Achilles – Weapons Complete

03/13/2021 – I started work on another post about some more design and inspiration elements on the Achilles when I realized I wasn’t quite happy with the shape of the ventral gunpod. That took a great deal of focus for less visible change than I wanted. I also cleaned up the topology on the cockpit canopy, which mostly just means straightening out the contours so that they’re more regular.

To make up for all that humdrum slight change, I also textured the last modular component of the ship – the two large ventral gunpods. Here’s a link to the armaments compilation p3d including the newly textured gunpods. They were a fun challenge as the most complicated shapes I’ve tackled with Substance so far. Since they are the most powerful direct fire weapons these fighters can mount, they deserved a bit more pageantry and detail. I had a lot of fun with the panels and stripes – channeling a bit of Homeworld in them. I wanted to make sure they were recognizable from multiple angles and that they shared a common chassis. Click the render below to be linked to a p3d model of the whole fighter:

Here is a direct link to a higher resolution version of the above render. I made a second render below, clicking that render will link to the higher resolution there as well. Both are taking advantage of Maya’s excellent raytracing – we’re getting close to the time where I can start unwrapping the fighter.

I’m still not entirely happy with the gunpod mounting. I think it needs a more complicated retraction mechanism, perhaps based on a scissor lift. The appeal of that sort of shape is that it would fill the negative space when viewed from the side while the gunpod mount is open. I’ll try to mock up something in the next few days.