BSG Minerva

[Mikala]

Hey there! I don't know if this will be bad form if I post progress both here and on the "old" site but here goes. Shut me down if that's the case.
Any how the design is by "Billy Meier" and that is the colour pic I've included to show you where this is hopefully going to end.

[Rigel]

Not a problem Mikala. Several of us (including myself) have already announced over at LWG that we'd be reposting our w.i.p.'s over here. Why lose a good thing, eh?

And I for one want to see the Minerva continue here.

[Sodonn]

Looks like a great start.

[Cybit]

Looks good I hope you keep posting updates here, would be nice to get things rolling here at the new site. Don't know about anyone else, but I'm kind of excited about this. :cool:

[Mikala]

Thanks people!
Will try to get some posts happening again been having a "hairy" last couple of days.

[Cybit]

Thanks people!
Will try to get some posts happening again been having a "hairy" last couple of days.

Hehe I can relate to the "hairy" couple of days.....try a "hairy" couple of months. I'll trade if you want. :D

[Mikala]

No thank you. A couple is more than enough... :(

[Mikala]

Okay heres a bit more.

[Meurig]

Very nice so far. Time to make an archive of fiddly bits and clone them over the ship :D

[Mikala]

Now where did I put that file o' bits then?
Nope I guess I'll be needing to make that file full of goodies.
I still have a bunch of major structures to get in there especially on the Salamander head and along the trunk of the hull. It will happen though.

[Mikala]

Got a bit more done on the ol girl.
I can't wait for my Christmas holidays! A ton will get done then.

[TheGreatRaja]

looking nice

[Mikala]

Hey thanks for dropping in Raja!

[hipcheck]

looks great! on a side note... just watched razor last nite... is it march yet?

[Mikala]

Hey there people. Not an update but a request. Does anyone have a decent old style cylon raider sound fx stashed on their hard drive somewhere?

[TimMehmet]

Im late to the party I know, but i gotta say the detail is awesome on this one!

[Mikala]

Thanks ol man! Do you ever sleep?

[TimMehmet]

I dont believe in wasting precious time on sleep :)

[Mikala]

Well at least you're in the right place to be awake! Exciting times these be!

[BillS]

Hey that is a little misleading... everyone knows that Hollywood North is Toronto.

Just ask anyone from TO and they will tell you ;)

The detail work is fantastic!

[Mikala]

Sorry to disappoint but ...wrong coast my man! We should actually just be called Hollywood with the amount of stuff done here now. Forgot Vancouver.
Thank you Bill. Nice thing to hear from the aircraft master.

[Taranis]

Wonderful details .... I never have got it this good .. .. I have to get back to my RMQ Battlestar.. .. Had a look at it today .. already want to make some changes ..

[deg3D]

Lookin' good eh! Good she see her here @ F3D. :)

deg

[Mikala]

Thanks deg!

[dilbertman]

M

So this is where you run off to. Now get back to work!

Jim:p

[Mikala]

Hey thanks for stopping in!
This weekend should see some significant work being done on her.

[dilbertman]

Looking forward to it. Other wise the WHIP comes out.

Jim:evil:

[Mikala]

You'll close my thread?

[dilbertman]

Sorry, would not want to do that.

Jim:o

[Mikala]

No no you said the wip would come out....whip.

[dilbertman]

Time to go to bed and start new in the AM.

Jim:crazy:

[infinityloop]

that looks extremly great! :)

[aeres]

Looks great so far....was this one of those original (70's) design that never got used?

[Mikala]

This is a design by Billy Meiers done for a contest on Starship modelers.
I saw it loved it and wanted to try hard body modeling and decided this was going to be my leap into the abyss.
Thanks for the compliments.

[dilbertman]

Are you done yet???

Jim:confused:

[Mikala]

Are you a wee bit nuts? :)
No I'm not. I think you might be happy with the update though. Working out some mesh errors and will post shortly.

[dilbertman]

Yes. I'm NUTS. The non-stop playing of X-mas music from the day after Halloween has sent me over the edge.

