herask

I thought of making the hull shell in Fusion 360 or Plasticity, but that involves using one more software, learning user interface, learning CAD workflow, import export... The truth is, as I grow older I'm less and less inclined to bother myself with unnecessary cr... er, stuff. so I kept things simple and did everything within blender... great piece of software that one... 😁

ok, here you can see a NURBS curve, and bellow is a simple vertex extruded edge with subdivision modifier lvl4. the result is almost the same, yet allows for more freedom than CAD program. at least for me. I like pushing vertices around, although the result might not be the perfect smooth shape as with CAD, but that's OK, I'm not designing mechanical device, I'm merely making a visualization of one... here you can see the ship's hull which I duplicated and then cut out frames, which I then shrinkwrap back on the first hull shell to keep the shape of all the frames consistent:

I'll try to post some examples on how I tackled ship's hull shell just with some edge loops and subdivision modifier. it resembles NURBS workflow yet still allows some freedom...

oh, now I get it. we'll, I think that Blender is a mixed bag when it comes to complex shapes. on one hand, CAD software allows greater precision in modeling but only if you already know what you're doing and have detailed plans. on the other hand, if you're stuck with badly scanned plans with a lot of distortion, then Blender allows for easier adjustments and corrections along the way. at least that's the way I see it. to give you more precise answer I'd have to build one of these ships fully in CAD to really get to know both camps.

thank you for your comments, guys! 😊 glad you like the ship. Waldemar, to answer your question is Blender really optimal for this? honestly, I don't know. it handled Pegasus pretty well, so I guess it will handle Pandora as equally well, and that's probably what matters the most. "if it works...", right? the thing is, the ship is not really that detailed. I'm making the frames the same way I made those for Pegasus, despite now having newer computer and beefier GPU, because I don't really need that much polygons. if you look at the renders at the shipyard, you can't really see facets and edges although they're quite large. just look at this screengrab from Blender: that's pretty much low poly mesh right there. for an object that's quite as tall as this frame is, you'd think you'd notice polygons when camera gets close, but in reality that's not (always) the case. so there was no need to go overboard with subdivision modifiers and whatnot. so, yeah, I think that Blender is OK for this. I thought about making Pandora in Fusion360 or Plasticity, and as much as I'd like to do it in CAD program I seriously doubt I'd have as much fun as I have working in Blender. we just clicked from day one like 13 years ago and I still enjoy using it, and even if Blender wasn't optimal tool for this (and there's no reason for me to think it isn't) I'd still be using it because it's the tool I'm most comfortable with, and that's what matters the most. oh, and since UE5 literally eats polygons for breakfast because of Nanite tech, I could've exported Pandora with subsurf modifier even if I wasn't going to use it in Blender, but I actually forgot to add it... 🤣

making progress with square frames, albeit really slowly. those irregular futtocks shapes really don't help. frames around forecastle are done...

Druxey, it is if I forget to change the weather. 🤣 but, to my defense, today was sunny around here, so yeah... counter frames and head pieces done. I know, counter frames are just hanging there, but for now they will stay so, until other timbers that connect them are done... and NOW square frames will follow...

and here's another walkaround video.... https://youtu.be/u4vmJBTFf3w

fore cant frames done, onto the square frames...

ok, this took a while, mainly because I deleted windows from my computer and installed Linux. not without issues, but I'm up and running again and have finished aft cant frames...

actually, based on the framing plan, I'd say that raising wood does have scores for frames. more comprehensive rework it is then...

Nate, thank you for the illustration, this makes things a lot clearer and a lot more sense that what I had in mind. my version is simplified (or unnecessary complicated, depends on one's view). your way is actually a lot better and now I'll have to rework those frames. good thing I'm reworking cant frames anyway (that's a as far as I got), so no biggie. thank you again... just one more question. was raising wood continuous like mine or did it have scores for frames?

not much progress today. the weather was lousy, so my guys split home a bit earlier. not before they put transom pieces in place, though...

OK, now I can start detailing frames...

framing, first pass done. now onto detailing... shame I can't leave them like this though. they look kinda neat and tidy...