100 dT Huntress model

[Bardicheart]

Been working on a 3d model of the Huntress from Supp 10: Merchants and Cruisers. Still have to come up with the final texture maps, but I thought I'd get some feedback on how it looks. Took a few artistic liberties here an there, but mostly tried to stay faithful to the official design.

So, thoughts?

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Yey!

 

[wbnc]

That's thing would get a speeding ticket parked. The turret looks a bit small though. I'd make it a touch bigger on a 100 ton.Other than that great looking ship.

 

[middenface]

Certainly getting there.

Though as the designer of the original (which in itself is a redesign of the Nic Weeks Hunter design from White Dwarf)
You could look at this for some pointers?

https://biomassart.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/huntress-class-starship-blue-print/

 

[Bardicheart]

Thanks for the link Midden, wasn't aware of that when I started my model and had to guess at how some of it should look. Certainly clarifies some aspects, looks like I'd need to make some significant changes to bring it in line with your original design.

 

[phavoc]

Very nice indeed.

I echo the comment about the turret, should be wider and maybe more squat.

Also your forward landing gear (I'm assuming that's a landing gear port) needs to be further towards the bow to provide better stability (And also matches Middenfaces' original design).

 

[Bardicheart]

Agreed about the landing gear. The turret size and location of the landing gear bays were based on the deck plans from Supp 10, which seem to be at some variance from Midden's drawings. Midden's drawings actually make sense out of several things that puzzled me when I started trying to work out the shape of the model. When I got the landing gear bays worked out and looked at it I thought they looked too close together. Would be kind of wobbly if it landed (especially as far forward as the rear gear is in the deck plans, all that engine weight is aft of them which would not be good).

To fix the problems with my model I'll basically have to start over, but I did most of that in a day so its not as big a deal as it sounds.

One other thing on the turret, I went with an asymmetrical placement of the guns. Just seemed visually more interesting to me. I imagined the sandcaster would be larger with a sort of shotgun/mortar like barrel, nothing too fancy, just something to blast out metallic particles. For the beam lasers I ended up falling back on something more like Star Wars blasters which probably harkens back to Traveller's roots anyway. I mean, what does a beam laser look like anyway? If I went with something realistic, it probably wouldn't look anything like the sci-fi laser guns people so readily recognize; I opted for sci-fi tradition over realism. Same with my clusters of "thrusters", a reactionless drive wouldn't have thrusters at all I suppose. But all those thrusters with their glowy bits were just visually much more interesting. Maybe some sort of engine flare I can create with particle physics in a final image render and it'll look so... well... so... ZZZZZOOOOOOOOM! :lol: So again, might not be technically accurate to Traveller but sometimes ya gotta go with artistic license.

One other detail I want to go back and add is something from real aircraft, green light on the right "wing" tip and red on the left. Not official for the Imperium but I think it adds a nice bit of detail and kinda makes sense, especially for craft streamlined for atmospheric operation.

Here's a closer look at those guns before I added any material/color

The colors btw, are just material groups, I haven't actually decided on a final paint scheme. Will work that out later after I've got the mesh finalized. Open to suggestions on that.

EDIT: Had some inspiration on how I might redesign the turret, will work on it tomorrow. Think I might depart a bit from the official drawings but I think what I have in mind most will like.

 

[phavoc]

If you could, it would be interesting to see less ultra-smooth surfaces and more bumps, access ports, airlocks, sensor dishes, etc. The kinds of things you might expect on a working starship that spends most of its time in space.

For the guns I think it would make more sense to lay them out like {*1*2*3*} space-wise. That's how I've seen pretty much every other Traveller weapons turret. Plus it would fit into the concept that you can mount any of the three basic weapon systems (laser, sandcaster, missile launcher) side by side.

Thanks to you and all the other artists out there for sharing your work!

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

EDIT: Had some inspiration on how I might redesign the turret, will work on it tomorrow. Think I might depart a bit from the official drawings but I think what I have in mind most will like.

Don't rush it. Keep to your own art design, it will come out better in the end.

 

[Bardicheart]

No rush, I'm done working on it for today. Gonna go play a lil Skyrim an then get some sleep.

As for the turret, had a flash of inspiration that I like better than what I originally did. Plus I think what I have in mind makes more sense and allows more of the 1, 2, 3 layout Phavoc mentions (plus things like a sensor dome on the turret 8) ). If I get really ambitious I might take the dorsal sensor bay and make it so it opens and can deploy fold out panels or something, then close back up when not in use. Again, not something in the official ship specs but it would be interesting. Ideas welcome.

