BSG Vanguard support ship

[Hobbes]

With sketches finished, here are the first few shots of this ship. It's going to be a lot smaller than a battlestar, and although it has a few flak cannons, the primary role is anti-fighter. There will be a few rows of anti-fighter turrets on both the sides. The one aft hangar bay and the size of the turrets are about the only thing I have to represent its scaled in comparison so far.

[toby-wan]

fellow torontonian.

nice shape/concept. good luck with this.

[DarthMaya]

*subscribed* This should be good. :D

[Alexzandyr]

Looks good so far. My only suggestion is to connect the engines directly to the hull somehow, right now they remind me too much of warp engines on Trek.

[kenny]

Hey, look's good very slim & tucked in.

[bsg recon]

looking good so far cant wait for future updates not every shio needs to be a battlestar and supply ships are good

[Dallidas]

looks sweet! nice idea too. If i were yu i would add 2 more engines under the ones you have now, to balance it out a little more.

[Larsen]

Very nice mate...

Only thing bothering me is that from the top view it looks a tad too much like ST.

But I really like the idea of designing some support ships for the old girl... lets have some more of those:thumb:

Keep at it!

[Hobbes]

I have to agree, I think I'll be joining those engines directly to the hull somehow.

[Digital Daydream]

looking good

[vf-1msx]

Good Job :thumb: :thumb:

[lennier1]

Looks like a nice start.
Not sure if you´re just blocking out the shapes or not.
Right now it would definitely benefit from a few more round areas (something like the slight outward bulge of the sides of the main hull in this old toy (http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/3446/orcaclasscarrierround2wire4vj.jpg)). Hope that makes sense but it feels a bit strange to see boxey ( ;) ) shapes when the show tries to give so many designs more streamlined features.
Of course that´s just my 2c.

[bsg recon]

Very nice support ships are often forgotten when compared to battlestas. Look forward to seeing completed work.

[Cyba_storm]

"It's going to be a lot smaller than a battlestar,....." Quote from Hobbes.

So, how big are we talking about?

At any scale it's a nice thing.

[JustinDixon]

go hobbes! keep it up :)

[Hobbes]

Looks like a nice start.
Not sure if you´re just blocking out the shapes or not.
Right now it would definitely benefit from a few more round areas (something like the slight outward bulge of the sides of the main hull in this old toy (http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/3446/orcaclasscarrierround2wire4vj.jpg)). Hope that makes sense but it feels a bit strange to see boxey ( ;) ) shapes when the show tries to give so many designs more streamlined features.
Of course that´s just my 2c.


So far I've just layed out the rough blocky shapes, but of course, several sections will be quite rounded.

[Hobbes]

I've boxed in a few more structural details, and also smoothed out and prepared a few other sections for cutting. I've put the basic rib-work on the top part of the hull (to be replaced with detailed ribbing). Parts of the hull armour are going to be removed, much in the fashion of galactica, to expose the ribbing underneath.

I've also layed out a new engine configuration, which will be engines similar to Pegasus, but a little smaller. I've also used the suggestion to add a couple extra engines.

[backstept]

man, that's cool lookin' :D

[farcry]

Great work so far Hobbes, the design is spot on, as is the modeling :thumb:
Gonna have to try my hand at a BSG ship one day.

[Starship]

Welcome back !
Nice lil´ ship that you´re working on. :)

[Hobbes]

Thanks :) Hoping to smack down some detailing either tonight or tomorrow...

[Hollis J Wood]

once again old friend I am impressed

[Grim]

You and I are on the same wavelength. I too have been putting togather an idea for a support ship/corvette for taking out fighters. However it will be my first model so expect a post sometime in the distant future.

Looks real nice so far, cant wait to see the detail you slap on. Good luck.

[bsg recon]

love your vanguard cant wait to see VESUVIUS model. Wish you could build a mobile repair ship a big one large enough o hold a battlestar od its deck surface. Rest of ship would contain crew quarters, maintenance facilities and parts e.g engines, armor modules etc

[Hobbes]

once again old friend I am impressed


Good to see you around Hollis :)



I've been working a bit on it today, setting up the armour arrangement and ribbing on the top part of the hull.

[Larsen]

Lovely man... just lovely:thumb:

The new engines really makes the design come together... well done:thumb:

[Hobbes]

Not too much to update, was playing around with how to design the flak compartments.

[Hollis J Wood]

thanks man I love the design, you always do have a flair for picket ships.

[Tovette]

looking great Hobbes:)

[jimi kane]

Looking good as always dude. I really dig the rib system you've worked out, very kick ass.

[Larsen]

Lovely:thumb:... very interesting design, and sweet details man:thumb:

[Eagle]

Very interesting design. Looks like there won't be any wave off landings though. ;)

[Hobbes]

Very interesting design. Looks like there won't be any wave off landings though. ;)

Heh ;) Nope, no wave off landings...but we've already seen they aren't really needed in BSG....after seeing two vipers, locked together come crashing in.

[Larsen]

^what... you guys never heard of airbags:D...!?!

[Grim]

It is an interesting design. Galactica like, yet not. Think its great to see a model thats off the basic battlestar design. Can't wait to see more.

