry utilising recognisable technology. In 38000 years time, it’s extremely likely that different materials and processes will create methods of using technology that we can’t even imagine. If you look back a similar span into the past, mankind’s most advanced technology was a sharp rock. A lot can happen in a few dozen millennia.

[antique_nova]

Makes sense and it would make sense if the coils didn't light up, because that would make aiming incredibly difficult for the guardsmen and make you stand out a lot.

 

I think I'll paint the coils without them glowing then.

[KhorneHunter57x]

Why I'm a fan of the blue glow.

[Canadian_F_H]

I'm assuming that the description of plasma weapons as equivelent to solar plasma they would give off burning hot white light like the sun. Even a small amount of that being within hundreds of feet from you instead of millions of miles with a blanket of atmosphere in between, is very dangerous for your eyes.

 

Heck, and skin. Welders who accidentally expose their skin to welding arcs get sunburns rapidly. I know I've done it!

 

I feel safe making the assumption that plasma will work this way in 40k, because most basic laws of physics haven't changed. And they have said as much about how plasma guns work from time to time.

[Kastor Krieg]

I'm assuming that the description of plasma weapons as equivelent to solar plasma they would give off burning hot white light like the sun. 

The sun isn't white, it's yellow. The hottest stars are generally blue, the coolest red in the visible spectrum. And that's out in the void, not to mention the atmospheric filtering.

 

[jeffersonian000]

The Sun is white, not yellow. The Sun looks yellow to us due to atmospheric effects. If the Sun were in fact yellow, then we would not be able to see the color white as there would be specific light frequencies missing.

 

Oxygen is white when it’s a plasma, and lightens other glasses it mixes with as plasma.

 

Argon is a pinkish lavender as a plasma.

 

Neon is reddish.

 

Nitrogen is a light blue.

 

Xeon is a darker blue.

 

Etc.

 

SJ

[Canadian_F_H]

I don't have time to dig thru my text books but the sun is essentially white. Also Google. Most results call it white, some call it a yellow-white meaning slightly yellow.

 

Illustrations and severely dulled images of the sun are depicted as yellow and orange because people only ever see the sun as yellow/orange/red at sunrise and sunset. It keeps it "normal" for most observers, it's more of a familiarity and comfort thing.

 

 

*as a mod*

 

I feel like we are getting off topic, or at least out of the scope of the board.

 

Has anyone seen any little supurfluous data snipets that GW sometimes leaves lying around that might have said the actual temperature of the discharge of a plasma weapon?

[Evil Eye]

I seem to recall the plasma inside a Tokamak fusion reactor is pinkish-purple, so depending on the kind of plasma we're talking about it could in theory be that sort of colour?

[jeffersonian000]

They are using Argon, which is both heavy and inert.

 

SJ

[Ezr91aeL]

I don't know why (I didn't study optic) but plasma cannot be green: when the temperature would make it of that color it is seen as white by our eyes (infact there is no green star).

[Canadian_F_H]

They are using Argon, which is both heavy and inert.

 

SJ

And that makes it purple? We use 100% argon as a shielding gas for Tig welding, and the arc still generates a blue-white light. (Quick research says GTAW or tig welding arc is anywhere from 11k deg F to 35k deg F) so that might matter...

 

The no green star thing is true btw.

[N1SB]

 

And that makes it purple? We use 100% argon as a shielding gas for Tig welding, and the arc still generates a blue-white light. (Quick research says GTAW or tig welding arc is anywhere from 11k deg F to 35k deg F) so that might matter...

 

The no green star thing is true btw.

 

 

You are both right, speaking as someone who, in a past lifestage, interned in a job dealing with industrial gases.

 

Argon IS kinda purple with an arc discharge/current running through it.  But as Canadian F H said, he uses it as the SHIELDING gas, which isn't the plasma, but the gas AROUND the plasma, to focus it as a "sharp" "flame" for cutting.  It's like a ring shielding around that plasma arc, so you shouldn't see it if it's working properly.

 

(So no one gets lost in the tech, the way plasma tools now is like a hose pumping a pure gas through a special nozzle, which "lights" it up into plasma, and it would come out like this wild flamethrower.  So around that hose, you have a 2nd hose that blows a gas out at high pressure to focus that plasma, like an invisible shield.)

 

So you probably have that cylinder of 100% argon, it's exactly what you want for a shielding gas, but there's probably another cylinder of hydrogen or nitrogen...maybe some kind of mix (still pure gases, but a "cocktail") for the plasma...because it's cheaper than argon by half.  It's both an effectiveness issue and an economic issue.

