[rap1983]

There are many interesting objects in the Wing Commander universe. This is meant to be a collection thread for them - a sort of gallery. Here, anyone can show off their handmade and/or 3D-printed creations and exchange ideas with other fans.
In addition to objects from the game “Privateer,” I also create models from the other games in the series. I didn’t want to post all of them in the “3D Printed Privateer Ships” thread.

First, I’ll present my test prints of the carrier ships from Wing Commander 1 to 3.
The Tiger’s Claw and the Victory are models by Astrofossil. The Concordia is by joestew1701. All models are available for free on Thingiverse.
I designed the base and the hole for it myself.
The painting was done with brushes.

The Astrofossil models are on a 1:500 scale. I printed my models on a 1:4800 scale so they’ll fit nicely on my shelf.


I’m thinking about printing the fighters on a 1:700 scale and matching the carriers accordingly. Initial scaling tests show that the Tiger’s Claw would then have to be over 2000 mm long for the fighters to fit through the side launch tubes. The carrier would then have a scale of approximately 1:350.
The advantage would be that I could add some lighting and a hangar. The downside is: Where would I put this huge monster?

What do you think?

 

[kingmakeress]

Nice work, keep it up!

 

[Bob McDob]

Instead of making the carrier bigger I would make the fighters smaller. Their official lengths are already twice the size they're shown in-game. I would also suggest that you get in touch with Howard Day and use his model as a base as it's had a considerable amount of thought put into it.

 

[rap1983]

Instead of making the carrier bigger I would make the fighters smaller. Their official lengths are already twice the size they're shown in-game. I would also suggest that you get in touch with Howard Day and use his model as a base as it's had a considerable amount of thought put into it.

I only have filament printers. My best printer can, however, print the fighters well in a small size. With a resin printer, I could print them even smaller and with greater detail.
As a next step, I’ll start by scaling the fighters so I can print the models in 1:72 scale later—using the pilot figure as a reference.
After that, I’ll figure out how big the Tiger’s Claw needs to be when I scale the models back down to 1:700.

Thanks for the tip. I sent him a dm.

 

[rap1983]

I did it quick and dirty and scaled the models to roughly 1:72 using the seat and the pilot as references. They still need some fine-tuning, but it’s roughly accurate. A pilot can actually fit into the cockpit with the seat. The Raptor and the Scimitar in the back row are slightly larger than the four newly derived models in the front row. It’ll never be perfect, since there are so many well-known inconsistencies. My crossover of spaceships with pilots alone shows that different scales apply in every part of the Wing Commander universe, because the pilot is the same size in all the spaceships shown.
I’m open to new input and tips.

 

[Bob McDob]

The reason I specifically recommended Howard's model was because he modeled in the launch tubes on the side of the ship as you can see here:

The fighters still look too big. Here is the Hornet, for example:

 

[rap1983]

His model looks great. It's a good base for painting. As I mentioned, I determined the size of the fighter jets based on the pilots. Everything else drives me crazy. You have to make compromises here and there.

 

[kingmakeress]

The reason I specifically recommended Howard's model was because he modeled in the launch tubes on the side of the ship as you can see here:

The fighters still look too big. Here is the Hornet, for example:

Very nice model, it captures the essence of the game as well as many details of Tiger's Claw.

 

[Bob McDob]

As I mentioned, I determined the size of the fighter jets based on the pilots. Everything else drives me crazy. You have to make compromises here and there.

Having followed the last thread I can certainly understand that. I do think you are over scaling the ships when compared to the pilot references that we have. Look at the Rapier:

 

[rap1983]

As you can see in the image you posted, the hulls of the spaceships are too narrow. The dimensions are still okay at the top near the canopy. The lower half lacks depth. The pilot is practically sitting on the floor. You also can’t see the ladder or the lower half of the mechanic behind the spaceship.

 

[Bob McDob]

As you can see in the image you posted, the hulls of the spaceships are too narrow. The dimensions are still okay at the top near the canopy. The lower half lacks depth. The pilot is practically sitting on the floor. You also can’t see the ladder or the lower half of the mechanic behind the spaceship.

I guess this is a good time to ask: where are you getting your models from? Are they also from Thingiverse?

Howard Day released a Hornet model many years ago. Klavs also redid his Hornet to be considerably more faithful to the original design, as well as the Rapier.

 

[rap1983]

For the “Tigers Claw and Fighter in 1:700” project, I used the models from Thingiverse to see if it would work. I'm only familiar with the other models—the ones with newer designs—from pictures. They look great, but I'd prefer the older look for the models. The newer ones are too curved for my taste, and I miss the edges. Maybe we can use the new models as a basis for adjusting the size of the old ones. I found Howard’s Hornet model, but I couldn’t convert it completely to an OBJ file.

 

[rap1983]

Today I’m showing you my little “Wing Commander 2” repair deck diorama.
I first assembled the individual parts on the computer and then printed them.

The original weapons were replaced with models from my “Privateer” projects.

I drew the tug and the maintenance computer myself based on in-game screenshots, since I couldn’t find any 3D models for them.

Cybot was kind enough to let me use his model of the Epee with a simple interior. I haven’t checked to what extent it differs from the model in the archive.

After attempting to thermoform it, I’ve put the idea of a visible cockpit on hold for now.

I designed the landing gear based on my own ideas and in-game images. I painted the Epee with a brush, masking off individual areas repeatedly as I went.
The steel framework is borrowed from my “Privateer Miningbase” landing platform project.

I hope you like it!

 

[Laughing Man]

I had the same idea
though due to space issues I had to use a smaller scale. My scale is 1:1600 resulting in a not too big Claw, but the fighters are / were a bit challenging: I ordered them in a shop for resin printing, but some structures eg. the thin wings were challenging to print even in resin. I am parallely working on a display Hangar for my 1/60 Mechs, from FCY but I want to make universally usable, of course for the 1/72 WC Fighters

 

[rap1983]

Those little planes look pretty good. With filament, these scales are way too small. Even with a 0.2-mm nozzle, I can’t print anything usable at such small scales. That’s why I bought a resin printer for what I thought would be my winter project this year. So far, I haven’t had time to set it up yet.

Which 3D model do you use for the claw?

I’m curious to see what else you’ll build and share.

What 1:72-scale spaceships do you already have?

 

[Laughing Man]

that is only possible with a resin printer. I live in an apartment, so a resin printer with those nice toxic fumes is a no go. That is why I had to purchase those prints. The Claw and the Drayman are then printed with FDM 0,2 Nozzle with 0.8 layer height, the claw with 1.2 or 2 - cannot remember correctly as it was a test print.

For the test print I used the Claw from Thingiverse. I have also the one from Klavs81. His models are AWESOME! But hisTigers Claw, for me (with my memories) is too modern (though I can absolutely understand is desigh decissions ;-) . I asked now Howard, as his Design is staying with the original one, but adding plenty of details and still looking .

I have not printed any 1/72 fighter yet, but my first one will be the Dralthi from Klav. Tried to figure out how to make a cockpit fitting to the one used in secret operations, and how to get a Kilrathi pilot... was thinking about using those in combination with a pilot file or something.

 

[Bob McDob]

Howard also did a Concordia hangar mockup which could be useful for reference.

 

[rap1983]

I also tend to prefer the classic designs.

Until I get a reply as to whether I can get a model from him,

I’ll probably build the Concordia first. There’s a good hangar model for that, after all.

 

[Bob McDob]

I got your message. It looks like modern web browsers have dropped support for the Unity Web Player. That's annoying. You can try downloading the project file and opening it directly in Unity (I have not tried this).

 

[rap1983]

I got your message. It looks like modern web browsers have dropped support for the Unity Web Player. That's annoying. You can try downloading the project file and opening it directly in Unity (I have not tried this).

Thank you very much for your support.

Using the “Pale Moon” browser, I was able to open the file and take a tour of the flight deck.
My deepest respect to the creator of this file.

Is it known to what extent the models differ from the original technical data and dimensions of the spacecraft?
On the flight deck, everything looks so consistent with the sizes of the various spacecraft.

I just took this picture during the tour.