Jim:crazy:

[Mikala]

Okay problem fixed and render is a cookin'!

[Mikala]

Okay got the grate over the engines modeled. Not the most fun I've ever had but it's in place now.
Those of you maybe visiting from Colonial Fleets...Hello!

[today]

Have to say, that grate is looking great, and that's not a pun.. ok maybe it is:p

[dilbertman]

Looking good M

Keep up the great work.

Jim:tu:

[1of33]

Love the grate mate, keep it comng

[Mikala]

Hey thanks! The comments are really a help.

[Mikala]

1of33 I hope you start up a thread. You do know this site is multi platform now and a thread showing off your beauty would be a really nice addition!
Hey what are you working on now by the way?

[Rigel]

Nice looking grate! How did you do it?

I made a grate like that once by creating the solid shape, then making a small hexagonal solid, then making many copies, then using Boolean Subtract to make many holes.

[Mikala]

Just a plane in the right shape. Drew a hex and stenciled them through.
Heres a bit of a reno on the inside back of the salamander head.

[dilbertman]

Hey M

Have you been in contact with Billy about all the detailed stuff or are you making it up as you go?

Jim:confused:

[Mikala]

Yup we are trading emails back and forth. Drawings too.

[dilbertman]

Has he post any new images? BTW, cool that you to are in contact.

Jim:crazy:

[TheWharGoul]

I dont know what its supposed to look like, but it looks pretty sweet to me so I guess thats good enough!

[Mikala]

Thanks TWG! great to see you here!
Last I typed to him (BM) he was working on some final or as final as designs ever seem to get for me. I'll be doing another version of this as a lot of the new stuff is too far out and away from what I have already. He was pretty happy with how things were going though and gave some critiques.
I wish he'd stop in here and make a comment. So people knew the person behind the design as it were.

[dilbertman]

Here a link to Billy's images.

http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/ee199/BillyMeier/

Jim:cool:

[Mikala]

Thanks have those. V3 so far of his design.

[Raffs]

Nice grill mate
have you got some light bleed coming from the engines.

[Mikala]

Yes I did not close off the back the darn things yet.

[Rigel]

Just a plane in the right shape. Drew a hex and stenciled them through.
Heres a bit of a reno on the inside back of the salamander head.

That looks nice; like some kind of local power core or something.

[Mikala]

Well I have some plans for the interior cone area of the engine that should hopefully look snazzy when done and will block light from bleeding everywhere.
Rigel I have no idea what they are. I just saw a hint of that shape in the original drawing and went with it.

[Mikala]

Okay boxed in the engine cone area. Now I just have to populate it the "enginey" doodads.

[Mikala]

A little junk in the trunk.

[gpdesigner]

Like the grating over the engine sections . . .
gp

[today]

I'm loving the detail going into that engine:tu:

[Raffs]

Nice :) i must admit when i first set eye's on the concept pics i was'nt to keen on her but your modeling is really bring her to life now get doodading.

[Mikala]

Well have been cutting some panel/plating into the various hull section/areas.
Will adjust the height on many as they would be HUGE!

[Pheylan]

I'm loving the detail going into that engine:tu:

Ditto! :tu:

[1of33]

Ooh details, i like.

[Taranis]

Stunning work .. :)

[Mikala]

Thank you.
All of your comments are very encouraging. Really helps when something is not working (translation I don't understand it) in Modeler.

[Elowan]

Nice going there grasshopper!:tu:

[Mikala]

Too kind sensei too kind.

[Mikala]

Okay stenciled in the grate holes on the smaller red engine. I wish I would have tried the stencil tool in LW a long time ago.

[Mikala]

Okay I needed to see what she might look like in the future...

[Nadesico]

It looks like my brother's car after it was rear ended, lol.

No, seriously though, nice design, more of a destroyer/gunship role then a carrier perhaps?

[Mikala]

Shes very squat but long. Longer than the old classic Gal.

[infinityloop]

Okay stenciled in the grate holes on the smaller red engine. I wish I would have tried the stencil tool in LW a long time ago.

i love the detail you put into the engine!!!! :)

[Meurig]

Greg this is looking great. The engine lights coming from behind the grating is a really nice touch, gives it a definite depth and so makes it more believable.