[Hobbes]

I've been toying with the idea of launch tubes for a small amount of fighters, but I think I'm going to limit it to two tubes, facing rear, just under the flight deck. It's not a carrier after all...

[lennier1]

Not sure about the fighters but what about mines?

[Glazy]

I really like the look of this so far ! Top notch work !

[Hobbes]

Mines are not such a bad idea, but this ship is only about 1/6 the size of a battlestar, and from what I can tell, in the limited circumstances we've seen of BSG so far, there would have to be a LOT of mines in order to be combat effective, and they could likely only be used in areas where dradis and visibility is obscured. With a battlestar's capability of creating a massive exploding field of flack, at close range to the ship (Captain's Hand), any Colonial ship could just plough through a minefield.

You've inspired a similar idea however, one more suited to the role of the ship.
Instead of deploying mines, I'm going to create some kind of combination of chaff/flare pods that can be launched around the ship for anti-missile defense and for confusing enemy Dradis.

[lennier1]

Thanks. glad to be of service.
As for the usefulness of mines: In terms of space combat I always thought of mines as a cross-breed between shaped charges and semi-intelligent missiles. Basically the mothership would seed them in a certain area where the mines then lay dormant. Once the passive scanners pick up an object that´s stored in the target database the system switches to full power and our little toy goes after the target´s known weak points.

[Hobbes]

A few updates for today, mostly working on the bottom area. Hull plating, and the rear landing bay is taking great shape :)

[Larsen]

Looks fraking awsome man:thumb:

So... they build this thing on top of a Battlestar landing bay did they now!?!:p

[Hobbes]

;) Practically...

[Hobbes]

A bit of the engine configuration, currently missing the piping that will connect the front of each engine to the hull.

[Dallidas]

god derm this is hot!

[Elowan]

Looking great.

[backstept]

I like it. I like it a lot.

really cool, man! :thumb:

[JaymanOmega]

Beautiful ship, cant wait to see the finished version

[macross2b5]

great work this thing looks bad azzz!!!!

[Hobbes]

thanks, looking forward to working on the rear section over the next couple of days, and finishing those engines!

[JaymanOmega]

Keep it comin Hobbes. I can see a bright future for a vessel of this kind.

[Jedilaw]

All I can say is...drool.

[Eagle]

Awesome, really looks Galactica style, while not being a battlestar.

Though I'd flip the landing bay 180 degrees, and open the front of the ship so pilots could fly through. ;)

[Hobbes]

I thought about that, but the bay would still not even be much more than half the length of Galactica's landing bay. The Vanguard class is not well suited to combat landings.

Also, because of the ships size, the bay would represent a considerably vulnerable target to enemy ordnance, so I don't really want to flip the bay around, I would rather it only be accessible, and exposed, as pilots approach from dead astern, underneath the engines.

[Cyba_storm]

You must have been reading my thoughts. I was just about to ask if there was any chance of a size comparison.

[Roliba]

That is an incredible design man. My only concern is the landing bay as well. Your reasoning is bang on, but I'm concerned with the though of wash from the engines cooking whoever is on approuch. But having to come in arrow straight and level on approuch, the will have to fly right through the engine wash. Not a problem when they can throttle the ship down and coast, but under power (acceleration) it might be a problem. Just my 2 cents anyway.

[punchface]

...even though, when one considers it, she looks to be about 1000 feet long or so which, in my mind, isn't very small at all. :)

punchface

[jimi kane]

Real nice update, the engine greeble is really cool man. I dont know if this has been said or not (cause i aint read all the wip, ma bad) but what era is it placed?

[Hobbes]

thanks ;) It's a good mix of Galactica and Mercury-class styles, which makes it reasonably current, as far as the new series goes. I hope we eventually get to see some more non-battlestar class military vessels as time goes on, like the Defender that showed up in LDYB II.

[Kenetor]

this is really looking quite nice, keep it up Hobbes!

Kenetor

[Majestic]

Great design, really good job on it.

[guddi]

its great!
the ships matches perfectly the design of bsg :thumb:

[Hobbes]

Thanks :) there will be a lot of work on this over the next 3 days, I will be thinning and detailing the ribs, to more match the scaling shot I did with comparison to the Galactica. I guestimated the size of the KEW cannons correctly, but I'm still surprised the ship is over half the size of Galactica.
I'll finish fleshing out the rest of the design as well, install the jump drive, etc.

Lucky for me I can instance a lot of things, like the rows of flak cannons.

[nuno]

Cool ship!

[raptor2000]

i like it i want to see more now!

[Gargoyle]

This is definitely the best fan-made design for BSG I have seen so far! It catches the style of the colonies without actually mimicking the default Battlestar configuration. Really great! I am looking forward to the end result.

[Rafterman]

Hobbes, I would like to say first off ta for the great work!
I'm not a huge BSG fan, but I have to say I think that you r capturing the feel and look of the show extremely well. keep up the great work!:thumb:
Will follow this thread with anticipation.:D

[XRaiderV1.7]

Im impressed. been looking for a good missle ship for my archives for a while.
keep up the good work

[Hobbes]

I've done quite a bit more structural work on the Demosthenes, but I wanted to take a little break and work on the KEW guns, so that I can stop using those placeholders.

