KJCs Work

[kjc733]

Been a while since I've been on my own thread but the rain put a bit of a damper on my gardening plans (maybe tomorrow...) so here I am.

Firstly, in answer To Majestics comment, ordinarily I'd start big and work down to the detail. But the Vesta paint scheme is essentially dazzle paint and makes it very difficult to figure things out. So instead I've been putting in some elements of detail (like escape pods) which I can map against the physical hull geometry, then try to get the outlines of the paint scheme to flow around the detail. It's very annoying. As for aztec pattern, she does have one, I just toned it down a little - possibly a little too much.

Anywho, today I wasn't feeling in a Star Trek mood, so I guilted myself into starting the uv mapping of one of my gazillion ADSV meshes. This one is a concept design for the Nosferatu stealth fighter that I did a few years ago. I've thrown on a quick hexagonal plate to see how well the mapping is going (quite well )

 

[Jetfreak]

It's a fine looking craft there kjc! On second glance, its reminiscent of the Delphinus line from Electrosphere, with that smooth laminar flow tech.

 

[kjc733]

I'm not sure I see it... but then I've not really played much Ace Combat aside from 4 and 6. Also Jim was most annoyed when the Nosferatu made an appearance, as everyone now assumes he stole the name from Ace Combat (which he didn't).
Anyway, this Nosferatu was an interesting design to come up with, as I had to try and fit in with the Lysander and Broadsword fighters, somehow match up with the other stealth ship, the Adraeleus, and pay homage to the original Broadsword (see broadsword02.jpg) before it was completely redesigned. For interest I've attached images of these classes - none of these were done by me.
The smooth lines Jetfreak refers to probably stems from the cockpit - or apparent lack of it. An earlier version had a more conventional cockpit, but it was felt the Nosferatu would have an embedded cockpit with a virtual canopy so as to not put to big a break in the stealth skin.

 

[Hellkite]

Looking good

So these all are Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships

 

[kjc733]

That they are, well technically Macronesian Alliance, i.e. the Australians and their allies on their quest for global domination

I feel the need to start practicing the evil laugh...

 

[Jetfreak]

I can understand that, people these days just can't be bothered to do the research. Just because something is popular within a fandom, like the name Nosferatu, it doesn't automatically mean everything else is a homage to it.

The cockpit or lack thereof should be similar to the Ace Combat version. Apart from keeping stealth in check, I reckon it has uses holographic tech or an elaborate camera system so the pilot can see.

 

[Hellkite]

That they are, well technically Macronesian Alliance, i.e. the Australians and their allies on their quest for global domination

I feel the need to start practicing the evil laugh...

Yep Australians and their plans for global domination one beer and pub fight at a time.

You really have to love their way of doing things

Beats the old British way

 

[CABAL]

Wait, a large group of people thought that the name 'Nosferatu' originated with Ace Combat? The ignorance is astounding.

Anyway, I like how it's coming along so far.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
About the Nosferatu, well, you cannot blame the youngsters for not knowing .

Anyways, I do like the ship a lot, the hull's hexagonal patterns is what really caught muy interest because that was something I tried to make for a Luxan ship but the result I've got was never of my full liking. Can I ask how did you make it?

Keep it up!

 

[Hellkite]

It's far older silly young ones

Nosferatu 1922 good movie look it up

in fact it medieval

Nosferatu has been presented as possibly an archaic Romanian word, synonymous with "vampire". However, it was largely popularized in the late nineteenth century by Western fiction such as Dracula. Probable etymology of the term might be derived from the Romanian Nesuferitu ("the insufferable/repugnant one") or Necuratu ("the unclean one", spiritus immundus), terms typically used in vernacular Romanian to designate Satan (the Devil).

but I digress back to topic ​

 

[kjc733]

Wait, a large group of people thought that the name 'Nosferatu' originated with Ace Combat?

I think it was more a case that they assumed he'd copied the name because it was used in AC6.

