Personal Project - Falcon 9

[n122vu]

After many months (years, actually) of wanting to get into addon development, I finally set aside some time today to begin work on a mesh for my own personal use as a learning tool for developing better addons in the future. I've chosen for my first project the SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher. I know there are already at least two other addons available for this launcher, but I wanted to create my own addon start to finish and felt this one was as good a place as any.

I decided the fairing would be the easiest place to start, so I fired up anim8or and went to work. Attached is what I was able to come up with in my spare time throughout the day. I'm fairly satisfied with how it looks so far. Once I finish the fairing, I plan to work on the main launcher body next.

 

[IronRain]

looks nice, keep us (well, me at least) up-to-date

 

[DaveS]

Just a tip from an old Anim8or user: Be sure to use the shell tool to give the fairing halves a bit of thickness. Right now in the second screenshot, it looks rather thin, just two sides, no thickness at all.

Also, the conical thing at the bottom is called a Payload Attach Fitting (PAF) and it is not a part of the fairing. It's rather a separate structure bolted to the second stage on which the payload sits on.

 

[n122vu]

Dave - thanks for the tips, and the info about the PAF. I'll get to work adjusting the mesh to remove that. I'll be updating my blog with my progress.

n122vu