Project Shuttle-A Mk.IX

[OvalDreamX]

So ive been tackling modelling game assets more seriously now. And my last project (Dragonfly redux) has proven quite instructive. Now I wanted to use what Ive learnt there on a new model, so I present you, the Shuttle-A Mk.IX. Still in its modelling phase, Im taking care to not make a mess of this model (looking at Dragonfly Redux mhm...) and make it look good on Orbiter. Here are some renders from differen phases of the modelling process:




Ofc all of this is WIP and subject to change. So if you see anything you would like changed just post it here and help me improve this design

 

[Urwumpe]

If I could make some suggestion on where the model should really differ from the original, I would fix some visibility issues of the originals cockpit during vertical landing. If you want to see the landing site, you have to switch to external view right now.

 

[OvalDreamX]

If I could make some suggestion on where the model should really differ from the original, I would fix some visibility issues of the originals cockpit during vertical landing. If you want to see the landing site, you have to switch to external view right now.

Yeah, but the thing is that theres the whole docking mechanism below the cockpit, so no way I could add a window to see down. Maybe a side one like in helicopters? Or a camera could be added for seeing through the mfd?

 

[Urwumpe]

Yeah, but the thing is that theres the whole docking mechanism below the cockpit, so no way I could add a window to see down. Maybe a side one like in helicopters? Or a camera could be added for seeing through the mfd?

As you think suits your preferences - its your add-on, not mine.

I just wanted to note, that there is a demand.

Personally, I would prefer a bridgewing like feature over having to watch a third MFD during landing.

 

[OvalDreamX]

Finished the Main engine section pretty much.

Only landing gear, rcs nozzles and radar and itll ready for the final cleanup and dreaded UV Unwrap
From there just have some fun with it in substance painter finally

 

[OvalDreamX]

As you think suits your preferences - its your add-on, not mine.

I just wanted to note, that there is a demand.

Personally, I would prefer a bridgewing like feature over having to watch a third MFD during landing.

I mean I would like to add that. But with the interior I imagine being like this like this:


And the frontal view being like this:


I dont really see where a window could be added to aid with landing. I mean, the forward windows are canted down a bit and not as obstructed by the bulge of the docking/hab space. But I dont think its enough for aiding with landing. Of course if you have trackir...

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, that is why I used the term "bridge wing" there. We have quite some large "cheeks" there, why not use them as "root" of such a feature

Adding some crew station to make landing and cargo handling easier in something like that would allow more overview than "looking through a straw" with a camera would allow. You could look down, observe the cargo in the rear and even have enough view forward to keep obstacles in view.

Of course, the more radical solution would be a fully asymetric spacecraft with the cockpit moved to one side of the docking port. But that would be a fully new spacecraft.

 

[OvalDreamX]

Well, that is why I used the term "bridge wing" there. We have quite some large "cheeks" there, why not use them as "root" of such a feature

Adding some crew station to make landing and cargo handling easier in something like that would allow more overview than "looking through a straw" with a camera would allow. You could look down, observe the cargo in the rear and even have enough view forward to keep obstacles in view.

I hadnt thought about that. Maybe I can add something like that in the back corner of one of the cheeks? like both for cargo and aiding with landing. Like a secondary bridge or the cargo console the shuttle had

 

[Urwumpe]

I hadnt thought about that. Maybe I can add something like that in the back corner of one of the cheeks? like both for cargo and aiding with landing. Like a secondary bridge or the cargo console the shuttle had

Yes, that makes sense.

 

[Pahema]

I'm loving the looks of this thing, mate. You've obviously put a lot of thought and work into it.
I can't wait to download and start using it.
Well done so far. Keep up the good work.

P.S. This would be AWESOME as a massive transporter in the vein of the Arrow Freighter. Can that be done, I wonder? 2016 desperately needs something like it, right?

Anyhoo, great work, mate. Cheer from The Land Down-undah!

 

[OvalDreamX]

I'm loving the looks of this thing, mate. You've obviously put a lot of thought and work into it.
I can't wait to download and start using it.
Well done so far. Keep up the good work.

