3DStar Trek TOS - TMP era models and WIP projects..

CptBenSisko

Been watching everyone post their work has inspired me to post some of my projects as well... some are done.. some are still WIP


My first 3D model that I built, entirely from scratch about a year or more ago.. the classic TOS Enterprise..







Of course.. the next step was to create the classic canon-ish Destroyer/Scout the Saladin Class..







And naturally.. you can't have heroes without some villains.. the famous Klingon Battlecruiser (D-7)








I made a couple of variants.. one is based on the original studio model.. and the other is based on its appearance in Deep Space Nine - Trials and Tribbulations..


Ill expand on this thread little by little but i just wanted to start with my first creations. Now these aren't SUPER high poly builds.. they are all in the 10-20K range because they are built for the somewhat older (over 20yrs old) Star Trek Armada II RTS.

I hope you enjoy these images.. and stay tuned for more images and some WIP incoming..

Lizzy777

Just need the Romulan Warbird to complete the classic model trio!

evil_genius_180

That's some really nice work. The models are all really clean looking and the textures look great too.

CptBenSisko

Lizzy777 wrote: »

Just need the Romulan Warbird to complete the classic model trio!

lol I do have my schematics and background images all set up to build one.. I started on the mainhull of it and just wasn't happy with it.. so i scratched it and haven't started another.. im putting the finishing touches on the DY-100 (Botany Bay) right now.. gonna post that as well as a couple of Starfleet Battles Fed ships (Burke and Kearsarge). Gonna work on getting some images up tonight.

CptBenSisko

Using the JBot schematics as my base.. a bunch of images of some model builds and some of the studio model.. put together a smooth looking DY-100 weighing in at around 2300ish tris/polies.. perfect for an ingame asset that won't be seen super upclose.. but detailed enough and high enough resolution textures to still have decent detail..








Still have a few pieces left to map and then this one will be called done.. stay tuned for more to come. and thank you for the kind words.

evil_genius_180

That looks great. The modeling is well done and your texture work really makes the ship look like it's been floating in space for 200 years.

CptBenSisko

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

That looks great. The modeling is well done and your texture work really makes the ship look like it's been floating in space for 200 years.

Thank you!


Have a couple of more WIPs to show off... i feel like most of my projects are WIP even when they seem to be finished.. because I'm always messing with them.

The Enterprise in her refit configuration from TMP -





And redressed as the Enterprise-A - still have some work to do on the alpha channel to have the lighting reflect what was seen in STV and STVI






The Motion Picture Era movies wouldn't be complete without the most often seen design in all of Star Trek - the famous Miranda Class

USS Reliant - still tweaking some of parts of this model.. the back of top hull and some of the textures as well







And a ship that is ACTUALLY a WIP.. my new build Ktinga Class Battlecruiser... some parts need to be modeled still and textures need work.. some are going to be remade as well.






Many pieces of textures are placeholders from an older model for mapping purposes.. and the engines have no detail other than the basic shape modeled.






And thats all for now.. might show off some more stuff tomorrow...

scifieric

Very, very nice work!

CptBenSisko

completing the "Big Three" of TOS -






Getting the wings right, surprisingly took quite a bit of creative thinking so that they were the right shape and angle.. again using he JBOT diagrams from Cygnus X-1





pretty much all of the main hull details and pieces are done.. just a matter of adding a few detail pieces here and there (warp vents/plasma launcher/disruptor banks)

evil_genius_180

That looks great. That's not an easy shape to pull off, particularly where the wings meet the hull.

CptBenSisko

yeah.. i knew extruding (using a mirror modifier for the other side so i didnt have to recreate the cuts twice) was the way to go.. but because i was extruding flat surfaces.. the wings never had any curve to them from the front/back view.. so i had to slice a "curve" of sorts into the front and back.. and then extrude that out.. it took a bit of trial error to get the front of the pylon exactly where it was supposed to be.. but im super happy with the result.. if I ever build another one higher res.. i might use a stretched boolean cylinder to cut the opening... and then extrude out.. as opposed to eyeballing it... however.. eyeballing it does lend a bit of realism to the fact that it was a hand built model..

CptBenSisko

scifieric wrote: »

Very, very nice work!

Thank you Eric! Like I said a couple of months ago to you in a PM.. your tutorial for the TOS Enterprise really got me kicked into high gear.. so indirectly, thank you again for all the hard work you put in.. and your Phase 2 Nacelle tutorial put me on the right track for my TMP Nacelle as well

trekki

Very nice work

StarCruiser

The Polar Lights (Round2) 1/1000th scale kit has a more accurate shape for the TOS Romulan Warbird than those old blueprints.

