My 3D fleet

[Lonesome Crow]

Looks better with the longer bows.
Have you considered anti flash screens (I think that's what they're called, Relyt can set me straight if I'm not ;D)
The sheet of metal set into the deck that follows the ark of the gun barrels, they prevent the deck catching fire when the guns are used.



Here's an example I did for the Thunder Child.

[Commandingtripod]

That's a good idea LC, however I think I'll be working on that after I've textured the rest of the ship and made sure that it will work out. Then I'll go for the details.
That's a nice image to though.
Cheers

Edit:
More work complete, I retextured the hull, and also textured the main guns.

[Commandingtripod]

I did it!

After several days of trying different things, hammering my head against the desk, looking up different tutorials, more hammering I think I've basically done it!
Here is a quick example:

All of this has been correctly textured and includes ambient occlusion except the platform where the two raised 5 inch guns are, and you can see the difference between that material set and the rest.

Here's some other views.






And finally because I could, here's a close up of a 5 inch gun.

[Relyt]

I see those are twin 5 inch 38 caliber dual purpose mounts. Those were often seen on every US battleship after Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the Arkansas and the 3 ships of the New Mexico class (New Mexico, Idaho, and Mississippi). They were also seen on US anti-aircraft cruisers, the Essex class aircraft carriers, and the destroyers of the Allen M Sumner and Gearing classes.

[Lonesome Crow]

Looking good Commandingtripod.

[Commandingtripod]

Thanks guys.

Well those pictures are old now, I'm completely redoing the super structure of the ship, and it's looking much better. I'm also going to for detail now, I'm adding things like the railing along the side, so now my 3D crew won't fall off.

[Relyt]

I forgot to mention that those 5" DP mounts were also installed on the heavy cruiser USS Wichita, the light cruisers of the Cleveland class, the heavy cruisers of the Baltimore and Des Moines classes, and the battlecruisers of the Alaska class.

[Lonesome Crow]

Jan 15, 2010 0:33:50 GMT 1 Relyt said:

I forgot to mention that those 5" DP mounts were also installed on the heavy cruiser USS Wichita, the light cruisers of the Cleveland class, the heavy cruisers of the Baltimore and Des Moines classes, and the battlecruisers of the Alaska class.

I was just about to point that out, but you beat me to it.

[Commandingtripod]

Alright, well last time I posted images that was on Jan 13, and it's been nearly a week but here's the progress so far!





Now, usually I don't ever describe stuff as more perfect - firstly because I didn't think you could and secondly because I generally have a low opinion of most of my work because I can always think of something that needs improving, however I will say, that these images are "more perfect" than the last lot.

While it's still not yet finished, I need to add lifeboats and other little details you can see it's coming along quite nicely, and it makes me very happy. This is the best piece I have made to date, I am to apply the techniques I've learnt here to my Daleks afterwards, and then build up a fleet of ships.

[Lonesome Crow]

It's looking really good, nice work.

[Anim8tr]

Looking quite nice, CT. The detail is really shaping up. And I like the new wood texture.

Congrats and keep 'er coming!

[mrgrotey]

Things that will help your model....

1. Have you changed the shape of the hull yet? its still incredibly blocky and unrealistic in shape

try and get a more curvey shape to the outline, like this

www.defencetalk.com/pictures/data/4693/US-Navy-Battleship-2.jpg


I realise its not the same shape, Im just talking about the smoothness of it. Afterall its supposed to be streamlined to go through the water with the least effort possible but yours is made up of very sharp angles and flat sides.


2. You funnels are just cylinders and INCREDIBLY thick walled. take a look at that image I posted above and you will see that the vast majority of them are oval or tear-drop in shape and are just thin metal not a huge slab of steel. they curve over inwards slightly at the top.



3. Although the deck texture is slightly better than before, its not much of an improvement. You have given it very dark lines inbetween each plank, but at that scale you just wouldnt be able to tell the difference very much between each individual plank, again looking at the image I posted. I would fade them out a LOT more, try and texture it so you dont get that ugly texture seam by the front and rear guns.



4. The small dark grey guns seem to be very hurridly plonked on the deck. Try and space them more evenly, they would be placed very accurately on the real thing but your gun positions seem to have a tolerance of about 2 meters.


5. Does this ship exist in real life? if so can you name it so I could give more accurate crits?

[Relyt]

I can tell that this ship is not an actual ship. However, it seems to be a basic mixture of the Bismarck, Vanguard, and Iowa classes.

[Commandingtripod]

Relyt, you seriously scare me sometimes.
You're correct though, this ship doesn't exist and probably never will (you'd probably have a heart attack Relyt if I gave you some of the specs for this thing ), but it combines the hull/main/secondary weapons of the Bismark with the superstructure/5 inch weapons of the Iowa, but no Vanguard class here.

Mr G, your thoughts have been noted and I'm working on them. The first thing I've changed is the funnels, they're a little better at this point, but I'm not sure how I can advance on the design currently (no render images of it yet though). The hull has been slightly adjusted, but not very round at the moment admittedly, working on that to. As for the decking, I'm trying to acquire a new "teak wood" texture, however I've not had much luck as of yet, still working on it I found a site with good wood textures, and found one I liked, so I'll play with it and see how it works.. I'll also start re-positioning the the 5 inch turrets soon enough to, however I want to keep them in two clearly defined groups as much as I can, though if I can't keep with that design I'll change it accordingly. Thanks for your feedback to.

[Anim8tr]

Mr. G. has a good eye and makes a great point about textures. You really have to to watch how the edges (or seams) blend if your merging textures within a 3D modeler. Something I've screwed up many a time. If your counting on a modeler to get your textures precise, think again. A lot of texturing in a modeler relies on having the texture at just the right size and clarity. To wrap nicely around an object. Occasionally it works. At the cost of a lot of time, trial and error. But textures can also be worked on a 2D level. And it's much easier.

Things like weathering, dents, dirt, backgrounds and even modeling elements. It can all be done in 2D, then layered onto your 3D model to present an overall 3D image. A good photo layering program, that lets you work on transparencies, or anything similar to Photoshop is all you need.

Your a tenacious modeler and that's what matters.