Wouldn't it be good, right, if we had a few decent ship models out there in the modding communities...? Imagine replacing the Hydra in GTA for a CobraIII, complete w/ gatling gun and heat seekers, or the police chopper for a viper... wouldn't that'd be, like, way cool? Any modelling supremos out there?
Elite / Frontier ship models
- Thread starter Bounder
- Start date
My first old try rom 2002 with Pov-Ray (Freeware):
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIV.JPG
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVb.JPG
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVd.jpg
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVg.jpg
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVc.JPG
The Cockpit is really in this Ship but the last Picture is older without Cockpit.
Sorry for my bad English - Iam german.
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIV.JPG
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVb.JPG
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVd.jpg
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVg.jpg
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/EliteIVc.JPG
The Cockpit is really in this Ship but the last Picture is older without Cockpit.
Sorry for my bad English - Iam german.
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Looks quite cool! Nice job 
Impressive....
If I may make a constructive criticism, i'm not seeing the tiger camoflage ;-)
Perhaps if it was done in a nice gunmetal grey ar black, but with rivets, visible panels, and maybe even a few battle scars for good measure. But thats just my opinion.
If you've ever seen a military aircraft with all the decals for "put fuel here" and "eject - do not pull" etc etc (I think these are for the americans ) - I think that sort of thing would be all over ships in the future.
If I may make a constructive criticism, i'm not seeing the tiger camoflage ;-)
Perhaps if it was done in a nice gunmetal grey ar black, but with rivets, visible panels, and maybe even a few battle scars for good measure. But thats just my opinion.
If you've ever seen a military aircraft with all the decals for "put fuel here" and "eject - do not pull" etc etc (I think these are for the americans
) - I think that sort of thing would be all over ships in the future.Haha - yeah as well as - "Watch the Step" and "Mind Your Head"
Laying down decent textures is the really complex bit on these - having said that, I haven't even managed to create the MKIII shap in a rendering tool let along created some textures
Laying down decent textures is the really complex bit on these - having said that, I haven't even managed to create the MKIII shap in a rendering tool let along created some textures
Kipper, You are Right, this is a very good Idea! (Why it's not my Idea? *g*)
I can add new little Objects on this Ship with new Textures including picture for fuel, it's not very complex. Steve are right, it is complex to combinate with the big tiger Textur.
But I must learn new with Pov-ray, its is any Years ago.
(I hope you can understand me)
I can add new little Objects on this Ship with new Textures including picture for fuel, it's not very complex. Steve are right, it is complex to combinate with the big tiger Textur.
But I must learn new with Pov-ray, its is any Years ago.
(I hope you can understand me)
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Your english is fine - perfectly understandable.
A little Joke-Rocket:
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/Rakete1.jpg
I indented it as Weapon for this Ship in a Bay for a little Movie.
Steve - can I see your Cobra MkIII? I am curious.
(Haha, i love online-Dictionarys)
http://mitglied.lycos.de/taigabaer/werft/schiffe/Rakete1.jpg
I indented it as Weapon for this Ship in a Bay for a little Movie.
Steve - can I see your Cobra MkIII? I am curious.
(Haha, i love online-Dictionarys)
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This is the problem - I haven't managed to make one yet - still learning the 3d modeling tools.
Yay - finished my first ever render - took me half the day but hey - you have to start learning somewhere!
Next trick is to start on the detailing and learn how to create and apply textures - Modeling and render were done in Blender - quite a steap learning curve. After this I think I might have a go at reworking it a little to see if I can modernise it a bit... thing is that the original ship design is so distinctive that altering it too much would remove their character. I seem to remember a render of an Asp done not so long ago that totally lost any resemblance to the fantastic original design.
Next trick is to start on the detailing and learn how to create and apply textures - Modeling and render were done in Blender - quite a steap learning curve. After this I think I might have a go at reworking it a little to see if I can modernise it a bit... thing is that the original ship design is so distinctive that altering it too much would remove their character. I seem to remember a render of an Asp done not so long ago that totally lost any resemblance to the fantastic original design.
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Really good! The Problem ist to find the right Proportion without the Original Data. I mußt use a straightedge on my Screen to meter the Proportions on a Web-Java-Version of the Old Elite. *g*
With the Asp i have the longest Travel in Elite 2 Frontier.
With this fuel pipe end i have get fuel on suns. Later my Engine get broken without Service.
With the Asp i have the longest Travel in Elite 2 Frontier.
With this fuel pipe end i have get fuel on suns. Later my Engine get broken without Service.
