Well, I finished texturing the last couple of parts:
Now I have to tie a few loose ends. Decals for the various text as well as a couple of pieces that I think I need to redo. The overall textures might need some tweaking still, but I'm very happy with what I have so far. Couple of full body shots:
Got through most of the decals tonight. Also tweaked the materials a bit. While the strong reflections are nice, they were bothering me a bit, so I increased the roughness of the material a bit to compensate. Should still look metallic under the right conditions:
Are the decals stenciled or just textures. Looks great.
Originally I was going to to texture them in the base texture itself. But I found pretty quickly that I'd either have to deal with low resolution in a few places or create some huge textures for the ship. Stenciling them in would be the natural solution, but that would go against my goal of having this be a generic Constitution Class model. So I decided to use decals for all the text. It provides me with enough resolution to get close and I can quickly change the name of the ship by just changing the PSD file and exporting new PNG files.
Thanks all for the compliments I had to take a break from this for a couple of days, just to get some fresh eyes on it. I did have some progress today, but it was mostly just tidying the file up, collapsing a few parts into a single mesh and so on. I'm working on a nice docking port to attach to the bridge, neck and engineering, will post something in a little bit.
Took me more time than I thought. It's tricky to get all the dimensions right. I'll do a better closeup once I finish the details on the docking ports:
I still have things to finish on the exterior, but couldn't resist trying a beauty shot. I'm hoping to do something better than what we saw in the movies. Never thought they did her justice:
The subtleties of the aztecing and panel/grid lines on that lower saucer are simply perfect. All in all this is such a beautiful model!
And to think some folks suggested not having those at all I might still give that a shot, but I think it's very important to the look of the ship. And thank you!
Viper I love what you have done. Roughly from the beginning to this point how long did it take you?
First, welcome My first wip shot is from the 16th of February. So I'm coming up on two months. That said, I didn't work every day. I took some breaks from modelling, and I have some concurrent projects that I work from time to time to give my mind a reset on the project. But it's definitely near the 100 hour mark I think.
I think some of the ships from the old Klingon Academy computer game deserve the love you have shown here. Any thought to refit-era ships of your own design?
I think some of the ships from the old Klingon Academy computer game deserve the love you have shown here. Any thought to refit-era ships of your own design?
Actually, I have two designs in progress right now. Here's a quick preview:
The Akira type is much more refined. The one on the left is supposed to be a cargo/supply ship for war time. That's why I'm using the Refit saucer instead of something else as it needs to have weapons. Open to other design ideas. I feel like the TMP era has been explored very little and most of the designs are just weird variations of the Connie or Excelsior.
I've been posting these on the Discord chat, but if there's interest in seeing these progress I can create a thread here as well
I really like the cargo ship. The Akira is a cool concept but I'd tweak the catamarans to make them less identical to the TNG version.
If you have any suggestions that are more specific, I'd love to hear it. I tried a lot of variations on that, even doing them from the bottom of the saucer as well. None of it really worked. Then a couple of days ago I just put in the Akira catamaran and it looked instantly better. Here's a couple more images of her:
I really like the cargo ship. The Akira is a cool concept but I'd tweak the catamarans to make them less identical to the TNG version.
If you have any suggestions that are more specific, I'd love to hear it. I tried a lot of variations on that, even doing them from the bottom of the saucer as well. None of it really worked. Then a couple of days ago I just put in the Akira catamaran and it looked instantly better. Here's a couple more images of her:
That does look great. Maybe some supports to the rear on the saucer or on the underside of the saucer to balance it out? It looks great either wat.
That does look great. Maybe some supports to the rear on the saucer or on the underside of the saucer to balance it out? It looks great either wat.
Thanks. I'll see if it makes sense to add any other pieces. The underside still needs work. And I had some ideas for the catamarans to make the shape a bit less organic. Next time I update, I'll create a separate thread. Don't want to mix this with the Constitution further.
One idea could be to raise the whole bridge superstructure somewhat between the two catamarans, kinda like what Paul Frenczli did with his redesigned NX-01. Lowering the catamarans position could also help in making it look more inspired by the Akira than as a simple kitbash.
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Thanks Well, that's what the NX designation is for. Not sure if they would go to the trouble of painting it yellow though
Aztec on the underside of the saucer is done. I'll handle the details later. I want to get through all the aztec panels first.
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Here's where things stand:
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Now I have to tie a few loose ends. Decals for the various text as well as a couple of pieces that I think I need to redo. The overall textures might need some tweaking still, but I'm very happy with what I have so far. Couple of full body shots:
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Originally I was going to to texture them in the base texture itself. But I found pretty quickly that I'd either have to deal with low resolution in a few places or create some huge textures for the ship. Stenciling them in would be the natural solution, but that would go against my goal of having this be a generic Constitution Class model. So I decided to use decals for all the text. It provides me with enough resolution to get close and I can quickly change the name of the ship by just changing the PSD file and exporting new PNG files.
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Just a thought... Yellow is the natural colour of the material they use during construction. They then paint it to the version we've come to love.
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
And to think some folks suggested not having those at all I might still give that a shot, but I think it's very important to the look of the ship. And thank you!
First, welcome My first wip shot is from the 16th of February. So I'm coming up on two months. That said, I didn't work every day. I took some breaks from modelling, and I have some concurrent projects that I work from time to time to give my mind a reset on the project. But it's definitely near the 100 hour mark I think.
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Actually, I have two designs in progress right now. Here's a quick preview:
The Akira type is much more refined. The one on the left is supposed to be a cargo/supply ship for war time. That's why I'm using the Refit saucer instead of something else as it needs to have weapons. Open to other design ideas. I feel like the TMP era has been explored very little and most of the designs are just weird variations of the Connie or Excelsior.
I've been posting these on the Discord chat, but if there's interest in seeing these progress I can create a thread here as well
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
If you have any suggestions that are more specific, I'd love to hear it. I tried a lot of variations on that, even doing them from the bottom of the saucer as well. None of it really worked. Then a couple of days ago I just put in the Akira catamaran and it looked instantly better. Here's a couple more images of her:
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
That does look great. Maybe some supports to the rear on the saucer or on the underside of the saucer to balance it out? It looks great either wat.
Thanks. I'll see if it makes sense to add any other pieces. The underside still needs work. And I had some ideas for the catamarans to make the shape a bit less organic. Next time I update, I'll create a separate thread. Don't want to mix this with the Constitution further.
Frequent updates at our Discord channel!
Lowering the catamarans position could also help in making it look more inspired by the Akira than as a simple kitbash.