Starship

For this assignment we were told to create a ship design. The term was very loose, and we were given pretty much free reign to design any kind of ship, be it starship, airship, sea vessel .etc. I decided to go with a starship/atmospheric cargo carrier. I pulled a few resources from other pieces of concept work for large star craft, the space shuttle (the first ever cargo spaceship) and also fighter jets. There were a miriad different design styles, from more generic starships, like the Daedalus from Stargate, and Serenity from Firefly, all the way to very unconventional designs such as the Battletech Union dropship.

This gave me free reign to kinda play with multiple designs and design styles. I even did a slightly 'classic' design too.

I wanted this one to be more like a smuggler ship, with four cargo pods to provide a sort of contingency, if one gets shot off .etc. It is also slightly more streamlined, with heavy engines.

This is a slightly similar one, yet I decided half way I wanted to make these ships fit into a mech universe I am writing at the moment. I added a catapult deck on the top, to launch the mechs from the cargo bay. A bit bulky however.

This one was inspired slighly by the Halo frigate design, with a slightly truck like feel to it. This one also has a rotating cargo bay to raise different holds up to a catapult deck on the top. The movement ideas I have for this are kind of like this: http://youtu.be/LZpfNLsnYYI

This one is more in the style of the mechs I have been designing, with an embedded catapult on the top. This kinda was slightly inspired by a train, yet I bulked out the rear to become super bulky.

In terms of the final design, I am probably going to combine designs 3 and 4, similar shape and such of the 3rd, with some styling of the 4th, maybe adding wings from 1 or 2.

The model was made in as little spereate objects as I possibly could. The main hull was one, with the cylinder, reactor, front thrusters, armour plates and the 5 part mech bay all being other objects. I tried to make it as simple as I can, yet also with enough detail to give a distincitive shape under lighting. I gave it some basic materials too for colour purposes, and lit areas, such as the thrusters and the windows.

I also added for lighting purposes, an area light in each of the thrusters, to give it the idea of it is active. To help show this lighting, and scale, I put in some small simple blocky 'trucks' and buildings in the distance, to help give it a small enviroment.

 

'The ‘Wild Moon’ bulk cargo carrier. Heavily modified to remove the cetre mounted cargo pod and replacing it with a rotating quad mech bay, capable of storing 4 Valkarie class mechs and all related equipment and weaponry. It also features a dorsal catapult deck, for launching the machines for combat, or for salvage operations. The twin frontal cargo holds are more than spacious enough to carry the remaining cargo to the destination. Suprisingly nimble for a craft it’s size, it is also able to hover close to a planet’s surface (10 metre clearance) to travel along the super highways connecting cities, such as the famous SH-502 between Olympus and New Seoul on Mars.'

The render came out pretty well, but didnt have as much pop as I thought it would. I took it into photoshop and PaintTool SAI, giving the edges a slight line, almost as if to show the metal panelling. I also added in some small people to help with the scale, along with its name 'Wild Moon'.

I think it could have had a slightly better and more detailed background, as this looks rather basic, although the focus is definately the starship. I think I could texture it better too, and make this a much prettier machine. I am hoping to take it further and actually finish it comepletely, with animated parts and a full texturing.