WIP Space Ship

sebisebman · 15 Feb 2012, 22:17

Hi Everyone,

a view years ago i started (or at least tried to start) with 3d Modelling and have been trying several 3d Applications with mixed results... Then i ran across SketchUp and was at first disappointed by the output results, since i expected something like a full renderer etc.

But over time i fell in love in how Modeling is done in SketchUp and a few Weeks ago i decided to redo one of my older SpaceShip designs - but this time with full interior! Except the Pilot-Chair - which i did clean up quite a bit - no models from the 3dWarehouse were used.

Here are my results so far - some parts still need to be done - but i am quite happy with the result. The skp File is slightly above 10 MB and i have been optimizing it heavily. I can't wait to get my Keyshot Licence (Educational that is...) to do a nice Render...

Enough said. Here some pictures:

Ghalko · 15 Feb 2012, 23:05

Awesome!

liam887 · 15 Feb 2012, 23:57

Looks great, would be good to see a cut-away!

You can use kerkythea, thats a good free renderer to use for practice.

sebisebman · 16 Feb 2012, 07:10

Here are some cut-aways

hellnbak · 17 Feb 2012, 15:20

Very nice Can you explain the functions of some of the areas?

sebisebman · 17 Feb 2012, 19:45

Sure - but remember: you asked for it!

This might get a bit geeky and very SciFi-esque, but it is necessary to explain why i made certain design decisions. As a rough idea of the technology level i used here: think of the Millennium Falcon...

General Purpose: Deep Space Exploration Vehicle
Crew: 6 (Commander, Pilot, Navigator, Engineer + 2 Depending on mission)

This Vessel is capable of atmospheric flight but most external features like the front wings or the intakes have another purpose. The front wings aid in atmospheric flight but they actually house the long range sensory equipment. The Jet intakes are for FTL (faster-than-light) travel. Most people think that space is empty which is wrong. Each cubic meter holds a few atoms of hydrogen. When actually traveling at extremely high speeds this mass can be collected and transformed into energy. The general concept of energy production is based on the idea that mass can be transfered into energy (Everyone knows this one: e=m*c^2 which actually just means that energy is equal to mass times a pretty high factor...)

ok ok - enough of that...

Let's start at the front:

Cockpit:
This area houses 3 high-G Seats for the Commander and 2 other Crew Members. There is also a bench in front for casual Star-Gazing.

Control-Room:
This is where the Pilot actually flies the Ship. This ship is flown by an Virtual Reality System - granting the Pilot a perfect vision. The Navigation and Engineering Stations are also located here.

Cryo-Chambers:
The Cryo-Chambers are located close to the Control-Room. In an emergency the whole area can be seperated from the rest of the vehicle. Since there is no med-bay in this ship - this would be the place to keep heavily injured people...

Galley/Storage:
The front area holds food. (Roughly 1,25m^3 Storage for each Crew Member - i have no idea if that is enough or not. I guess that that is not very much and i am still trying to find more storage space...) Directly connected to this area is the Gally. Since this room is very high, two movable ladders have been integrated. There is also a small service hatch on port side.

Crew Quarters:
Each Cabin is almost identical. They have enough storage room and offer an slightly oversized bed with plenty of headroom. Beneath the bed is a small Desk with terminal Access to the main Computer.

Showers/Toilets:
2 Toilets with sinks are located at the main area. A twin-shower washroom with washer and dryer is located starbord.

Crew Mess:
This central area is the main lounge. The dome obove and the airlock area can be accessed from here. Two large Displays keep everyone entertained/informed.

Dome:
This area is more for entertaining than any actual scientific purpose. But i liked the idea of beeing able to watch a planet below passing by... The Dome area can be closed by an irs-type mechanism (needs to be modeled...)

Airlock-Area:
This area is the only way of entering or leaving the vessel. When the Ship has landed and is resting on it's landing gear the platform in the middle can be lowered like a lift for easy access. A second airlock at stern leads to the propulsion unit.

Rotating Propulsion Units:
To port and starboard are the rotating propulsion units. Each one can rotate individually - granting the ship excellent maneuverability.

Main Energy Core:
This area hold the twin-core power plant. Each Core can be jettisoned individually directly into space in an emergency.

Main Propulsion Chamber:
The two FTL-Drives dominate this area. The conventional Drive unit is also located here.

This should finish our tour.

Some design flaws i ran across and still have to find a solution for:

not enough Storage for food
no med-bay
need to add more sectional doors - a hull breach would be pretty nasty right now...

My plan is to detail this thing into hell and back and later on make some nice renders. I have a rough idea of making some kind of "fake" advertising brochure about how this vessel is much better than all its competitiors like the YT-1300 and that it can make the Kessel run in far less than 12 parsecs...

Sebastian

sebisebman · 17 Feb 2012, 19:48

And one final overview:

sebisebman · 17 Feb 2012, 20:19

There is plenty of room for repairs within the engine Area. For reference i looked at several real Yacht designs. They have no engine shops either.

