Space Fleet
Modelling Challenge
Project: #1 Design and 3D model a space ship as part of a fleet of ships escaping earth
#2 Design and 3D model a space station as an extention of the first project brief
During my first year at college my class was given a 3D modelling challenge by industry professionals. In teams we had to design a fleet of space ships escaping planet earth. We were given a week to do this.
More recently we were tasked by industry to expand upon this brief by creating a space station that fits in with the theme of our original space fleet. For this brief we were only given 3 days.
First Progress Update
Our team decided to design our space vessels after sea creatures, after the commonly drawn similarities between the depths of our oceans and the vastness of space.
I designed this model as a mining vessel, and paid attention to the shape and proportions of a giant squid when modelling it
Final Model
For this final version I added some extra details, such as the landing pads beneath the claws and the metal panels on the main body. I also improved the shape of the drill. Finally, I also changed the colour scheme to fit in with a unified colour scheme shared by all the models in our fleet.
I also rigged the tentacles so that I could pose them for renders.
Final Team Render
Second Brief
Keeping with the sea creature theme, I modelled this space station to loosely resemble a jellyfish. For architectural inspiration I looked into depictions of Atlantis, and added some reoccuring details to my model such as the tentacle-esque patterns on the beams keeping the dome in place.
This model also allowed me to improve my skills with Blender's Geometry Nodes system, which I used to create the city seen inside the dome. I also used Substance Designer to create some of the texures used, including the metal panelling texture on the space station exterior.
As this challenge was limited to only 3 days, I was unable to add finer details to elements such as the outer ring, and some areas were only given a simple Blender material.
Final Team Render - Brief 2
Procedural Texture
Here is one of the textures I created in Substance Designer for this project. I aimed to create a metal panelling texture that looked as though it had been cobbled together, and looked worn. I would end up reducing the amount of rust on the material to make it look less abandoned. Plus, as one of my teachers pointed out, metal doesn't rust in space so it would not make much sense for this material to be on the outside of a space station.