Hopefully, these work:

https://imgur.com/7Gcu9th
https://imgur.com/j3WbCjq
https://imgur.com/Lbqib41

CptBenSisko

always appreciate more references.. the JBot blueprints Im using are from 2023 though.. so relatively new..

he did some pretty exhaustive analysis to come up with something as accurate as possible.. considering the filming miniature was lost a long time ago.

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/tos-romulan-bop.php

Brandenberg

I agree with everyone. Nice, Nice work. Oh and I was going to comment that for some reason I found the Reliant a challenging model to do. Bravo on yours.

CptBenSisko

The problem with Reliant/Miranda is that there are sooooooooo many different schematics, none of them match each other... and of course many are hand drawn, so even if you stick to one set, most of the views don't match up with each other.. engines might be a different distance apart in the front ortho view compared to the top/bottom ortho view.. even if scaled correctly to each other.

When building the Enterprise Refit, I used (probably like many others) Big Jim Slade's schematics as they were generated in CAD software.. so that when you look at the different views, they all line up correctly. The Miranda doesn't have that.. so i used orthos from Eaglemoss, as well as pouring over a bunch of images of the studio model and shots from WOK.. But of course the Miranda was built to a different scale (smaller) than the Enterprise was to make it easier to film.. and hence why there are some subtle differences in the engines, the bridge and sensor dome areas. You could copy/paste those parts from a Connie onto the Miranda, and the average person wouldn't know the difference (like my dad for example).

Its just crazy that a miniature as famous as the Miranda doesn't have a legit, set of blueprints that show the studio model's proportions correctly.. the rollbar for example is round as it goes towards the mega-phasers.. but is very flat at the top.. and almost starts to angle downward slightly whe it reaches the torpedo pod.



The mega phasers themselves also point in slightly on the studio model.. although most diagrams/resources have them angled perfectly straight forward. They are also quite a bit smaller than most of the diagrams show.



I wanted to capture the essence of the studio model as best as I could.. and the warp engines themselves have some of the biggest differences..

Reliant engines





Enterprise engines




front grilles are shorter.. the front of the engine is a bit rounder.. and slightly wider..

So yeah.. it was a challenge but only because of lack of reliable references.. so most of this has been eyeballed.. but still symmetrical in all views.

StarCruiser

CptBenSisko wrote: »

always appreciate more references.. the JBot blueprints Im using are from 2023 though.. so relatively new..

he did some pretty exhaustive analysis to come up with something as accurate as possible.. considering the filming miniature was lost a long time ago.

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/tos-romulan-bop.php

The problem with the JBot blues is that they are based on the 1980ish blueprints - and those are out of scale and while decent are not correct.

Yes, the original mini is MIA to a point (still apparently exists in a private collection) Round 2's team included someone with access to that old miniature.

CptBenSisko

unfortunately without more solid/accurate blueprints.. this will have to do LOL I have made quite a few updates to the model that I will post later tonight.. also started texturing it.. if you know of a source of orthos based on that model.. and can link them.. that would be greatly appreciated.. no worries otherwise

Brandenberg

CptBenSisko wrote: »

The problem with Reliant/Miranda is that there are sooooooooo many different schematics, none of them match each other... and of course many are hand drawn, so even if you stick to one set, most of the views don't match up with each other. engines might be a different distance apart in the front ortho view compared to the top/bottom ortho view even if scaled correctly to each other.

The front grilles are shorter. The front of the engine is a bit rounder. and slightly wider.

So yeah. It was a challenge but only because of lack of reliable references. So, most of this has been eyeballed but still symmetrical in all views.

All you said was true. Frustrating model. If I remember correctly there were also lots of variations on the Greebles on the top of the saucer under the "Roll Bar." I believe I decided to give the roll bar my own shape that I felt was better looking. Why not. The different variations of the Miranda are all over the place. I also chose to use the enterprise engines as they were because the Reliant was a model and I reasoned that in a real world the designers of the Reliant wouldn't purposefully make the engines different. Why not use the measurements and specs of the original engines over again instead of reinventing the wheel?

evil_genius_180

CptBenSisko wrote: »

always appreciate more references.. the JBot blueprints Im using are from 2023 though.. so relatively new..

he did some pretty exhaustive analysis to come up with something as accurate as possible.. considering the filming miniature was lost a long time ago.

