Thanks Keith. I’m gonna get on that right away. The cloud cell noise has worked great so far, but taking some time to really make it awesome is what I hope will take this to the next level. Thanks for the tips, I’ll see what I can whip up.
EDIT: I could use a couple of tips on unwrapping such a detailed mesh efficiently. I’m struggling to get the coordinates right to avoid warping etc.
So far I’ve adjusted the panel texture in gimp, but I’ve kept the normal map from the generated cell noise (it seems to create finer detail than is possible with a separate normal or bump map). To add variance I’ve multiplied in vertex color to add burns and smudges etc. There are still plenty of problems to deal with. I’ve also adjusting compositing. I’m still for any advice on unwrapping this moster nicely.
See what you think.
Here’s an attempt at paint. I figure a warship likely will be painted black to avoid being seen…unfortunately that doesn’t make for a very cool looking ship. So only some parts are black.
Looks better, I would suggest either using seams for unwrapping or using the “project from view” with faces that have equal or similar angles…but first position your camera to mesh in the view options. (if that makes sense!)
That last space ship looks great 
Much better than before.
This is amazing work.
Thanks for the encouraging comments! It keeps me working. Texture editing is a pain but the advice has been awesome! I’m working with the “project from view” keith and it seems to be working pretty well. thanks for that.