Haha tnxs! Lets hope I can finish it

Spoiler

unlike the Dragonfly Redux

P.S. This would be AWESOME as a massive transporter in the vein of the Arrow Freighter. Can that be done, I wonder? 2016 desperately needs something like it, right?

Mmm like a shuttle a XL? I was thinking this as a ring diver, used in the rings of saturn between bases and stations (hence the armored look). Scaling it up would cut it, the cockpit at least would have to be remodeled. But I plan on releasing the .blend file before applying the modifiers so people can modify it. Maybe someone will do it

Anyhoo, great work, mate. Cheer from The Land Down-undah!

Heh, Im in the soutern part of South America. So Im on the underside of the world too! ;-)

 

[Pahema]

Haha tnxs! Lets hope I can finish it

Spoiler

unlike the Dragonfly Redux

Mmm like a shuttle a XL? I was thinking this as a ring diver, used in the rings of saturn between bases and stations (hence the armored look). Scaling it up would cut it, the cockpit at least would have to be remodeled. But I plan on releasing the .blend file before applying the modifiers so people can modify it. Maybe someone will do it

Heh, Im in the soutern part of South America. So Im on the underside of the world too! ;-)

I was born in Montevieo! Maaaaany year ago. Emigrated to Australia in 1974!

 

[Mojave]

This project is sexy. I was working on a similar project awhile back to create a light-freighter in the same vain as the Shuttle A. Never came to fruition. Glad to see someone else has the same motivation and technical expertise to make this dream a reality. Beautiful work, as always @OvalDreamX . Never let the fire die out!

 

[Gargantua2024]

The initial mainframe of this Shuttle-A reminds me of the Sojourner shuttle from the show For All Mankind (Season 3). Great work!

 

[OvalDreamX]

I was born in Montevieo! Maaaaany year ago. Emigrated to Australia in 1974!

My parent were kinda your neighbours then ;-)

 

[OvalDreamX]

The initial mainframe of this Shuttle-A reminds me of the Sojourner shuttle from the show For All Mankind (Season 3). Great work!

I havent seen season 3 yet. Guess Ill have to check it out and draw some inspiration from that haha

 

[OvalDreamX]

FInished the modelling phase



Now some cleanup (deleting internal faces, fixing the normal nighmare in the cabin and that weirdness with the hover nozzles), Uv unwrap and packing (oh no!) and after that finally I'll move on to the fun part, texturing

If you look on the back of the cabin youll also see the windows of the auxiliary bridge/cargo chief station, used to aid with landing on unprepared terrain and on any cargo tasks

 

[OvalDreamX]

Some quick tests to see how the mesh behaves ingame
Heres with d3d9:




And here's with Skybolt (1.0.2):


So overall not as disastrous as the first time I imported the Dragonfly, but still some weirdness with the engine nozzles and rcs pods. Maybe it has something to do with how .msh handles curved surfaces? In the hangar in the first image you can see they have the same problem

 

[OvalDreamX]

I got one bad and one good.
The bad one is that I dont seem able to fix the weird shading both in the rcs pods and nozzles. Its like they have shadow in exactly the opposite side of where they should be. They look alright in substance painter and blender, so it seems to be a problem of the Orbiter blend-msh exporter addon thingy.
The good one is that I threw a quick (messy) unwrap and then in substance, the first smart material I found. And they seem to help hide these problems. Specially if they are a different material. Pics for proof:



And here you can still see issues with the nozzles but nowhere near as pronounced as before


So, tldr: I think ill continue with what I have and focus on not getting stuck in these details I can leave for "Future Oval™"
I hope to finish UV work this week so next one I can do the texturing and detailing part

 

[diogom]

The bad one is that I dont seem able to fix the weird shading both in the rcs pods and nozzles. Its like they have shadow in exactly the opposite side of where they should be. They look alright in substance painter and blender, so it seems to be a problem of the Orbiter blend-msh exporter addon thingy.

Sounds like a normals issue, have you tried using Shipedit under Orbitersdk/utils, to generate the normals? Failing that, I've had luck with re-importing the mesh into Blender and using the "set normals from faces" tool on the misbehaving bits.