No good at hard body modelling, indeed! Pfft.

[Artificial Imagination]

I've got to agree with what has been said before, when you first brought this up on LWG3D I thought that the concept drawing was hideous, too tall in the rear and too wimpy in the front but the work you've done on her makes it all wash away.

The detail you've got in there so far is just terrific, the engine pods especially, I have to say its deffinately growing on me.

Good job, keep it up!

[Mikala]

Thanks people.

[RJB]

That’s one mean looking ship you have going Mikala.

Now that I think about it this is my first design of yours that I’ve seen and I must say I’m very impressive.

[Mikala]

Thanks for dropping in RJB. Not my design but it is the first of this type of modeling for me.

[RJB]

Thanks for dropping in RJB. Not my design but it is the first of this type of modeling for me.
Sorry I did mean model but still looking very sharp.

[Mikala]

No problem. Now get yourself a nice big fat thread started here!

[RJB]

No problem. Now get yourself a nice big fat thread started here!I will but for now I'm off to work. :waa:

[Mikala]

I have a hour to relax before I'm off to the slave pits!

[Mikala]

Back from the slave pits and decided to go to the front of the ship and start bringing out areas along the dorsal spine area.

[today]

Can't wait to see what you do with the nose/head

[Mikala]

Me too. Pipes and antennae and who knows what else to go all over the place there.

[dilbertman]

Boy, I'm gone for a day and you goto town on this. Looking good as always.

Jim:crazy:

[Mikala]

Thanks.I wonder if Titon has seen this yet? I'd be really interested in his opinion

[Mikala]

Last one for the night. I'll have to do a ton more cutting and height adjustment but I think it's getting there.

[infinityloop]

the details are just breath-taking :)

[Rigel]

Yes Greg, it is coming along nicely. That gives the impression that a missile would have a LOT of metal to blow through before it could do any serious damage.

[Elowan]

Me too. Pipes and antennae and who knows what else to go all over the place there.

You darn well better put in some piping!!:p

[Elowan]

Shes very squat but long. Longer than the old classic Gal.

I'm glad you showed that comparison. She still looks like a shorty though. Pretty nonetheless.

[RJB]

Boy does she keep getting better and better.

You’re really starting to make me wish I had some free time now to work more on my own ships. (Great models are always inspiring.)

I can't wait for my week off.

[Mikala]

Thanks guys.
Yes Elowan the pipes/conduits and tubing are all on the way.
RJB I'm looking forward to my Christmas holidays and then a change of jobs after I take a bit more time off. Need a bit of a break from what I've been doing.
Yes Rigel she will take a beating by the looks of her but like I said a bit back in the thread the plating will be adjusted a bit. Right now without a LOT more cutting some of those areas would be 50 feet tall.

[Raffs]

I'm with Elowan thought it was smaller than the "G" it's the big engines that throw you off i think.
I agree about the panels needing to be finer on the nose IMO something like the fine ones on the side plates with the odd one taller. How are you doing the panels because if you have VB then you can store the bevel profile.

[Mikala]

I'm stenciling and EXTENDER PLUS then bevel manually. No VB here.

[Taranis]

I don't believe I used EXTENDER PLUS much at all ..

[Mikala]

Works pretty well and so far NO doubled polys.

[no_mad11]

Great looking job Mikala! I like the style of the ship, it's got a nice edgy & muscular look to it with those 3 Gihugent (is that even a word) engines in the back. The detail work looks great so far, can't wait to see some more of it. I also like the effect used in the "Junk in the Trunk".

[tommywright]

I like seeing the progress. Man, it must take some patience to tackle a model that big. Looks awesome!

[RJB]

Thanks guys.
RJB I'm looking forward to my Christmas holidays and then a change of jobs after I take a bit more time off. Need a bit of a break from what I've been doing.

