Star Trek Stuff

[scifidude79]

For people who missed this in the WYUT thread, here's what's going on. Windows and I have parted ways once more. My one and only Windows PC developed a problem with its motherboard. The Windows 10 license was tied to that board because it was an OEM license that came with the computer. I upgraded the board, but I can't reuse the license. I have no desire to pay over $100 for another license or run an unlicensed or bootleg copy, as I don't even like Windows 10 all that well. I've tried to get Lightwave 2018 to work in Linux, but the license for that won't work because it's tied to the Windows firewall due to the network render service. Even if you don't use that service, the firewall has to be there for it to work. I can't use Lightwave 9 or 10 due to the hardware lock dongle. So, Lightwave is out and Blender is in.

So, this is going to be a thread for my Star Trek models. I was working on a new Enterprise model in Lightwave before the old forum crashed, but that's now shelved permanently. I've started on a new ship, though. I'm once more diving into the 24th century, around the time of the Ambassador class.

I decided to do a cruiser, the same overall design and layout of the Constitution class, in fact it's even about the same size as a Connie refit. Design elements are a blend of Connie-R, Excelsior and Ambassador. By 24th century standards, this would be a smaller cruiser, when stacked up against the Excelsior and Ambassador.

Most of the main elements are at least started. There's more work to be done, of course, but the overall layout is there. There's been a lot of pushing vertices and subdividing to get to this part. Everything is box modeled, as messing with splines is a pill.









Anyway, more to come on this (hopefully.)

[scifieric]

Wow!  Nice work!

[scifidude79]

Thanks Eric.

[Freak]

This is looking really good!

[scifidude79]

Thanks dude.

The nacelles are probably going to get redone when I get home. The Sub D on them is kind of a proof of concept, but I already applied the filter and there are some changes I want to make and at least one spot to fix. Rebuilding them will be the quickest way to achieve this.

[scifidude79]

So, this isn't much progress, but I went 4.5 days without electricity. That's because I live in Dayton, Ohio and there were 15 tornadoes that ripped through this region a week ago. A rare and powerful EF4 tornado passed about a mile north of where I live. Fortunately, all I lost was electricity and there was minor damage (that's been fixed) to the house I live in. there were buildings and houses so badly damaged that they're unlivable, because that's the kind of damage a EF4 tornado does. The scale tops out at EF5. So, very lucky there.

I presently don't have internet at the house. Spectrum (my ISP) was supposed to call Saturday with an estimate as to when they'd be out, but they've not called and it's Monday night, so they lost a customer. AT&T will be out Friday to hook up my new internet. In the meantime, I'm using my phone. Fortunately, it's an Android phone, so I can side load images onto it. I couldn't do that with my last phone, which was an iPhone SE (waste of money.)

So, this may not look like much, but I got new nacelle bodies built. Much of what I'm doing on this ship is proof of concept, as I've never built components like these before and I'm also getting used to the quirks of different software. Still, it's going well. This is only version 4 of the nacelles (the less said about versions 2 & 3, the better.)





Much of what I did was shape refinement. The first version had some mesh errors around the back, I eliminated those with the new shape. I also wanted them to be a much more complex shape than juat a simple half circle, so that took some refinement. The top cutout starts a little farther back and is deeper than it was on version 1. So that's all I have for now. More to follow.

[Freak]

The new nacelle are looking really great.

Sorry to hear about the Internet being out, hopefully your new suppler will be better.

[scifidude79]

Thanks bro.

I've been with AT&T before. They're OK, you just have to look out for rate hikes.

[scifieric]

I am so glad you came through the storms relatively unscathed.  I am sorry about the loss of power.  That can be rough!

Nice work though!

[scifidude79]

The power outage would have been manageable if I hadn't had to listen to someone else complaining about it. That's what I hated most. I was mostly just reading when I was at home with no power.

Due to my work schedule and other stuff that needs done (cleaning, etc.) I'm working on this in small bursts. I'll probably hit it harder this weekend.

The warp coils are in, or at least the blue part is. I decided to just box model and subdivide those, as I did the nacelles and secondary hull. The bussards are also started. One thing that's superior with Blender's Cycles render engine is that I find it quite effortlessly filters light through a transparent material. The materials are all temporary, but I like how that's working. I couldn't find the setting to make that work correctly in Lightwave 2018. Anywho, this is where I am for now:







I'm going to move back to the saucer next, as I still have major components to add to it.

[Freak]

Looking Good Chris.

[scifidude79]

Thanks Dean.

[scifieric]

Excellent work, Chris!  I'm glad you find Cycles materials useful.  I know my Enterprise wouldn't look like it does without Cycles Render Engine.

I want to see more of what you do with this!

[scifidude79]

Thanks Eric.

I've always liked Cycles, but other things have always taken me back to Lightwave. I'm not letting that happen this time. The render engine in LW2018 and 2019 tries to be like Cycles, but it doesn't work as well.

[scifieric]

Wow!  That's kind of shocking to hear.