 

+++++

 

I looked up a few sources to see what that coil on a plasmagun actually is, and I guess it is the magnetic accelerator coil.  That shouldn't have an inherent colour.

 

But IMHO there MIGHT be a really good possible reason, beyond just the rule of cool: the coils are deliberately colour-coded for combat purposes.

 

And that combat purpose is to maintain the Strength of that weapon because of a scientific reason: magnets lose their strength with heat.

 

We know that plasmaguns overheat, causing instant death for the user.  Imagine that affecting the magnetic accelerator coil, weakening it, so it can't fire far.  In fact, imagine that coil is weakened so much it fails to project the plasma out of the gun, just pushes it barely out of the safety of its containment field but not enough to leave even the barrel of the gun.  It's like being just strong enough to pull a pin out of a grenade (as hot as the sun in this case), but too weak to actually throw it at the enemy.

 

Thus, there must be a way to know when that magnetic accelerator coil got so hot it's gotten weak to dangerous levels.

 

But imagine training a Guardsman to use a plasmagun.  This guardsman isn't the brightest guy in the world, as he reads the Regimental Standard as if it was actual news and not propaganda.  However, they have to train him in the operation of a plasmagun, and he understands the basics of it, that plasma is really hot, and the coil thingy on the top of the gun is what makes it shoot out.  Then you explain to him that coil, at high temperature, loses it's "oomph", so it can fail to discharge properly, blowing it and him up.

 

At this point the Guardsman looks at you and asks, "Sir, when do I know the coil gets too hot?  Do I touch it?"

 

And that's when you quickly tell him NOT to touch the hot metal magnetic coil, that there's another way.  The magnetic accelerator coil may be coated with some sort of alloy that changes colour from heat or something.  When it CHANGES from 1 colour to another (it doesn't matter what the colours are, they watch for the change), that's when the Guardsman knows it's dangerous to operate.  This makes it a lot easier to understand and to act upon, even during the heat of battle.

 

(At that point there might be different ways to deal with it, but I don't think we have detailed info on this in lore.  Maybe he lets it cool down, maybe the magnetic accelerator coil is ejectable and replaceable during battle, like a gun ejects a round and you replace bullets with a clip.  40k soldiers must have a way to deal with it.)

 

For the OP's purposes of painting an Executioner Pattern Russ tank, feel free to paint it any colour or leave it metallic like you said!  In a vehicle that size, they probably have a cooling system (in fact, it's probably the Emergency Plasma Vents).  They might colour it just because of a colour-coding system like the above, because if they use it, Guardsmen might be so drilled into expecting all safe plasma weapons' magnetic accelerator coils to be a certain colour or they get antsy about firing them.  However, perhaps really experienced operators overcome that Pavlovian response, so they can leave it untinted, which might improve performance, etc.

 

Now, just personally, I imagine all hand-carried plasma weapons to work on this colour-coding system (with a magnetic accelerator coil ejection/replacement mechanism).  When someone rolls a 1 on a To Hit roll that causes the plasmagun to overheat, it's not that he missed so bad he shot himself; it's that he failed to operate it properly because he didn't notice the colour change in the coil, thus blowing it and himself up.  When an officer gives him a re-roll of that 1 To Hit, that's him shouting a reminder, "Guardsman, check your coil!"

 

TL;DR - JUST IMHO, theoretically the plasma weapon coils might be a colour-coding system to safely operate the system, where its colour changes when operating at dangerous levels.  They can literally be ANY colour you choose (but should be consistent in an army for ease of training/operating), as it's the change that 40k soldiers watch for.

[jeffersonian000]

The blue-white arc seen in plasma welding is Nitrogen-Oxygen, aka air.

 

And if I remember correctly, Krypton (Kr) is a light green as a plasma.

 

SJ

[antique_nova]

 

 

And that makes it purple? We use 100% argon as a shielding gas for Tig welding, and the arc still generates a blue-white light. (Quick research says GTAW or tig welding arc is anywhere from 11k deg F to 35k deg F) so that might matter...

 

The no green star thing is true btw.

 

 

You are both right, speaking as someone who, in a past lifestage, interned in a job dealing with industrial gases.

 

Argon IS kinda purple with an arc discharge/current running through it.  But as Canadian F H said, he uses it as the SHIELDING gas, which isn't the plasma, but the gas AROUND the plasma, to focus it as a "sharp" "flame" for cutting.  It's like a ring shielding around that plasma arc, so you shouldn't see it if it's working properly.

 

(So no one gets lost in the tech, the way plasma tools now is like a hose pumping a pure gas through a special nozzle, which "lights" it up into plasma, and it would come out like this wild flamethrower.  So around that hose, you have a 2nd hose that blows a gas out at high pressure to focus that plasma, like an invisible shield.)