For the most part I'm just working off screencaps, pretty much everyone's versions I have seen all have some differences.

[bsg recon]

hobbes

love your designs cant wait to see to see the vesuvius

[Hobbes]

The front end of the guns are done, still have the top, back, and sides to do.

[punchface]

Congrats sir, Vanguard as "grown a pair"...

...and they yawn like mine shafts leading down to hell.

punchface

[Hobbes]

Well, the KEW's are almost done. just have to do the rear part of the barrel cowlings. I've also replaced the ribbing on the dorsal hull, which I still need to panel. I have also started the second tier panelling on the top hull too.

[EBOLII]

dreaded red x

[lennier1]

Invalid attachment. Looks like something went wrong.

[Dallidas]

works for me lennier!

looks very nice! my only crit is that it seems *too* smooth

[Hobbes]

...sorry bout that. I've edited the post, you should be able to see it now.

There's yet to be a third tier of panelling ontop of what's there right now, so that's going to cut down on the 'smoothness'...

[Hobbes]

Last one for tonight, a view of the top perpective.

[nhall]

Nice. But are you going to fix that segmentation on the Dradome? (Dradis dish + Radome = Dradome :lol:)

Cheers,
Nick

[Hobbes]

Nice. But are you going to fix that segmentation on the Dradome? (Dradis dish + Radome = Dradome :lol:)

Cheers,
Nick

Yes, it's merely a placeholder at this point, I am working my way back.

[Scotchy]

So that's what those domes are! I've been calling them "The Captain's Angry Domes"... after something I'm pretty sure I heard here. Looking nice, Hobbes.

[cam91]

I think this model is great! This is an excellent design for a frigate or light destroyer as support ship to battlestars. I like this type of model because you can't make always battlestarmodel: the battlestars are 120 and you can't have only 2 o 3 ships for one class and so i don't think you should have more than 10 battlestar classes. But you can make a lot of support ships and design them as you want because we never saw them in the series. right?

[Hobbes]

Not much to show until later today...I finished the Dradus dish last night, and started a separate file to work on the flak turret sections. I'm going to do two versions of the flak cannon sections, a high rez and an optimized version for distance shots. Unfortunately this file crashed as I was partway through, so I'm likely going to have to start it again. I'm also planning to do the detailing for the inset hull sections between the ribbing tonight.

[Gunstar-titan]

Hobbes first off "WOW!"
A well thought-out design . . . "DUDE!"

I'll be watching for updates
Gunstar^o^

[Hobbes]

I've put in the forward flak gun turrets, however I am definitely going to go back and create some optimized ones. 'puter's starting to chug.

[jimi kane]

Very tasty man, good stuff. Are you planning on mounting any head on weapons, or is she purely a broadsiding ship?

[Hobbes]

Actually, I took a lot of the guns off just for test rendering purposes. The KEW cannons aren't finished yet anyways, I still have the cannon cowlings to do.

I've redone the forward inset section, and reduced the number of flak turrets by half. More than one row would make this section more heavily armed than the center ribbed section, which will house the majority of the flak turrets.

Here's some renders of the changes thus far.

[DarthMcWord]

Looking nice.

[Thor Aegir]

Nice work, keep up the good work.

[EBOLII]

oooop...................looking goood eh?

[Hobbes]

I finished the panelling on the top part of the forward hull section, even put some temporary textures up. I'm going to start on the midsection now I think, which will be tricky.

[zmohner]

This ship is like a cross between BSG and Halo's Pillar of Autumn. Me likey.

[punchface]

...if I'm asking a tiresome question. I don't mean to but I'm still learning.

Is that some kinda blend/procedural map texture that you have applied?

Could you give a brief explanation of the texture? Did you do a UVW or what? I can't imagine you unwrapping a model that wasn't finished because it seems to be to be a colossal waste of time...So...what's the dealio?

punchface

[Hobbes]

...if I'm asking a tiresome question. I don't mean to but I'm still learning.

Is that some kinda blend/procedural map texture that you have applied?

Could you give a brief explanation of the texture? Did you do a UVW or what? I can't imagine you unwrapping a model that wasn't finished because it seems to be to be a colossal waste of time...So...what's the dealio?

punchface


;) All temporary, just a tiled bitmap and some uvw box mapping applied.
I WILL be doing a full UVW unwrap so that I can create my own textures, but I won't start that until the modelling part is finished ;)

[punchface]

but...but...(sputters) but Vanguard must be at least 100k polys. How in the hells are you going to manage to do a UVW unwrap on a model that big without driving yourself utterly mad?

I know that you're the evil governor of the outer rim sectors and that you have a deathstar to instill fear in the local systems and keep them "in line" but uhhh, none of that stuff can help with an unwrap of the size you're talking about.

Am I missing something (it sure wouldn't be the first time)...is there some magical way that super modelers use to unwrap gigantor models without burning up a month of work in the process and wanting to throw their computers out the window?

punchface

[Hobbes]

It takes some planning, but even with this mesh there will be many places I can get away with box or even planar mapping. In fact on the entire forward hull section, I will only need to do unwraps on the outer hull plating (upper and lower) and the midsection. A lot of work, yes, but not as much as you'd think.

