I couldn't resist and started to model one of my sketches from yesterday:
Modeling is almost vaguely ready (there are quite an amount of work left with it), only the heat sinks landing gear and such are left. It took about 2 and a half hour. UV is just an automatic right now, for a simple AO bake for presentation.
Thanks! If it looks menacing, then I'm on the right track. :)
I was thinging along the line that some of the SolFed are quite arogant so this kind of more modern and vertical look would fit them (check that vetical passenger transport thumbnail in the sketch thread for another example). The Venturestar/Deneb line is a bit more lowtech/older design in my opinion, so it would fit a CIW yard better.
For this kind of layout I can cite I-war 2 as a source of inspiration. There were some fighters with a vertical layout and They were fine looking and quite original ships in my opinion. So I want to explore that kind of shipbuilding a bit, and I think it's fit for SolFed. I'd like to push their style towards a bit of art deco/futurism influence too, and this form is good for that in my opinion.
I'm playing with ideas right now really, trying to come up with common characteristics for the factions and such. And I wanted to check how my sketch translates to 3D. And I'm recording the process too for an indepth article/tutorial about shipbuilding too.
It already got some length. Check the Kanara, that stems from this design and pushes it forward.
And since this craft is designed for shorter engagements, it's main aim is to be light and agile and easy to maintain.
