Star Trek - Romulan Warbird Valdore

[Adam]

I began this project way back when (on LWG) and then I had kids and a whole slew of other things happened and it got left by the wayside. Now I finally have some time to begin again and see about finally completing this bird. Anyways, here is the progress so far although I think the wings will get a rebuild due to new insights into the reference material I collected.

ETA: I realize that some of the renders are kind of dark but they are really old.

[BillS]

Romulans always had the coolest looking ships.

[Rigel]

Interesting design and you are doing a good job of modelling it.

[KennethPedersen]

the Valdore type warbird is really a very cool design, The model looks great so far.

[starship]

I remember this old wip. Welcome back!

[Lord Helmet]

Awesome! I've been looking for decent reference images to build this! I like this newer design for the Warbird!
Keep it up and show us more!!!

[lymantok]

Welcome back now you have more time. ;-) The mesh looks good. The wings look a bit on the thin side? Perhaps the angle. Have you a texture for the next render samples?

[Adam]

Helmet: The wings on this thing are really thin to begin with. Every model and image I've seen makes the wings look almost as thin as the pylons that hold up the nacels on the Enterprise D. The only thing that I noticed when I looked at my ref again this time is that the fronts of the wings are slightly rounded and mine are not. So the wings might be in for a rebuild.

Iymantok: I have the beginnings of a texture, but I'm not really ready to put them up yet.

[Adam]

I'm having a problem finding reference pictures of the bottom of the ship. If anybody could perhaps grab a screenshot in a higher resolution than the following picture I would be most grateful. I thought I had a shot of the underside but this is the only one I have and it's way to small.

Many thanks in advance!

[SteveH1]

Here you go. Unfortunately, the sequence had a high motion blur and is very dark.
I hope the images are nonetheless somewhat useful...

Here are also some links to pictures of the model kit:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/ss_valdore.htm
http://www.federationmodels.com/mode...4_display2.jpg
http://www.federationmodels.com/mode...4_display3.jpg
http://www.federationmodels.com/mode...-r14_parts.jpg

[Adam]

Thank you so much! Those are very helpful. I know they are dark but that's fine, a little levels adjusted in photoshop and they work find for my purposes. It helps define some of the details and enhance the shape of the ship.

[tendoux3]

thought i reconised that ship its from nemisis great

[sm12905]

I wonder if the Romulans had these during the Dominion War - It would be cool to see these flying beside the Defiant

[Acidstorm]

This is a really cool ship. Too bad the shots it was in were not clearer to see the details.

I did however brought out my copy of Nemesis to see if I could add any shots with a bit of different angle. I didn't come up with too much different though. My copy is 4:3 aspect ratio, so it kinda chops the wings off a bit. But you can make out some bits and get an idea of depth from shadows being cast.

Hopefully they'll help a bit.

EDIT: Also found a link here that had some nice shots of it. The images are a little small, but they are fairly detailed enough. Better than the movie screen shots. Here

[starship]

I believe the pics posted at Resin Illuminati can hep you: http://www.resinilluminati.com/showthread.php?p=15820

[Adam]

IT LIVES!!! IT LIVES!!!

Sooooo, yeah. I have not done anything with this for quite some time (mostly due to computer issues and my old computer choking up around 50,000 polys...not fun). But it's a new year and a new computer.and this one can handle larger models.

I also hit a block because I wasn't happy with the model or the reference that i had collected so I stopped working on it. Recently I was stumbling around the internet and came across John Eaves blog (http://johneaves.wordpress.com ). He was the concept designer for the Valdore and had several renders of the cgi model used in the film. Good renders...top, bottom and front. This inspired me to revisit my valdore and see what was wrong and what could be fixed. So, for the fourth time, I began again with new reference.

This is the result so far. I have yet to add any detail and there are some bumps here and there that need fixing (built with splines). But otherwise I am very happy with the progress.

[funnystuffpictures]

Yeeeeeeeah! One of the few remaining ships that isnt available. Thank you man. Keep up the good work. I look forward to the finished product

[deg3D]

Ah, Johnny's big Rom birdie. Nice job so far, dude.

deg

[lonewriter]

It's alive!!!!!!!! Nice to see it again.

[bmckain]

Originally Posted by lonewriter

It's alive!!!!!!!! Nice to see it again.

Agreed!

[starship]

The phantom is back!!!
Nice to see you´re back to this wip Adam. Indeed, great improvements!! Go ahead my friend!

[Matt]

Looking forward to seeing more on this... pleased to see she's not been given up on

[DaAan]

Looking good mate,
as for ref's you should also check out John Eaves' blog
http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/...aldore-o-rama/
http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/...ldore-day-one/
http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/...ldore-day-two/
http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/...valdore-day-3/

[Adam]

John Eaves' blog is actually what got me restarted on this. I found it a while ago and downloaded all those refs. Thanks.

[Adam]

UPDATE!

I've gotten most of the nose finished. The only part I'm having problems with is the stenciling on the side of the neck right behind the nose. The reference material for that area is sparse. I've tried looking at my DVD but the motion blur and lighting makes it almost impossible to make it out. That said I may just wing it and come up with my own texture for that area based on what I can make out. I did that for the side of the nose under the escape pods.

Anyways, I've stenciled most of the elements and I each part has its own texture so I can tweak them later for a better metallic look.

I've also included a couple AO renders because I know you like them.

[Meurig]

Cool detailing. It's nice to see someone having a crack at the Valdore, it's a really nice design.

[Matt]

Agreed... I'm really liking this WIP. Hopefully you can keep at it.

[Adam]

Thanks guys. I really want to finish this beastie...seeing as how I started it in 2004.

[starship]

It worths the wait.
To much impressive details Adam! Nver imagined all those details on the head... I´m anxiouslly waiting to see her body, cause based upon what you´ve done until now, this will be one of the best wip´s (and meshes) that I ever seen!
Congratulations my friend!

[david webster]

Very nice model Adam.Love the detail.