Thinking ahead, the only time-consuming unwrapping will be the engines. I won't be doing the unwrap process yet, but I'll post pictures of the unwrapping process when I get to it for you.

[punchface]

...that's a very Sensei-like thing to do. I'll definitely be looking forward to them.

You're awesome.

punchface

[JustinDixon]

Hobbes, we could use it actually; but you'd need to keep up with the detail we're putting into our ships; I think you wouldnt have a problem with that ;)

[Hobbes]

Sounds good...the intention's to have a similar level-of-detail as what you and '33 are using, tonight's updates should bring the top/front part of the ship closer to that...

[JustinDixon]

great, I look forward to it.

[smallworld]

Lovely job, thats a fantastic project, really top notch. This will me magnificent when its all done. I dont have the degree of patience required for this type of thing, I'm all in after about a month on the one job, hence concentrating on small ships.
Bravo!

[JustinDixon]

Hobbes, I've taken the liberty to put you on the roster on the CGtalk thread. Have a look and post some wips if you care to do so.

CGTalk - Colonial Ceremonies and Trials - BSG-77 (large images) (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=4191367#post4191367)

[Hobbes]

Hobbes, I've taken the liberty to put you on the roster on the CGtalk thread. Have a look and post some wips if you care to do so.

CGTalk - Colonial Ceremonies and Trials - BSG-77 (large images) (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=4191367#post4191367)

Thanks! I just re-registered there about a day ago too!

[JustinDixon]

of course. Now go post a few good clay renders up there! lol

[pegasus_actual]

Another great BSG ship!

[JustinDixon]

Gotta update soon! :)

[Hobbes]

There should be an update tonight, did not get much done this weekend unfortunately.

[MocaMoses]

I like the idea and design in the ship.
Going through the posts you answered everyyyy question I had accept one.

Have you considered what the payload of a ship like this would be?
Crew, Vipers, Nukes etc. comparibly to a Battlestar

[Hobbes]

About 12 Vipers, a handful of Raptors, not going to be carrying nukes I don't think. I'm thinking of some kind of deployable chaff pod to assist in ECM, but haven't gotten to detailing that section yet ;)

[Hobbes]

Started doing the midsection, put some big RT thrusters in there. Where's Galactica hiding hers?

[pegasus_actual]

Galacrica just does a 180 like at Ragnar!

[Dallidas]

Started doing the midsection, put some big RT thrusters in there. Where's Galactica hiding hers?

the galactica stops for no one!:shiner:

[Hobbes]

the galactica stops for no one!:shiner:


No, the Pegasus stops for no one! :eek:

[MocaMoses]

thanks hobbes for the overview of payload.
I wasn't expecting full detail seeings your not fully done the ship yet, but its looking great keep up the good work

[Hobbes]

Two more pics for tonight, methinks that will be all for now.

[Larsen]

Mother of all battlestars:eek:... this thing has really come together man... very well done:thumb: I like the rugged design and the thick armor!

Keep it up!

[MWelter]

Awesome. :thumb: If it werent for the nice modeling and design then simply for the fact that it's not yet another galactica clone ;)

[1of33]

looking really good Hobbes

[JustinDixon]

Yep, looking good, mate! Keep it up.

[newman]

Been watching this for a while, I have to say I really love the design of the ship. It has that mean SOB battleship look, and it fits into the BSG universe like a glove. Can't wait to see it along with the other ships and my viper flying together in the animation :)
Great work, Hobbes, keep it coming!

[warduke]

can u show us your sketches? Might help folks with less experience then yourself learn something. :)

[Hobbes]

can u show us your sketches? Might help folks with less experience then yourself learn something. :)


Well, my sketches are really basic, just meant for deciding on the general form of the model. And to begin with they are usuallly small.

I will often go back to sketch in more detail as the modelling process goes along, often only sketching detailed portions of the original design. Here are two camera photos (sorry for the quality) of some of my sketches for the Demosthenes, and there's even a very small sketch of the Vesuvius there, which I have not begun to model yet.

[Cyba_storm]

I wish a few more people could understand you don't have to be able to paint the Mona Lisa to put your ideas down on paper. It's amazing how much info a rough scetch holds for the person that did it.

[pegasus_actual]

Is there any new stuff for this thread? It's been a while.

[pegasus_actual]

I love this little ship! Gimme more! :)

[Hobbes]

Yes, sorry for the lack of updates, I'm getting married in early May and I've been busy with the preparations :) I will try to do some updates soon.

[Hobbes]

Just a little update for today, will see how much more I can get done before tomorrow

[Dallidas]

looking good bro! congrats on the marriage! i think...:shiner:

[Hollis J Wood]

looks good my friend I love the name too

[1of33]

Looking great Hobbes

congrats on your marriage hope everything goes well for you mate

[Hobbes]

Kerry and I will be getting married on May 6 :)

I've worked a little bit more on the forward section, still a long way to go but here's a few pics to show a little progress

[bsg recon]

It's Beautiful Hobbes Simply Beautiful

[pegasus_actual]

It's hard for me to tell....in your center pic, are those single cannons on the bottom of the ship?

[Hobbes]

It's hard for me to tell....in your center pic, are those single cannons on the bottom of the ship?