Main Function of the vessel is Deep Space Exploration. A vessel that travels deep into unknown areas for scientific purposes like cartographing black holes etc. Also this could be used as a private yacht.

The exterior was one of my first 3d models. I made that with c4d but gave up when i tried to do the interior. About 4 Months ago i ran across the file and decided to try it with SketchUp. The mesh was so ###uked up - it was a nightmare. After hours of cleaning i got something i could work with... I am not the fastest with SketchUp, but this is a perfect Project to learn. Overall i would say i put some 40 hours into the model.

Here are some renders of my original c4d File:

hellnbak · 17 Feb 2012, 20:25

WOW How long have you been working on this beastie? Very well thought out, I'm impressed. A lot of people designing space ships seem to just throw in anything that looks good without any thought to function. Looking forward to seeing this as it progresses.

One question - engineering? I assume there would have to be a place for the engineer(s) to do their work, fabricate/repair parts, monitor the ships systems, things like that? Keep in mind, I really don't know anything about this sort of thing, except maybe what little I've absorbed from years of watching Star Trek.

Ok, two questions - what is the main function of this ship? I mean, it couldn't be a cargo ship, no cargo hold, and it couldn't be a passenger ship, no place for them (except maybe strapped to the wings ). So what is it designed to do?

EDIT - crap, just noticed you had stated that it is a Deep Space Exploration Vehicle. Sorry.

Ok, that begs a few other questions. How long would it be expected to be on a typical mission? The reason I ask that is that the food storage area isn't all that big, and I didn't notice any "replicators" anywhere. Or do they use the cryo units for long missions? And are there no armaments of any sort? After all, when you're exploring you never know what you might run in to.

Jeez, have no idea why I'm asking all this stuff. I need a nap.

sebisebman · 17 Feb 2012, 20:33

Speed should be above light - but even with that a typical mission could last up to 1 Year. The crew would spend most of the time in stasis inside the Cryo-Tanks and only after getting to the mission area they would start working for maybe 2-4 Weeks and then get back. When i think of myself i think i could get along with food stored in an area of 0.5x1.0.2.5 meters for quite some time...

Armaments is still something i need to think about. At least some minor weapons should be included.

sebisebman · 20 Feb 2012, 22:51

And some more Detail, which almost drove me crazy.

Making a landing gear that looks like it would make some sense is a real nightmare...

Here is my result so far:

liam887 · 21 Feb 2012, 21:19

@sebisebman said:

And some more Detail, which almost drove me crazy.

Making a landing gear that looks like it would make some sense is a real nightmare...

Here is my result so far:

Legs, arms, landing gear...anything that moves always takes the longest to figure out! Looks great however! My trick sometimes it to make the mechanism so complicated and detailed that you dont worry about if it would work people just think it does as you have spent so much time on it. If you look at any of my robots they wouldn't last very long. the only leg detail I really worked on to actually work was my RDA lander model:

If you want to add detail but are stuck on what to add I find panel lines do well for spaceships and work great for shadows and lighting.

sebisebman · 21 Feb 2012, 22:21

Do you really model the panel lines or just use some sort of textures?

I've seen some of your work before - very cool!

liam887 · 21 Feb 2012, 22:30

@sebisebman said:

Do you really model the panel lines or just use some sort of textures?

I've seen some of your work before - very cool!

Most of the time the panel lines are actual geometry but also painted.

Depends on how fast a job needs to be done. if its a personal project I will always do geometry but if its commercial and time is the key then has to be painted (in my case as I am s*it at textures).\

Here are examples of painted scenes (fake panel lines):
http://m.cmcdn.net/12336870/940x527.jpeg
http://m.cmcdn.net/9330119/940x601.jpeg

And these are examples of raw model geometry (actual panel lines):
http://m.cmcdn.net/15163526/940x503.jpeg
http://m.cmcdn.net/13885593/940x523.jpeg

sebisebman · 22 Feb 2012, 06:38

I guess i will model them. Especially at low angles, textures usually don't look very good.

Another question that bugs me is file size - right now my Ship is about 12 MB - which is nice since working on it is really fast. I wonder when Sketchup will start to get nasty...

@Liam: How big is your Helilander-Sketchup File?

liam887 · 22 Feb 2012, 15:44

@sebisebman said:

I guess i will model them. Especially at low angles, textures usually don't look very good.

Another question that bugs me is file size - right now my Ship is about 12 MB - which is nice since working on it is really fast. I wonder when Sketchup will start to get nasty...

@Liam: How big is your Helilander-Sketchup File?

39MB

sebisebman · 13 Mar 2012, 08:10

Didn't spend much time lately on modeling but was fooling around with Keyshot. I must say that texturing is completly new to me. That all looks just too shiny and darkish somehow...