Building the USS Enterprise in Blender 3D

Discussion in 'Fan Art' started by scifieric, Jul 22, 2018.

  1. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    I'm sure this has been done to death, but this is my series of video tutorials (thus far) of how to build a model of the USS Enterprise in Blender 3D.

    If someone is new to using Blender or new to 3D, perhaps this will be of interest.

    Thanks for looking in.

    01 Intro to Tutorial


    02 Saucer Tutorial: Splines, Curves, and the Spin Tool


    03 Saucer Windows and the Mirror Tool


    04 Making the Lower Saucer Windows


    05 Making the Lower Saucer "Triangles"
     
  2. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    06 Making the BC Deck (two ways!) and the Bridge


    07 Making the Lower Saucer Sensor and Platform


    08 Linear Accelerator


    09 Impulse Engines


    10 Forward Cutout and Running Lights
     
  3. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    11 BC Deck Windows


    12 Neck with Audio


    Pre 13 Engineering References


    13 Engineering Hull and Port Arm


    14 Engineering Hull Arms
     
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  4. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    And today's entry.

    15 Engineering Hull Cowl and Deflector Dish


    16 Rear Engineering Hull
     
  5. Tallguy

    Tallguy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    1) How does your newest Enterprise compare to your others?
    2) How many Enterprises have you built!

    Great job! An invaluable resource!
     
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  6. Terranimperial

    Terranimperial Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    subscribed to your channel, these tutorials are really useful for someone just learning to use blender
     
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  7. Bernard Guignard

    Bernard Guignard Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Thank you this will be very helpful
     
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  8. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    Thank you Tallguy! I greatly appreciate your encouragement!

    This tutorial should turn out something similar to my next to last USS Enterprise. I've been making some changes to my plans for my next build. I think the "ultimate" build would be a mixture of the saucer drawings from David Shaw, as well as his warp engines for the 11 foot model. The Engineering section from Alan Sinclair and the neck from Charles Casimiro's plans. ... or of course, getting my hands on Gary Kerr's corrected drawings!

    How many have I built? Oh man. Maybe about 12 complete ships over the years using various 3D platforms. If you count all the upgrades and remakes of sections and pieced them all together into separate ships, maybe around 20.
    That's great, Terranimperial! I hope these help. I suggest starting at the beginning. Some of what comes later depends upon you seeing the tools used in the second video.
    I hope so. Thank you, Bernard Guignard! I hope you at least enjoy them!
     
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  9. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    Hello Tallguy!
    I'm doing a simultaneous build with different plans for myself. The plans are an aggregation of drawings from a lot of talented people, including David Shaw, Gary Kerr, Alan Sinclair, Charles Casimiro, and the Polar Lights decal guide from the large USS Enterprise model. I'm thinking it is as accurate as I'll ever get ... without the chance to laser scan the original!
     
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  10. Sibyl

    Sibyl Caffeine Pill Popper Rear Admiral

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    Nice! Thank you for documenting your process.

    Not sure if I'll ever be tackling the TOS E, but I do hope to get a couple of TOS-era ships in, eventually.

    Out of curiosity, which are your favorite plans for the saucer section? If I remember correctly, the plans I see on the preview for your videos seem to be the Sinclair?
     
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  11. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    For the upper saucer hull and curve (upper lip) to the front of the upper saucer: Alan Sinclair

    David Shaw has absolutely spectacular drawings for the saucer hull that he has put together from reverse engineering photographs, but he loves a knife-sharp upper lip to his hull. Other than that, his drawings are FLAWLESS. i use his drawings for the curve of the underside of the saucer.

    David Shaw's drawings of the BC Deck and Bridge are perfect in shape, but I think a tiny fraction small. Alan Sinclair's drawings of the Bridge and BC Deck are better in scale to the rest of the saucer, but his curve at the front of the BC Deck is a little off. If you can find one of the Polar Lights decal guides for the large TOS Enterprise, they are nearly flawless. They show the shape and relation of the BC Deck very well. They are slightly off in window placement.

    Charles Casimiro is VERY close on the neck.

    Alan Sinclair's Engineering Hull plans are terrific, but a fraction too large. Bring it down a percent or two (not much) and they're about as close to perfect as you're going to get.

    David Shaw's warp engines ARE perfect. I think the only thing I think is off a little are the size of the intercoolers. But the structure of the warp engines themselves, the shapes and placement of the inserts and the back ends of the warp engines are spectacular.

    I hope that helps!
     
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  12. Sibyl

    Sibyl Caffeine Pill Popper Rear Admiral

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    Thank you. :)
     
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  13. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    Another for today.

    17 Shuttlebay Doors
     
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  14. Bernard Guignard

    Bernard Guignard Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Do you have a site link where I can see these Larger ?
     
  15. blssdwlf

    blssdwlf Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    If you click on the video to get it started and keep your mouse on the video you should see Youtube on the bottom right. Click on that to be taken to the site and you can see them larger and bookmark it.
     
  16. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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  17. Tallguy

    Tallguy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Worked for me.
     
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  18. scifieric

    scifieric Captain Captain

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    Thank you, Tallguy!
     
  19. uniderth

    uniderth Commodore Commodore

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    These videos are awesome. I plan on building my own screen accurate enterprise in the future.

    I'm sure everybody says that.
     
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  20. psCargile

    psCargile Captain Captain

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    I'll have to check these out when I got free time.

    You get Gleb and Aidy's Hard Surface Modeling course?