MCRN Morrigan: Release

[Odysseus]

Omg! You're doing a Truman?!?!?!
This makes me happy!

[Cheesy Wotsit]

Originally Posted by Odysseus

Omg! You're doing a Truman?!?!?!
This makes me happy!

Yeah the Truman is semi released. At least the plans are up any one wanting to write instructions for it feel free.


So haven't really been keeping tabs on this build. Anyone who's posted or contacted me about the build I am sorry about the lack of response the main reason is I've suffered from a few technical issues which resulted in the near total lose of everything to do with the Morrigan build. I also got heavily involved in getting the Truman designed and built.


Anyone who's looked at the Truman post knows that I used a few new techniques and software for the design and build which resulted in what I believe is a better model with tighter design. Lol at least that's what I found.


Gone is PSP in favour of Inkscape
Gone are the multiple conversions of files and as a result the lose of image quality
Better design in Blender has helped with odd design and issues (twisted polygons being the main issue).


Anyway as I am currently in lockdown I have been somewhat busy applying what I learned designing and building the Truman in doing a total ground up rework of the Morrigan.


I just thought I would post some info on what I've been up to with this rework.





Here's the new Blender model. First and foremost was to do the entire rebuild tweaking scaling of some parts and ensuring that every single part used on the new model didn't suffer from the dreaded 'twisted polygon' issue. I'll go through a few of the additonal new features





New front end with two torp launchers instead of one and a rework of the internals of the cowl to make them fit more accurately.





Indent in the top of the cowl. This is one of the additional detail parts that I felt the first version lacked. I am hoping to add quite a few additional detail parts such as this.









Total redesign of the back end of the model. The model is now split in to three specific parts instead of the two of the previous the intention is to make the rear of the model (habitation and engineering) more accurate.





Redesign of the engine bell attachment area. Alot of this is based on artistic licence as their are very few real images of the ships rear and engine bell in detail. The idea was to add more detail in and around the rear of the engine area, the specific criteria was to add 'depth' to the engine bell area instead of it just being stuck to a flat non specific back end of the model, while also including a rework of the engine 'stays'





A rework of the stand, I've started shelf mounting my models so am now opting for a standard minimal design for all my models (These are exact copies of the Truman stands just reworked for the Morrigan) along with additional detail parts for the new model. The modules that run the length of the ship (on either side of the rail gun housing) were going to be in my first model but I couldn't find a decent way of building them so they got dropped.





A new interior / support. The old one was a bit hit and miss. I've test built the front of the new design and found that the new internal parts fit an awful lot better than the old ones did while offering a good deal more support. The rear has also had to be redesigned and now includes more support parts for components such as the 'intakes' and railgun mounts






A quick side and front image showing the tweaked scaling of the new model. This is not 100% the final design. I am umming and ahhing about the railgun scaling along with the scaling of one or two of the other detailing parts but I can tweak these as I run through the parts and the build.





and last a quick look at the new texture set I've been working on. Old textures on the right new textures on the left. The Donnager and Morrigan used tweaked variations of the same model set designed in PSP. At the time it was the best I could do with the knowledge and skill I had. It kinda of worked for the Donnager as the scale meant that detail was not a real issue but on the Morrigan a review of the model showed it lacked detail, on top of that the plating detail was just plain wrong.


I am now using Inkscape for the majority of my texture work. The results are more detail, more effects such as genuine wear and tear which can be added as needed or wanted and better yet zero lose of image quality during image manipulation.


So long post but just thought I would update folk on what's going on with this model as I've been rather quiet with this one

[wiwo1961]

Hi,


thank you for your explanation of the lack of response.
I thought what a git, I send somthing and no answer.


The new details on the Morrigan class are looking very good.
Will you give a new shipname or will you stay on Scipio Africanus?


Regards,


Wiwo

[SJPONeill]

Thanks for the update. I was a slow convert to The Expanse but posts and threads like this just add extra richness to the series for me...

[Cheesy Wotsit]

Originally Posted by wiwo1961

Hi,


thank you for your explanation of the lack of response.
I thought what a git, I send somthing and no answer.


The new details on the Morrigan class are looking very good.
Will you give a new shipname or will you stay on Scipio Africanus?


Regards,


Wiwo

Yeah sorry about that, when my computers decided to go silly string and dump everything I'd been working on I kinda lost the will. I had a month or so away from designing and building while I built a new rig and once that was up and running. I opted to use the Truman as a start point as I was a tad burned out on the Morrigan.



Anyway, so the ship I am going to build will be still called the Scipio Africanus. However when I do get round to releasing the new model parts I will upload the Inkscape .SVG. The name of the vessel is on it's own layer so anyone with even basic skills can go in edit the name and then print the newly named vessel directly.

[Arne2019]

Damn.. I've been gone way to long. Finished my Donnager :-) it's awesome. Will start this one soon!

[wiwo1961]

Hi,

thats good news!
I have Inkscape also installed, so it would not be a problem to change the name.

It will be a nice triple formation, together with the Scipio Africanus and the Tachi in 1:250 scale.

Regards,

Wiwo

[Cheesy Wotsit]

It will be a nice triple formation, together with the Scipio Africanus and the Tachi in 1:250 scale.

When I started looking at redoing the Morrigan I had a brief look at the assault version of the ship. Did you know there was a different model type? It has some odd hull geometry compared to the Morrigan looks like the front cowl is inverted or is heavily reshaped. Which makes sense as this is meant to be a 'stealth' version of the Morrigan.




That's The MCRN Shadian and that is literally the only image I can find of the assault / stealth version of this ship. Way to little to build a whole model on but I guess it would allow for some serious artistic licence. Who knows maybe a future project?

[dhanners]

I don’t know about it being inverted, but the lone photo is hard to go by. To me, the front section of the Shadian just looks shorter than it’s counterpart on Scipio Africanus.

[Cheesy Wotsit]

Originally Posted by dhanners

I don’t know about it being inverted, but the lone photo is hard to go by. To me, the front section of the Shadian just looks shorter than it’s counterpart on Scipio Africanus.

Gotta see if I can find the shot from the show that has the ship