3d Sculpting - The Hyborean Reaches

[ecs05norway]

So. This started as me trying to teach myself Google Sketchup, since it was free and available and looked easy to use. (It isn't as easy as it seems, sometimes.)

Then it started to snowball.

So I figured, why not let it go all the way.

Some inspiration drawn from Starfleet Battles.

Meet the Hyborean Royal Navy.

In the early decades of Terra's expansion into space, several colony expeditions are known to have gone missing. Some have been found later, surviving as they can. Others have left only wreckage, or distant radio signals suggesting fascinating mysteries.

Until recently, the Howard Expedition was thought to be one of these. When intelligence agents brought word of an apparently-human polity on the far side of the Draconian Empire, however, the Terran Confederacy had to take notice.

The spatial rift the Howard Expedition fell through sent them not only hundreds of light-years off-course, but also centuries through time. They were extremely lucky to find a habitable planet within reach of the far end, and landed there to start building their colony. Over time they built cities and industry, eventually reinventing the hyperdrive almost from scratch. By the time they encountered the Draconians and their other neighbors, the Tharkad Imperium, they controlled over fifty inhabited systems.

Neither neighbor took their presence well, however, seeing them as a relatively weak power, ripe for conquest. Over the course of a decade the Hyboreans were pushed back, first to their homeworld, then even that was conquered. Several squadrons of ships and a number of large refugee fleets made it to their more distant colony worlds, however.

The Hyborean Kingdom in Exile spent the next fifty years building up the industry and fleet strength they would need to reconquer their worlds and liberate their people from their oppressors. An entire new generation of warships and weapons were built in those faraway colonies, and a new generation of warriors were born and raised and trained.

Those worlds and people have now been liberated, and the Hyborean Kingdom Navy stands strong and proud.

Caledonia CL

The kingdom's workhorse for many a year, the Caledonia-class is a versatile vessel capable of filling a number of roles. Its integral fighter complement provides a built-in escort. While the Mk 3 graser is comparable to a century-old Confederate design, similar models are still in widespread use in the Draconian and Tharkad empires, while the point-defense mounts are among the best in the known galaxy. The fusion cannons are short-ranged, but potent, capable of shattering enemy shields and ravaging the hull beneath.



Picti DD

The Picti-class destroyer fulfills most patrol and escort duties throughout the kingdom. Its comparatively light graser armament is more than compensated for by the triple fusion cannon mount. No ship its size, and few cruisers, can survive such a bombardment. In large battles they often operate in wolf-packs which worry even the most potent of battleships.



And then there's the Principality of Khitai.


An early schism among the Hyborean colonists lead to about a quarter of their initial number departing to found their own colony. They used the still-functional colony ship to ferry some thirty thousand dissenters (mostly of various Asian extractions) to a newly-located planet several dozens of light-years further outwards from the direction of Terra.

Khitai and Hyborea fought several minor skirmishes, mostly over access to resources in the intervening systems, over the next few centuries. By the time the Draconians overran Hyborea, Khitai had settled a dozen worlds in the same region as the distant colonies to which the Hyborean refugees fled. At first disinclined to assist their old rivals, appeals to common humanity and shared history (and trade) had a strong influence. In the end the Princes of Khitai decided that a strong, independant Hyborea would serve as a valuable buffer between them and the two alien empires.

Khitaian shipyards would aid in constructing the fleet that would carry out the war of liberation, and Khitaian officers would assist in training the many Hyborean volunteers to man that fleet. Several squadrons from the Khitai Navy would accompany the Liberation Fleet and take part in the war, as well.

Today, Khitai is a valued trade partner of Hyborea, and while the two star nations have their differences, they see the value in those differences - and their similarities.



Koujaku DD:
Armed with four heavy graser mounts, two fusion blasters, and two point-defense turrets, the Sparrow is a somewhat more balanced ship than the Hyborean Picti. Three compact hyperdrive coils provide redundancy and maneuverability at FTL speeds while powerful EM thrusters give this thuggish-looking ship surprising speed in STL regimes as well.


Photos of the printed figures forthcoming as soon as I get some free space on my camera's memory

[ecs05norway]

Meanwhile have some more Sketchup renders.



Khitai Principality's Bai Ying cruiser

Slightly larger than the Hyborean Dalriata-class, the Bai Ying mounts a similar weapons suite - six grasers and four fusion blasters. Khitaian fusion blasters are slightly weaker than Hyborean fusion cannon, however, this is compensated for with more powerful and accurate graser mounts. While it does not carry the fighter complement that Hyborean cruisers often do - Khitai prefers dedicated carriers - the hull is noticeably tougher, with better armor and structural reinforcement. Three compact hyperdrive coils provide respectable FTL performance while oversized EM thrusters help the heavier vessel keep up with its peers in STL combat.

And a new faction: The Zingaran Republic

One of several smaller refugee groups that fled the Draconian conquest of Hyborea would eventually encounter the planet of Zingara. Populated by a previously-unknown near-human species (theorized to have been 'Zingaraformed' humans settled there centuries earlier by unknown aliens), the world was disunited and at a level of technology roughly equal to Earth's 1960's. (They had, in fact, several satellites in orbit and had launched their own lunar mission mere months before the refugees arrived.)

Contact with the refugees prompted the disparate nations of Zingara to unite in the knowledge that they were not alone in the universe. Knowledge that there were powerful, hostile empires nearby spurred quick development. Their speed increased by technology transfers from the refugees, they quickly fielded a small fleet of primitive hyper-capable vessels. An international global defense force was created to keep these (comparatively) powerful assets from use in internecine conflicts and persists to this day as the defense force of the Republic.

