The Finished Enterprise

Thought I’d knock this out in a day as practice, but I never intended to do the small lights, logos, lettering, or any of the more intense details. But once I stuck my toe in, I sunk waist deep, and then soon I was up to my eyeballs. In the end I took it as far as I could, comparing screen shots I took from the TV series, blueprints I found online, snaps of the original model, and other schematic drawings. It’s pretty faithful to the original. The only differences are where I couldn’t help it. It took about 2.5 weeks.

Here’s the classic 5 views option:

There were a lot of hurdles and major complications. The ship has some strange angles, cut-out curves, and my various sources from images were not consistent with each other. Most my time was spent trying to figure out how to do this or that, rather than just doing it. There was no tutorial: I just went about making it from scratch using the most basic tools.

Above, I spent one long evening and into the wee hours making the landing bay.

NOTE: For extra fun, click on the images to see larger versions in a fresh tab.

I recreated all the logos and lettering in Photoshop.

The front of the “propulsion units” light up differently under different conditions, and whether the lights are spinning or not. I can change the colors, brightness, and how transparent the glass covering is.

I added a bit of grit to the coppery sensor apparatus in the front.

The block shape below was difficult. It sticks out from the main cylinder, but it also cuts into it and hollows out a chunk.

Some of the windows are just luminescent stickers, basically (see above], but some are recessed into the hull [below]. OK, the next level up would be to put little lights on the inside, and glass on the windows, and I would probably have done even that if it wouldn’t have ruined the geometry of the ship. Perhaps when I’m more advanced I’ll come back and make those sorts of adjustments.

Here’s one more gratuitous screen shot showing off a bunch of the decals, lights and so on. Notice even the bottom has decals.

Next I’ll put the ship in some environments and try some different lighting scenarios. Here are a couple previews:

They won’t all need to be in the dark, or even in space necessarily. One more still in almost complete darkness.

Stay tuned to see the Enterprise fully immersed in space.

~ Ends

15 replies on “My Enterprise is Finished”

  2. “My enterprise is finished.” How many people wish they could say that!

    I must admit, I appreciated your enterprise a lot more when I saw how its lighting changes when put in the dark! Wow!

    And, I love the “grit.” It never hurts to add grit. 🙂

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    1. Right. Without the environment it’s a model, thought the same goes for the original models used in the TV series. There will definitely be several versions of the ship in space. I stumbled accidentally on how to make it zooming through space as well. Already did a couple test runs that are very promising.

      Thanks for checking in!

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    1. They’ve just gotta’ have a robot for that, otherwise I think it falls to yeoman Rand, so she can try to look in on Kirk. I’ve been watching some old episodes, and they are pretty good. One of the weaker parts, perhaps, is that Kirk is apparently irresistible to all women, and knows it. Bit cheesy that!

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    1. You get 10 pts for saying “Jeebus”, which I believe comes from an episode of the Simpsons. Since seeing that episode, I always say “Jeebus” too. Apparently we are part of the same cult.

      I’ve been avoiding looking at the sites where the pros share their Blender work. But yesterday I looked. Some dude made the Space Shuttle Enterprise, including the inside, including all the mechanics of it, with all the right materials and metals.

      So, people have been using this program for 10-20 years, professionally, working all day, and getting paid. I can’t hope to compete with them on the technical skill end any time soon, if ever. What I can throw in the mix is my imagination, creativity, and contemporary fine art background.

      Yeah, I’ve been working really hard at learning this software, which is my portal into the 3D, virtual reality universe. It’s easier to be obsessed than it is to be somewhere in the middle. If I want to learn this and go down this avenue I need to be an addict.

      Speaking of which, I gotta’ go get my Blender injection.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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      1. “What I can throw in the mix is my imagination, creativity, and contemporary fine art background.”

        Yes absolutely! It is the intersection of all a person’s best Things where the unique and brilliant is to be found. I believe that whole-heartedly. Really enjoying watching your learning path with this stuff. Your exposition and generosity with the behind-the-scenes info is a part of the art as well. (Sorry I took longer than usual to respond- work has overshadowed WordPress lately)

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      2. I think we are on the same page a fair amount. Right now I’m plowing through some extensive tutorials, just hammering home the essential skills. Soon I’ll do something of my own again.

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