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/tos-romulan-bop.php

Ooh, those are really nice. I've been thinking of doing a BOP (again) since I saw yours, and I think those might be the references I use, even if they're not entirely correct. I usually go for "close enough" with my models anyway. The last one I did, which I unfortunately no longer have, was based on the blueprints that are almost as old as I am.

CptBenSisko

Brandenberg wrote: »

CptBenSisko wrote: »

The problem with Reliant/Miranda is that there are sooooooooo many different schematics, none of them match each other... and of course many are hand drawn, so even if you stick to one set, most of the views don't match up with each other. engines might be a different distance apart in the front ortho view compared to the top/bottom ortho view even if scaled correctly to each other.

The front grilles are shorter. The front of the engine is a bit rounder. and slightly wider.

So yeah. It was a challenge but only because of lack of reliable references. So, most of this has been eyeballed but still symmetrical in all views.

All you said was true. Frustrating model. If I remember correctly there were also lots of variations on the Greebles on the top of the saucer under the "Roll Bar." I believe I decided to give the roll bar my own shape that I felt was better looking. Why not. The different variations of the Miranda are all over the place. I also chose to use the enterprise engines as they were because the Reliant was a model and I reasoned that in a real world the designers of the Reliant wouldn't purposefully make the engines different. Why not use the measurements and specs of the original engines over again instead of reinventing the wheel?

You are absolutely correct.. the engines and like bridge and such other common parts are probably intended to be identical to what is on the Enterprise

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

CptBenSisko wrote: »

always appreciate more references.. the JBot blueprints Im using are from 2023 though.. so relatively new..

he did some pretty exhaustive analysis to come up with something as accurate as possible.. considering the filming miniature was lost a long time ago.

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/tos-romulan-bop.php

Ooh, those are really nice. I've been thinking of doing a BOP (again) since I saw yours, and I think those might be the references I use, even if they're not entirely correct. I usually go for "close enough" with my models anyway. The last one I did, which I unfortunately no longer have, was based on the blueprints that are almost as old as I am.

about to post some updates to my Bird of Prey.. got the entire main hull mapped.. got the bird added to the bottom.. going to go the smooth hull (no panel detail) on this one.. also.. the big three (Enterprise-D7-BoP) all together.. I never in all my years of doing kitbashes and retextures did I ever think Id be able to pull off one new scratch built model, let alone several.

Anywho.. some Bird of Prey updates.. overall.. shes kinda boring as there are no lights or other hull detail yet, other than the bird on the ventral side






and now Bird of prey by itself

StarCruiser

This link may also help on the BOP:

https://forgottentrek.com/the-original-series/creating-the-romulan-bird-of-prey/

Brandenberg

Interesting story about this ship you provided @StarCruiser . On another note, @CptBenSisko where did you come up with the decal for the bottom?

BlueNeumann

That Romulan Bird Of Prey is pretty enough to be hanging in a Vulcan museum for some reason.

CptBenSisko

@Brandenberg

The plans and the decal are from Jim Botaitis' (JBot) Romulan Bird of Prey blueprints/schematics on cygnus-x1.net. Been corresponding with him the last couple of days.. getting his input on the model seeing what he thinks of it.. and asked his permission to use his graphics.. since im building the model based on his schematics..


Also have some texture updates as well.. got the upper wing/dorsal aft hull decals applied and the upper section lights near the bridge (not all of them) still a lot of detailing and shading/weathering to do.

Because I'm not doing any kind of panel lines or grid pattern on it, I will weather it to give a look similar to how the model makers weathered sections of the Enterprise.

Some updated images and a render or two for everyone.




Still have the fin decal to apply as well...

haven't mapped the front hydrogen collector/globes yet.. so i just turned them on in blender to add a bit of light.

CptBenSisko

Hitting the home stretch of this build.. nacelles are mapped.. created a cool metallic texture for the nacelle ends.. as well as a nice glowy look for the front domes.. and added the vents on the inside of the nacelle ends..

Last big details.. are modelling the plasma launcher.. and then adding a few extra lights on the upper dorsal section and the aft hull rim next to the fin..

CptBenSisko

Bird of Prey all finalized and buttoned up with details and lights and weapons and and and.. LOL

evil_genius_180

It looks great.

CptBenSisko

Thank you sir. much appreciated.

Began work on my next project.. which also took some creative thinking on my part. Each one of these models is a new learning experience for me.

wibble

Uh, pretty excited to watch this come together.