Anyways, I do like the ship a lot, the hull's hexagonal patterns is what really caught muy interest because that was something I tried to make for a Luxan ship but the result I've got was never of my full liking. Can I ask how did you make it?

The hard way! Simply I made a flat shaded hexagon and put a darker border (stroke) around it. Then I copied the hexagon and lined it up again and again until I had a complete row. Then copied the row so I had two interlocking rows. And again and again...
Once that was done, I merged the whole lot and gave it a transparency of 24%. So the bulk of the colour comes from the background which should help a lot when I turn on the "stealth systems".
-----
So a minor update to the Nosferatu - darker textures and started mapping the... ehm... sticky out bits. I have no idea what to call them, they just look evil and give some definition to an otherwise bland hull. Also the boss approves of the design which is good because I wasn't going to build yet another iteration!

And no I haven't forgotten the Vesta, or the Axanar ships, or the ISS Enterprise... I will get back to them eventually. In actual fact I finished hardpointing the last Axanar ship, I just haven't ported it to A2 yet.

 

[kjc733]

I hate texturing. Especially when the mesh grid doesn't quite fit on one pixel or the one next to it so I can't get things to align properly!!!
Anywho, update with the Nosferatu sticky-outy-bits.

 

[kjc733]

Back to the Vesta... Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE trying to texture this thing!?!
Anyway, been taking a different approach. I have admitted to myself that my abilities just aren't good enough to do the whole thing, and I don't want to keep sending begging letters to Jetfreak, so I'm trying to use some BC textures. Even this isn't going particularly smoothly due to how the BC mesh and mine are broken up (i.e. very differently) and the fact that they aren't quite the same shape.
Anyway, a picture of (my) great experiment...

I ask you, who thought it was a good idea to paint a starship with dazel paint? Or is this just an extreme anti-piracy measure?

 

[Hellkite]

Yes you have but you doing a good job at it

 

[Majestic]

She is coming along nicely mate. Yeah the textures are the hardest part of any model. I am currently doing a Game Design Diploma course and in it I will be taught better ways on texture creation. I'll be sure to pass along the new techniques to you after I have learnt them to help you.

 

[kjc733]

I've been having a frustrating week. And you should know by now that when I'm having a frustrating week I tend to do some modelling to de-stress. Unfortunately for me, all my current WIPs are texture work or odfs etc... which means I have to start something new.

Now you may remember a while back that I did a quick and dirty bash on Aads Intrepid to make it a "Flight II"... well I figured that if they can gut Kirks Enterprise to make the Connie Refit then it should be easy to do the same to an Intrepid. So what started as a a pair of nacelles on Aads Intrepid has now changed to a completely new build of a sleeker Intrepid Flight II which will have a slightly expanded internal volume and a whole host of other modifications.

Why? Well because whilst I liked the Intrepid class as a concept, they really made it ugly from a number of angles. And Full Circle gives me the perfect opportunity to fix this.

Only the one picture for now, because I haven't finished redecorating the upper decks and shuttlebay

 

[CABAL]

Interesting. Will you be keeping the variable-geometry pylons?

 

[kjc733]

Interesting. Will you be keeping the variable-geometry pylons?

Nope - they were the first thing to go. I hated them, from an engineering perspective they are just wrong. My argument is that if there are plenty of Sabres and Defiants about to go into plasma storms, the newer style nacelles don't damage subspace, and you can land a Vesta class, why have a pivot system which introduces structural compromise and forces a delay every time you try to go to warp.

Planned structural changes inlude:
- Redesign (fixed) pylons
- New style nacelles
- Fantail style shuttlebay (to increases volume)
- Extended neck (to reposition torpedo tubes and increase volume)
- Removal of the aeroshuttle (Voyager built a whole new shuttle rather than use it!)
- Increased internal volume by minor changes to hull slope
- Redesign of the impulse drive
- Consideration to the saucer separation line
- Misc external visual changes (colour, escape pods etc)

I intend to use Vesta and Prometheus design influences during the refit (and maybe some Athena if anyone is familiar with that excellent little ship from DJ Curtis)

 

[kjc733]

And pretty much done. I've decided that in the interests of hull integrity, there will be fewer large view ports. It's a small scout ship, not a luxury liner.
(and if that happens to reduce the poly count and means I don't have to cut out all the windows, well that had nothing to do with my decision )

Intrepid II is alongside Aads Intrepid for comparison, and I've included a side view to make it easier to see some of the changes.