 

So you probably have that cylinder of 100% argon, it's exactly what you want for a shielding gas, but there's probably another cylinder of hydrogen or nitrogen...maybe some kind of mix (still pure gases, but a "cocktail") for the plasma...because it's cheaper than argon by half.  It's both an effectiveness issue and an economic issue.

 

+++++

 

I looked up a few sources to see what that coil on a plasmagun actually is, and I guess it is the magnetic accelerator coil.  That shouldn't have an inherent colour.

 

But IMHO there MIGHT be a really good possible reason, beyond just the rule of cool: the coils are deliberately colour-coded for combat purposes.

 

And that combat purpose is to maintain the Strength of that weapon because of a scientific reason: magnets lose their strength with heat.

 

We know that plasmaguns overheat, causing instant death for the user.  Imagine that affecting the magnetic accelerator coil, weakening it, so it can't fire far.  In fact, imagine that coil is weakened so much it fails to project the plasma out of the gun, just pushes it barely out of the safety of its containment field but not enough to leave even the barrel of the gun.  It's like being just strong enough to pull a pin out of a grenade (as hot as the sun in this case), but too weak to actually throw it at the enemy.

 

Thus, there must be a way to know when that magnetic accelerator coil got so hot it's gotten weak to dangerous levels.

 

But imagine training a Guardsman to use a plasmagun.  This guardsman isn't the brightest guy in the world, as he reads the Regimental Standard as if it was actual news and not propaganda.  However, they have to train him in the operation of a plasmagun, and he understands the basics of it, that plasma is really hot, and the coil thingy on the top of the gun is what makes it shoot out.  Then you explain to him that coil, at high temperature, loses it's "oomph", so it can fail to discharge properly, blowing it and him up.

 

At this point the Guardsman looks at you and asks, "Sir, when do I know the coil gets too hot?  Do I touch it?"

 

And that's when you quickly tell him NOT to touch the hot metal magnetic coil, that there's another way.  The magnetic accelerator coil may be coated with some sort of alloy that changes colour from heat or something.  When it CHANGES from 1 colour to another (it doesn't matter what the colours are, they watch for the change), that's when the Guardsman knows it's dangerous to operate.  This makes it a lot easier to understand and to act upon, even during the heat of battle.

 

(At that point there might be different ways to deal with it, but I don't think we have detailed info on this in lore.  Maybe he lets it cool down, maybe the magnetic accelerator coil is ejectable and replaceable during battle, like a gun ejects a round and you replace bullets with a clip.  40k soldiers must have a way to deal with it.)

 

For the OP's purposes of painting an Executioner Pattern Russ tank, feel free to paint it any colour or leave it metallic like you said!  In a vehicle that size, they probably have a cooling system (in fact, it's probably the Emergency Plasma Vents).  They might colour it just because of a colour-coding system like the above, because if they use it, Guardsmen might be so drilled into expecting all safe plasma weapons' magnetic accelerator coils to be a certain colour or they get antsy about firing them.  However, perhaps really experienced operators overcome that Pavlovian response, so they can leave it untinted, which might improve performance, etc.

 

Now, just personally, I imagine all hand-carried plasma weapons to work on this colour-coding system (with a magnetic accelerator coil ejection/replacement mechanism).  When someone rolls a 1 on a To Hit roll that causes the plasmagun to overheat, it's not that he missed so bad he shot himself; it's that he failed to operate it properly because he didn't notice the colour change in the coil, thus blowing it and himself up.  When an officer gives him a re-roll of that 1 To Hit, that's him shouting a reminder, "Guardsman, check your coil!"

 

TL;DR - JUST IMHO, theoretically the plasma weapon coils might be a colour-coding system to safely operate the system, where its colour changes when operating at dangerous levels.  They can literally be ANY colour you choose (but should be consistent in an army for ease of training/operating), as it's the change that 40k soldiers watch for.

 

 

Awesome response, however there's just one problem with that. When you're shooting and trying to aim with a weapon, you normally look down the sights/cross hair or along that line like you would with a bow and arrow, in which case you're not aiming, but "feeling". Having a bright shining object would be really distracting as it would always be on, regardless of whether it be over heating or not, so it can just be some colour changing glass and if it's metal.

 

That could be solved by having a smaller flashing colour indicator in the place of the ammo counter as shown in the assault rifle in the halo games where it shows you how many shots are left. It would be easy to shot as that's where everyone would learn to look, pretty easily and it's not big enough to be too distracting when shooting. 

 

As for the tank crews, they'd need a different way, but their cooling system might be automatic.

 

That being said, I'm definitely going to paint them metallic now!