Tuesday 1 January 2013

Sci-fi Vehicle pt 1 (not FMP)

I wanted to make a sci-fi vehicle that showcased my hard surface modelling and began by creating several parts in 3ds max to bash-kit together into a variety of vehicle designs.


I liked the legs and the turbines, so took those forward. Once the parts have been made (30 minutes or so), the process is very fluid. This made it difficult to stop and take a snapshot because I'm always tweaking and they never feel "done"... but here are five designs I stopped at.


I was beginning to get an idea for a manned surveyance vehicle which operated in extreme conditions on an unexplored planet. It would use its legs to steady itself while it drilled into the ground despite strong winds. It would travel by flight.

I felt the rotor blades looked a bit flimsy so I beefed them up into turbines, and after a bunch more refining I arrived at a design inspired by a gorilla posture and a wasp stinger.



The vehicle tucks its legs in flight and rotates them outward to increase its downward drag as the turbines twist from a near-vertical position to near-horizontal.

Below should be the above models in a pretty turntable... try fullscreening for a better view. (WebGL required)



The next step is to model it "properly", and although I will need to fill in a few blanks in the design, and other on-the-fly decisions, they should be relatively minor.

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