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I always liked that cruiser design of yours, looks great painted up. One of these days when I have more disposable income, I'll have to pick up a pair.

I am quite tempted to do a revision of that design, basically redo the Martinet and Absolutist. But lets see how that'll go, first I've got to finish up the station!

Definitely. Reworking those aren't a priority since they still look good. Keep up the good work with the station.

You have beautiful designs, Malika! Everything looks great. I love the brutish front end of that cruiser.

@Boblogik: the old designs could be better. Not so much that I'd change them fundamentally, but more that I could try to hollow it out a bit more, remove a lot of the internal geometry, so that I could sell them in a pack of 3-5 perhaps. Just to bring the price down.

@Warboss Waaazag: Thanks a lot! With the brutish front, do you mean the newer stuff or the printed and painted Absolutist?

In the meantime I wanted to share a little update.


I'm getting more and more tempted to make the central dome more akin to the external ones, so see-through. But I need to ponder a bit about it...




Quickly put together another escort variant. Needed a ship that can deliver a real punch against bigger targets, so...plasma batteries!

I quickly started on some fighter craft. Whilst I'm happy with their general shape, I don't really like the four barreled prow weapon. I'm thinking of replacing it for a prow similar to the larger ships, sort of to keep it uniform.

I tweaked the fighter design last night, but it still looked 'backwards'. Now I've added a tail to the aircraft. For some reason they kinda remind me of the old Epic-scaled Thunderbolt fighter and te Wraith Fighter from Star Craft, that...and WWII aircraft!

Oh yeah, for some reason I also started making variants...



Fighters (on the left) and interceptors (on the right). The interceptor is basically the two wings put together, with the body of the fighter removed. But considering the size, the thing ended up looking like an aircraft of its own.



Heavy fighters (left) and bombers (right). The bomber is basically a 'double bodied fighter', kinda borrowed that idea from the Star Wars TIE-Bomber. The heavy fighter is a beefier version of the fighter, maybe some sort of long range craft. I kinda imagined them to have stealth capabilities as well.




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Ok, little update on the fighters, that...and I've added the dimensions of the models!


Standard interceptor. A rather fast, but weak craft that's easily shot down. However, they are effective against enemy aircraft and are often used as cannon fodder against fire from enemy ships.


Advanced interceptor. Upgraded with extra armor without losing speed, the idea behind this design is that the pilots will survive the first attack. Often used by elite pilots and squadron leaders to hunt down enemy aircraft.


Standard fighter. The backbone of most aircraft fleets. Whilst not as fast and maneuverable as the interceptor, the fighter has superior armor and weaponry, making it formidable against enemy bombers.


Advanced fighter. Like the advanced interceptor, this craft is primarily used by elite pilots and squadron leaders. Besides additional armour and weaponry, this fighter also has extra engines. This enables the craft to be deployed for long range missions.


Scout craft. These are often deployed ahead of the fleet to explore uncharted territories. They are also used during battle to detect cloaked enemy craft.


Standard bomber. The main reason aircraft are still used in spacial warfare. Bombers are capable of destroying enemy escorts and seriously damaging larger ships. They are however slower, and thus more vulnerable. This means they often need to be protected by other aircraft.


Advanced bomber. This upgraded bomber has additional armour and engines. Like the advanced fighter it can be deployed for long range missions. However, they are often used when there is a lack of fighter craft to protect normal bomber craft.

I've got 14 different types of fighter craft so far. There are basically four categories (interceptor, fighter, bomber, scout), elite versions (only for the interceptor, fighter and bomber) and then there's the MkII version (with the bigger wings).

There's only one major problem at the moment. I'm a sucker for inverted wings, but not it looks as if they are flying backwards, which means that the tails will need some redesigning in order for them to work...



In the meantime I've also started working on a new version of the transport ship (and yes, it include removable containers). It's quite a lot bigger than the previous incarnation, it's more heavy cruiser sized rather than escort. In all the ship will probably be about 10cm long, twice as long as a escorts! The prow fits in the style of the escorts and light cruisers, but is slightly modified to set it apart as a civilian ship.



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Small update!

Tweaked the fighters a bit, ditched a lot of the variants, meaning that instead of 14 I (only!) have 7 now. The three basic craft are in the pic:


Also continued working on the transport barge, including a container variant:

I'm really digging this version of the transport since it maintains a sense of balance. I could if I wanted to also use the hull as a basis for military ships by simply replacing the containers with weapon systems. Might be a bit odd as full on military cruisers, perhaps more as civilian ships converted for a defensive purpose (Q-ships in BFG). A military ship would have a slightly different hull: prow more like the escorts and light cruiser, and lots more weapons!





In the meantime I've been tweaking the transportship some more, it feels like a really solid and sturdy craft, which kinda fits with the more industrial/worker feel I'm going for. The ship still needs some comm array/radars, which I'm planning on building underneath the prow and/or bridge. The back hull needs further detailing, and then a few container variants.

