3D Model Design - Spaceship Part one

3D Model Design

For my 3D model that I am doing for one of my course modules I really wanted to do something with a space theme. I have always been a big fan of space and sci-fi. I have spent a bit of time in the past on  awell known mmorpg called EVE online. It is basically a super size space sim where you do everything from fight space pirates to mass manufacturing of in game items that the player can then sell to other members. When playing the game I used to use a ship called the Drake. It was my favourite ship and it served me well. So I thought that would be really fun to practice my 3D modelling with. The EVE online version I believe is a masterpiece of a simple ship. It is seemingly simple in design however with the amazing texturing and detailing it looks a formidable ship that you wouldnt want to run into as an enemy. 

 This is a nice side shot of the ship

 This is the Drake from underneath

 This is the Drake from top back to front

This is a direct front view

I have took a few screenshots above so you can see the overall shape of the ship. Now the ship does have allot of detailing however the intricate detailing is clever texturing to give the impression of 3D.

Now I wanted to do my own version of this ship in 3DS max to get used to the tools available to me and sculpt something I am fond off.

I started messing arround with max and after I spoke with some of the tutors and other students I learnt a couple of tricks that made the modelling allot easier.

So I started of with the top of the Drake and wanted to do as much of the main body with a single primitive which was allot harder than I first thought. 

So I started with a basic box primitive and got the basic cuboid shape. I then converted the primitive to an editable poly which allowed me to change and alter the shape.

Once I had the primitive as an editable poly I then used a new feature to 3ds max called the swift loop. This tool is fantastic for moulding the shape of your primitive. It allowed me to break it down into separate polys that I could extrude to get the effect I was after.

As you can see also I am working on just half of the model. This allows me to then add symmetry and get a nice even shape which is identical on both sides.

So after applying the symmetry this is what i got and as you can see it already starts to resemble the ship I am trying to sculpt.

This is a view from the back where I have added engine like insets. Also on the front end of the ship I have added these raised parts which I did by selecting the faces and simply applying a bevel effect.

For the very front sticking out parts of the ship I used extrude and that is a very handy tool. To make the wings fold down I selected all the face edge of what I want bent down and used the rotate tool in 3DS with the "E" shortcut.

Next I wanted to add some other detailing which I decided to use separate primitives for. Now in my model anything which is the same colour is all made out of a simgle primitive and moulded into the desired shape with the 3DS tools, primarily swift loop, extrude and bevel.

As you can see here I have shaped the bridge area of the ship. I done this working with symmetry also. That is so much better as its doing double the work in half the time.

Here I have started to add a bet more detail and I also added some inset bevels to give it a bit more detail

Here I am starting to see a bit of progress with my model as it is starting to look allot more like a ship.

 Now I added some side wing detailing. As before I used symmetry again the difference is they are not directly adjacent to each other like the other objects but it doesn't matter in 3ds as it works the same wherever they are.

I then modelled the basic shape missile turret covers. Now even thought they are simple there is quite a few of them and I need them to look symmetrical and even. What I did was model one side and then first used symmetry to get the side next to the previous then I used symmetry to get the turret covers I made to mirror on the other side. If you look on the second diagram you can see I have two symmetry modifiers.

I now wanted to add some belly detailing. I used another primitive which I sculpted on the flat side of the underneath then i scaled it up and bent the sides up with the same process I did for the wings to get it to fit on the underside of the model.

 I wanted to add allot more detailing to the ship but I didn't want to over scope as I have still yet to add the texturing which I also need to learn. Though overall this is pretty much the basic model of the ship finished ready for applying textures.

Next blog post I will be covering my attempt and research into texturing this model. I have learnt some of the basics in lesson but this barely scratches the surface on the overall texturing area. Anyway I hope you like my model and any questions please ask.