Just a couple standard KEW cannons, just like on the rest of the ship.

[Elowan]

Kerry and I will be getting married on May 6 :)

Congratulations:thumb:

[Skeletor]

amazing. she reminds me of the Imerial Dreadnaught ships from the game Star Wars Supremecy.

btw i love the mix of old and new the chasis is similar to galactica by the engines are similar to Pegasus' engines, looks like she was refitted for extended service:thumb:

[Dimitriy]

Fellow torontonian :) This ships kicks ass...:eek!:
Will you be releasing the mesh? Please?....:lol:

[Hobbes]

Yay, another update, Just working on the ribs and some of the inner greebles...

[jimi kane]

Ship looks good man, and congrats. :thumb:

[Lee80]

congrats hobbes... nice work on the ship..

[bsg recon]

congratulations Hobbes to you and you future bride

[Meph]

nice ship you got here Hobbes :thumb: I love the lines and curves of the ship, the detailing's looking top notch too.


And congratulations on the marriage mate! :thumb: One ring to rule them all! or .. rule just one other... or be ruled by... anyways... make it a good one :thumb:

[Hobbes]

nice ship you got here Hobbes :thumb: I love the lines and curves of the ship, the detailing's looking top notch too.


And congratulations on the marriage mate! :thumb: One ring to rule them all! or .. rule just one other... or be ruled by... anyways... make it a good one :thumb:


lol...honestly, we had "and in the darkness bind them" inscribed inside the rings ;) I can prove it!


Also, I should have some more updates very soon. I have to prepare the base of the Kew's, and fix them up as well, then I'll start working on another section of the ship, probably the underside.

[smallworld]

Fabulous work, I love this ship!

Congratulations on the impending Boolean too!

[Hobbes]

Finished the top/front quarter of the ship. Also added some extra panelling on the hull armour to break the even-ness just a bit, I definitely like it much better now.

[Dimitriy]

What can I say...I am speechless...

[bsg recon]

very very nice Hobbes

[XRaiderV1.7]

nice.
nuff said.

[DarkSapiens]

That new detailing adds a lot.

Impressive ship, man. :eek:

[biotech]

Love the details on this.

[Hobbes]

Finished the plating on the bottom, now for the sandwiched section in between.

[JeffrySG]

Wow I really love this ship / design!!! I can't believe I missed this thread!!! doh!!! :o

It's frackin' (ooppsss.. can we say that anymore??? :lol: ) COOL!!!!

Great work Hobbes!!!

[Jedilaw]

Daaaaammmmmnnn, man! That ship is just too much!

[spudmonkey]

Nice modeling :)

[Hobbes]

Just finished building my new system, I should be continuing this project very soon now :)

[EBOLII]

System?? What system?? As in a system of a theory? Or a system of destructive algorithm’s?? Need much info there are many questions to be answered. So many topics so many……………

[Starscream]

^ New computer system, if I'm not mistaken... ;)

Great work, Hobbes!

[Dimitriy]

great work

[Hobbes]

Yay, some progress...I have completed the forward crew decks. It took a long time to do all that cutting!

[Choo1701]

Very well done with the windows. Always help with a sense of scale :thumb:

Very different design Hobbes. She could fit right in there with the old G, yet is completly different in her own right :D (hopefully that made sense :help: )

[punchface]

...the angles suggest movement in an excellent way. She's a fracking great little ship.

But I'm wondering something Hobbes, it looks like Demosthenes' hull number is BS72...

...doesn't BSG obviously "Battlestar Group" which is a command element within the Colonial Fleet...

Doesn't BS mean "Battlestar"? Wouldn't Demosthenes (given she's a destroyer) be D72 or DD72?

I guess that the ship's uniform patches would say Demosthenes BSG 72 because that's the command she's attached to but her hull number and her battlegroup are two different things, right?

Oh well, whatever, you're in charge and she's awesome ship.

punchface

[Hobbes]

[QUOTE=punchface;208299
Doesn't BS mean "Battlestar"? Wouldn't Demosthenes (given she's a destroyer) be D72 or DD72?

punchface[/QUOTE]

Not a bad idea really. I think I might actually change it to DD72 :thumb:. The original intention was that I am also going to model a Battlestar as well, which would be the lead element for the battlestar group. I have only finished the basic sketches of the [I]Vesuvius/I], that one will bear the marking BS72


My goal for tonight is to complete the midsection ribbing area, where the main rows of flak turrets will be placed.

[Jedilaw]

Still progressing nicely.

Question regarding the ribs: wasn't it said somewhere that Galactica had visible ribs because the armor plating was not complete, or was in the process of being stripped down? The other two Battlestars we've gotten decent looks at did not have the exposed ribs, which suggests that they may not be a common design feature of Colonial capital ships.

Which isn't to say I don't like the ribs. I do, they're awesome. I love 'em on Galactica, too. But their presence on this ship may raise the question of where it falls in the timeline of Colonial military design.

[Hobbes]

During the miniseries when Helo and Boomer set down on Caprica to repair, they passed the wreckage of several battlestars with similar exposed ribs to Galactica. This may well have been just a recycled model for budget reasons.