Kind of funny since in the new year I'll also be doing some job changing. lol. :D

[Mikala]

Another thank you all around!
So tommywright are you a lurker/someone from the old site? If you are new and a lurker
welcome and get a thread started showing us some of your work!

[Mikala]

Man not much again today.

[Cybit]

She's coming along nicely.

[Mikala]

Wow I just saw the view count thanks for all the looks people. Something I'd like to ask you all and please don't take this the wrong way. Please leave comment when you drop in as having a high view count is nice I'd really like to hear what you all think about the project and really would enjoy comments that promote my getting better at this and or improving the mesh.
Again thank you for dropping in.
1585
A little one just for fun

[Rigel]

Okay Greg, you just destroyed a beautiful model.

Not the genericpanels texture! What were you thinking????? :)

[infinityloop]

he, he.... texturing these beasts is quite a challange.
i have much "fun" with texturing my Battlestar Talos conversion atm. :crazy:

[Mikala]

Ha NOT the generic panel but one I made up a year or two ago. Actually it's a couple of maps but hey like I said....only for fun.

[Merlin]

The texture looks good ... I'm just not sure if it's right for this model ...

[starship]

Nice BSG ship.
Small niptick: aren't the engines a bit bigger in the vertical direction? The textures needs some tweaks too.
Other than that, it's a nice modelling.:)

[Mikala]

Perspective is playing a bit of a trick on you starship.
Sorry I wasn't clear, texturing was just for fun not permanent. Oops.

[no_mad11]

Don't really have anything new to say other than.....I'm glad the textures were just for fun:p . I really like the detailing used in the model, especially the use of the pipes, looks pretty cool.

[Mikala]

Thank you. :)

[Elowan]

Textures - blech (at least on this mesh) Try the same with downsized sized map.

[Mikala]

Small small update. Going remove/rebuild the diagonal raised areas on the "head" of the ship. I don't like them at all.

[Meurig]

I like the idea of the diagonal bits on the head, they give it a nice direction and sleek look. They themselves look a bit weird though, I think because they're intersecting with other objects rather than passing over a flat surface. It'd be a shame to lose them, but I agree they need alterations before they'll work. Looking good overall, time for the fiddly bits :D

[Mikala]

They won't be going ! I should have just typed in rebuilt.

[Cybit]

Wow, shes coming along nicely.

[Elowan]

Looking better and i agree with rebuilding those slanty things.

[Mikala]

A few pipes in the head section tonight.

[Smallworld]

Hi Mikala, I have been looking intently at battlestars for quite some time now, and I have to say, I think yours is fantastic. She is a beautiful beast and you are doing a fantastic job with her. Bravo and well done. I particularly like the head detailing, very slick.

[no_mad11]

Looking real good Mikala! How far are you planning to go with the detailing?

[Mikala]

Looking real good Mikala! How far are you planning to go with the detailing?
Until it becomes a bit sluggish on my machine..
Thanks Smallworld! I hope to see a thread from you and your BSG stuff start up here!

[Mikala]

A little pipage and bits.

[Cybit]

I really like the way this is turning out, the detailing is really cool. Any pics of her underside or haven't you started that yet?

[Rigel]

It's starting to look cluttered, as any good battlestar should.

[Mikala]

I really like the way this is turning out, the detailing is really cool. Any pics of her underside or haven't you started that yet?
I'll be giving the bottom side a bit of attention over the weekend.

[Gamma Goblin]

It’s really coming together magnificently…anxious to see her all lit up.

Vic

[Mikala]

Victor is that you?
2360
Well here are a few windows/lights cut into the twin bridges.
Temp texture again. Tak-san made the bump maps I applied here. They will not be staying but I thought they might help for those having difficulty envisioning this ships scale.

[Mikala]

I did not know adding a pic would not show up as an update if done as an edit.
So please see previous post for small update

[Smallworld]

Looking very nice indeed. I love the way you are updating the original style without drawing from the new material at all, very sweet indeed.

[Mikala]

You can credit the designer of this for that. I'm simply trying to build it according to what I can see.
Thank you though!

[Smallworld]

You're welcome, quality job.

