New 3D Thread

In 2011 I was lucky enough to leverage some of my Wing Commander fan art into a couple of lovely conversations with Chris Roberts regarding his new project. At the time it still wasn't clear whether or not it was going to be a new Wing Commander property or an entirely new thing, but I did my best with the skills I had at the time, provided a couple of models for 3D printing, and started exploring the CryEngine in anticipation of maybe contributing to my dream franchise!

At the same time, however, I was offered another job that involved flying real airplanes, so I had to let it go!

I don't think this idea would have made it into the game, it's too buglike and derivative of the original Hornet design for what became Star Citizen, but I was grateful to the chance to talk to one of my childhood heroes and contribute in some small way to Star Citizen. I wish them the best (but I still wish we had a new Wing Commander game!)

9 years on, and having never signed an NDA, I feel pretty confident in sharing my little non-contribution to Star Citizen!

Edit: Found a couple of blockier concepts and an early version of the Hornet they sent me!
 

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I don't think this idea would have made it into the game, it's too buglike and derivative of the original Hornet design for what became Star Citizen, but I was grateful to the chance to talk to one of my childhood heroes and contribute in some small way to Star Citizen.
Edit: Found a couple of blocker concepts and an early version of the Hornet they sent me!

This is neat! The similarities are pretty striking; was there any exchange of ideas or did you and the Hornet concept artist just arrive at the same idea completely independently?
 
They provided me the Hornet concept model and asked for my take on it while we developed some technical ideas for implementation into CryEngine. I didn’t really contribute all that much, but it was fun!
 
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In 2011 I was lucky enough to leverage some of my Wing Commander fan art into a couple of lovely conversations with Chris Roberts regarding his new project. At the time it still wasn't clear whether or not it was going to be a new Wing Commander property or an entirely new thing, but I did my best with the skills I had at the time, provided a couple of models for 3D printing, and started exploring the CryEngine in anticipation of maybe contributing to my dream franchise!

At the same time, however, I was offered another job that involved flying real airplanes, so I had to let it go!

I don't think this idea would have made it into the game, it's too buglike and derivative of the original Hornet design for what became Star Citizen, but I was grateful to the chance to talk to one of my childhood heroes and contribute in some small way to Star Citizen. I wish them the best (but I still wish we had a new Wing Commander game!)

9 years on, and having never signed an NDA, I feel pretty confident in sharing my little non-contribution to Star Citizen!

Edit: Found a couple of blockier concepts and an early version of the Hornet they sent me!
Well, no surprise that my favorite craft in all of Star Citizen (which I have a F-7M) has Klavs' fingerprints on it.
 
Hi everyone, I got to liking the A model rapier so much I started thinking about incremental tech advancements rather than a whole new spaceframe for the C-G models, so I've envisioned that here and I'm really liking the results so far! I think the 'chunkiness' fits the WC-1-2 era much better than the swoopy Rapiers I've done before.
 

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Hi everyone, the Hornet is complete and up for sale on Sketchfab. Just asking $25 to offset some of my daughter's medical costs. 8k textures for that bit of extra detail!

Hey Klavs. Great work - as usual 👍🏻. I hope it’s nothing serious with your daughter? Best wishes from my side anyway.

But I do have a serious question for you: Since you are the author of the Wildcat - which is the basic inspiration for my “Hellcat VI” ... How much would it cost me, if I would ask you to “alter” your Wildcat-Design according to my Hellcat-Ideas.
Tried to do it on my own, but honestly- your 3D model is to “sophisticated” for my feeble 3D-skills 🤷🏼‍♂️...
 
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Hey Klavs. Great work - as usual 👍🏻. I hope it’s nothing serious with your daughter? Best wishes from my side anyway.

But I do have a serious question for you: Since you are the author of the Wildcat - which is the basic inspiration for my “Hellcat VI” ... How much would it cost me, if I would ask you to “alter” your Wildcat-Design according to my Hellcat-Ideas.
Tried to do it on my own, but honestly- your 3D model is to “sophisticated” for my feeble 3D-skills 🤷🏼‍♂️...
Hi and thank you. My daughter is dealing with some continual fallout from some birth conditions, daily care and numerous surgeries and doctor visits have left us with a hefty chunk of medical debt. She’s doing well but I figure every little bit helps.

As tempting as it is to take you up on your offer, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to seek knowledge on your own. Every 3D modeler has something that pushes them to try and try and try again to get better. For me that was wing commander. I modeled a new WC ship nearly every month for two years or more as I taught myself better techniques for modeling, UV unwrapping, rigging, etc. To get good at this (and we’re all of us STILL learning every day) you have to find that thing that makes you spend time in the seat. There is nothing more rewarding than creating something you love from absolutely NOTHING.

So, go download blender, watch some tutorials, sign up for some classes, pour through the manuals. If you wind up loving it, you will put the time in. and if you use this site to catalogue your development as I did, you’ll be amazed when you look at posts from 15 (oh my god) years ago and see how far you’ve come, and how far you still have to go!

best of luck, I hope we’re all drooling over your work soon!
 
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Can I add an amen? :)

Seriously though my thread is full of stuff where I go back and cringe a bit, but by the same token, I wouldn't be the journeyman I am today without all the trial and error of the past 8 years or so. It's a constant journey, but a fun one.
 
Hi everyone, I've cropped LOAF's incredible Wing Commander movie map image to mostly remove the rusty border and added the numbers on the border into the map interior. I've also adjusted exposure, gamma, contrast to provide a bit more color and contrast and fixed a little bit of distortion here and there. And now I really want to make a metal print of this! Enjoy!

75677f_97255b0c5961458487e23a95783b7e5c~mv2.jpg
 
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Hi everybody, work is continuing slowly on the Rapiers!

I've made the YF-44 available on Sketchfab for a super modest fee. As always, profits will go towards our daughter's continuing medical care. As I release the other variants I'll be continuously updating the other models, so you'll always be able to go back and re-download the version you've purchased once landing gear, weapons, missiles, and cockpit become available. Hope everyone is well!

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/yf-44-rapier-ii-5b0b02924d1d47af9e1ff1c6bd663d4a

I'm forever grateful to the WC community for yours years (decades!) of support and encouragement.

Cheers,

-Klavs
 

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F-44Gs of TCS Concordia! I'm being more faithful to the game markings than I ever have in the past. It's tough, but I think, worth it to make a decent homage.

The C model is up next, that'll be very close to the previously established Tarawa Livery I came up with previously. I'll also be providing some blank, grey liveries so you guys can come up with schemes to your heart's delight!

I should note that all these versions will be updated into the existing Sketchfab link, so if you purchased already, the upgrades and all models will be included eventually!
 

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