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I jumped onto a site that has a whole bunch of templates for making paper models of the ships and used that as a pattern. Was all by visual reference tho.
http://www.siroccostation.com/papermodels.html
http://www.siroccostation.com/papermodels.html
Nah printed it out and tried it - was a little disappointed LOL
LOLWell jumped back onto the modeling wagon again - this time dropped Blender in favor of the more established app 3D Studio Max. Reworked the MKIII model and have started to detail the surface which is a fairly long process but certainly gets the mind into thinking about aspects of space ships and what would really be on the surface of a ships shell. These are some of the assumptions I'm going to work by:
1. Space ships in the future probably don't need windows, more importantly having windows would be considered to be a weakness in the hull integrity and as such cameras placed around the hull make more sense.
2. Fuel Scoops - would they really be great big gaping holes in the hull which then 'suck' in fuel and cargo or might they actually be some form of energy/force field that guide things to either the cargo bay or to the fuel tanks?
3. Weapons - do they have to be really big guns - of course they do nothing beats a ship with really big guns LOL but actually rethinking what the muzzle or emitters for weapons might look like is going to be interesting.
Other things to consider might be radar, missiles, ECM, Escape Pod...
All things to consider - that aside my modeling efforts have been fairly modest so far because I am learning the tools from scratch. My aim is to retain the nice clean feeling and design of the original Elite/Frontier ships whilst having a more up to date graphic feel.
1. Space ships in the future probably don't need windows, more importantly having windows would be considered to be a weakness in the hull integrity and as such cameras placed around the hull make more sense.
2. Fuel Scoops - would they really be great big gaping holes in the hull which then 'suck' in fuel and cargo or might they actually be some form of energy/force field that guide things to either the cargo bay or to the fuel tanks?
3. Weapons - do they have to be really big guns - of course they do
nothing beats a ship with really big guns LOL but actually rethinking what the muzzle or emitters for weapons might look like is going to be interesting.Other things to consider might be radar, missiles, ECM, Escape Pod...
All things to consider - that aside my modeling efforts have been fairly modest so far because I am learning the tools from scratch. My aim is to retain the nice clean feeling and design of the original Elite/Frontier ships whilst having a more up to date graphic feel.
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Looking good. I am more in to landscape modelling (Terragen) than object modelling. I think because I don't have the artistic flare for anything else
I would suspect that windows would be present. Reason being: what if the camera's were damaged? Military research organisations have been experimenting with photosynthetic environments in planes for years, but pilots do not tend to like them.
I suggest more like a mid-air refueling probe, except with a wide aperture. These are stowed away during regular flight, and deployed when required. Admittedly not in the true Frontier spirit...
Well, with a bit of artistic licence, you could have a pair of forward-facing lasers, which recess into the body (like current generation fighters) or top-mounted like the guns on the fighters in the Buck Rogers tv series.3. Weapons - do they have to be really big guns - of course they do
Regarding your others:
- radar: I expect these to be synthetic aperture (so they don't rotate) and internally mounted (maybe in a electronic warfare bay?)
- missiles: semi-recessed or internally mounted. Minimises the drag, which will be a factor in atmospheres.
- ECM: Can't imagine there would be much to see (on the new Eurofighter it is just a wing pod) but otherwise see above.
- Escape Pod: breakaway nose-section, I would have thought. I imagine there would be markings similar to on current planes, regarding their ejector seats
Those are just my thoughts, so feel free to ignore. I like fictional vehicles that look plausible rather than fanciful. That is why (for example) the vehicles in Episode 4 - 6 in Star Wars, appeal more than those in the prequels (especially Ep1).
JamesF
Well lets see some then!!!!
I guess if the cameras were damages, you'd be kinda stuffed but surely if you got to that stage then you are probably on your way to Davey Jones anyway. Still I see your point, it's more that I was attempting to give myself a reason to not have to model windows into the mesh - but oh well... I should give it a go
As for the photo synthetic environments, possibly the reason for the pilots not liking it is more down to a failing in the technology rather than the applicability of the theory. The reason I got onto this is more from remembering switching views whilst in game... but then being a Babylon 5 fan, most of the smaller earth ships had windows...Again I was attempting to provide myself with a good excuse for aesthetics
My initial impulse is to put a howling great scoop under the belly
Yeah, I remember those, I had a little metal verson of his ship that when you pressed the gun pod little wings would pop out
Yeah I can see that - with yellow and black markings where the pod breaks away. I think the missiles should be internally mounted and then pop out when you set them to 'Target'.
ECM - yeah true - just add a fancy pod somewhere on the hull.
Nah, I totally agree great points!
Another important aspect is scale - According to the elite manual, the Cobra MKIII has a wingspan of around 43m and a hight of around 10m, length 21m. She's quite a big ship. Around 5m shorter than the Millenium Falcon and about twice the size across and yet it can only carry 20tons of cargo when the MF can carry up to 100tons. It does seem to be a little out of whack. But I will attempt to remain true to the original size for this ship.