[BillS]

Mean looking little beasty, isn't it :)

[Mikala]

Thanks Bill
Tiny bits added from sporadic hits in modeler today.

[tan.j]

I love her bio-mechanical or plant-like touch ;), and I imagine that she who is in white may be so beautiful...

[Mikala]

tan.j great to see you here.

[Irrational]

Looking really good, man :)

Makes me wish I wasn't busy right now. I wanna build another battlestar...

[Mikala]

Thanks Charles.
Good to hear you are busy.Heres hoping it's 3D related!

[Cybit]

Can I ask what her measurements are Mikala? Is it bigger than the original BS?

[Mikala]

Post #73 shows a size comp of the two ships.

[Cybit]

Post #73 shows a size comp of the two ships.

Wasn't giving me an image the other day, just said I didn't have access privilages. Worked today though, thanks.

[Mikala]

Crazy thing!
The ship is kind of ...huge.

[Cybit]

Hugerer is betterer :D

Or in the infamous words of Tim Allen "More power? Errr" :D

[Mikala]

Got a bit done at the top of the head.

[Matt]

Loving the details you're putting on this thing... and looking forward to more updates :)

[Mikala]

Thanks Mattman.
Got some lights/windows popped in. Other misc stuff modeled.

[RJB]

Looking great so far. :)

[Raffs]

Nice work mate:)

[Mikala]

Thanks guys!

[Rigel]

Nicely done Greg, but. . .

you missed a corner on one of the plates! :evil:

*ducks and runs*

[Mikala]

"I find your lack of faith disturbing"......as the force reaches through the net towards you...!

[Mikala]

The crossbar on the top engines.

[dilbertman]

Looking good M. Sorry for being MIA, hoildays you know.

Jim:crazy:

[Mikala]

No problems. This is going take a while longer so it's not like you have missed too much..:)

[JoHal]

:jawdrop: Great details. Can you finish this until xmas ?:p

[Cybit]

I really like those engines Mikala :tu: , is that grid modeled or transmapped?

[Meurig]

The crossbar on the top engines.

Complete with brake light :D

[Mikala]

Thanks people.
Cybit the grid is modeled.
Meurig..safety first!

[Mikala]

Last crossbar in place.

[bmckain]

I like that last pic. That a little v-light work I detect? ;)

[Mikala]

Sorry Bob nope.
The one panel at the back of the engines has a bit of glow and the walls reaching out from that have a low diff med reflection setting to the surface. The details inside the grate have a higher diff setting and do some cool looking reflecting and glowing with the engine lights set at 350%.
Trying to stay away from Vol lighting until I really need to use it. Render times you know! :)

Last day at work before the holidays so updates should increase hopefully in both size and quality.

[bmckain]

Sorry Bob nope.
The one panel at the back of the engines has a bit of glow and the walls reaching out from that have a low diff med reflection setting to the surface. The details inside the grate have a higher diff setting and do some cool looking reflecting and glowing with the engine lights set at 350%.
Trying to stay away from Vol lighting until I really need to use it. Render times you know! :)

Last day at work before the holidays so updates should increase hopefully in both size and quality.

Hey, that's a cool trick, thanks for sharing it. :)

[Mikala]

Not an update but I liked the way this looked and thought I'd post it.

[Cybit]

I like that image, put some stars behind it maybe a planet or moon and do a quick render bam....I'd have a new desktop. That's a hint btw, once it's done to your liking that is :D :D

[PepeWan]

Hey, I like it. But where are the TIE fighter parts?

[Mikala]

Thanks guys but I need more car and tank parts all over it. Rear diffs and that sort of thing.

[Tovette]

That's looking pretty sweet so far. How complete is it?

[Mikala]

30% :o
Hey great to see you man!

[Mikala]

Okay got a bit of work done between chasing a couple of Bengal cats off the shelves and various places they should not be.:growl:

[no_mad11]

That's looking real good Mikala, great job on the engine. How detailed are you planning to make the undercarriage?

[Mikala]

If you look at the design pics at the beginning of the thread I'm going to try and get all of what you see there into this.Pipes pipes and more pipes. Boxy extrusions galore and then...more pipes!

