Paris Under Way

[Thomas P]

So here is a start on the Paris class. I have the whole ship done but only as a block out. Meaning, I have the ship done as a low poly but will now go back and 'detail' her.

Here is the engine (one revision).

http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/parisE001.jpg
http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/parisE002.jpg
http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/parisE003.jpg

Obvioulsy I have taken liberties with the design :D. I have a recessed, um...well...uh, intercooler thingy. The pylon mount is inboard (port engine) and some little greebies up front. The balance needs a good texture to finish it.

Well, maybe it will get more detail first.

[Masao]

This nacelle is of Lancaster vintage, so should look only slightly more advanced than Lancaster's nacelles. I think that square block on the outboard surface is probably too pronounced this early. You could hint at the beginning of a structure, such as having the grill nearly flush with the surface and/or following the curve of the surface, but having fully developed, elevated block there seems a bit out of sequence.

I'm also leery about those exposed tubing loops on that thing on top. Whenever I see those on a model I worry about how easily they would be damaged. Laying them down flat would be safer, I think.

I'm looking forward to seeing a Paris-class ship escorting a big fat Lancaster.

[Thomas P]

Okay - some slight tweaks and then textured. I like it - which normally I find fault with everything I do so - hey for me!

http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/nacDone01.jpg
http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/nacDone02.jpg
http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/nacDone03.jpg

Now onto the hull section.

[thomas7g]

oh my! Its looking like your best work yet so far!

If I may make a suggestion- In the powerball(bussards) make the powerball blades so they aren't so reflective of light. They should be kinda dim.

All the detail you are adding is looking really good. Keep it up!

[Masao]

That's very, very pretty! The only problem I can see is a missing hyphen between the NCC and the 932. (By the way, I've renumbered the ship as NCC-882).

I was wondering how the nacelle might look with a high-gloss chrome end thingy.

[Thomas P]

Thanks guys. Took the feedback and tweaked the engine but will still have to go back and polish the end caps :D

Started on the hull itself and have a few shots to show how it is coming. The lower, glowing, plate is interpruted from the multi-view drawings from Masao. I have no real idea what it is or if the grill is really there :confused:.

Anyway:

http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/pWIP01.jpg
http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/pWIP02.jpg
http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/pWIP03.jpg

[Masao]

Wow! It's looking great. I don't know if there is a glowing plate there either, since I never look underneath my ships. But I guess there's one now.

I'll email you my most recent schematics. The only changes are that I fixed the bridge module on the side view. It actually looks more like your model.

[thomas7g]

There is a little trick I use that helps. That saucer bulge, if you make it so where it meets the main flat part of the saucer, put a ring where the surface flares out (make sure it has a separater smoothing ID) then it really help break that CG look. :D

I use that trick EVERYWHERE when I model. :D

[Thomas P]

One last update for the week and then I'm taking some downtime. I added two new textures and tried the ring idea of thomas7G. The ring os more a flair on the lower section after mesh-smoothing it. It looks better but don't know if this is what was meant by the suggestion. The flair was futher segmented so that half of the polys where assigned a new shade of the texture - kinda neat.

Added rear navigation lights and the rear dome too.

UPDATE (http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/pWIP04.jpg)

[Masao]

Downtime?!?! I thought modeling was downtime. At least I draw and write about Starships to avoid doing work at the office (or yard work at home).

[thomas7g]

That will do. :)

When you have two large surfaces intersecting, the computer does it so mathematically perfect it tends to make the model look fake.

The way I suggested was to have a very slight transition. As if paint or dirt or something filled the joint slightly.

The alternate way is to have a "joiner" section that adds detail to the intersection. This also helps make the model break the cg look. That's why modern models often do.

[Thomas P]

Here is an update with most things done. I have to add the ventral missle tube and those big ole gun assemblies to be fully done. And yes, there will be two engines :D.

Update 9/08/2002 (http://www.concept40.com/galleries/sciartpost/10182001/pWIP05.jpg)

[Masao]

That looks great.

I didn't fullly detail the guns, but I was thinking they should look something like gun pods on Phantoms or helicopters: http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/xm18pod.jpg http://www-acala1.ria.army.mil/lc/cs/csa/xm14pod.jpg http://209.133.73.66/AWA/AWA_201-300/AWA_251-260/walk251_SUU-23A_gun_pod/walk251.htm
These pods are powered by antimatter fuel cells, so probably need some sort of exhaust grills, loading ports, and the usual access panels. (Maybe some shark mouths, while your at it). The guns are optional equipment that can be attached and taken off in a hurry.

[Thomas P]

Wow, those are sweet! I love the SUU-23A :devil:. I think I'll make something along those lines. As always, great reference.

[Masao]

Isn't Google great? I typed in "gun pod" and got 10 pages of images. Here's another. This is a schematic with a helpful reminder not to walk in front of the gun pod!: http://incolor.inebraska.com/iceman/data/specs121.jpg
http://www.specialoperations.com/Images_Folder/library4/suu11a.jpg