Showcase: Tantive IV Escape Pod

As I modeled the Tantive IV, I eventually hit the escape pods. Since I was getting burnt out on the Tantive Model, and wanted to see whether 3D printing one of these models would be possible - I decided to do a high fidelity model of the escape pod R2D2 and C3PO escaped in during Episode 4. Note that this was my first project intended for 3D printing, so I got crazy on detail.

Of course once you have such a detailed model, you want to animate it too... right?

On the 3D printing side, this was a hard lesson in learning how to hunt down and fix non-manifold edges. I must have spent hours looking for those pesky tears and fixing them to make the model printable. Chucking it into several pieces was also a good call, as it allowed me to start understanding tolerances and how to assemble models after printing.

Because I'm kind of crazy, I also engineered the model in such a way to accommodate LEDs - which means it's now lit up and can use USB power.

Showcase: Tantive IV

Believe it or not, this was my first project in blender. It was the dark days of COVID, and I needed something to keep my mind busy, so I decided I'd build (and print!) the Tantive IV from Star Wars. While the printing hasn't happened yet - I'm mostly done with the model (I know, it's been years - but I've been busy with other stuff). I love how this model has turned out. It's just such great eye-candy. Modeling the cockpit was such a blast.

It's still far from done - lots of texturing left to do, manual painting and the like. The level of detail on the model is very high, which should allow me eventually to be able to print it out at scale. My original goal was to match the studio model size - about 5-6 ft long.

I know it sounds crazy to start with something like this when you're learning a new tool - but I find that these kind of projects are amazing. They teach you all sorts of new techniques, and because the models are so detailed, you end up doing a lot of repetitive work, memorizing key-bindings and looking for ways to be more efficient. This whole model was done from scratch - just visual references of photos taken of the studio model were used. My advice to my younger self? Less geometry, more subsurface modifiers, more transforms. Less is more, let the computer do the work.

Rendered Model - Details of turrets

Reference photo from the web of the studio model.

V1: Stone-Age Assets Published

Some time ago I was looking for some new projects for DA, and heard that people wanted more primitive assets for Barbarians and Cavepeople. It sounded like a fun project, so I started assembling a list of assets I think could make a good collection. I've been working on it on and off for a bit now, and some of it is starting to come together, so hopefully it should be out in a few weeks. Inspiration is a hard thing to find sometimes - in this case I spent some time at the Burke Museum looking at skulls, searching online for examples of primitive huts, and rewatching Conan the Barbarian (right?). Anyways, I compiled the things I saw and came up with the following list of assets for an initial collection.

If there's something I missed, drop me a comment.

V1 Collection List: (published)

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• Flint Knife (done)

• Flint Axe (done)

• primitive bow

• Flint Tipped Spear

• Flint tipped arrows (done)

• Mammoth Skull (done)

• Mammoth Tusks (lying down, upright) (done)

• Longhorn Bull skull (done)
  

• Shaman Cow Skull Totem (done)
  

Holding: (done, but not published)

• Primitive Bone Warhammer (done)

• Primitive Bone Mace (done)

• Spiked Barricade (2) (done)

• Spiked Barricade Corner (done)

• Bird Skull (done)

• Bear Pelt (drying on rack) (done)

• Bear Pelt (lying on ground) (done)

• Shaman Circle Totems 2 (done)
  

In Progress:

• Shaman Human Skull Totem

• Shaman Voodoo Totem

• Metal WarAxe (barbarian)

• Shield(s) with Bear clan markings

• Sabertooth tiger skull

• Drying Fish on rack

• Shaman Hut (removable Roof)

• Hunter Hut (removable Roof)

• Chief Hut (removable Roof)

• Stones with Petroglyphs

• Hand Drawings

• Human Skull

Some photos for inspiration - from museums, the web, and midjourney.

Some WIP Shots of assets for the collection:

The huts are a bit intimidating TBH, but I'm going to mess with some cloth simulations to see if I can make it work...

Drop me a comment if you like where this is going or you have additional ideas...