Looks great. Make sure you consider the additional lower section to the design as you first started, I think it was a great concept for Romulan crafts
Look forward to next posts
Yeah, me too. I got stuck on it. But here's what I have so far. The forward "head" is a temporary item, since I just took the bridge off of the D7 and squished it. I'm not quite sure if I want to go with the wide body or the more narrow one. I tried a number of different shapes for the bottom half, but none of them looked good to me.
Also some more of the Orca, and started work on an M230 chain gun to stick on it. I rebuilt the wings and added hundreds of tiny bolts and some panel lines. Also rebuilt the rocket pods, reworked the engines a little and added some other small details.
Hah sweet an orca!!! We should start a C&C Revolution! Looking great!!
And a little more to come. Mostly smaller details and wiring. I'm not looking forward to the wiring... Pathing curves in trueSpace is a pain in the butt for me. As far as those other details are concerned, I'm guessing on a lot of them.
The model's looking very good, I hear you though, I wouldn't want to have to do all that wiring either :S
I have those pics as part of my reference folder. When I started getting into this weapon (to think, all this for the Orca!), my first thought was, "Wow, look at all of those exposed parts!" The biggest problem I've had so far was constructing the actual gun itself. Most of the weapon is hidden by the mounting system or whatever it's called.
I don't name the parts, I just try to replicate them. LOL
The images online of the actual gun are pretty small.
The hundreds of rivets I added to the wings and tail would suggest so. Although for the main body I think I'll mostly stick with exterior structure. Not try to build the internal components. I do plan to build out the cockpit as much as possible, and figure out the landing gear system.
For example the engines I built were based on plans for actual duct fan engines. The mechanics were relatively simple. Although with the attention to detail I've added to the chain gun, I may be able to do a little more when I go back to the rest of the aircraft. Things like fuel lines, power cords, and exhaust pipes. There's other smaller details I can add to the main fuselage like aircraft antennae, hatches, fuel ports, etc. Stuff that can be built in before I add textures.
OK! I believe I have a shape that I like. I didn't care for the original rounded version. While it followed similar lines to the original, it just didn't mesh well for me. This time I took some design cues from the Comanche as well as the Apache.
I also completely rebuilt the tail. Now I just need to detail it. Again.
One idea that was suggested to me was to follow some of the design elements of the UH-1 Iroquois and it's slimmer AH-1 Cobra counterpart. I kind of like the idea of a transport/gunship version.
Cool vehicle! Looking at it from the top though, I am concerned about the weight balancing on the engines. That tail engine would actually have to push downwards to keep the nose up when hovering, it seems slightly inefficient. I guess that wouldn't be a problem if fuel and overall power distribution were plentiful though. It is visually appealing for sure!
Cool vehicle! Looking at it from the top though, I am concerned about the weight balancing on the engines. That tail engine would actually have to push downwards to keep the nose up when hovering, it seems slightly inefficient. I guess that wouldn't be a problem if fuel and overall power distribution were plentiful though. It is visually appealing for sure!
I noticed that too. That's one of the reasons why I rebuilt the body shape instead of going for the original Orca design. I moved the engines forward and made the tail longer for better weight distribution. I'll do another set of renders when I have more work done.
Damn you and your skills! Stop it... Now i wish my tank had a cockpit! hah!
Bookmarking this thread though! adore your work....
You're too kind! Your tank looks pretty good right now. A cockpit isn't necessary unless you WANT to do that much detail. But if you had an interior, you could do scenes from inside your vehicle. If you want to add more detail to your Mammoth Tank, then I say go for it. If not, then consider it on your next project. Perhaps construct the Mammoth mk. II?
Got a good bit of the seat done. Still need to detail the left- and right-hand panels as well as add the stick and throttle. And probably some other details I can't think of at the moment. I also plan to give the seat section different textures.
Returned to a curved shape. It was looking too much like the AH-64 and less like an Orca. Also I was told it looked too heavy and unbalanced. After fiddling with the shape a number of times, I just went ahead and rebuilt it.
Made a couple of crystals in trueSpace, then imported them into VUE and created a some ecosystem mats. After doing this test render I liked it enough to add a snazzy border and give it a title.
I'll use this technique when I make a full scene later on. That is when I complete my Orca and construct the Hand of Nod. Hopefully I'll be able to pull off the image I have in my mind.
Sometimes it takes time and a fresh set of eyes to get back to a project. Instead of trying to retrofit a TNG Romulan Warbird, I recently rediscovered one of Probert's concept sketches (at Forgotten Trek web site).
So taking my TOS build design, I literally turned it on its side and kibbled this together. It retains the Romulan/Klingon features that I had been trying to blend and hopefully gives it more of a defined look.
