The Reaper - aka Sabre Hardsurface Spaceship done

LaurentiuN

Hello PC,

This is a project that i started for Allegorithmic contest - A road trip in 2116, unfortunately i had to do something else.
I started blocking out some shapes. The main shape is from a concept made by J.C Park.

I got some measuresments from an F-16 for the length. What do you guys think about the width? Is the middle body to wide? Check wip`s: the body in the first screen is more wide than the 2nd picture. Any C&C are welcome ( better design maybe? )

Thanks.

LaurentiuN

Some wip`s, mainly on the big shape, panels will be added soon, what do you guys think? Any C&C is welcome.

LaurentiuN

Working on the engine nozzle.

Nozzle done

Klawd

Nice job with the nozzle!
Question, do you intend to recreate the concept, or are you just using it for the basic shape? I think the vehicle in the concept is way narrower than your blockout. It also has a more accentuated forward inclination giving it its nice aggressive look, improved also by the spine and tail that you seem to have avoided.

LaurentiuN

@Klawd - hey man, thanks.
About your question, when i first started the blockout i wanted to match a bit close to the concept as you can see in the first wip`s, but now i only use the concept for the middle shape and position of the engines.
 As you can see in the latest wip`s i changed a lot the design but i kept the silhouette (side view) from the original concept.
As you said just for basic shape and adding my own design to it.

I will do interior as well, cockpit, ejection seat, landing gear etc...

Here some level of detail i`m aiming for.

LaurentiuN

Interior for the nozzle is done, and i started working on the ejection seat.

LaurentiuN

Working on the landing gear:D so much fun

LaurentiuN

Hello PC, landing gear for my Reaper is done.

andrelopes

I like very much where this is going

LaurentiuN

@andrelopes Thanks man, more to come soon:)
Here are some beauty renders. More on artstation.

LaurentiuN

Working on the Ejection Seat.... wip, wip, and wip:)
Still need to do a lot of work on it.

Polygoblin

good progress. many of your edges are much too sharp. you're going to jet jagged bakes unless something is done going forward. can tell from your renders you're viewing this from unrealistically close angles. Apply a shiny material  and zoom out to an angle you'd more likely to see in-game and check for the width of the highlight across your edges. 

furthermore your detailing looks very even. Like you're trying to fill every blank space w something. think about where you want to focus attention and emphasize those areas. research the 80/20 rule of design, it'll help focus your efforts towards a more pleasing detail frequency.

LaurentiuN

@Polygoblin - Hey man, thanks for the feedback. Regarding the edges being to sharp i think only a few are like that and it`s ok because i dont think i will do a low poly version, so no bakes here .
About the details here is a real ejection seat ( check link ) i try to make some details but not all of them and adding some sci fi elements to it, still wip.
Thanks again for the feedback, i appreciate.
 http://data4.primeportal.net/hangar/sergey_zhabin/rafale_c_113-ge/images/rafale_c_113-ge_091_of_171.jpg

LaurentiuN

I`m done with the ejection seat for now, maybe i`ll add some wires or something later. I`ll start working on the cockpit now.
Thanks!

LaurentiuN

Beauty render
More high-res on artstation -> https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JR9GD

Klawd

Great progress @s1dK! I'm more and more intrigued:)

LaurentiuN

@Klawd Thanks dude, i appreciate

Some wip for the cockpit, just basic blockout, getting proportions and shapes.

LaurentiuN

More cockpit work, what do you guys think?

First design was with the joystick in the middle, but i got some C&C from a guy on FB and i change it with side throttle and joystick.
Still blockout

LaurentiuN

Almost done with the cockpit.

LaurentiuN

Floor and side panels details added.

YannickStoot

Is there a way to follow threads? (a)

Ps: just realised there is a giant button on the top. Please ignore the previous comment. *facepalm*

LaurentiuN

Some beauty shots with the cockpit more on artstation, next i will start working on the body.
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ooyvW

YannickStoot

s1dK I noticed you used a red and blue light to show the highlights. What is the reason you use a colored light?

LaurentiuN

@YannickStoot hey man, it's just a personal preference no other reasons.

YannickStoot

@s1dK Ohh haha. Thought there was more to it. Saw on ArtStation that you modeled in Fusion too. In which cases do you switch to Fusion and in which to model in 3Ds Max if I may ask?

LaurentiuN

@YannickStoot Everything i start is modeled in max ( blockout, proportion etc ). After that i use standard sub-d in max for pieces that are less complex or doesn`t needs to many booleans like holes or shapes cut into the surfaces. In fusion 360 i do pieces that have for ex: ( many shapes cuts into the surfaces or chamfers on non-planar geometry ).

For ex: the joystick and the throttle are a combination of fusion and max, many other pieces have this combination. And i use zbrush where fusion fails.

Lokthar

@s1dK Thats an awesome work!
I was wondering if you're modeling through your imagination/knowledge or do you have a lot of reference where you take inspiration from?

YannickStoot

s1dK said:

@YannickStoot Everything i start is modeled in max ( blockout, proportion etc ). After that i use standard sub-d in max for pieces that are less complex or doesn`t needs to many booleans like holes or shapes cut into the surfaces. In fusion 360 i do pieces that have for ex: ( many shapes cuts into the surfaces or chamfers on non-planar geometry ).

For ex: the joystick and the throttle are a combination of fusion and max, many other pieces have this combination. And i use zbrush where fusion fails.

