This is the third project I’ve done in Blender so far, though I have some prior experience with POV-Ray. I like the basic concept I’ve hashed out here, but it still feels unfinished somehow. I’m doing some basic universe-building here for a potential project. One of the races is going to be extremely metals-poor, with corresponding effects in their ship design. Here’s a torchship miner/trader:
The fusion bell and armature can rotate to face forwards when mining asteroids to melt rocks, or as an improvised weapon:
And here’s the wireframe (linked, because it’s too wide for these forums):
The wings are habitat areas, as the only sections shielded from interstellar radiation. The blue bits on the wings therefore are windows. The central area is used to hold cargo, as well as the massive water tank that fuels the fusion reactor (water being one of the few things this culture has in plenty). The framework isn’t as strong as hullmetal, but it’s close; scientific research has spent a lot of effort making useful things without a lot to work from. Still, this vessel’s armor is in no way combat-worthy.
I’m not especially happy with the engine “glow”; it’s a halo effect applied to part of a UV sphere. The focusing is fine (even though in space, it would spread out, I’m claiming that they use magnetic fields to keep the exhaust focused so it’s a useful tool); it’s just the overall appearance that’s really a bit off. It should also be much longer to stay practical, but that just ended up looking silly.
In general, it feels kinda like a Lego project; that is to say, it’s like a child’s model of what a spaceship would look like, instead of a real spaceship. Any thoughts?