As for the timeline of the Demosthenes, I meant it to be a partially refit older design. About as old as Galactica, with slightly newer engines.

[Jedilaw]

Gotcha.

[Infinity238]

During the miniseries when Helo and Boomer set down on Caprica to repair, they passed the wreckage of several battlestars with similar exposed ribs to Galactica. This may well have been just a recycled model for budget reasons.
They were probly the only battlestars to offering any resistance, as the newer ships would be renderd useless by the cylon virus.

[punchface]

Personally, I really doubt that Galactica looks the way she does only because she's been deprived of much of her armor. The reason why I think this has to do with the placement of her point defense guns which are generally countersunk/inset into the hull a little bit and often are tucked away between ribs.

The firing arcs on these are pretty iffy as-is. How do you all imagine that would work out with a bunch more armor piled up all over the place?

The way I explain the distinctiveness in Galactica's design that sets her apart from both the Peggy and Valkyrie which share much more (visually) in common with each other than they do with the Galactica is by saying that the curvier lines and the ribbing is Cylon war naval architecture while the boxier stuff is modern...ships that look like a cross between these two ideas are older ships but not as old as Galactica.

Anyway, that's how it works inside my head...this, and a buck fifty American will buy a cup of coffee.

punchface

[punchface]

the virus thing didn't have to do with the age of the ship but whether or not the ship in question had the CNP installed or not and if they had networked computer systems or not...

I received the distinct impression (just an impression, I stake no claim to fact here) that Galactica's computers were not networked not because this was a limitation of her old design but because old Adama was very cautious and insisted that they be that way.

Wasn't there an episode in Season 1 where they re-networked the computers so that they could make some super-fast jump calculations or something?

punchface

[Hobbes]

Personally I kinda like the idea of ribs. They are armor in themselves, as not only do they help contain damage from explosive ordnance confined to either the ribs or the small space in between, they provide more effective surface area. Also, they increase the chance of a 'glancing blow' where ordnance impacts at an angle, possibly distributing a percentage of the kinetic or explosive force off into another vector.

[Starship]

That´s nice! Cool to see something different from another Battlestar. ;)

[Road Warrior]

Nice ship Hobbes! Wow, it just keeps getting better and better. Havent checked in on this thread in awhile..great design!

[Jedilaw]

the virus thing didn't have to do with the age of the ship but whether or not the ship in question had the CNP installed or not and if they had networked computer systems or not...

I received the distinct impression (just an impression, I stake no claim to fact here) that Galactica's computers were not networked not because this was a limitation of her old design but because old Adama was very cautious and insisted that they be that way.

Wasn't there an episode in Season 1 where they re-networked the computers so that they could make some super-fast jump calculations or something?

punchface

Right on both points: Adama ordered that the Galactica's computers not be networked, because of caution about Cylon sabotage, and they did have to network the computers briefly to get the Galactica back with the rest of the fleet after Felix messed up a jump calculation.

[Infinity238]

Adama ordered that the Galactica's computers not be networked, because of caution about Cylon sabotage, and they did have to network the computers briefly to get the Galactica back with the rest of the fleet after Felix messed up a jump calculation.
Right but on the miniseries Dee said each battlestar was effected differntly, chances are because of the varied age-size-and amount of networking on each ship. Remeber the ships like Galactica were built without networking, so even if the computers were networked later it would stand to reason that it would still not be as automated as a ship built with networked mainframes. i.e Pegasus (Automated Doors, Unmaned turrets, ect...)

So I guess what I'm saying is it not so much age but how completely automated the ship is.

Now to see if we can get back on topic...http://www.thescifiworld.net/img/smilies/galactica/adama/adama001.gif

[Hobbes]

A little update, nearly done the main flak batteries.

[Dimitriy]

A fantastic ship :)

[Dallidas]

love those flak turrets. It looks like you have a double face ro something on the left of the middle picture there

[Meph]

veery nice progress mate, looking shiny ;)

two coments though, indeed, I'd get rid of the 'BS' and change it with something else.
Also, your curves could use some more smoothing; i.e.the curve of the large top plate and the curves on the struts between the small flak cannons (all visible on bsg-vanguard-support-ship-vanguard58.jpg)

[Hobbes]

Dallidas, thanks for pointing that out, it should be fixed now :thumb:

Meph, I still have to smooth some of those bevels and complete the panelling on the ribs between the flak cannons, will likely be doing that next :D

[Meph]

Ah, right, sorry for that ;) Next time I'll wait for the 'Nitpicking' sign to start flashing :D

[CASUAL OBSERVER]

Your midship line of flak guns, I would reduce the number of pairs from 9 to 7. I'd remove the fore most pair and the aft most.

Why? Simple aesthetics and realism. Even on Galactica, the AA guns don't occupy every inter-ribbing space. Plus, with the overhang of the hull, the foremost pair doesn't have the best field of fire.

[Hobbes]

Your midship line of flak guns, I would reduce the number of pairs from 9 to 7. I'd remove the fore most pair and the aft most.

Why? Simple aesthetics and realism. Even on Galactica, the AA guns don't occupy every inter-ribbing space. Plus, with the overhang of the hull, the foremost pair doesn't have the best field of fire.