[no_mad11]

Cool, I guess you'll be in Pipe wonderland for a while. I'm sure Elowan will be happy to see some more pipes:p Can't wait to see some more of the detail work, so far it looks pretty good. Great job on the grid modeling for the engine; I remember modeling mine for the mesh part of the Tumble - That was a PITA!:rolleyes:

[Mikala]

Well I bit the bullet today and brought in the latest drawings into Modeler as backgrounds and started pulling things into place. I think I've got things almost there but not close enough to post a pic yet.
The wifey is gone for most of the day tomorrow so I should get a bunch done then.
I've got to say with all the artists doing BSG stuff like Tan.j, 1of33, Backstept and raffs I feel I have a mark to shoot for. If I get there or not will be in the eye of the beholder.
Tan.j will you be starting a thread of your designs? I hope so!

[Mikala]

Okay got everything into position on the newest drawings and rebuilt the arrowhead strips.
Hard to model...waiting for UPS to drop off my Intuos 3!

[Tovette]

The underside of the ship has mad awesome details in the front. Same for the top. I totally dig it.

[Cybit]

The underside of the ship has mad awesome details in the front. Same for the top. I totally dig it.

What he said bout sums it up. :D :D

[Mikala]

Okay a tiny tiny bit more. My Intuos came in so I'm kind of preoccupied....

[dfidler]

Mikala, this is looking top notch; keep it up!

[Mikala]

Just another "Hmmmmm I wonder what it would look like if..." pictures.
Accompanied by AldrikG's Pegasus model.

[brownfox]

Imagining more details. textures to it. sweet new battlestar.

brownfox

[Mikala]

Not done yet. Just no time to work on it but wanted to try it out.

[Cybit]

It's looking sweet, I really can't wait for a proper desktop rendering. (hint, hint) ;) :D

[Mikala]

She needs about 600,000 more poly's for that:o

[Smallworld]

She is looking beautiful! I'm really loving seeing this develop, she is a star. I have spent the day adding bits to my own battlestar, I'll post some images soon!

[Mikala]

Really?! Can't wait to see what she looks like.

[Cybit]

She needs about 600,000 more poly's for that:o

Ok, I'm patient :D

NOT!.........but I'll wait anyway as she is a fine ship and looks like she is worth the wait. ;)

[Mikala]

Okay a bit more on the connecting struts arms.

[Raffs]

Sweet mate :)

[Mikala]

Thanks! Forgot a wireframe of it to date.

[Cybit]

How many layers does she have?

[Mikala]

19 so far. I get things to where I like to them (finished wise) and then copy them into a logical layer. I don't want too many layers.

[Niteshift]

Damn Mikala, the Minerva is looking good :)

[Mikala]

Thanks Niteshift.
Got a bit more done.

[Smallworld]

Sweet and sweet, lovely job. How big is she in comparison with the original Galactica?

[Rigel]

You're moving along nicely with this one Greg. It's really starting to look like a massive and complicated ship.

[BillS]

All this BSG stuff around... you guys will have enough to make your OWN movies :)

[Mikala]

@ Smallworld. She's quite a bit longer. If you go back in the thread a bit you can see a sideview comparison drawing.
Thanks Rigel.
Well Bill with the show ending this season I think a lot more fan based stuff will be popping up. With writers strike dragging on like it has I'll bet a few have started already.

[gpdesigner]

Nice work Mikala, are you about ready to texture this thing yet?
gp

[Mikala]

Not even close yet....:(

[Mikala]

Went about the mesh fixing various weirdness and then adding detail to the lower middle arm.

[Mikala]

Some more added to the engines section between the New Years festivities and TV.

[Mikala]

Lazy day has me only having done this bit on the engine section...

[Woody]

Dang, that's looking nice Greg. I really like the departure from 'normal' paneling/detailing
that you've got there - lots of curves and complexity. Very cool. :cool:

[Mikala]

Thank you Charles!
2 more days and I'm free to model without interruption for a few weeks, perhaps a couple of months!!!!!!

