mars2alexanderholloway

[mars2alexanderholloway]

ISS and mir

Space stations. I researched them and then forgot to make a blog post. the longest running space station and predecessor to the ISS was Mir. This was a station sent up by the soviets during the cold war and continued to operate until 2001. it was launched in 1986 and finished orbital construction in 1996. the modules were attached using unmanned rockets apart from the docking bay which was attached with the first shuttle. The station was designed to last 6 years. when after completion it lasted 5 years. in total it lasted 15. The overall design appears to be very bare, and surprisingly seems to have a large amount of fabric textures. All the solar panels are an orange colour, and is made up mostly of a series of tubes and only have one connective point. compared to the ISS this is much smaller though it was still used for zero gravity experiments and also came with exercise equipment to prevent muscle degradation.

the ISS is similar expect much bigger and the solar panels have a much larger surface area and are kept to a singular column

[mars2alexanderholloway]

This is where I started with the idea for this ship. this was note particularly good, but I wanted to make sure that I could get the mosquito/bug idea communicated. I think that the main issue that I encountered with this was trying to get the side vents for the engines to look like engines from this angle. At some point I reused these by going over them on a separate layer while also improving the design of the side profile.

I then started to work on the bottom left ship as the first proper ship. Interestingly this is the one that I am happiest with. during this process, the two biggest issues that I encountered were with the far thruster as I had issues making it look the same, with some of the engine being hidden behind the hull of the ship. this was not helped by the fact that I thought it would be a good idea to have the engine be slightly slanted in relation to the rest of the ship. I also had some issues with the shape of the ball of the cockpit as It is such a weird shape at this angle and I had no reference at the time, but I forgot to look for one. Adding the details was easy. the panel at the back I thought would work as an electrical component box, the forward box would act as some of the heavier weapon systems and the panel on the side would act as the lighter weapon systems. The colours I started with a vague metal colour and then later decided to add some colour, which happened to be red

this was the second ship that I worked on properly with perspective in mind. This had the same issues that I had with the first ship as I could not quite get both sides to look right. as with the other, I did a quick outline using a slightly thicker grey colour and then went back over using a thinner black. Looking at these screen shots now, I think that I prefer the shape of the engine in the centre image, but it would need to have the rest of the body redrawn in order to facilitate it while keeping the perspective accurate. I also had some difficulties with the connective panels that attach the wings to the main body as I had forgotten that they would need some space to slot in how I wanted them to. I am also not too happy with the shape of the front section as the bottom edge is too flat and I think it would have worked better if it had mirrored the opposite edge. during this process I also realised that It would need rear landing gear, to prevent it from leaning backwards, so i quickly drew a leg design that vaguely resembled an insect leg. For the colours I wanted to try and use lighter colours, as I often use darker colours for everything. during this process, I thought that the surface looked too flat so I decided to add some wear to the pains, with lighter shades of blue to show where the pain has faded or been scratched off.

once this had all been done, I then added some additional annotations in order to fill white space and explain features. It was pointed out that the blank circle in the middle of the right ship does look blank and could be seen as an engine. It was suggested that next time I add some additional details to make it look more like glass, or that something is inside. I think there is a secondary reason for this looking like the back of the ship, I forgot to add in the engines I was going to as to the back fins

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Adam savage: ship panelling

This is the material that was used in the scratch build of the ship that I have watched previously. due to time constraints I have only been able to watch the first 6 minutes of this video but It gives me enough information for now for this post.

to start, the material used is polystyrene sheets. I just think of it as thin plastic foam though. This appears to be a material that is very easy to use because of how easy it is to snap after cutting in with a scalpel slightly. it makes me think of those model kits you get where all of the pieces are in the plastic frame. Adam said that this material is what was used for most of the minis used in starwars, from space ships to light decoration.

This material also has a very easy way to keeping things together, and is also the reason why this cannot be used in college. the way that this material is kept in place is by using weldbound. the reason being is that it literally welds the two pieces together. The weldbound is also toxic and the college cannot get permission to use it, so If I do want to be using it, it will have to be at home.

I quite like the fact that this material is used so much in films while also being really easy to work with. it does make the metaphorical bar for getting into model making feel lower, likely closer to where it actually is.

It is also quite interesting to watch him make things. it feels like how the games master for my first good table top game introduced me to dungeons and dragons, it feels like they are having fun while making the video.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Christopher doll: perspective stuffs

After watching the first 11 minutes of this video in 5 minutes 30, I have thoughts. so this video is showing the benefits of learning perspective and how to apply them well. He starts by drawing a two point perspective grid and then proceeded to start with the centre of the ship for a starting point. he also shows how different grids can be used for larger and smaller objects very quickly before starting the first ship. Perspective is one of the things that I definitely value as it gives the shapes more presence on the paper, in that it feels like a drawing of an existent object, instead of a flat plan. with that in mind, this is something that I am definitely going to need to learn to do at some point as I think the grid would help massively. I have an idea of how perspective works, but it is something that I will need to continue to research and practice in order to 'get my eye in' for it(I think thats a phrase and I think I have used it correctly.