Credit to Aad for making his mesh available to use. I hadn't appreciated just how difficult it was to sculpt the hull design, it would have taken far longer to do this just using orthos as a reference.

 

[CABAL]

I really like the new nacelles and pylons. One thing I would recommend is to use a different design for the impulse engines than what you have. They are very boxy while the rest of the ship is very streamlined. The classic nacelles are also boxy, but they feature some tapering to help them flow.

 

[kjc733]

Yeah... I know. The problem is I didn't want to be fiddling too much with the important guts of the ship, which means keeping them on the pylons. And I'm not sure what to do with them other than angling them outwards, which seems a bad idea to me. I'll keep thinking about it whilst I UV map the rest.

 

[Jetfreak]

She's definitely one of the better Intrepid Refit efforts, and that's coming from a Voyager fan. I really love the majority of the updates and the whole streamlining stuff. The removal of the variable geometry drivel - whilst looking cool can be a maintenance nightmare on the flip side. Overall a very tasteful looking machine, its like you took the bloated 360 Modena and turned it into the track ready F430.

 

[kjc733]

Why thank you. I only hopes she looks good with a proper skin. I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how quickly the uv mapping is going, this is proving to be far simpler than I had expected!

Unfortunately, as part of the upgrade SCE has had to remove the plot shields and plot weapons.
In all honesty, I liked Voyager - well until they started fixing every plot hole with Sevens nanoprobes.

 

[CABAL]

Yeah... I know. The problem is I didn't want to be fiddling too much with the important guts of the ship, which means keeping them on the pylons. And I'm not sure what to do with them other than angling them outwards, which seems a bad idea to me. I'll keep thinking about it whilst I UV map the rest.

You might try just keeping the old impulse engines. With the way your pylons sweep, they'd probably still work.

 

[Majestic]

Yay a full circle Intrepid. I loved the Voyager design and you're Mk2 is really shaping up nicely.

You might also like to check this out: http://majestic-msfc.deviantart.com/art/WIP-USS-Horizon-October-2011-263926873

It's a very minor update to the Intrepid and makes the sensor pallet things more round to match the contours of the ship. Something to consider when you hit the texturing stage.

 

[kjc733]

I like the changes shown there, all subtle but work very well. If I ever do a high poly version (unlikely) I may steal the window cut out positions.

Texture state of play as of bedtime last night. The big windows are obviously too big and bright, the bridge colour is horrible (and will change!) the deflector cutout is a placeholder from my Vesta textures and likely to change, the shield grid is deliberately dark so I can see what I'm doing.

But other than that

 

[kjc733]

I had considered not having the forward array, but the saucer looks a bit sparse without it. So I've gone, as per Majestics suggestion, with an oval array using the hexagonal grid as used on the Righteous arrays.

 

[Majestic]

Yeah I think the design needs the sensor array there, she does look a little plain without it.

 

[kjc733]

Ok, quick question. What's the best way to draw a curved phaser array? In the past I've always cheated by either modelling them (when I didn't care about the poly count) or use straight arrays.

Ordinarily I wouldnt be at the phaser stage yet, but the saucer just looks weird without one (like it looked weird without the sensor)

 

[kjc733]

This is fast turning into my favourite ship design. I could see Kirk himself at the conn of a Flight II.
But I must drag myself away from the computer and do something else. This project has succeeded in stopping me thinking about work (yay ) but I have done pretty much nothing else all weekend (d'oh ) so its time to put it away for another day - like tomorrow...
But for now, progress on the Secondary Hull.