The model sheets of the 80's show give me a hint of Ralph McQuarrie, though I certainly prefer the original.
A parade of spaceships...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
The model sheets of the 80's show give me a hint of Ralph McQuarrie, though I certainly prefer the original.
I'm unfamiliar with all incarnations of Space Ghost... How likely would it be, within the technology frame of that universe, for the Space Cruiser to have flexible wings?
I mean, if the thing does land on non-flat surfaces as shown, there'd be some motivation to raise the wings out of ground contact. And the overall blended shapes don't particularly support the idea of simple hinges...
Timo Saloniemi
I mean, if the thing does land on non-flat surfaces as shown, there'd be some motivation to raise the wings out of ground contact. And the overall blended shapes don't particularly support the idea of simple hinges...
Timo Saloniemi
Yup, for people, like Timo, who are not familiar with the show, Space Ghost would be depicted leaving the Phantom Cruiser (by way of the canopy simply lifting) and then flying to whatever destination Superman style...because he needs to get there faster than the Cruiser can carry him!
Keep in mind he does this seemingly in "deep space" without any visible means of propulsive or life support gear. 
Obviously, Space Ghost exists in a quantum reality where the physical laws of nature function VERY different from ours!
But the Phantom Cruiser is STILL a very sweet ride!
Sincerely,
Bill
Hmm... If the Space Ghost has Superman powers of this sort, it's sort of natural to assume he also grew the Cruiser the way Kal-El can grow things out of crystals - as a somewhat crude extension of himself and his powers, inferior to the character himself in many respects. That is, unlike the technologies of Batman, which are superior to the physique of the character himself and elevate his powers to new levels. The Ghost might not grow a particularly "physical" Cruiser for himself, then, just something that he likes to "wear" when going to work.
This doesn't bode well for the modeling project, though, so it's probably best not dwelt upon too much.
Timo Saloniemi
This doesn't bode well for the modeling project, though, so it's probably best not dwelt upon too much.
Timo Saloniemi
I'm not going to be concerning myself with details like landing gear. Right now I'm trying to get the wings to flow smoothly into the fuselage. There are a lot of complex compound curves on this thing.
This will call for some difficult artistic choices to pull off a comprehensive version, methinks.
At least I can follow your work here!
I'm presently working on an idea of how to accomplish this. Part of the issue is that the ship's centreline isn't perfectly straight. it curves gently upward as it moves aft to the tip of the tail. This creates an additional challenge in getting the wings to flow smoothly into the fuselage. It has an added complication of the wings gently curving upward as well (in line with the ship's centreline) as you move back. This is all to get a design that is generally consistent with what the onscreen depiction seems to be suggesting.This will call for some difficult artistic choices to pull off a comprehensive version, methinks.
At least I can follow your work here!
My approach is basically to take a page from building physical scratchbuild models: create a framework on to which you can lay a "skin" to form your compaund curve surface. This would be much like an airplane fuselage or boat hull frame. I've already done this to a limited extent with my TAS and TOS shuttlecraft 3D models. But the Phantom Cruiser is much more complex in form so it will be a challenge. Yeah, it is time consuming, but at least I know I'm getting the shape I want.
Mind you there are a lot of plugins for SketchUp some of which could well make this easier, but it takes time to find the right one and learn how to use it.
Yes, that's the simplest way to do it, but it can get real challenging when the one cross-section doesn't really serve because it might need to be drastically changed as you go forward.
Yeah, I've tried all of those techniques and every addon I can find. Nothing has satisfied me for getting the curves *I* want as opposed to what the addon gives me and having those curves come out smooth. Even in the HL-10 model I posted early in this thread has small imperfections were one curve does not flow smoothly into the other that bug me. (look near the nose)
ETA: oops, that wasn't earlier in this thread. That was in the thread for the other ship you were working on. Which for the life of me I can't find now, even using the search function.
ETA: oops, that wasn't earlier in this thread. That was in the thread for the other ship you were working on. Which for the life of me I can't find now, even using the search function.
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^^ Is this the one? http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=206275
Is the key problem error is just after the cockpit where the wings tie in?
Here I'm beginning to get the wings to merge with the fuselage. The real challenge is the wings being a complex shape: they have something of an aircraft wing cross section to them but they also curve in two different directions as well as narrowing as they go outward from the fuselage to the outer edges. Mt plan is to make cross-sections as the wing narrows out and the skin those. The really tricky part I see is the leading edge of the wings flowing into the fuselage.