That is perfect. I might not have a fin on the command pod but perhaps one to either side of the D-7 sides. Very well done. Here of course, decals would be to either sides of the ship.
That is perfect. I might not have a fin on the command pod but perhaps one to either side of the D-7 sides. Very well done. Here of course, decals would be to either sides of the ship.
Decals are one of the things I've been thinking about. This ship really doesn't afford itself to the typical BoP design as can be seen on Bird or the D7 paint scheme. If I turned it back over to a lateral position I could simply apply one to the bottom. I think for this design (which is intended to be rather large) the best idea would be to go with the saw-tooth accents on the edges.
Not sure about fins though. They wouldn't really work on such a large vessel. Perhaps a fin-like structure for the shuttle/fighter bays though!
I'll get back to the Warbird later on. I'm still picking away at the Orca. So for now, I think I've completed the cockpit interior. At least I can't think of anything else to add. Built the right-hand panel, flight stick, and added a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and bailout kit as well as a few access panels.
Posts
Look forward to next posts
Hah sweet an orca!!! We should start a C&C Revolution! Looking great!!
There's more!
And a little more to come. Mostly smaller details and wiring. I'm not looking forward to the wiring... Pathing curves in trueSpace is a pain in the butt for me. As far as those other details are concerned, I'm guessing on a lot of them.
I have those pics as part of my reference folder. When I started getting into this weapon (to think, all this for the Orca!), my first thought was, "Wow, look at all of those exposed parts!" The biggest problem I've had so far was constructing the actual gun itself. Most of the weapon is hidden by the mounting system or whatever it's called.
I don't name the parts, I just try to replicate them. LOL
The images online of the actual gun are pretty small.
Are you going to tackle the rest of the Orca with the same attention to detail?
For example the engines I built were based on plans for actual duct fan engines. The mechanics were relatively simple. Although with the attention to detail I've added to the chain gun, I may be able to do a little more when I go back to the rest of the aircraft. Things like fuel lines, power cords, and exhaust pipes. There's other smaller details I can add to the main fuselage like aircraft antennae, hatches, fuel ports, etc. Stuff that can be built in before I add textures.
I also completely rebuilt the tail. Now I just need to detail it. Again.
One idea that was suggested to me was to follow some of the design elements of the UH-1 Iroquois and it's slimmer AH-1 Cobra counterpart. I kind of like the idea of a transport/gunship version.
You got it! Here's the first part of the flight console. 25 different textures. I suppose I could have made them all on one map... Oh well.
-edit-
Looks like I have to rearrange a few of the gauges.
-edit 2-
Fixed it! I think it looks better now.
Damn you and your skills! Stop it... Now i wish my tank had a cockpit! hah!
Bookmarking this thread though! adore your work....
I noticed that too. That's one of the reasons why I rebuilt the body shape instead of going for the original Orca design. I moved the engines forward and made the tail longer for better weight distribution. I'll do another set of renders when I have more work done.
You're too kind! Your tank looks pretty good right now. A cockpit isn't necessary unless you WANT to do that much detail. But if you had an interior, you could do scenes from inside your vehicle. If you want to add more detail to your Mammoth Tank, then I say go for it. If not, then consider it on your next project. Perhaps construct the Mammoth mk. II?
Returned to a curved shape. It was looking too much like the AH-64 and less like an Orca. Also I was told it looked too heavy and unbalanced. After fiddling with the shape a number of times, I just went ahead and rebuilt it.
:thumb:
Made a couple of crystals in trueSpace, then imported them into VUE and created a some ecosystem mats. After doing this test render I liked it enough to add a snazzy border and give it a title.
I'll use this technique when I make a full scene later on. That is when I complete my Orca and construct the Hand of Nod. Hopefully I'll be able to pull off the image I have in my mind.
http://lady-die.deviantart.com/art/Crystalline-Tree-166297597
So taking my TOS build design, I literally turned it on its side and kibbled this together. It retains the Romulan/Klingon features that I had been trying to blend and hopefully gives it more of a defined look.
-Will
Decals are one of the things I've been thinking about. This ship really doesn't afford itself to the typical BoP design as can be seen on Bird or the D7 paint scheme. If I turned it back over to a lateral position I could simply apply one to the bottom. I think for this design (which is intended to be rather large) the best idea would be to go with the saw-tooth accents on the edges.
Not sure about fins though. They wouldn't really work on such a large vessel. Perhaps a fin-like structure for the shuttle/fighter bays though!
Thanks! Now I just need to refine it more and add all the nifty details that make it a starship.