That's a very good suggestion, and easily done too! I will definitely remove the forward pair and the back pair.

[1of33]

That's a very good suggestion, and easily done too! I will definitely remove the forward pair and the back pair.

I would remove the middle pair too as then you will have 3 rows of 3

[Hobbes]

Small updates...

I did try taking out the middle guns, but it doesn't make the main flak batteries as menacing without them. I really wanted that row of cannons to look more daunting than the first three that are built into the forward hull section.

[1of33]

its really starting to come together now, looks great

[smallworld]

Oh yes, this rocks. My favorite original BSG ship so far, quite brilliant.

[CASUAL OBSERVER]

lookin good there Hobbes.

Are there going to be any more AA emplacements? The ones you have are pretty good, but they have a little field of fire.

Then again, if you want to keep it realistic, most ships have huge blind spots and you don't want to over-gun your ship.

Any chance at a ventral view?

[Hobbes]

thanks :) Honestly there will likely be only one or two more flak cannons, one on the very rear, and one underneath facing out of the launch bay area. I will give you some ventral views soon :)

It's true there's massive blind spots on this ship, by design. It is just a support ship after all, so it will have to rely on manouevering to broadside it's targets in an anti-fighter role.

[guddi]

awesome !!!!
really well done! it fits perfectly in the bsg universe

[punchface]

It's just such an original design and she's such a pretty girl who's clothed perfectly in both the finery of Galactica and Pegasus.

I bet when Vanguard was in highschool and young male spaceships came by the house to ask her out to homecoming, Galactica and Pegasus were sitting out there with VERY meaningful looks on their faces and shotguns sitting in their laps.

No overt threats were issued of course, not in words at least. Well, uhh...you guys know what I mean...

punchface

[CASUAL OBSERVER]

I bet when Vanguard was in highschool and young male spaceships came by the house to ask her out to homecoming, Galactica and Pegasus were sitting out there with VERY meaningful looks on their faces and shotguns sitting in their laps.

No overt threats were issued of course, not in words at least. Well, uhh...you guys know what I mean...

punchface

I got that from a girl's dad in highschool. I cooly looked at him and said "Don't worry sir. trust me, i plan to have her in bed long before midnight."

I'm still wondering why I was never invited over for dinner. :confused:

[Hobbes]

"In Soviet Russia, floor rolls on you!!!"

Lol, I laughed pretty hard at that one Casual.

Might seem a bit outlandish, but I'm determined to finish this completely by Sunday. Including UVW unwrapping and texturing. I'm figuring on about 30 solid hours for me to finish it, and the timer starts just as soon as I get home from work.

[Dallidas]

sounds like a great plan! but dont let the quality drop!

[Meph]

This ship is just begging for a shark's mouth painted on the bow ;)

[Cyba_storm]

'Might seem a bit outlandish, but I'm determined to finish this completely by Sunday.' Quote from Hobbes.

Lets see how badly real life kicks in those dreams. Best of luck.

[Hobbes]

okay, nearly done the dradus section detailing, just the inner and outer cowling bits to do.

I can haz Nuke launcherz???

[1of33]

Nice

[Hobbes]

thanks :) Things are going to plan, tonight I will finish detailing the center cowling section. I'm considering putting a very small number of viper launch tubes around the back of this.

[pegasus_actual]

Bring on the vipers!

[Hobbes]

So far this morning I completed the base of the KEW cannons, which frees me up to do the detailing on the mid cowling section. I also took the opportunity to re-do the Kew rear cowlings, and add some missing details. I also linked up the cannons so that they can now be animated.

Next, the main cowling!

[Jedilaw]

I can haz Nuke launcherz??? U r needing lolcatz 4 dat.

[Hobbes]

I've done the front half of the cowling (on the right, will be mirrored later), now for the back half, and onto the engineering section.

[Road Warrior]

You were not kidding. She is coming along nicely Hobbes. Your goal looks reachable... good luck man!



edited for crappy spelling skills..........

[Infinity238]

Lookin good.

[al3d]

Comming along very nicely mate...love the design as well. But that new avatar is creeping me out..LOL

[Dallidas]

comeing together very nice bro!

[pegasus_actual]

Looking at the front view of this baby reminds me of a Piranna. Looks tough as nails!

[JeffrySG]

love the updates!!! She's looking really nice!!! :D

Not sure if it's been mentioned or not, but are you planning on switching the typeface of the name of the ship on the side? It is definitely throwing me off seeing it in Ariel or Helvetica....

The ScifiWorld has some fonts that might be closer... (http://www.thescifiworld.net/fonts.htm)

You know we'll be begging to see this ship in a nice battle scene when you're done!!

Here's a pic of the type on the Peggy for reference...
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/1020/kopievonbattlestargalacxt5.jpg

[Hobbes]

Made a few changes, as suggested, and a little bit more detailing. Should be a few big jumps soon.

[JeffrySG]

:)
looks much better!!!

on your next update, can you post some wires too?

[al3d]

yes..i'de like a wireframe, large coke and fries with that..;)

Just teasing Jeffrey..;)

[Hobbes]

Just about finished the turret wells, only a few more second-tier plates to add to break up the smoothness. I'm going to work on the archway that conjoins the cowling to the engines now.

