Hi, I'm SCE2Aux and I'd like to share some of the 3d stuff I'm working on. This is a Star Trek ship a made around 2019, which I modified after my skills got better about a year later. I dusted it off for a second time this year and have nearly finished adding the further texturing and modelling detail. It's meant to represent a very early human warp-capable starship.
Latest -
Here are some kitbashing ideas combing the above ship with another one I've done. At some point I think it would be fun to expand on this into a little fleet:
When I first modelled the ship, I intended to come up with some interiors to go with it, but never got around to starting it. This is a WIP image of where I'm at with the bridge right now. Still needs displays, buttons/controls, and texturing though:
Lastly I want some environments for this ship to be in, so I've started some work on some things for that:
Impressive work. I like the bridge concept. It's a bit like Star Trek meets The Expanse.
I'm a huge fan of The Expanse, and of more real-life inspired scifi technology in general. Whilst I didn't have that show's look specifically in mind when I started out on this set, I definitely wanted a more nuts and bolts design language compared to other Star Trek bridges (nx-01 excepted.)
I initially wanted another row of consoles to evoke a mission control sort of vibe, but when it came to blocking out the room shapes, I couldn't really fit it all in. I've done some spaceship interiors before, but this is my first proper bridge set, so I learned a lot as I went along.
Definitely buy those ships as a precursor to something like the Olympic class - the modeling and greeble details look amazing! Beautiful planet too, I love the backlit rings shot.
Whilst I didn't have that show's look specifically in mind when I started out on this set, I definitely wanted a more nuts and bolts design language compared to other Star Trek bridges.
Well I guess the things we like most always find a way to sneak in our projects.
I've been concentrating on the buttons/controls for the bridge this week:
Also finished some modelling work on the back of the main seats. I took some inspiration from ejection seats as a starting point for the overall shape of these seats.
Oh I REALLY dig these, reminds me a bit of Stargate with "what if we built a starship with the tech we have right now?" and I'm here for it.
Dig the control panels as well as the standalone pieces, but I'd say be sure to keep things in a feasible positions, the screens on the sides on the center console don't make as much sense since the user wouldn't normally be looking in that direction, save it for knobs/switches... things that an be "felt." I might actually have those little square screens with the button sides being on armatures like monitors or lights. That way they can be pulled forward when they need them and pushed back when they don't need them.
Oh I REALLY dig these, reminds me a bit of Stargate with "what if we built a starship with the tech we have right now?" and I'm here for it.
Dig the control panels as well as the standalone pieces, but I'd say be sure to keep things in a feasible positions, the screens on the sides on the center console don't make as much sense since the user wouldn't normally be looking in that direction, save it for knobs/switches... things that an be "felt." I might actually have those little square screens with the button sides being on armatures like monitors or lights. That way they can be pulled forward when they need them and pushed back when they don't need them.
I like the idea of using armatures for side-monitors a lot, it makes sense and will also help balance out the main workstation screens which look a bit lonely right now, thanks!
Maybe something External Tank based for pre-Daedalus ships?
Could be worth thinking about if I make more ships in this early era. I basically kitbashed a space shuttle payload bay as the upper cargo bay area for this ship, so I'm certainly not averse to using shuttle-era stuff for these ship designs.
Great work! I personally wish the ships from Enterprise leaned more towards your designs, with some Earth ships with nacelles and others with ring warp engines.
I wanted a change from bridge modelling for a bit, so I've been adding panel detail to the old shuttle model that was made along with the original Reliant mesh.
I hadn't considered that, but you're right that there is definitely a resemblence. The soviet/Russian space programs had a ton of interesting ideas, always ruined by budget squeezes and mismanagement. I always liked the idea of the fly-back boosters as an upgrade path for the Energia rocket.
My shuttle is a sort of miniature Spacex Starship, in that it will reorient during the final descent and land on its tail - seems like a good solution for landing on unprepared surfaces.
I'm still currently bogged down on the controls for the bridge this week. I've added peripheral displays flanking the main screen on each work station, and spent some time putting linear white boarders around the various groups of buttons, with associated labelling of what each group does - the sort of thing you see in the cockpit of real-life aircraft cockpits. I've only done this for the three consoles on the right side so far, but it adds some realism when closer in. I can't wait to get this all modelled and on to the texturing stage - had enough of modelling right now haha
A lower resolution close up of the consoles with the additional detailing.
