2DThe Bucket - VTOL transport concept images

Armondikov

Egads... when was the last time I properly posted here? Anyway, I fell off the 3D wagon and took up 2D instead, and have just started moving into scenes and concept art. So it's not the greatest nor the most original idea, just something to get me into it after doing people and portraits to death in the last 8 months.

So this is my first half-decent attempt at sketching a vehicle. I'm sure I Could make up some sci-fi fluff to go with it. If anyone has any good pointers for how to go about this sort of thing, I'm definitely open to it. And, of course, the possibility of doing this up in 3D remains.

evil_genius_180

I like it, whether or not it's Sci-Fi. It does look futuristic.

Flakmonkey

Nice job! Love the design. Any chance for a turnaround?

Lonewriter

You should do this in 3d. I like it.

Armondikov

Lonewriter wrote: »

You should do this in 3d. I like it.

But I'm so damn out of practice with 3D! The technology and the standard of even hobbyists just outstripped what I could do so it ended on the back-burner. But I've never done concept-to-model before, so that might help!

Vortex5972

Looking really cool.

Elowan

Armondikov wrote: »

But I'm so damn out of practice with 3D! The technology and the standard of even hobbyists just outstripped what I could do so it ended on the back-burner. But I've never done concept-to-model before, so that might help!

Go for it!

Armondikov

While I warm up some 3D work, here's a second one. Same role, similar scale, just a tech-level (or two) higher up. There's a mini plan for a third that's a level above again, but that can wait for now.

evil_genius_180

I like it. :thumb:

TALON_UK

Like both designs, slightly prefer the second (reminds me a little of the Avatar gunships), with both of them you'll need to increase the size of those rotor blades arrays so they can create enough lift, especially with the less aerodynamic first design.

Armondikov

TALON_UK wrote: »

[...]with both of them you'll need to increase the size of those rotor blades arrays so they can create enough lift, especially with the less aerodynamic first design.

Yeah, physics is a bitch....

Lonewriter

I really like the second one, it reminds me of the Quinjet from Avengers/Agenst of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Armondikov

So I did a pop at some 3D. Blocked in some of the pieces, but as suggested am slowly re-jigging it to boost the size of the engines and rotors.

Sanderlee

I would argue against boosting the size of the rotors too much. Right now, it has a subtle Steampunk feel to it, that "it shouldn't work, but in this universe it does work, so roll with it" vibe. Boosting the engines and rotors to account for realism just makes it into a high-tech version of an Osprey. Nice, but not quite as cool.

But, that's just my opinion. Nice work so far either way!

Armondikov

I'm aiming to pitch it part-way between the original and the Osprey. The V-22 does have some alarmingly-sized engines, but after looking it over as a reference I started liking the proportions. I might switch to three blades like on the Osprey, as I think the two-bladed look is a little too steampunk-y for my purposes here.

evil_genius_180

The 3D version is looking good so far.

Armondikov

Engines started, as those are really just scribbles on the sketch.

TALON_UK

Coming along very nicely, especially with that detailing.

:thumb:

evil_genius_180

^ What he said.

Armondikov

Engines mostly done. Props added.

Armondikov

And I've noticed that all these PNGs have a transparent background.

evil_genius_180

I think the props are a good size. They're big enough to be believable, but not too huge. The rest of the details are looking fantastic. And here you were acting like you forgot how to do 3D.

32 bit PNGs do have a transparent background. If you want to save to PNG with a background, try 24 bit.

Armondikov

I quite like the transparency as it renders on the SFM forums. It means I can do something quick and silly like this.

Armondikov

Re-evaluating the balance of the thing, I figured some kind of gear at the front was needed.

evil_genius_180

Good idea, especially if any heavy equipment is loaded through that front ramp.

TALON_UK

Good addition, but wheel looks weird and doesn't make any sense when your main gears are skids, unless the wheel front gear is just a placeholder, or your replacing the skids on the main gear with wheels. The design is really coming along.

Armondikov

TALON_UK wrote: »

Good addition, but wheel looks weird and doesn't make any sense when your main gears are skids, unless the wheel front gear is just a placeholder, or your replacing the skids on the main gear with wheels. The design is really coming along.

A little from Column A and a little from Column B, really. It's sort of a placeholder since it's recycled from a previous model, but I'm going to plan some kind of wheel/skid hybrid or switch to wheels entirely.

Tea Monster

Nice design. looks believable and nice mechanical detailing.

Armondikov

So, cracking on with some more detail - still not approaching the main body yet, even though I've put in some rough side panels. Main things to point out that are different to the original concept are the re-jigged lights on the front, which are now smaller and doubled-up to reflect the actual scale of the craft; the turbo-prop engines looking more exposed and industrial with some exhausts on top (which I will probably copy to the main body); and the landing gear switching to wheels with slightly beefier proportions to the supports. Overall, I think the feel of being built by the lowest bidder is coming along well.

Things I'm not entirely happy with include the four-wheeled rather than trike layout of the landing gear - this is something of a compromise because there wasn't room for a nose gear in the floor of the thing. Secondly, the overall squat profile as shown by the attached ortho is something I'm in two minds about. It's needed to fit the larger propeller blades than the concept image has, and also contributes to the bulky and inelegant feel, but I'm not sure I like it. I could make the propeller blocks slightly mobile, moving up and down as necessary, but I think that's heading towards too many moving parts to wrap my head around.

And for the final bit of gumph, the question is this: do I want to add a second connector between the propeller blocks and the main body to give it a bit more rigidity and bulkiness? And if so underneath at an upward angle or behind and swept forward? The top-ortho, also attached, possibly suggests the latter, but I'll throw that out for opinions before committing to it.

evil_genius_180

Looking great. I especially like the details on the engines.

Armondikov

Some of that is going a bit over the top, but it's more fun to do exposed engines that just plain panel work.