As far as all the smooth surfaces, I'm kind of torn there. When I was modeling this I actually got a buddy to send me some detailed photos of the space shuttles for inspiration (he works at NASA and actually got to get up close). On the upper surfaces and the back that's less of an issue but for a craft streamlined for re-entry, the underside should probably be pretty slick. But, that could be an advantage if I do it right, break up the dorsal side and make the ventral slick and the contrast would really stand out visually, could work. There's some details I missed, for example aft of the turret there's supposed to be an emergency hatch I didn't put in. I'll add that and probably model it on one of the hatches on the ISS which I think will work well design-wise. On the air raft bay doors, might cut in some portholes or something. Small details add visual interest and its one of the things I'm really trying to focus on adding as its something I tend not to add enough of.

An I should probably keep my yap shut, but I'm really tempted to model the interior as well. However, that would be a LOT more work so don't hold me to it (on the other hand those window domes over the staterooms would actually let you glimpse inside which would be so cool... so... I really need to shut up now. :lol: ). I'm also thinking of going back and using a "baking" process to add some more details to some of the surfaces with normal maps (which probably doesn't mean anything to anyone not familiar with 3d modeling)... in other words, bumps, ripples, louvered panels on the fuel intakes, etc.

Anyway, thanks for all the input I'll rework it and post some more soon. Its been a fun project so far. Heh, an next time I decide to model one of the Trav ships I'll just ask if anyone has blueprints I can work from FIRST! LOL

 

[Anonymous]

If the ship needs to re enter by dead fall the underside would be pretty slick yes, if it's using grav drives to re enter (which I'm guessing it is) then there's no need to keep the hull smooth.

Least ways, that's how I see it: a grav ship has no need to of orbital velocity to maintain orbital altitude and so it doesn't reenter at a high speed and get the heat issues of vehicles like the space shuttle.

 

[-Daniel-]

I like this and am looking forward to seeing where you go with it.

Thanks for showing us your work.

 

[Bardicheart]

Okay, got a pretty good start on the rebuild. Just started over with a new mesh for the hull and I've been following Midden's drawings fairly closely. Figured I'd share a preview and get some feedback.

I'm not sure if I'm happy with how the fuel scoops are turning out, they're a bit different than what Midden had drawn so I may redo that part.

The observation blister (red dome) was salvaged from my first model.

The turret is a complete departure from the drawings but I like it so far. I used some ship and tank turrets for inspiration. This turret features three gun "slots" which currently is configured as sandcaster / beam laser / beam laser. But it could be swapped around to be beam laser / sandcaster / beam laser or whatever. I went with this configuration purely because I thought it was visually more interesting. I added a sensor dome on the top, might be a lil tall but some similar features I saw on some ship photos were also tall so... I just went with it. Not sure what the turret "winglets" are for, but they looked kinda cool. I also increased the size of the turret since several requested that. Stretched the beam laser barrels out a bit since they're long range weapons... thought it "looked" more accurate that way. As for the glowy bits on the beam laser, well its a well known sci-fi fact that beam lasers must have glowy bits to function properly. :lol:

Still have all the detail to add on the back and underside, plus some more detail on the rear dorsal hull. But its getting there.

EDIT: Sideview

 

[phavoc]

Nice design changes. I like the rootlets in the wing portion. Those could be the fuel scoops.

The turret makes me think you've equipped it with a pair of auto-cannons, as the barrels remind me of modern-day vehicles equipped with cannons. Even the turret seems to be influenced by the same ideas. At least to me.

It's a change from the standard Trav turret, which is more spherical-like, and squatter. I like that you put a mount below the turret, as most don't. But I would suspect that any turret you install would be more aerodynamic. Which is why the normal spherical style with short stubby weapons seems to be the norm.

Great changes with the hull form as well. I like the inset windows, but again I think they would be more aerodynamic to minimize hull stress where the viewports are. You can make the same sleek-style look by making minimal changes to the viewports in the nose. It reminds me of the droop-nose style of the forward portion of the retired Concorde. It had really crappy pilot views on the ground without the nose droop. Not that a spaceship should have that installed.