The small monitors on the sides are from the NX-01 or ? 😂😂
Oh for sure - in the future, all monitors will be small, blocky 4:3 aspect ratio devices with 480 pixel interlaced displays. None of that 4K Ultra HD OLED rubbish!
Is this ship using the Expanse version of gravity where it's only "on" under active engine thrust or has it already got grav-plating?
Funny you should mention that, because I thought about this a bit when I did the initial modelling pass of the ship exterior. My line of thought is that because there have been a couple of episodes depicting pre-warp ships that have artificial gravity, I shouldn't be too hung up over whether this one has it too. However I think artificial gravity throughout the entire ship would be a bit of a stretch, so maybe the technology is confined to the bridge and the crew hab/quarters. The rest can go zero-g.
I've been thinking that the bridge lighting is looking a bit even and TNG-like, so I've spent a bit of time trying to address that issue:
Posts
EXACTLY what I was thinking!
LOVE this!
I'm a huge fan of The Expanse, and of more real-life inspired scifi technology in general. Whilst I didn't have that show's look specifically in mind when I started out on this set, I definitely wanted a more nuts and bolts design language compared to other Star Trek bridges (nx-01 excepted.)
I initially wanted another row of consoles to evoke a mission control sort of vibe, but when it came to blocking out the room shapes, I couldn't really fit it all in. I've done some spaceship interiors before, but this is my first proper bridge set, so I learned a lot as I went along.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRhLEHgwgTKxsalM5YznYQ
Formerly furswift
Well I guess the things we like most always find a way to sneak in our projects.
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Also finished some modelling work on the back of the main seats. I took some inspiration from ejection seats as a starting point for the overall shape of these seats.
Dig the control panels as well as the standalone pieces, but I'd say be sure to keep things in a feasible positions, the screens on the sides on the center console don't make as much sense since the user wouldn't normally be looking in that direction, save it for knobs/switches... things that an be "felt." I might actually have those little square screens with the button sides being on armatures like monitors or lights. That way they can be pulled forward when they need them and pushed back when they don't need them.
https://mobile.twitter.com/thespaceshipper/status/1270117522302525441
https://www.patreon.com/posts/64299267
DALL-E work
https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini/discussions/3068.
I can see Discovery becoming Daedalus
I like the idea of using armatures for side-monitors a lot, it makes sense and will also help balance out the main workstation screens which look a bit lonely right now, thanks!
Could be worth thinking about if I make more ships in this early era. I basically kitbashed a space shuttle payload bay as the upper cargo bay area for this ship, so I'm certainly not averse to using shuttle-era stuff for these ship designs.
I hadn't considered that, but you're right that there is definitely a resemblence. The soviet/Russian space programs had a ton of interesting ideas, always ruined by budget squeezes and mismanagement. I always liked the idea of the fly-back boosters as an upgrade path for the Energia rocket.
My shuttle is a sort of miniature Spacex Starship, in that it will reorient during the final descent and land on its tail - seems like a good solution for landing on unprepared surfaces.
I'm still currently bogged down on the controls for the bridge this week. I've added peripheral displays flanking the main screen on each work station, and spent some time putting linear white boarders around the various groups of buttons, with associated labelling of what each group does - the sort of thing you see in the cockpit of real-life aircraft cockpits. I've only done this for the three consoles on the right side so far, but it adds some realism when closer in. I can't wait to get this all modelled and on to the texturing stage - had enough of modelling right now haha
A lower resolution close up of the consoles with the additional detailing.
Funny you should mention that, because I thought about this a bit when I did the initial modelling pass of the ship exterior. My line of thought is that because there have been a couple of episodes depicting pre-warp ships that have artificial gravity, I shouldn't be too hung up over whether this one has it too. However I think artificial gravity throughout the entire ship would be a bit of a stretch, so maybe the technology is confined to the bridge and the crew hab/quarters. The rest can go zero-g.
I've been thinking that the bridge lighting is looking a bit even and TNG-like, so I've spent a bit of time trying to address that issue:
Some lighting practice - not my strongest suit, so I try to experiment in lighting my ships in different ways to see what works: