3DWIP USS Collider

komaro

This is a drawing that was made by BlueNeumann (Chris)
I am trying to do it in 3D, especially the one in the middle.
I named it USS Collider because his 2D jpg was named collision, but if the author wants another name this can be change before I do the texturing, of course.

Original drawing:
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?79346-Pen-and-ink-ships-since-I-can-t-model/page14

BlueNeumann

That's so cool, man! Collider is a cool name, too! I don't want to say too much about what was in my head for the ship b/c I want to see what you do with it.

komaro

I changed the hull completely and put it in two pieces. A bit more art deco style in a sens...Did the wing for the nacelle.
I have no idea what to do for the bridge. It should be at the top of the hull front part.

komaro

Made the bridge and cut the saucer.

BlueNeumann

The bridge module's a real interesting shape, like a bug that latched onto it. A parasite ship! That could be interesting! Like that bug that takes over an ant and has it do things. Remembering the bugs from "Conspiracy," maybe that's an alternate way to play with that idea.

I love how much it looks like a pizza slicer, too... that saucer is just so sleek, it looks like it just cuts through anything in its way. I might have said that before, but in case I didn't...

komaro

Thanks. I had to redo the saucer twice, but I keep that cutout so it look more clean and smooth. As for the bridge I wanted something art deco a bit bug shape. I will make some other small modules along the top hull to integrate it more.

komaro

small update

komaro

After fiddling and trying 2-3 different nacelles design, I decided to add round nacelles that I made for the USS Conviction.

It fits better with the impulse engines that are mid wing...and I had a hard time trying doing them like the Enterprise E engines.



You can see them here on the previous ship:
http://www.3ddub.net/uss-conviction-version-2-0/

komaro

Change the nacelle a bit to fit a more slick design. Clean up some smooth groups error

komaro

Down section and deflector. I decided to do a boolean and add physical strips, slightly curved and joined by a central axe. There should be some pipes eventually...When you look at the side view, it makes you think of a shark mouth, like those on WW2 war planes. Not intentional on my part...

komaro

And I have a very weird bug with the hull. It never align to the value zero when a do a symmetry. When I do a mirror, it's fine but it creates a cut seem between the two parts. Annoying...

Starship

Humm... looks like the verts arenA’t all aligned. You have two options other than to rebuild:
1- I think that exists a way for you to align all the vertices to a plane, but I forgot how... IA’m away from studio max for to many years;
2- Select all the edges and extrude them a bit, them use a retangle so slice the extension and voila. Now do the mirror;

Hope that helps.

komaro

Starship wrote: »

Humm... looks like the verts arenA’t all aligned. You have two options other than to rebuild:
1- I think that exists a way for you to align all the vertices to a plane, but I forgot how... IA’m away from studio max for to many years;
2- Select all the edges and extrude them a bit, them use a retangle so slice the extension and voila. Now do the mirror;

Hope that helps.

I like your solution. I will try it. It seems the shape always retain an error I made initially. I corrected it but for the Y plane, it comes back when I apply symmetry. It makes no sens at all. The extrude might do the trick.

BlueNeumann

That deflector is so cool and interesting! And somehow still fits the pizza slicer motif, I'm not quite sure how. Maybe it's reminding me of a thumb grip or something. Love it.

That shot from the front is making me realize there might also be an under-bridge or something above the deflector and beneath the saucer, like the Shenzhen. Maybe it's just an observation post, but I can imagine being there looking out big glass windows.

komaro

I put it in front of the deflector below. But I try to take account at how the deflector can project energy, so it's low profile. I might modify the saucer to extend it in front. Maybe it would be more logical if it's on the sides of the deflector. Separate in two but joined below the structure.

Arsene Lupin

This is, huh... it's a really weird ship. Don't get me wrong--I love it--it's just hard to place. Like, it could fit really well into just about any era, from TOS to DS9+. It probably wouldn't look much out of place in New Trek either, phaser strips notwithstanding.

I especially love the art-decon "steps" at the front end of the entral column. Very cool! And maybe it's the silvery lighting of the WIP right now, but I also get a very 1960's sci-fi feel from it. Chrome hull plating wouldn't exactly look out of place on it, ya' know?

One question, where's the deflector? Seems like it could be placed either at the front of the wing-mounted impulse drives, or inside the "shark mouth" (really love those lines) kind of like the Dauntless-type.

komaro

The deflector is in the shark area mouth thing, For the moment I am not sure about the bridge area and the front end deflector area. Even if it' art deco it push the design in an odd direction. So, those might change to a more curvy style eventually...at least I will try them.

I will start doing the textures too, to get the windows, energy strips and such...

komaro

I tried another bridge design but that wasn't that great...so I decided to integrate it with a panel design on the saucer. Seem nice, still have to put pods and maybe some windows on the saucer.