[Rigel]

Thank you Charles!
2 more days and I'm free to model without interruption for a few weeks, perhaps a couple of months!!!!!!

Until the wife notices you lazing about and decides she could put you to work. :)

[Mikala]

Ha! Nope she is the one pushing/encouraging me to do this.

[Rigel]

Ha! Nope she is the one pushing/encouraging me to do this.

Lucky man! :)

[no_mad11]

Awesome work Mikala! Those are some really good set of updates. The detail work on the undercarriage is looking good.

[Mikala]

Thanks no_mad11! I'm trying.

[Ignus Fast]

Gorgeous ship!

This hull does underscore one oddity I've never understood about modern science fiction - why do ship designers always put lots of fiddly-bits and pipes on the outside of the skin? They look neat, but it seems like they'd be a huge liability when it comes to getting shot at... even in Trek, where they have force fields. Eventually the shields ALWAYS go down, and then what do you have? Lots of pretty bits and pipes to shoot off, and lots of open plating to wedge a missile into. :)

[Mikala]

They make for nicer exploding hulls!

[Oscaron]

Gorgeous ship!

This hull does underscore one oddity I've never understood about modern science fiction - why do ship designers always put lots of fiddly-bits and pipes on the outside of the skin? They look neat, but it seems like they'd be a huge liability when it comes to getting shot at... even in Trek, where they have force fields. Eventually the shields ALWAYS go down, and then what do you have? Lots of pretty bits and pipes to shoot off, and lots of open plating to wedge a missile into. :)

I would say that IMHO that fiddly bits are more likely closer to 'future reality'.

It would be much easier, from an engineering standpoint, to have spots external to the skin of a ship for pods (sensor, storage, etc), equip that may need routine manual adjustment/repair, etc. rather that make it ergonomic and fit under the outer skin, yet a royal b!tch to get to when it needs fixin'.

The other thing that I keep remembering is a quote from someone:
(Paraphrased) "Even a brick can fly in space if you attach thrusters in the right spots."

So, yes, putting the parts inside may fit some minor defensive need, but when they finally do get blown to bits, the only thing keeping them inside the hull does is 1) Make the ship 'pretty' and 2) piss off the repair guys who have to crawl through the wreckage to fix it...then have to make it pretty again.

And yes, it does make for better explosions ;)

[infinityloop]

Went about the mesh fixing various weirdness and then adding detail to the lower middle arm.
the underside will definitly look awesome when adding many small lights into it.
*thinking about BSG Pegasus lighting*

:)

[starship]

Appears that you´ll finish this one.:)

Awesome details!!!

[Mikala]

Thanks infinityloop,Starship.

[3D_CG]

So where did you get all the referance photo's or images ???

Curious

[Mikala]

The designer has been kind enough to let me have access to his drawings.
Take a look at Starshipbuilder site in the contest area.

[Mikala]

Okay she's back. I'm kind of stuck as I'm not really sure what the launch tube area on this is supposed to look like...how many tubes and such. So I'll fiddle with other areas until I get more info.

[dilbertman]

Here you go, the launch tubes are over there some where that way. As far as to the number of tubes, there alot of them. Now get back to work.

Jim:crazy:

[no_mad11]

Don't really have a clue on the launch tube numbers, maybe take a look at some video footage of galactica in action to see if you can possible see how many are launched or at least get at good estimate. Personally I was thinking around 35-40, but then again I could be completely off. The modeling is looking great though and the engines look really good. Great job Mikala!

[gpdesigner]

* bursts into room*
Sorry I'm late . . hey Mikala, are you going to start texturing yet, I am dyeing to see what you are going to do to her, "you're killing me"
gp

[Mikala]

Jokers all!
Several thousand polys to go Ralph.

[Alberto14]

This ship appeared on BSG original?'

al

[flashback]

This ship appeared on BSG original?'

al

Nope, and neither in the new series. It's brand new!!

[Mikala]

Flashback is right. It is a new design.
Still hoping tan.j will start up a thread.