That transport ship is simply perfect! It has a good sense of weight and purpose to it. One converted to a military use wold be interesting to see as well.

Nice little fighters as well, you seem to have gotten a good amount of detail into such a small area.

Just wanted to give you a bit of an update. I've been contacted by a fellow who's testing out his new 3d printer. The guy wants me to design some terrain for him, no probs! However, I also asked him if he could do a test print of one of my escorts. I've got a feeling the machine is slightly inferior than what Shapeways and other can offer, but it does provide me with an opportunity to get a free test print to see whether the model will work.

In the meantime I've continued working on the escorts:



Modified the hulls a bit, and removed some of the guns. Problem was that the guns were blocking out some of the other details.

The transportship has also received a lot of work:





As you can see the container variants have some more detailing added to them. The ship itself is also receiving more and more detailing. There's still a lot to be done before it's ready though.

Mangozac's latest work has really got me motivated to do some ships again!

This time another escort, but a little bit bigger (5.55mm long). And oh yeah, it's from another faction!



As you may notice, I've been playing with more rounded shapes and returned to introducing the round Distortion Drive from my earlier designs. Another thing I've been playing with are the turrets, in my early designs I really wanted to include some small globe like turrets, kinda like as if the blobs on a Dalek were guns. Back then I wasn't really able yet to do them, now I've sort of got them. I'm happy the way they've turned out, considering the scale.




The ship still needs a lot of detailing, and also some sort of components to put on top/bottom of the Distortion Drive component, kind of what I did with my previous ship.

Ooh a new faction, exciting. Can't wait to see what direction you take these guys in.

I must have some of these ships though, you gotta find someone to cast them up pronto!

I'm curious to see how they'll develop too! One thing is that, despite it's different end design, I like the idea that the ships do all come from the same 'source', meaning that their designs all have the same starting point, perhaps some 'pre-fall' tech or something, but that afterwards different worlds started to develop that same technology into different directions, with at the end some very unique results.

As for the casting, I might have a fellow in the UK who is able and willing, but he's still gonna be busy to set up all his equipment and learn to do it. In the meantime I'm also in quite the financial pickle, meaning that high end prints aren't an option yet. And before you start with that I should run a Kickstarter, even for that you'd need some serious starting capital, just to have some stuff ready to show and all that does cost something. Luckily I might be getting some more freelance projects soon, which means $$$ (well, actually €€€).

I am also, getting very tempted to tie this ship project in with my other 3d project I've been working on...


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Kinda felt that the ship was a bit too much like a rectangle block. You can see that the 'vertical components' are kinda similar to the tail thing of my original escort, which is kinda funny since that original escort formed the basis of these warships. I'm toying with the idea that from a background perspective all these ships have the same 'origins' if you will, an empire or something that originally produced some specific designs (compare it to the STC in 40k I guess). This empire eventually collapsed, and new, and smaller, ones raised from its ashes. Now these smaller empires don't all maintain contact with one another, meaning that their technology might also develop in different directions. But despite of this there would still be some markers here and there that would make them seem somewhat similar.



In order to give the ship some more shape, I've also thinned out the front part (everything in front of the Distortion Drive) a bit. Some more detailing will have to be added, but that has to be done anyways!

Changed the front part of the ship a bit by thinning it out vertically:


(the top picture is the new version, for comparison I've added the previous version on the bottom)

Hmm, I've put the new design on hold for now, I need to ponder a bit more about it. The axe prow will come back at some other ship, most likely something Destroyer sized.

In the meantime, I've been working a bit on the Corvettes, and upgraded a design variant into a Frigate:

I've been experimenting a bit with some panel lines, they're 0.25mm wide and 0.5mm deep. The big gap on the port side of the ship is going to be where the sensor array will be placed. I'm a bit in doubt at the moment on how to design it, at the moment I'm pondering about a flipped sideways version of the Land Raider Prometheus' sensor array, or maybe something more akin to the one of the Land Speeder...

I tweaked the escorts slightly to improve their castability. The big change is that I've rotated the back thrusters. This will enable me to cast the ship as a single piece, rather than separating the back from the front. However, I've also had to remove the vent like elements on the side wings. I will have to see if I can come up with another cool detailing there, or perhaps keep it relatively simple.





I've also added some detailing to the prow, I guess it's some sort of scanner or something. It might make the casting process a bit trickier, so I might try to shrink it a bit. I don't want to be forced to have to cut up this small craft into multiple bits.

The ships are almost there I think...

As you can see I've added some new ships to the mix. The original two escorts have become Corvettes, and now they've got a Frigate (larger ship) and Destroyer (small fella) added to the mix.

I'm toying a bit with the background of this stuff as well. These ships are part of the Navis Mercantilis, in other words the mercantile fleet. Whilst suitable for military service, their primary purpose is to escort transport ships. It also explains why they don't deploy larger military craft such as Cruisers and Battleships.

