Imperial Cruiser

[Bergil]

Just an idea I intend to expand upon. Other ships, different fleets and such. Anyway she's about 83mm in length and was made by designing sections in autocad light for laser cutting then stuck together. Just in case you were wondering.

Wish I had autocad with the 3D capability so I could get things like this printed. (If anyone has an old copy going spare or relatively affordable feel free to get in touch)

Lastly, I'd like to have her cast up in a limited resin run. Anyone interested?

[Ironclad Paul]

I like that very much.  I suppose the big rivets and chunky plates give it a bit of a VSF feel though of course it could well be used for pretty much a wide spread of general SF.
It particularly reminds me of the Ceramic flyers in Nausicaa of the valley of wind, by Miyazaki, and in fact I think there is a ruined ship in the anime which does resemble that a bit (in feel maybe rather than exactly).   The screw propellors of course mean it would make a grand naval battle ship too.
Very nicely done!    though I probably wouldnt buy any as I could possibly (if inspired enough) make my own similar, but thanks anyway, and a great idea!

carry on, make a fleet of different sizes, a few smaller gunboats would go nicely with it..
 

[Bergil]

I like that very much.  I suppose the big rivets and chunky plates give it a bit of a VSF feel though of course it could well be used for pretty much a wide spread of general SF.
It particularly reminds me of the Ceramic flyers in Nausicaa of the valley of wind, by Miyazaki, and in fact I think there is a ruined ship in the anime which does resemble that a bit (in feel maybe rather than exactly).   The screw propellors of course mean it would make a grand naval battle ship too.
Very nicely done!    though I probably wouldnt buy any as I could possibly (if inspired enough) make my own similar, but thanks anyway, and a great idea!

carry on, make a fleet of different sizes, a few smaller gunboats would go nicely with it..
 

The big rivets will probably go but the chunky plates are staying. As you say they suit a vsf feel to a larger or lesser degree.

I've never seen This Valley of the wind but looking it up I've probably missed something enjoyable, will have to get round to watching it at some point. Oh and no doubt I shall carry on. I need a frigate, gunboat and battleship to go with this. Then on to more traditional sailing type ships and some various exotic fleets and ships.



Anyway cheers bud.

[The_Beast]

Doesn't Google still have a freebee 3D drawing program?

I thought I gave it a try, but determined my experience with previous software did indeed indicate I'm a moron.

Doug

[Bayushiseni]

Beautiful cruiser!

[Ballardian]

Google Sketchup is the software The_Beast mentioned, the free version is ok, useable but not very user friendly - (they want to you pay for the full version, not cheap, but not scarily expensive).
 If you have access to a digital pen/pad it makes life easier with pretty much all CAD - again, you can find them quite cheaply & if you really would like to get to grips with CAD an essential, good luck with the project!
 (Lovely little model by the way!)

[YPU]

I'm always in for this kind of silliness. I was actually considering drawing and printing some sailing ships in space alla treasure planet myself.

If you have access to a digital pen/pad it makes life easier with pretty much all CAD - again, you can find them quite cheaply & if you really would like to get to grips with CAD an essential, good luck with the project!

I would ague against that. I have a older pen pad and I find it terrible for working in cad. When your doing more precise hard edged drawing mouse is the way to go. You could ague that it is worth it for Zbrush or other soft modelling tools, maybe.

[Bergil]

Well I spent three hours yesterday going through laborious tutorials about sketchup on you tube. I should be thankful but the instructors talk so much guff instead of getting straight to the point.

Anyway after a few hours time I've managed to get the deck and gun mounts done. Trying to get a nice chamfered edge on those was a total pain in the arse and to say Sketchup is clunky is a bit of an understatement.

Ballardian, you mentioned the paid for version of Sketchup. Do you know what the benefits of it are over the free version?

Cheers

I'm always in for this kind of silliness. I was actually considering drawing and printing some sailing ships in space alla treasure planet myself.

Do it!

[Ballardian]

The full version does give you a lot more tools to work with - makes doing assorted compound & radiused corners (like you want) easier, but for the price of the full version a number of others become available - I'd have a good look around for reviews before shelling out.
 As to pen/pad peripherals, I suppose it depends to a large degree on what you're used to, many people from an art background like the degree of control it provides,  while others from a more engineering base may prefer mouse & keyboard,(but both are skills you have to acquire) go with what feels comfortable.

[The_Beast]

And the main message I take away?

Not QUITE the moron I thought I was. Thanks, all!

NO fear,  won't go to my head!

Doug

[OSHIROmodels]

Works for me and I might be persuaded to get one 

One suggestion would be to loose the large rivets and just have pin pricks instead.

cheers

James

[Bergil]

And the main message I take away?

Not QUITE the moron I thought I was. Thanks, all!

NO fear,  won't go to my head!

Doug

You seem like an intelligent chap, I'm sure you could work out what to do with Sketchup!

Works for me and I might be persuaded to get one 

One suggestion would be to loose the large rivets and just have pin pricks instead.

cheers

James

Pin pricks would probably work better. I've still got a little work to do on the cruiser so I will probably go with that. As for buying one at least I've got you! Just need four more people to sign up.