I wish I could do artwork anywhere near that nice. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bardicheart]

Yes, those are supposed to be fuel scoop channels on the "wings" but I'm not sure I like how they're turning out. Midden's original design, if I'm reading it right, looks like it had flaps that covered the scoops and would open during fuel skimming. I may try that, though its not as visually interesting when they're closed but it would be more practical. If Midden want's to add some input here, it'd be very welcome.

The turret was very much influenced by some AFVs, tanks, a destroyer and even a WWII battleship I looked at. I like this style better personally, but you're right its less aerodynamic. On the other hand, if the ship has a powerful grav drive, aerodynamics might not be as much of a problem.

On my original I had some porthole / dome windows over the two staterooms. This one doesn't so far and I'm debating about adding them back. From the artwork there were two elliptical domes, but I couldn't determine what they were. Since they appeared to be over about where the staterooms were I interpreted them as some type of porthole. Looking at Midden's drawing however that appears to have been an error on my part so I'm pondering whether to use some artistic license and add them back. I kinda liked em.

 

[middenface]

this might be of use.
https://youtu.be/4FuTntjtrLs

Thinking about it, it's an old model. Learn;t a lot since then and got so much better.

 

[Bardicheart]

Well... fudge. LOL Looks like I'm getting pretty close though.

Still like my turret better

 

[phavoc]

You could have it so that particular view is showing the inlets in their open status. And in closed it would simple be more of an outline that they are there.

The ship definitely is going to be using a grav drive to get in and out of grav wells, but the engines and forward momentum is what you want to take into considerations. The less drag the less power required to go 'zoom!'. And this ship just screams speed, so anything to minimize your drag coeffecient is a good thing. But, it's your ship, your design, your call.

The length of the barrel for a laser is probably going to be far shorter than what is required for a gun, though again that's a designers call. the shorter (or even zero) length barrel seems to be more part of the previous sets of design work though. Maybe keep the turret, but shorten the length of the barrels? From a pure design point of view, maybe putting the sandcaster in the middle is possible too.

 

[Bardicheart]

It a 3D model so making flaps that cover the fuel intake ports is really just a design choice. But given the way the model is coming together I think the flaps will be the way to go. What position they are in when I do a render is just a matter of opening or closing them. The only thing about it is I need to figure it out now before I get too far into the model. Once I start adding a lot of loop cuts to the mesh for detail elsewhere, changing that part gets more complicated.

I suppose I could try making the turret more squat and streamlined while keeping that general shape. An yeah, swapping which gun is in which slot was part of why I redesigned the turret to it current form. Seems someone suggested gun "slots" be modular so... well... they're modular. LOL As I said above, I personally prefer the asymmetrical arrangement, but its easy to swap them around so the sandcaster is in the center or remove them all entirely and come up with a particle beam; we'll be happy to make the upgrade Mr Phavoc... lets just have a look at your cred balance . Now what color did you want yours delivered in? Candy apple red with flames and racing stripes? (I could probably pull that off, though I'm not so good at painting flames)

I dunno about the shorter barrels, they tend to disappear into the design. These stand out a bit more. I'm worried that by the time I do a render set in space with less lighting and so forth they'd kind of get lost completely. Was actually contemplating adding more glowy bits or something to help make them stand out more. I mean if you want to be realistic or semi-realistic, laser weapons probably wouldn't be anything other than a ball with a lens and a mirror inside; they don't actually need a barrel at all. But that's where reality and what people typically recognize in sci-fi collide.

Give you an idea what I mean, here's a very quick and crude render.

Imagine the big blue ball is a planet. There's a single sun lamp and a couple rim lights. See how much the guns disappear? You can also kinda see why I wanted to do the fuel scoops this way, they add quite a bit of visual interest. The engine thrusters stand out thanks to the glowy bits (and will stand out even more when I switch render engines and add in some FX). Makes it visually more interesting and eye catching. Yeah, I know, its a bounty hunter ship so logically it should blend in. But if I blend it in then artistically you don't see much... thus my quandry. This is also why I'm trying to pay more attention to surface detail and so forth. If I were doing this as a project for a studio and I turned in something that wasn't eye catching, I'd be doing it over. So some of my choices are based on those kinds of artistic requirements.

 

[-Daniel-]

Overall I like what you are doing. I do have to be honest and say I dislike the WWII Destroyer turret look. Just feels more like a kit bashed model than I like. I can just see the turret overheating when re-entry for example.

But like I said, overall it looks good. Keep going.