Looking for subject suggestions

[Nezach]

Hey folks,

I'm thinking of doing another Traveller art project. I've done a few images in the past of various things that were of interest to me, but I thought it might be illuminating to get some perspective of what others in the community would be interested in seeing.

No promises that anything will come of it, but good suggestions, particularly of the non starship sort (unless it's something that has not yet seen a treatment i.e. Leviathan), could motivate me into taking action of some kind when I get motivated and have some free time.

Cheers!

 

[Spinward Scout]

A Shuttle or Pinnace maybe? That X-Boat rocks!

 

[Ben W Bell]

I'd love to see a really nice detailed rendering of a Gazelle Class Close Escort.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

The Imperial Palace or Moot Spire?

Ancient ship from SOTA?

Something that would look nice on the Calendar

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I'd love to see a really nice detailed rendering of a Gazelle Class Close Escort.

Mark Lucas did a nice one last year.

http://www.traveller3d.com/calendar/index.htm

 

[HiverLord]

A scene in which most 'major' (i.e., commonly encountered/discussed) species are present in some form, where they aren't a) fighting, or b) sitting in a starport dive, would be interesting. (Major negotiations around a large table, perhaps?) Something of this sort might look really good on a calendar.

A scene on a new, primitive, or backwater world, highlighting the scene, environment, view, and perhaps some 'typical' (or not-so-typical...) equipment found with a landing party (a vehicle of some sort, characters engaged in research/scouting activities, scientific stuff), or something of that sort. Something highlighting the 'not run-of-the-mill' backwater setting.

 

[Orr]

I'd like to second Hiverlord's excellent suggestions.

Perhaps an exploration scene of some sort? A mixed-specie party outside the pyramids from "Shadows" or an Octagon tower?

Or a diplomatic function of some sort? Zhos, Aslan, Vargr, Darrians, and Imperials standing in small groups with cocktail glasses and plates of canapes?

 

[Nezach]

Some interesting ideas. I hadn't thought about the 'Shadows' pyramids or the ship in SotA before. I actually tried to figure out a setup for the Twilight Peak octagon, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the description of the environment for some reason.

I've often thought of doing something like Hiverlord suggests, I did a few sketches of a scene with explorers in an ATV going through a forest the size of Redwood trees, except the trees were huge fungi. The problem was that it would take a lot of work to punch that out. I already do this for a living, I don't need something that's work in my spare time.

Oh, and thanks for the complement Spinward Scout. What kind of shuttle are you referring to?

Definitely some food for thought here. Keep em coming if you have more!

 

[Spinward Scout]

What kind of shuttle are you referring to?

Just a generic shuttle like in a ship listing in one of the books. The Traveller Book has a bunch of ship's I'd like to see CG.

 

[E.D.Quibell]

A Speeder, or a standard GCarrier?

A Slow Boat, or a Slow Pinnance?

A Scout in a Grav Belt?

The Zhodani Z80 Grav Tank?

Best regards,

Ewan

 

[Nezach]

All of those are great ideas Ewan. Those would be nice and simple to do. Well, compared to a scene filled with aliens and variant humans any way. I do like the Z-80 too. The Zhos don't get much love from us 3D guys do they?

 

[Nezach]

The Z80 was just what the Dr. ordered. I got most of the modeling done this evening. Anyone know what the canonical paint job on these babies would be?

 

[Orr]

Beautiful render! Thank you for it!

As far as paint jobs go, from MT on ships have had a "chameleon" hull option so I'd think military vehicles would have the same capability. Your Z-80 will sport different camouflage schemes depending on the terrain around and that should help you produce multiple renders rather easily.

Take the same initial render, drop it in a jungle, add jungle "cammie", and you've one picture. Take the same render, drop it on a prairie, add prairie "cammie", and you've another picture. Lather, rinse, and repeat for more pictures.

As for parade and barracks duty, the whole Zho/Imperial relationship has had a distinct Cold War flavor from the beginning so using a USA olive drab or USSR mustard green might be one way to go.

Would the Zhos feel the need for the nicknames, unit stencils, kill rings, and other flourishes?

 

[aramis]

Likely, a digital camo matched CLOSELY to the terrain.

Parade, I'd say likely black or a grayish tan, with green Zho trefoils.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I always think of the Zhos as grey. The Sollies are Cold War green.

 

[E.D.Quibell]

FFW has the Imperials in Red and the Zhos in light blue.

Thats the only cannon coulours I could find.

The only markings for Zho Vehicals I could find were the tiger strips (vertical) of the Iavchieql G carrier from 101 vehicles (also in GURPS Alien Module 1).

The only other military colours I could find was the pale yellow of the camshell head of the Zho battledress on the back of the CT Alien module. Which is slightly paler than the yellow the noble is waring on the front.

Best regards,

Ewan

 

[E.D.Quibell]

William H. Keith used the tiger stripe on their Ninz class 100 ton Zho Scout in Adventure Class Ships Vol 1.

The counters they have in the back are blue and light blue for the Zhos.

In ACS 2 they use light blue for Zho merchants (and green for the Sols F Andrew's info).

Best regards,

Ewan

 

[Nezach]

That's some great research there Ewan. I'm much obliged to you for collecting and forwarding that data.

 

[E.D.Quibell]

Just happy to help.

Best regards,

Ewan

 

[Nezach]

I thought I would update those who were interested on my progress. I was about to layout UVs and start texturing, but then I went through some of the material Ewan referenced (I don't have the board games and ACS sets) and saw that there was a Z80 side view that I forgot about in 101 Vehicles. In the initial blockout my only reference was the Z80 image from 'Rebellion Sourcebook' and besides the perspective being a bit off there is no indication of ventral hull area details due to viewing angle.

The 101V side view provides more detail in that area (some Zho spikey bits and hull cutouts), which is nice, but the turret design at that angle is much more curvilinear than I modeled. I'm going to go back and redo that before moving on to the texturing phase. I think it will look much better than the Panzer in Space turret I initially modeled.

For texturing I'm thinking of doing a matte black 'stealth jet' look for starters. As Orr and aramas point out chameleon hulls make any texture a justifiable. Ewan's research implies that there seems to be a 'cultural bias' towards blue or light blue (whose bias I wonder though, Zho or Impy...), but nothing specific to this vehicle. If I don't get sloppy I can set up my layers in PS to be able to quickly adjust tint and shade for new hull colorings once the base is done.

Thanks again to everyone who posted suggestions and input to my queries (and anyone who read this far).