I've also posted a wire, hope it's an ok perspective, I can always render from a more specific view if there was something in particular you were looking for :devil:

[JeffrySG]

yes..i'de like a wireframe, large coke and fries with that..;)
Just teasing Jeffrey..;)


I've also posted a wire, hope it's an ok perspective, I can always render from a more specific view if there was something in particular you were looking for :devil:

hahahaha..... but dude, you forgot the coke and fries! :D

love the wire! thx!

[Hobbes]

A few updates, I finished the front section completely last night, but was having some trouble uploading the pics.

[Flyingmonkey]

Looks excellent! The sense of scale is getting better and better, I look forward to seeing it next to a battlestar!

[Hobbes]

A few texture updates that I have worked on today so far...

[Hobbes]

a few more updates, hopefully there will be one more tonight before I call it quits.

[Infinity238]

Very nice, almost have a marine frigate kind of color scheme going on there.

[black campbell]

I really, really like this one. Glad we finally got a decent shot of the back end and some of the underside.

[Hobbes]

thanks ;) Just finished putting some geometry in the bay a few days ago.

Last update for tonight, I have finished putting down the primary textures on almost all the main surfaces, excepting the dradis section, which I'll do tomorrow.

:flippy:

[mental|plate]

Now this baby starts to look cool, cant wait to see ti finished!

[BolianAdmiral]

VERY nice!

[Elowan]

Nicely done laddie!

[Tikey]

I really like the yellow toned color instead of the cold gray one this ships usually have.
Amazing work BTW

[Hobbes]

Thanks :) I'm slightly colour blind, so I have to be careful sometimes, but I wanted to go with a tone that was more like the original Galactica, perhaps just a bit dirtier. I'm very happy with the way it's turned out though.

[tobian]

This is a very sweet design, I've been following it for a while, and it's pretty damn good!

I am liking the colour, however the ambient occlusion / dirt effect is a little TOO much. Is it a painted on effect, or realtime/shader thing? If it's painted, perhaps just a tweak to the curves/gamma on that layer, or perhaps breaking it up a little with a little texture, could add to the effect!

My feelings are the recessed, under-hull-plating areas could afford to be a little darker, with a more metalic sheen, though obviously you're just getting going on your texture maps :D

This is going to be excellent when it's done! :)

[Dallidas]

damn that looks good! there is some stretching on the bottom part of the nose though :thumb:

[backstept]

wow I'm really diggin' the textures, man!
it's almost the color of a Raptor :D

[Hobbes]

damn that looks good! there is some stretching on the bottom part of the nose though :thumb:


Lol...that will get fixed, and there will be a 'bumper' like what Galactica has with comms gear on it.

[jimi kane]

Looks really good man. :thumb:

[Hobbes]

=) Had a lot of fun texturing this so far...

[Unknown Target]

That is some seriously top notch work...

[Lee80]

Very nice textures

[Infinity238]

Indeed very well done. Pat yourself on the back once for me because you deserve it.

[D.M.J.]

Great textures and while I like it, there is a bit of a hint of green in there? It looks almost as though its been left out in a rainforest for a few years and moss and lichen has started to colonise it lol Perhaps grey instead of the green would avoid this look?

[Hobbes]

Not seeing any green myself, only used a light brown tinge on the hull textures...I'll have to run it by my official colour corrector ;)

[JustinDixon]

Looking great, hobbes!

[Hobbes]

a little bit behind schedule. Put some temporary textures on the kew cannons, and started on the front comm array. I had a problem rendering at high resolution due to a memory error, but I think I've overcome it now, just have to keep an eye on the pagefile size. I've located on one of my other drives my best starfield, which is about 8096X2048 resolution, so I'm hoping to have the first art pieces completed tonight :)

[Firelode]

Looks very nice, not a vessel to be taken lightly.......unless you have a backdoor into the control sys.....awwww:devil:

[Hobbes]

Didn't want to give the impression this thread was dead or anything ;) Still lots to do with this. Lots of texturing and a little more lighting to do yet.

[Road Warrior]

Looking superb there Hobbes.

[CASUAL OBSERVER]

looks good bro. Nice and dirty :)

[Omniscaper]

I vote this, the Colonial Defender for the NuBSG. Best fan design I've seen so far for the series. Sweet design!

[BolianAdmiral]

Looking great! :)

[Meph]

She's dirtyyy, so dirrrtyyyyy :eek: Looks like she went straight through a dust cloud... :thumb:

[smallworld]

Now thats just beautiful! Kudos man, thats superb.

[JeffrySG]

Didn't want to give the impression this thread was dead or anything ;) Still lots to do with this. Lots of texturing and a little more lighting to do yet.

texturing is looking great so far!! i really like the lighting on the side as well! keep up the great work!! :thumb:

[Elffin]

Thats a really impressive model - nicest original BSG designs I've seen...

[jimi kane]

Looks great man. I really like the red lights. Any other coloured lights coming?

[Dimitriy]

What can I say? It is difficult ot find a model better thatn yours...

[backstept]

wow
now if only I was capable of doing my ship at such quality as this we'd have one killer fleet :D

awesome work, Rick :thumb: