JES

Okay, no replies... I'm disappointed. But not surprised by the neutral response, given how underdeveloped this design is.

I've have been working on and off of the redux of my Sparrow class for quite some time, but have struggled to find time due to studying investing in stocks, which mostly takes place when I'd normally draw in the first place. Here is the progress I've made this far.



As you can see, just as Madkoifish has been working hard on the Assiduous class, I've been working on her successor. For the moment, there are three possible directions to go in. As before, the design consists of 5 components: the inner hull, a pair of outer hulls, a pair of nacelles/pylons, and an upper mission pod.

They are missing a lot of details, since that would just take more time, and result in this perhaps never getting posted.

Design A uses a (relatively) simple arrowhead shape. The forward downward swept pylons are optional, and might be replaced with different nacelle pylon designs as I work on the design further.

Design B uses a forked bow which might or might not be inspired by the Mark 4 from Speed Racer. The downward backswept nacelle pylons are again optional.

Finally, design C is designed to use optional hull modules (think Insignia class from Mark Kingsworth). According to Atolm, the Assiduous class has the ability to mount different modules, and I wanted to retain this ability in the Sparrow class. Possible modules could be designed to have better sensors, phasers, torpedo turrets, and passenger capacity. The upward backswept nacelle pylons are - you guessed - optional.

At first, I added shading to every view that I was working on, but I was looking as Zoids concept line art, and figured that since shading was taking so long, and line art always looks professional without the shading, that I'd just add white underneath the sketch work, and save coloring/shading for when I get to the final design phase. So yeah, all future work will probably, hopefully resemble Rick Sternbach's work.

Speaking of Zoids, I think that is what I'm going to work on for my next project. I've just been wanting to do something in that setting for a while.

In the mean time, I will likely have to start another file, since mine has practically reached the maximum size that I can save, and aside from making current layers invisible to make way for new ones, the room I have left doesn't leave me free to add more than maybe one more slate of orthos or angles.

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

That's looking good so far. That definitely sounds like odd behavior from the Sub-D modifier. But, like you said, hopefully it's just an issue with that file. Which version of Blender are you using?

JES wrote: »

And copious amounts of cursing.

I'm sure most everyone here will agree on that one.

I'm using 3.4.




I managed to knock out the basic shape of not just the saucer section, but refine the engineering hull a little too. Next up is the next, which is going to involve complex extrusions. I'm just posting my progress before bed.

I also positioned the vertex grid of the engineering hull, with the intent of loop cutting and extruding in the deflector grid later. Since the triangle count is already at over a million, there might also be some vertex culling in the near future, specifically those inhabiting the saucer section.

Finally, I plan on saving this into two files, since I've been planning on making a variant. I just have to finish off the basic shape of the neck, and that's where they'll diverge.

Practice at attempting to make multi-object components, using the Array tool I learned about while watching one of Scifieric's videos.



First I made the basic object, using a cube, and scaling and pinching it.

Then I made multiple subdivisions to cut in a grove. I assume that this is how the hot gasses from the impulse drive are siphoned off.

Pinching vertices inwards to create the final shape of the groove.

Grabbed and dragged the desired vertices down.

Then used the array tool to clone the objects.

I still need to go back in and drag a scale a bunch of those nozzle grooves towards the center using the Slide Edge tool, and then use the Boolean tool to cut the shapes in order to fit them properly into the impulse nozzle. Didn't have time last night to get that far, and don't know if I'll have enough time tonight either.

Oh, and this is only a practice run. I intend to refine this process and do it all over again for the final shape.

BolianAdmiral wrote: »

Nice work on this… I can believe the Galaxy is a nightmare of shapes to model, lol.

It's very challenging, and quite time-consuming to get right. And it's pushing my current skills to the limit. I think that taking it slow and one step at a time has been key.

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

JES wrote: »

Just in case things get bad, if I downgraded it to an older version, would my (current) files still be completely compatible?

Good question. Theoretically, I think it would work since Blender doesn't change their file format. And, you're presumably only talking about going from 3.4 to 3.3, which is an incremental change, not going back to something extremely old, like 2.X.

Good! I think I'll just download and use what you're using. Maybe that will solve a few problems!

And speaking of going big on this:


I've had this idea of a Galaxy Mk-II with Sovereign-type refit elements in my head for a long time. I've also had this idea for a long time to use the nacelles from Madkoifish's Onimaru. I really like the whole design, and this should test how good I really am in Blender so far. If it becomes too tough, I'll just go back to the X-Wing tutorial to polish my skills some more.

Due to there being no orthos on the USS Onimaru aside from a small Mk-I set (which are not exactly the same, nor shows off all of the details), I've downloaded just about every image I could find, so I don't have to do so repeatedly, and I'm planning on using the annotate tool to draw and approximation of what the final version looks like, one angle and curve at a time to keep things from getting too vertex-heavy to quickly. I had to delete progress yesterday because faces were not coming out right.

The final version's nacelles are more rounded at the end, so using the vertex-slide to alter accordingly is next on the agenda. And watch the Scifieric's Enterprise tutorial, specifically the part with the nacelles, so I know the best way to approach making the pair identical.

That, and smoothing out the back of the neck, which has some corrupted faces that needs cleaning. I will likely just have to delete vertexes, and do them all over again. That is going to be a time-consuming nightmare, but then I'm learning to deal with uncooperative faces before they become a big problem.

Reviving this thread (rather than making a new one) to post stuff that hasn't been posted. I haven't been on here, due to wanting to avoid to get distracted by other people's stuff/procrastinate like I do. Some of it is still ship related, but long story short, I have a career advisor, I'm aiming for a career in concept art, and I'm following her advice to practice, and build a portfolio.

I lot of my time has been spent drawing things I don't normally draw, and trying to get better with shading and lighting.

There is a little bit of ship art, but mostly only worked on for a few hours before bed:


USS Alaska during emergency re-entry


A TNG-era version of the Salcombe-type configuration USS Ptolemaios, and part of a potential Ships of the Dominion War series. Worked on for about 2 hours total.


I've been attempting to learn how to draw people. This is my only attempt of note.


Attempt to learn how to draw glass.


And this has been an ongoing project: a shuttle cockpit, probably set in Star Trek. A tedious art project that became too tedious, and I had to walk away from/start over multiple times.













And the latest thing I've been working on: a Skinwalker/Werewolf Pokemon, inspired by listening to this Youtube channel called What Lurks Beneath. My idea is that there are different versions of these beasts, each with their own typing. I leaned heavily into the "scary monster" aspect here. I'm currently attempting hair/fur.

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

Ah, I haven't played in Blender 3.4. I'm using the current long term stable version, which just updated to 3.3.4 the other day. That may be why I've never experienced that issue with the Sub-D.

Could be. But for the moment, it isn't causing a debilitating problem, so I'm keeping it as is for now.



Moving on to the neck, which I managed to get blocked out for the most part. Still in need of refinement, but, hey, it's a start! Probably not going to have any more time to work on it tonight (stupid laundry, not folding itself!), so I'm posting this here now.

Even though very intricate, due to being a quite complex curve, this has been also one of my favorite parts to work on.

Thanks for your advice all! The LoopTool has been activated, but I after considering breaking the saucer into many parts, consisting of the front, back raised section, those underside concentric rings, the triangle, and I think that's about it, I've decided that the subdivisions have become far too complicated, and it will be easier to just start over, using the magnet tool to use the above saucer section as a reference, and my reference images to get the correct form. This was after copying the saucer section, which I'm keeping just in case. I might even consider splitting side parts of the raised section into further parts from the bridge super-structure, but then again, they seem to be a pretty joined-at-the-hip couple.

My hope is that this will also help cut down on the number of tris in the long run. Likely, there will be trial and error involved in this process.

It will be far easier to do this with the engineering hull, which has a copy with very few subdivisions, and will be easier to work with.

I've just started on the raised section, and the flat part of the saucer as a single object, because I want to get that smooth curve between the two parts, seen below.




The way that the saucer section gently curves upwards is one of my favorite parts of the design, and if I'm going to get any part of the ship accurate, it's going to be that transition.

Last night, I was able to get it to this point after about 2 and half hours. The forward part of the raised hull is done is a fashion similar to Scifieric's bridge for the Enterprise, with triangles rather than divided into squares, which will help keep it's almost semicircular shape, regardless of the number of subdivisions I give it. Now I have to spend who-knows-how-long to get the rest of the shape.

Covid forced me to take an involuntary break. Thanks a lot, you useless pestilence. For the past few days, I've been feeling well enough to try to take advantage of my pestilence-inflicted status.

While fooling around on Pinterest, I discovered the wonderful concept of a Ship a Day.




I spent way too much time on what should have been completed in an hour, but wanted to experiment with this Panther Chameleon pattern that I wanted to experiment with, hence the name. I'm probably going to have to focus on shape for now if I want to continue doing a Ship a Day, while also continuing the mech suit design process simultaneously (which I would)!

Combining the aesthetics of Outlaw Star with Star Trek has allured me for a while, and it is probably no coincidence that I choose the same base color for the hull. There is just something retro about starships that land on their tail. It's also probably impractical for a ship that size to land on it's butt.




THIS shows the size comparison, revealing that the Orion class is even bigger and longer than the (probably) contemporary NX class, probably close to or even over 300m. That, and an attempt to play around with perspective. I'm tempted to call this the Orion class, after the proposed project of the same name, which for better or worse, was cancelled. There is some speculation that the project was continued or replaced with a Secret Space Program with alien technology, but that's another discussion.

Anyways, just because these suckers were bigger than a Daedalus, or even NX class, and rivaled a Yorktown class in size, doesn't mean that they were more advanced. To the contrary, they would have lacked fancy technology like transporters, gravimetric impulse drives, protection would have come only from ablative hull plating. In other words, they would have been primitive in comparison to the Constitution class, as stated by Spock regarding ship designs of the Romulan Wars. Full control over artificial gravity by this time would have been a must for entering and exiting these ships planetside however, and I probably should have designed the deck layout more like a building, but the Outlaw Star influence was too strong.

Finally, these monsters would have been capable of WF-4, on account of their massive warp nacelles powered by equally massive fusion reactors. These would have been at the limit of fusion's capabilities.

I'm not sure WHEN or WHERE these things would have been active. Perhaps a little before the NX and Daedalus classes. Less likely Maybe during or after the Romulan War. Probably in an alternate timeline before the Temporal Cold War, or even because of it.

Hi all! It's been a while since the last time I was on here, however, I've learned that I have either enough time to view the art of others, or to work on my own, with very little choices in between.

I've been attempting to start a YouTube channel for Zoids, a Japanese toy line of robotic weaponized androids stretching back to the early 1980's that has grown and shrunk over the decades, resulting in anime TV shows, highly detailed model kits, card games, video games, and more! It's kind of an obscure franchise, but it's a really cool one that has earned a very loyal fanbase. They are sort of like Gundam and Transformers




Below is a bunch of WIPs that I have been working on for the past 2-3 months.


Shield Liger Ver. 1


Shield Liger Ver. 2


Shield Liger Ver. 2


Shield Liger Mk-IIB


Guylos Dark Army Iguan


Zillon


Iguan Weapons


https://www.deviantart.com/jeszasz/art/Iguan-Downed-Godos-WIP-896250411

[url="http:/https://www.deviantart.com/jeszasz/art/Swallow-class-Concept-877954184/"]http:/https://deviantart.com/jeszasz/art/Swallow-class-Concept-877954184/[/url]



A further refinement of my Sparrow class, now called the Swallow class due to the characteristic twin tails housing the aft RCS thrusters, which makes the design as tail-happy as a Ford Mustang GT. New feature is the modular forward hull segments, which can be switched out for anything from emergency hospital wards to phaser cannon batteries, similar to Mark Kingsworth Insignia class. I haven't decided whether I'm going with forward swept wings like the BOP, or backswept like in most of the concept art so far, although I am honestly leaning with forward swept.

The aft top view might have been a little bit influenced by the SS Emmette from the ENT opening credits, while the black background was influenced by John Eaves's concept art.