BSG Vipers

[quetzal]

hey

have you thought of painting the original viper with the marking of the new MK II viper ?? It would be beautiful to see.

just a thought.

[Spry]

Wow I cant belive ive missed this thread! Awesome work. Some of the stuff in here is truly spectacular!

That said a few perspective views of the various Vipers would make for some spunking material

Again, awesome work, looking forward to seeing more!

*Hits subscribe to thead button* FIRST TIME EVER BABY!

[Darth Malice]

Originally Posted by Spry

That said a few perspective views of the various Vipers would make for some spunking material

Nice thought Spry. I guess changing paint schemes would be difficult though. You could probably bluff your way as best you can though BJ?

[B.J.]

Thanks Spry! But unless someone wants to retexture their mesh, I don't think we'll be seeing any perspective shots. As for anything else, we'll have to see.

Anyway, I've started on another one of my concepts. I thought the Blackbird stealth ship that we saw in BSG was okay, but it never set right with me. So I've done up what I think a BSG stealth Viper should look like. It's faceted like the F(sic)-117 and not smooth like current stealth aircraft because this would need to be an all-aspect stealth ship (3D space, right?), and current aircraft are really optimized for their mostly 2D environment. The inlets are also covered with a mesh (not shown yet, similar to F(sic)-117) to protect the engine face from DRADIS scans, since the inlets on Vipers are not nearly long enough for a serpentine inlet. I also took some design cues from the F-22, the Boeing Bird of Prey, and the Super Hornet. Obviously I've only got the initial shape down, and I need to start shading and detailing next, although there shouldn't be too many more details since it's a stealth ship!

So what do you think I should call her? I was thinking something like "Shadow Viper" or "Phantom".

[B.J.]

BTW, this stealth Viper was easy to draw, but it's going to be a pain to shade since I can't use a nice smooth blend on this!

[Talos]

Very, very cool, awesome work BJ! I love the down-turned wingtips.

How about the Black Mamba? That's all I can think of now, it's too bloody late, I need sleep.

[Spry]

Im loving this work. It really is awesome. Obviously this is all vector based, I havent read the entire thread but I assume your using Illiustrator or something very similar. I was wondering, you seem to have many admirers, do you have any tips for anyone who would be interested in getting into this kind of drawing and illistration, myself included.

Thanks. Again, awesome work, I look forward to seeing more .

[B.J.]

Originally Posted by Spry

Im loving this work. It really is awesome. Obviously this is all vector based, I havent read the entire thread but I assume your using Illiustrator or something very similar. I was wondering, you seem to have many admirers, do you have any tips for anyone who would be interested in getting into this kind of drawing and illistration, myself included.

Thanks! I'm using an older version of Corel Draw (version 8), but there are plenty of options out there, including the free program Inkscape.

I'm not an expert by far (and there are plenty of other excellent vector artists on this board), but I'll try to help. Here's a quick list of what I think are the major points:

• Bezier curves - master using these and you can draw any shape
• Gradients - Basic fills are easy, but gradients will give you a nice 3D look
• Layers - It's just easier to organize things this way
• Transparency - As another way of implying 3D, I've been using a copy of my object to shade filled in with black and then a transparency applied to it. (Got this one from Aethernaut. ) If you have multiple objects on a shape that you want to shade the same (like panel lines, markings, etc.), this is the best way to keep it consistent. You can also use a white layer for highlights.

That should help you get started, but let me know if you have any specific questions, and I'll try to help. BTW, there's also an excellent vector tutorial over at Ex Astris Scientia: Ex Astris Scientia - Technical Support

[B.J.]

In order to help myself shade the drawing, I built a basic model in Sketchup. This one is pretty easy since it's all faceted. Of course, now I'm just having fun rotating the thing around!

[Talos]

Frakking awesom BJ, that is sweet!