for the video itself, I quite like listening to them talk , so far the explanations have been quite clear and easy to understand and I suspect I shall be looking at the rest of this video later.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Spoon ship

its making a ship out of an every day object. this is something that I have done a couple of times, the first being with the shells I brought in when I was shown what gesture is. since that instance I have done this two more times on a tiny note pad, once with a watch (which I was only using half a reference for) and the clip off of a backpack. the later being better than the former, though the shell was still my best attempt. I quite like the concept and it helps push creativity as you are not starting with nothing.

for the video itself, I quite like listening to them talking. The fact that they go through the whole process of drawing is really helpful to see as it gives a better idea of how many times different ideas can be trialled, before the full image is complete. The addition of adding more details to the one that they thought was not going to be used was a nice touch, which I might steal. It also shows just how rough you can be before starting properly.

they also used pens as an alternative to normal pencils with the reason being that it prevents the erasure of mistakes, forcing their application in the final design. I have heard other people be suggested this, I don't think I'm there yet as my lines are the shakiest thing on the planet. some day I will be. hopefully in the next 3 months.

they also mentioned questioning details being added, as they decided to not have the large fin that they had on the back as they kept on trying to argue why it should be there so it doesn't have to be changed instead of removing it. helps with avoiding over complicating designs.

I am going to try and continue to use environmental features as a base for either full drawings or just elements of them

[mars2alexanderholloway]

MARS but with more time

If I had some more time I likely would have made a proper robot of some variety to go with either the ship or the station as I ran out of time to do that. I also would have like to look more at doing an alien as I would not have to worry as much about human-ness as they would likely have different biological characteristics, instead of using crypto as a base. And finally I would have liked to either add more details to the ship, or have more variations to act as different models of the same ship.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Gundam, voltron, valkyrie

Three very similar looking robots. i think this has something to do with when they were made. for the most part they are all made of very simple shapes, and have quite flat colours.

the gundam has the most amount of freedom in design due to not needing to link to anything else. the legs appear to curve slightly and the upper body styling seems to be based off of samurai looks, though made out of various cuboids. This makes sense considering how square that armour was like.

voltron has to be made of five different robots, and you can clearly see where each of them are in the design. however there are additional bits of material, specifically in the cheat and back wings which dont appear to come from any particular segment.

valkyrie has to use the base of a fighter jet, and you can see the elements in the design, with sections of the wings as forearm and shin guards, and the exhausts seen at the top of the legs. the cockpit is visible at the bottom of the torso and you can see where it would fold.

across all three of these, I can see that simpler shapes can be used to make interesting looking robots, but I do not like how these look. they do feel a little old and I feel like they need more detail for me to be interested in them.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

KX series droid

The KX series droid, first seen in rogue one and then seen in jedi fallen order. this droid is several inches taller than most humans. the legs are of an exaggerated size compared to the rest of the body and the forearms have been extended to match the legs. The head is mostly smooth and featureless, apart from the eyes, which are completely round and emit a cold white. the bottom section of the head has a section of mechanical components, which creates an effect that I can only attribute to a spider. for some reason having the legs and arms be quite thin makes sense and keeps it intimidating. I dont know why.

play with people proportions, it can have cool effects

[mars2alexanderholloway]

AT ST

This is not a robot, this is a walker. it is not a robot, it has no AI, it is not a mech suit it has no arms, is controlled using a conventional control panel, and cannot mimic a humanoid or creature. this is a vehicle. Though it does look intimidating due to the narrow slanted face, that gets narrower towards the bottom, the eye covers act like eye brows which are angled down, and the legs are very simple and thin, suggesting it can move quite well. I like it, not a robot or droid

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Canti from FLCL

I really like how this looks, this is a good robot. I think part of why I like this robot is that it doesnt feel too tall. A large amount of the other robots I have locked at appear to be quite skinny or incredibly bulky. While I prefer the bulky ones, I feel like they give a better idea of how powerful they are, this manages to get a balance between the two. I think that this is because at all of the joints, the size gets slightly smaller, while around the centre of the sections they get larger but also appear to be rounder. This paired with the larger head with only a rounded square screen for an eye, makes a character that seems like they are quite friendly. The head also appears to have fins and is slightly smaller at the back, with the angles all pointing towards the front. similarly, the fore arm is made up primarily of a large rounded plate, though again I cannot say why this work to make a friendly character, it just does. it likely also helps that the way that this character has been drawn is in a similar pose you would often hind people, which humanises them more than some other robots seen.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

eva unit 1

this is likely the most human looking robot I have seen so far. the only hints to this having armour in physical shapes, is at the knees, shoulders, elbows and back panels. The silhouette is quite simple compared to other things I have have looked at but appears to make up for this with the use of colours and surface shapes. The helmet is likely the most robotic thing here, having an appearance resembling a skull with a long thin horn on the front, and appears to dip inwards slightly. the centre of the chest appears to be made up of the most amount of segments, and is likely the main feature that makes it appear to be a robot from the front. If this was on a human, I suspect that the armour would be much smaller but have more plates to allow for better flexibility. most of the panelling is quite large and there does not appear to be too much of it. I also think that the colours play a part in making it seem more like a robot, as I think that it is unlikely for a humanoid to use armour that is so vibrantly coloured as this would increase their chances of being killed. The different colours being used to highlight panels in the arms and around the feet feels like it help with the indication but I cannot get the words to describe why.

