My EVE

Hello all,

I was forum-browsing here the other day in GD and saw that ship model someone whipped up in Blender. I was quite inspired to create a ship (since I hadn't done one before, nor any mechanical object).

I decided Caldari, because solar-panels are too hard to model. I don't really like the Gallente or Amarr design schemes as much. Caldari was easiest.
So, it took me 9 hours since deciding to make the ship to the completion of the physical model. I haven't created any textures for it... Yet. It was rather late when I finished.

It's a Cruiser-class ship, and I have named it,
So without further ado, I present to you: the Owl.

EDIT: I am redesigning the hull to be more... Better. The latter posts give detail about what I'm changing.

I am quite proud of it. (more images, and a video follow) It took me about 10 minutes to come up with the key features of the ship.
I took inspiration from a few different things (I'll add that I haven't actually watched any Sci-Fi movies. Star-wars being one of them), the major features took elements from Moths, Hawks, the MiG 23 (or any other aircraft with side mounted intakes), and some Star Conflict fighters, I think.

Here's the Back view.
Apologies if this is too 'atmospheric' for some of your tastes. It's not my fault.

I'll describe the core aspects of the Owl before dumping all the images.

At the very front of the ship is the (Primary) Sensor Module. It contains the vast majority of sensory equipment and provides a large amount of computing power for the Command Bridge.
It was designed to be as close to the bridge as feasible. Being close to the bridge means it can relay sensory data at very high speeds, much faster than ships with sensors elsewhere.

The Command Bridge is predominately for non-Capsuleer use. It has three platforms, and is the centre for internal communications to the Ship Equipment and crew.
With the capsuleer-fitted Owl the bridge still serves as the central-most point for communications, however, computing power is relayed to the capsuleer, whom is located around 40 metres behind the bridge.
Because of this non-capsuleer Owls will always have a higher CPU capacity and Sensor Resolution, albeit only by a small amount.

The Gamma-burst Detection Array (GDA) is a prototype technology which allows for the detection of warps at a distance. When a warp field is created, space-time is compressed a huge amount, and any gamma radiation emitted from the local Star will be compressed also. A warp-field will create a noticeable gamma-burst when it collapses.
The GDA uses an advanced FTL sensor-suite to map these gamma-bursts up to 14.35 AU away. The GDA can also detect increasing gamma concentrations, and gamma-free areas to give a crude map of warp fields being generated, and their direction.

The Shock Layer is an advanced kinetic-absorption plate to transfer kinetic energy from projectile and/or explosive force on the Armor, to other, more durable areas of the ship. Underneath the Shock Layer is a wealth of sensitive internal wiring, tracking systems, and ship hydraulics. These areas are tightly packed, and thus incredibly vulnerable to breakage.

The Capacitor Power Relay (different to the ship module) is simply a place where the major capacitor leads are positioned to feed power to major areas of the ship. The cords are extremely tough, and are positioned on the exterior of the ship to save space for computer modules and hydraulics.

The Particle Warp Jet is a warp engine which makes use of compressed particles inside of a vacuum to fuel the warp core through laser-fusion, conserving capacitor power for other areas of the ship. Though still a prototype, it has been proven an effective method of more efficient Warp Core power management.
The particles (mostly helium nuclei) are attracted into the 'intake' with a negatively charged attractor in the centre of the exhaust. The particle is fused with other nuclei as it travels through the centre of the engine (aided by magnetic force) into focal points where multiple photonic lasers converge. The lasers are not powerful enough to cause effect to the walls of the engine when absorbed. The laser-fusion process is self-sustainable, given there is a steady stream of particles entering the engine, in warp fields this is easily achievable.

OK! Woo! That concludes the description of the Owl components. So now, the part you've all been waiting for (maybe?):

Image dump

Under-belly

Front view

Angled-Front view

Side view

For comparison purposes, I've got some renders of other Caldari ships also:

Moa

Scorpion

Ferox

Drake

And also, here's the promised video:

Owl - spin-around animation

Also, cats. Wait, this isn't imgur...

As I said earlier, it took me about 9 hours to get to this stage. I started at 7.30pm and finished at 4.00am, I estimate it took me about 30 minutes to create the concept drawing. On that note, here's the concept drawing I used:

Owl Conceptual design
You can see the evolution of the model from top to bottom, and things were also changed when I drew the model.

I created the model in Maya, and I used KeyShot 5 for the renderings.
I have some screenshots from various stages of modelling, but I'm running out of space...

Thanks for reading. What do you think?

Looks like a Baby Moa! Make it a destroyer!

I like them, but they miss tex.... PIX!

OMG! I thought of you today!

You're alive!!

Goodposting.

This is great. My initial thought was that the ship model should replace the Caldari shuttle. Really good stuff, keep it coming

I didn't take any inspiration from the Prophecy hull. Like, at all.

Sure, you can compare similarities quite easily.
Winglets, Slanted-Nose, and the thick back ends? Yeah, those are similar.

I was aware of all of this when creating the ship, it was in the back of my mind the entire time.
But I had to make sure that the ship wasn't going to turn into some fighter-craft from Star Citizen or Elite: Dangerous; to make it look as if it were a viable hull to brave New Eden.

It's quite hard to create a unique ship nowadays, so it disdains me to think that it is being compared to the Prophecy as 'almost the same.'

I picked a niche when I was designing the ship.
Cockpit-style bridge, long Auxiliary thrusters, and Caldari components (radar, large antennae)
I'm pretty sure there is more than one ship in EVE which looks rather similar when compared (with no shaders) to another model.

You might be more convinced when I get textures on the ship. Amarrian ships have quite a 'flowing' kind of look. The big armor plates make the ships look more curved.
The thing with the Owl is that, with shaders my intentions are to make it more jagged, with sharp edges. Reminiscent of the usual Caldari design scheme.

I do agree with you, but it's just quite hard to find a totally unique hull which doesn't look silly and/or is really hard to model.

EDIT: I've accepted that it does indeed look too similar in its current state. Because of this, and its 'Space-shuttle' look, I'm most likely going to change the model in the near future. It's supposed to be a Cruiser, after all.

hey, wow. So like, I'm taking Maya and I can appreciate the attention to detail this type of thing requires. Whether it's a 3D model or a hand drawing (from life), to get it just right you can't allow yourself to fudge, not even a little bit. So I'm wondering, the Scorpion hull render you posted, did you make that? Or did you pull it from the game files.

Is there a reason you haven't taken advantage of Mental Ray in Maya? Why use keyshot instead?

Could easily be an atmospheric Caldari ship, or even a destroyer... Nice work! :)

I might remodel this ship.
It'll save me having to learn texturing for the meantime.

Before I go too far into the new concept, I have to ask anyone still browsing this thread:
Did the 'Cockpit-style' Command Bridge make the ship seem small? Or too civilian?
What were your thoughts on it?