Arsene Lupin

Neat! The bridge seems kind of tall--how many decks thick is it? I may just be confused with the scale of the ship--the narrowness of the saucer makes me think it's "big," and the overall layout is reminiscent of the Enterprise-J design (which is obscenely big). I realize the actual geometry is (probably) the same size, but the additional detailing makes the bridge component *feel* bigger.

If you don't mind some advice, I think the main thing the bridge component is lacking is "lines." I may not have the necessarily vocabulary to articulate my thoughts here, but because the bridge isn't aligned within concentric circles, it feels kind of out-of-place without any "lines" in the design pointing to it, or drawing attention to it.

I'd suggest adding some to the patters on the rear half of the saucer--bring them forward to an intersecting point just in front of the bridge structure. IE to create a triangular shape with the bridge at the "head." Similar to the design of the Saber-class or Sovereign-class.

I also think you may want to add something to the front of the saucer. Because the bridge is raised up so much, it makes the forward saucer look kind of empty. I assume the registry will be painted on there, but maybe also consider some raised greebles or something (like in the kitbashes? I know it's not really an elegant solution....) or sensor palates and/or an Intrepid-style navigational deflector if you're thinking of making it more DS9+ era.

It might also be cool to experiment with a "cut-away" portion of the front of the saucer. It could be easy enough to do two versions ala the two Nova-class variants (IE the U.S.S. Equinox had a cut-away saucer; the U.S.S. Rhode Island did not) and it would help establish the "prow" of the ship a bit more.

Anyway, I gotta stress again how much I love this design. It is simple, clean and elegant--everything I look for in a Federation ship. Every new image gives me something new to appreciate--the top of the secondary hull is now looking SUPER reminiscent of the Miranda and Excelsior designs. Again, I think you've struck something here that could be placed in any era of Trek with little difficulty.

Speaking of the secondary hull--is that dome at the very back supposed to be a "warp jewel" (IE the "top" of the reactor, as is the case on the Excelsior and Constitution-Refit designs)? If so, well... I love how it looks aesthetically, but you might want to reconsider it from an in-universe perspective, as those "jewels" marked the top of a very large vertical reactor that ran down through several decks (from the top of the saucer, through the neck and into the secondary hull).

And I gotta say... I am really looking forward to seeing this model finished. Just imagining what it might look like with little glowing windows is making me kinda excited. Such a cool ship!

komaro

Thanks Arsene. I also think the bridge seem a bit big. I think I will put a deformer on it to slim it back. Since I have already done the windows, it would at least scale/deform it properly.

I though about a cutaway front end for the saucer but that wasn't in the original drawing. I decided to do an arc cutting instead to give it a knife edge look. The arc on the saucer was cut into the main saucer and manipulate to fit. I know other modellers do it another way by adding an extra object over the top but I wanted one saucer. Yes there is still letters, windows and pods on the saucer. Some panel cutting must be done in the outer cut of the saucer. The Excelsior design element was in one of the drawing. That's why I put a bit of art deco into it.

The round thing in the back would be the botanic garden, at one point I though it could be shield related. Not sure for now.

komaro

Did panels, add some glow and metal textures. Modified most of the bridge and the conference room. Link them together.

BlueNeumann

The word "damn" gets thrown around a lot these days, but daaaaaammmnn!

komaro

BlueNeumann wrote: »

The word "damn" gets thrown around a lot these days, but daaaaaammmnn!

Thanks, it's getting there. I need to fix that curve on the saucer so it gets smoother.

komaro

Color texture testing

Arsene Lupin

Ooh, nice. It's shaping up nicely. And it seems... maybe smaller than I originally thought? Is the glowy bit on the bridge dome meant to be a JJ-style holographic viewscreen/viewport? Or just a cool lighting effect? The two cut-outs on the saucer just ahead of the bridge dome look like they could be windows, too... but they're much smaller.

Anyway, I really like your panel lines. How exactly did you decide how to arrange them? They look very natural.

komaro

Well I think the colour might be more reddish. The top of the bridge has a big dome windows (not transparent), and you get a front window like in JJ, but I put default glow instead of a photo of a bridge.

About the panels (technical explanation), I often follow the vertices of the model and make small alterations. Even the top panels around the bridge follow a precise angle between those vertices. I had to redo those at least 3-4 times to get them to fit with one another and not break when extruded. Maybe one day I will do a tutorial on how I do things, but I am not as good and technical as MadKoifish in that regard.

I saw I forgot to coloured two panels around the bridge...

komaro

Add a level of reflection on the brown-red colour. Begun working more seriously on the bottom saucer.
After I will do windows and pod...

komaro

updates

komaro

Added a third color, subtle grey. Change the dark color to a black red.

evil_genius_180

This is looking pretty cool so far. I like that latest color scheme. :thumb:

komaro

Windows on saucer. Made with Create Holes
he deserve credits