Launch when ready!

Revell-Fan

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R-F, I am starting to turn blue from continuous bated breath, in my excitement to add your model to the top of my build list.......:thumb::mrgreen:

I love the Mk.1 ....

:wave:

Oops, that's not in the manual... So please breath again!

announce1 RB, member in distress! Send the MedEVAC Raptor! And close this thread before this mean paper model kills off half the forum! :p

Wait... something's happening... OH NO, the Viper is turning her pointy nose towards me... she's thirsting for blood... and she's charging the weapons... GET DOWN!!!

***

TRINITY, I NEED AN EXIT!!!



sign1sign1sign1

(Just kidding!)
 

ARMORMAN

FOUNDATION CORNERSTONE
Mmmm. Nice build and finish on that Viper. Pity about the undisguised model truck leaf spring as a greeble............. Please dont tell me that is on the original prop ??????????????????:eek::rolleyes:

I would not be surprised if it was. The engine hull detailing on the Galactica was tank bodies.
 

imcold

Member
X-wing had a ship deck on it, I don't see why a part of a truck would be a problem. There were some on Falcon too :D
 

DanBKing

Dan the Man
I would not be surprised if it was. The engine hull detailing on the Galactica was tank bodies.

True, but a little better disguised...
I was always under the impression that model detailers first rule of thumb, is to DISGUISE the source of the greeble........... In this case, it is obviously not so......

Oh well, at least the Viper will have good suspension!!!! sign1
 

Revell-Fan

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True, but a little better disguised...
I was always under the impression that model detailers first rule of thumb, is to DISGUISE the source of the greeble........... In this case, it is obviously not so......

Oh well, at least the Viper will have good suspension!!!! sign1
Obviously a spare part for the Landram or the Turbobike! :mrgreen:

Just imagine what MacGyver could have done if he had found a crashed Viper..! :cool:
 

Revell-Fan

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I'm very pleased with the general shapes and think they will stay the way they are. So I made some test unfolds which showed that the mesh of the nose was somehow flawed. It exploded into a zillion triangles spread all over the canvas. After reading several tutorials and testing out new scripts I was able to clean it up and to reduce the number of split triangles to a minimum.

Then I tried to wrap a texture around the three nose cone parts. This proved more difficult than I expected because SketchUp is not capable of UV mapping operations. There are some scripts which close this gap but the mesh still has some weird areas which makes a clean wrapping impossible. Even the trick to export the model, import it in a special UV mapping application and re-importing it in SketchUp didn't work. So I'll be projecting the texture. I used the first sample texture for another projection test. The result speaks for itself and I think this is how I'll do it.

v35.jpgv36.jpg
 
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imcold

Member
I haven't understood all of it, but the textures can be always modified on the unfolded models if something goes wrong, so I wouldn't worry much if the process doesn't get 100% perfect results.
 

Revell-Fan

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Yes, you are correct.

What I tried to do was to treat the nose cone like a cylinder and wrap the texture around it to achieve a seamless result. This was not possible because there were some mistakes in the mesh which prevented the map from being wrapped around smoothly. The result was messy. So I projected the texture as shown here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHsRRLCAOm8

:wave:
 

Rogerio Silva

Active Member
I'm still too "young" in modelling to understand that problem and ty to figure out a solution, so all I can say is that the pictures look amazing! Please, more pics!
 

Millenniumfalsehood

Well-Known Member
True, but a little better disguised...
I was always under the impression that model detailers first rule of thumb, is to DISGUISE the source of the greeble........... In this case, it is obviously not so......

Oh well, at least the Viper will have good suspension!!!! sign1

Actually the rule of thumb was to get it done as quickly as possible and use the parts as effectively as possible. :wink:

While they did try to disguise the parts when they could, the first priority was to get that model out of the shop, especially in the TV realm. They had a short amount of time to get the models done, and it wasn't necessary to completely disguise the parts when the model would be seen for all of three seconds on screen and at low quality. They never imagined people like us would be examining the models in detail and try to build replicas of them.
 

Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
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The texture is really looking good so far (even with all of the problems).
I am sorry that you were having a hard time with it, but I am very certain that it will be well worth the trouble, effort, energy, and work that you (have and) still are putting into this model.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK my friend, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!
 

thomvz

New Member
Actually the rule of thumb was to get it done as quickly as possible and use the parts as effectively as possible. :wink:

While they did try to disguise the parts when they could, the first priority was to get that model out of the shop, especially in the TV realm. They had a short amount of time to get the models done, and it wasn't necessary to completely disguise the parts when the model would be seen for all of three seconds on screen and at low quality. They never imagined people like us would be examining the models in detail and try to build replicas of them.

even star treck next gen had an ailon shuttel that started life as a machbox car with 2 lady's razzers stuck on
 

Revell-Fan

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even star treck next gen had an ailon shuttel that started life as a machbox car with 2 lady's razzers stuck on
Really? I didn't know that. Do you have a picure or a name of the vessel?

A little update, this time concerning the Mk. IV. I have made the canopy a bt rounder and the collar around the intakes got its wavy line.

1566658490947.jpeg
 
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Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
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I have always liked the MK-IV Viper.
I like the additions that you are making on this one.
These will really set it apart from the rest.
 
This is realy comming along nicely.
I love the pics with the textures it makes the model more....alive :)

You're realy creating something special that many people will love to get their hands on, I know I do !!

Personaly the first Viper from the TOS is my favourite, propably to do something with sentiment :)

Cheers,
Elko
 

Revell-Fan

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Mine too! :) I just had a tingling sensation in my fingers which somehow forced me to continue working on the Mk. IV. Now I'm back to the Mk. I again. I've decided that the landing gear will be in the kit but the steps to actually add it to the fighter will be optional. So those who want to have a Viper without landing gear will have to assemble fewer parts. This however requires a proper stand, and what would be more suitable for the job than a partial launch rail? I'll give you some pics soon..!
 
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