The Corvettes are the main escort ship, the workhorse of the fleet if you will. Whilst small they can still carry quite the punch. Standardly armed with torpedoes the Corvettes either carry lances or deploy fighter craft.

Frigates tend to function as command ships for the escort fleets, armed with both fighter craft and lances, Frigates can stand on their own when fighting against raiders. Deployed in squadrons they can even hunt larger targets.

Destroyers are the smallest of ships, lightly armed with conventional turrets, they're meant to defend larger targets from large numbers of small escorts and fighter craft. The model still needs some work. A bridge need to be added, and I'm tempted to redesign the turrets.

A little teaser of the ships I've got so far...

In the meantime, to give you an idea of scale:



The Transportship is about 100mm long, the Corvette about 42mm and the Destroyer stands at 33mm.

I got a little bit distracted last night...





A raider escort, armed with boarding pods and two frontal cannons. It's still a very early WIP and still needs a lot of work. I was a bit influenced by more conventional ships, combining it with elements of Ottoman architecture, hence the dome.

Besides the ship I've also started work on a boarding pod, kinda inspired by a familiar design. I'm not sure yet if the existing BFG rules allow for an escort to carry boarding pods, if such an option isn't possible, the 'boarding pod launchers' could just count as (missile) weapon batteries of a sorts.

First of all, the boarding pod is (as good as) finished:




The width/height of the pod is about 6.3mm and it's 6.2mm long. I tried making the design look a bit cruder than the ships, but at this scale that sort of thing can be a bit tricky.

The new ship in the meantime has gotten a lot of work done, including a bit of a resize.



The design philosophy of this ship is rather different than the previous escorts. Whilst more than capable to go on the offensive, the design of those ships was more oriented towards defense rather than offense. The escorts were meant to protect the larger transportships from attackers. This new ship however was created for the sole purpose of war, attacking rather than defending. Hopefully the shape of the ship has kinda managed to reflect that.




I'm not fully happy with the engines and the prow yet, so both will still need some tweaking. Beyond that it's checking out some of the details again and see if they still work now that the ship has been resized.



As you can see, the new ship (48mm long) is considerably larger than the destroyer on the bottom (36mm long). I'd love to expand on this range, add a few more escort sized ships and then a light cruiser or something.

Ordnance time!!!

Well, mainly boarding action oriented stuff...

The Trade Guilds (faction of which I've designed the Corvettes, Destroyers and giant transportships) use normally use shuttles to board ships for inspection. However, when attacked they can deploy their own security forces to board enemy craft. Soldiers of the Trade Guilds are carried in Assault Pods that can be launched from various Carrier craft.



It's basically the original assault pod I designed a long time ago. It's dimensions are 9.46mm long by 4.5mm wide by 2.25mm tall. I'll be making some small modifications to it in an attempt to fit more to the aesthetic of the faction.

You've already seen this Boarding Pod, a common tool used by the various military factions. The Boarding Pod is a rather crude vehicle. Upon impact with enemy ships the pod's claws dig their way into the prey's hull. The pod then burns a hole through the ship's armor, unleashing its deadly cargo...




As you can see I haven't really changed the design since last time. The only thing I did now was to include a variant of the pod, basically the same design but with its claws more opened up. Thought it to be a nice touch to have them both. The closed pod is 6.3mm wide/tall by 6.2mm long, the opened pod is 6.98mm wide/tall by 5.14mm long.

Whilst ships have their own sensor arrays to guide their weapons and detect enemy craft, military vessels often deploy Sensor Drones to detect hidden targets and scout ahead of the fleet.




Like the Boarding Pod, the Sensor Drone has an 'open' and 'closed' variant. Also, it's exhaust is the other way around compared to the pod, making the Sensor Drone almost look like a reversed Boarding Pod. The closed pod is 5.94mm tall/wide and 9.21mm long. The open pod is 8.52mm tall/wide and 8.13mm long.

Looking awesome man! I love seeing new BFG scaled ships that really capture the details like yours.

I might have missed it, but are you 3d printing these or otherwise making them available for purchase?

Thanks! By the way, did you also check Armand's stuff? The guys over at Resin Addict have also been doing some amazing stuff!

But yeah, regarding my own ships: the plan is to print them and have them cast. A fellow over in the UK will do a few test prints for me, that way I can see if the designs actually work in real life (I noticed it's very easy to make very tiny details on a computer, but they won't be visible in real life). After that it would be casting I guess. So lets see how that'll go, hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures in the coming weeks.

Wow, those are nice! I need to get RiTides to CAD up some cool ships for him to print and me to cast. Though we might be the majority of the target audience on this side of the pond

A little teaser...

A little box arrived at the post yesterday...


(not all the boarding pods are in the picture)


Compared to FUD by Shapeways (front ship) this stuff is (a) a lot more detailed and (b) a lot smoother, which is all very nice!








However, there have been some issues with the bottom parts of the ships:



Hopefully this can be fixed with some (liquid) greenstuff and some filing/sanding...

Oh, and I really love how the boarding pods came out!