Planets in six nearby solar systems were explored and colonized by coalitions of Zingaran nations, advanced industry and infrastructure constructed, and the starfleet expanded. All expansion was made well away from the known direction of the Draconian and Tharkad borders in order to avoid contact. A small network of tripwire sensor stations was established to watch for an incursion, but none came.

No contact was made with outside parties until a Khitaian survey ship came across the fledgeling Republic nearly a decade after the War of Liberation. By this time many of the adult refugees were in their eighties or older. Many of their children were now high-ranking officers in the Zingaran starfleet. The national governments of Zingara were of mixed feelings on opening contact with Khitai and Hyborea, but pleased to hear that the Draconian threat had been driven back and that there were powerful allies available.

The Republic has since been recognized as an independant star nation by Hyborea, Khitai, Tharkad, and the Terran Confederacy; relations with Draconia are cold and stiff. There are frequent rumors of Draconian agitators making contact with one or more of the Zingaran internal governments to try to suborn allies in the Republic. So far as is known, none of these have succeeded.


The most modern ship in the ZRN, the Mariposa-class combines several homegrown technologies developed from imported examples. The hyperdrive coils, for example, are based loosely on Khitaian compact coils, developed from a set purchased early after recontact. The grasers are identical to those used on Hyborean cruisers, and are in fact produced under license from O'Connell High-Energy Systems. Forward, the main deflector/sensor unit is a homegrown version incorporating Hyborean and Khitaian techniques along with some picked up in trade with the Tharkad Imperium. Instead of fusion guns, the Mariposa uses a quartet of Tharkadian heavy particle blasters, arranged with two on either flank.



The Zingaran Pena ('Feather') class destroyer is a somewhat older vessel than the new Mariposa cruisers. It is, in fact, a point of pride for the young Republic. The Pena is their first vessel built entirely out of their own industry and resources, without having to import components or materials, or leasing space in Khitaian or Hyborean shipyards.

A pair of bow-mounted particle cannons, based on Tharkad designs, are the destroyer's primary weapons, backed up by a quartet of anti-shipping grasers. Point-defense emplacements provide at least two turrets able to fire on any incoming threat, and a single gravitic projector allows for cargo towing and projectile deflection.

The slender form and the twin hull-mounted hyperdrive coils give the Pena an almost starfighter-like appearance, and it has been known to be mistaken for one by those who have never encountered one before. Powerful EM Pulse thrusters replace the primitive chemical rockets of the early Zingaran space program, letting it maneuver almost like one as well.

[Elbows]

Interesting ideas.  I admit the models don't really "pop" for me (as far as "oohhh ahhh" factor goes).  I think they're a bit heavy on the normal trapezoidal/classical shapes.  Because of this, the factions all look incredibly similar (something you could easily differentiate via paint of course).  I'd like to see turrets and most of all some rounded edges (even just canopies, etc.).

It looks a good start.

PS: I do like the REH nods though.

[ecs05norway]

Interesting ideas.  I admit the models don't really "pop" for me (as far as "oohhh ahhh" factor goes).  I think they're a bit heavy on the normal trapezoidal/classical shapes.  Because of this, the factions all look incredibly similar (something you could easily differentiate via paint of course).  I'd like to see turrets and most of all some rounded edges (even just canopies, etc.).

It looks a good start.

PS: I do like the REH nods though.

They do look better printed out. And I've been designing with intent towards Shapeways' WSF material, which loses a bit of crispness between the inexact print resolution and (if used) the polishing process.

There's a lot of old-school Trek in my inspiration for this (by way of Star Fleet Battles), so visible weapons turrets are going to be fairly small and simplistic - consider the phaser emplacements we see on the Enterprise in TWOK, for example. Just little bumps on the hull, at this scale (1/3125). The little hexagonal truncated pyramids you see are my answer to that. Under WSF printing they come out pretty well rounded, and they're easier to draw and work with in Sketchup.

It's the nacelle designs for the Hyboreans that currently are giving me issues. Now that I've painted a few I'm not entirely enamored with them. Considering going over to something a little more complicated. ... except then I'd have to redraw them on a dozen designs.

The big issue with the lack of curved bits, though, is that Sketchup's handling of curved surfaces is .... difficult to come to grips with. I've started to learn it - I want to try reproducing some of the old FASA designs - but it's slow going and complex curves are apparently egregiously complex.

[CompanyB]

I bet you could export those as an object file, and bring them into Zbrush to add curved bits. Or build a nanocell in another app and bring it over.

Alternately, you can download a demo for the full suite of Zbrush for 45 days and test it out. 

Does sketchup import .obj files?

[ecs05norway]

Hmm, the free version of Sketchup can only export to a .dae file, but I can certainly get a converter to turn it into a .obj, I think.

Is there a free/cheap version of zbrush or some comparable program?

[CompanyB]

Zbrush demo is full featured and free for 45 days.

Zbrush Core is $150

ViaCAD 2D3D is free

I bet you could build a simple curved Trek like nanocell in viaCAD, then import it in.  Does ketchup read .obj or other files?

[ecs05norway]

Zbrush demo is full featured and free for 45 days.

Zbrush Core is $150

ViaCAD 2D3D is free

I bet you could build a simple curved Trek like nanocell in viaCAD, then import it in.  Does ketchup read .obj or other files?

Nope. Just .3ds, .dae, .dem/.ddf.

Now, if I can convert between those, or viaCAD can export to them....

[ecs05norway]