[tan.j]

...Still hoping tan.j will start up a thread.
Hi Mikala,
I declared the end of the work of my Minerva class BSs at Scifi-meshes.com yesterday.
I'm now playing with a few new ideas related to BSG, but I need time to find something that drives me, "KAMI GA ORITEKURUNOWO MATTEIRU" in Japanese...;)

Anyway, she is beautiful!

[Mikala]

Well I look forward to your next bit of inspiration.
Thank you.

[dnkids]

This is very good... I love this ship, and watching it progress...

[Orian_Argus]

Cool ship

[spynet315]

wow, that model is awesome

[dilbertman]

Any updates?:waa:

Jim:confused: :crazy:

[Mikala]

No not until some updated drawing get to me. I'll be back to this....no need to worry.

[Merlin]

it's looking good..... it could be just me .. but it's ....looking a bit gothic ... almost like it could be in the original alien ( nostromo sort of way ) universe .... i don't mean this as a negative ... i think it is interesting .. the look is sort of intimidating and frightening ... i sort of thought this way earlier when i had seen the original drawings.. they sort of have that ron cobb look ...

[TheGreatRaja]

in that last shot I thought you were missing an engine till I realized the set up
nice look Battlestar

[kreeach]

I would love to see more. It looks good, can you post a couple more images, but from different angles?

[Mikala]

Tried to see what some launch tubes would look like. These are temporary as I don't know what they are supposed to look like yet.

[Raffs]

Nice to see you back at this mate:) The tubes look a bit big to me seeing as the ship is bigger than the Galatica and the tubes would be the same size on both ships.

[Taranis]

I agree with Raffs, the tube look too big ..

overall looks great mate

[Mikala]

The render is too small to show this but the circular opening is a secondary opening with a primary that is triangular that is inset the is much smaller. Something like a sniper rifles muzzle.Or do you mean the whole tube structure?

[Raffs]

The render is too small to show this but the circular opening is a secondary opening with a primary that is triangular that is inset the is much smaller. Something like a sniper rifles muzzle.Or do you mean the whole tube structure?

Ahhhhh however i think the structure needs to bee about half the size that it is currently even with the double decker design or drop the two rows to one so that they not as obvious as they are now and fill the space with tech dodads and pipes.

[Mikala]

NOOOOOOOOOOO not the dreaded doodads!

[Merlin]

Ahhhhh however i think the structure needs to bee about half the size that it is currently even with the double decker design or drop the two rows to one so that they not as obvious as they are now and fill the space with tech dodads and pipes.

I agree ... to me Battlestars should be huge ... Big and Bad .... In the original series the Galactica was supposed to be a mile long .. and i think your ship is even bigger .... so i think your tube size should be smaller ...and the amount increased.... on my battlestar I also went with multi level (double decker) launch tubes ... i've attached some images as an example to show the scale

[David cgc]

It looks like each of those strings of tubes is as long as the whole flight-pod on either TV Galactica. That seems to bring the ship into super star destroyer territory. You could almost fit a whole battlestar into the flight pod's hanger opening.

[Merlin]

It looks like each of those strings of tubes is as long as the whole flight-pod on either TV Galactica. That seems to bring the ship into super star destroyer territory. You could almost fit a whole battlestar into the flight pod's hanger opening.

Like I said .. BIG and BAD !!! lol ... your super star destroyer scale comparison as it relates to my model is about right ...

actually I always felt that they never really worked the scale out in Battlestar Galactica .. it never really added up ... it was cool, but it sort of contradicted itself .... think about the distance a viper traveled down a launch tube ... and then think of the scale

[Mikala]

I'm going for a happy medium. In the end it will all come down to what the designer of the ship draws up.

[Elowan]

As an established tubing guru - I agree that the tubes are largish.:crazy:

[Gamma Goblin]

I think the tubes are fine- the flight pods are roughly the same size as on the original Galactica, they are what’s used as the common reference point for scale:
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/ee199/BillyMeier/?action=view&current=sizecomparison.jpg

[theCommander]

Well.... maybe it launches shuttles out of there? You never know ;-)