That makes a lot of sense actually! Thanks!

Polygoblin

great updates, loving this progress. that's one slick cockpit and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest come together as well 

LaurentiuN

@Lokthar Thanks dude, i have lots of reference on pinterest, but i use my imagination as well.
@YannickStoot No problem
@Polygoblin Thanks dude, i appreciate! 

I found a bit of freetime and did the front engine. Working on the body now finally. Re-design, iterate.

LaurentiuN

Some more updates for the side engines, building the panels over the engine.

LaurentiuN

@Menchen Thanks man. Soon!
Side engine and wings done. Next the middle piece.

LaurentiuN

@Menchen, Yes dude, i try to match as much as i can, i have the game aswell and this ship is so coool.

LaurentiuN

More updates. Remaining the cockpit shell and some more details and i`ll render some beautys. Main inspiration from Starcitizen - Sabre.
Thanks

LaurentiuN

Update on the front/cockpit shell. Needs more details.

Unknown_Target

I think the cockpit is too chunky - short and fat. it makes it look like a toy. Your forward visibility isn't going to be great either.

Also, why the total change from your first posts? You had a pretty interesting shape and now you're copying the Saber?

LaurentiuN

@Unknown_Target, Hey man, thanks for the comment. From my pov i think it looks badass:) and for the view, i think there is plenty of view as you can see in the screen below.
As for the total change on the body i dont realy know why, maybe i got tired to watch that shape so long, and the saber was one of the fiew ships that got my attention.

aclund3

Gotta agree with @Unknown_Target here. Would love to see the detailed parts you've already created combined in a new and interesting way, more along the lines of the initial concept you were referencing. Not that what you've got isn't going to work super well, its just... kind of a fat fighter jet, i guess?  I don't know... the mass-in/blocking out and the silhouette of what you started with was more interesting to me.

Unknown_Target

@s1dK it's your spaceship so you do what you want But that cockpit layout doesn't really make sense. You have a ton of wasted space to the left and right of the panel, and for any pilot that's shorter than 5'10" more than 1/2 of their view will be inside the cockpit (with 5'10" pilots still only being able to see roughly 1/2 of the sky in front of them and nothing behind them/almost nothing to the sides).

Aircraft designers, especially for combat aircraft, go through a lot of trouble to make sure the pilot can see outside as much as possible. Take a look at the F-16's cockpit for instance:

http://www.f-16.net/forum/download/file.php?id=1603&mode=view

Anyway it's nice modeling, I just think the design needs work to be believable or functional.

LaurentiuN

@aclund3
@Unknown_Target
Thanks guys, let me see what i can do. I`ll try another blockout to see what it works or not.

LaurentiuN

Hi guys, i took in consideration your feedback and re-made the cockpit shell. Here is how it looks now! Some details on the shell needs to be done. I hope you like it.

RealityFix

Honestly, can't wait to see this finished and textured up. Love the cockpit design and everything else looks like it has great potential! Good luck!

Unknown_Target

Hey man, cockpit looks a lot better. it's still pretty high in the center, so as a gameplay system that might be less fun, but it's definitely more believable now. I think they would make more sense from a human factors standpoint if they weren't' as sunken in, given easier access via fingers. (there's a book "The Measure of Man" if you're interested in this sort of thing).

The exterior is much more aggressive and unique. I'd like to see how it fits with the rest of the ship!

LaurentiuN

@RealityFix - Thanks dude, almost done, still needs a bit of polish. Soon.
@Unknown_Target - If it wasn`t you probably i would leave it as was before so thanks for the honest feedback. 

The main problem with the cockpit was that i started piece by piece as you can see in the hole thread and yeah i know its a mistake doing so, and was hard later on to match every piece to the actual concept. 

Thanks for the pdf also. 

Anyway this was more like to challenge myself and become better at hardsurface stuff. Next time i will try to do better in terms of functionality. Screens below.
Thanks again.

AfroCenTech

looks great!  tho I do I agree with the other poster,  the original cockpit was very toylike          knew there was a reason I felt nostalgic looking at it
http://imgur.com/a/0dY6n

aclund3

That's much better on the nose/cockpit of the plane.  Cheers!  Way to be humble and take some CC with grace  Can't wait to see where you go from here in terms of textures, materials, greebling, etc. !!!

LaurentiuN

Just a test render, i want to take the time to get this awesome, i dont know yet what colors to add, just testing materials and stuff, if you got something in mind let me know.

And one more.

Finnn

Really clean work ! I especially like the blue glow in your beauty render.

LaurentiuN

@FinnIsengardt, thanks man!
I`m trying to do a simple env for my presentation. Here is a test!

solidshark91493

Woah, Man this is what I want to be able to do. Great work

pixelpatron

Would LOVE to see ya try out a macross jet style paint job on this. 




You kinda have it going on, but needs more defined lines and a pattern that doesn't necessarily follow the paneling (paint is applied after construction typically, and the patterns follow the forms as a whole not separately). I think the key to a successful Macross pattern is having the lines flow from the main fuselage out over the wings. The iconography goes a long way too. Amazing model btw, don't rush the final details like the paint and patterning/weathering. 

A good approach would be to go topdown and side shot of your ship and do some quick paintovers in photoshop to find a design you like and then tweak the colors to your liking. Sucker for yellow/silver/black or the white/red/black combo.

Good luck.