I do not particularly like how this looks but I can see that this does communicate a robot effectively without having to have a large amount of complicated shapes or too many lines to look interesting without being too simple or too complex.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

District 9 exosuit

This is a very strange looking machine. It feels like an insect without being linked to a specific insect. this is likely due to the fact that the armour is made up of a series of smaller segmented plates, rather than larger sections of metal. the centre design seems to almost resemble a wasp, with its curve, thought the face looks like to would come from an earwig. the arms are very thin compared to the rest of the body. though they are much bulkier once the lower arm is reached. lastly, the legs resemble grasshopper legs, leading me to believe that these are designed to allow for faster movement. I quite like how this looks

[mars2alexanderholloway]

The iron giant

The iron giant. I don't really like it, it feels too big in the upper body without having any of the mass needed in the legs, they seem too thin. I would describe the design as being like an AT-AT with more mass in the body. it doesn't quite look right. I do quite like the panelling on the face though, it adds some bits of detail without overcomplicating the shape, similar to how I would describe the eye lids that have been given to it.

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Jonny 5 and the WED-15 treadwell

WED-15 Septoid Treadwell

I have decided to include these two in the same post due to how similar they are in general idea. two eyes for a head on a long pole connected to treads. starting with johnny 5, they appear to be a robot built as technology was having another spike in improvement. this particular robot has a large cylindrical base at an angle connected to a main body that appears to have a limited amount of surface area, covering only the important electricals and limiting empty space.. middle section has a tube to allow for bending where the poles meet while also providing protection, with two cylinders to the sides. chest section is a very simple shape, having an irregular hexagonal cross section at the front. to the right side of the centre is some additional tubing, likely to make the centre have a more substantial visual appearance.

above the chest is a trapezoid shape that connects to the arms, likely to allow for the arms to rotate. the top half of the arms have pullies clearly visible. the arms appear to be very barebones with very little protective covering. With this particular shape, I suspect that this is in order to help in making the robot look more advanced while also grounding it into reality. The head of the robot appears to be made up of two lens mounts or light sensors from slr cameras, which have been placed either side of each other, though they maybe video cameras, as they appear to extend out the back. there are slot two pistons connecting the head to the centre column standing out because of the bronzey gold colour. Along most sections of the body there is also circuitry of various shapes, again, likely to add additional shapes to the overall body. With this shape, the best way that I can describe the feeling it get from it is that it is analogue robotics, for lack of better words. everything feels like tis raised and has been designed to facilitate movement primarily and protection second.

The wed 15 tread wheel is similar, mostly through the basic shapes. larger base with treads, thinner body compared to the rest of the design, and a larger head with large optical sensors. This feels like a more primitive version of Johnny 5, likely due to the shapes being much simpler, as the base is almost a box with wheels. the main body is also just a telescopic pole with additional rings added to the bottom, with the arms being folded against the tube. the eyes are even simpler being square cones with lenses in one end

[mars2alexanderholloway]

EC henry secrets of stawars design

flat, vacuuformed

I can split this into three segments that I consider important based on the fact that I remember them

silhouette, materials and inspiration.

for silhouette, it was made clear that all the ships in the lucas era had distinct silhouettes. arc fighters look similar to x wings but distinctly are not. interceptors are improved tie fighters, but had vastly different side panels

the materials used meant that the shapes could not be overly complex, they needed to be either straight edged, or be in the form of shells. so if they have round factors, there is one large rounded curve, anything more is too complex.

finally inspiration: look at history. starwars is made of of planes from world war 2, a few strange cars for coruscant and boats for the smoother decorative period of the republic.

generally important to think about these when designing anything

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Mr E models

I am going to talk about this very briefly. So three bottles, some tape and some smaller bits to be stuck on. that is all of the main additions. use the tape as a base for adding glue because the plastic does not grip it. the base was painted with a grey coat and was then painted a slightly dull white. the red was added to the two main body sections so that the white becomes the secondary colour, then the engines were painted black. the colour scheme reminds me of the republic cruiser used in episode 1. I think I would have liked to have seen the process but it is a very simple ship and it works quite well, the only thing that could have had some more information is the numbers on the engines. example of you not needing much in order to make an interesting ship

[mars2alexanderholloway]

Shaun tan

I wish for this to be a conversation before it is written down

themes come from development of the drawing. start with quick pencil drawing, then pastel drawing, then into more detailed drawing. playing with different formats.