One area where I haven't spent enough time in my world-building is ships and cruisers. While I do have ideas for a few of them - mainly names without a mental image - I'd like to work through some of these concepts, even as rough sketches, or - what I'd prefer - fully fledged models.
Model Making
I tend to use polymer clay to create concept models and designs for creatures and aliens from the world I've been building for a while now. The hobby of model making is something I've really enjoyed over the last few years since getting into it.
Polymer clay is great for creating humanoid characters and creatures in general, as well as clothing or small detailed accessories for them, it's fine. What it isn't fine for though is things like starships, fighters, cruisers, or buildings for that matter.
Having neglected this aspect of my world-building (which is weird considering the number of stories that revolve around spaceships, or space travel...) I've gone and bought some bits and pieces on Amazon, which are -
- More polymer clay (Because I was running low)
- Aluminum wire spools (running low too)
- Some UV resin, and a UV light for drying it (I've never used this before but it should be cool, and I'll be able to use this to give a glossy look to the eyes of models)
- Coffee stirrers, just in case I need them for framing or outer detailing.
- Styrene sheets, which I can cut and use for building the body of some of these ships/ buildings.
- Then blades and stuff like that, and I also bought a pasta maker because pressing sheets of clay is meant to be a good way of covering the tinfoil base I tend to use.
When my delivery arrives, it'll be really cool and should give me a newfound fervor to create some of these things that have been floating around my head.
One of The First Ships I'll Build
A Ravigne Model-TT-31
In a novel I completed about 10 months ago, which is currently undergoing an edit, to get it to the best possible standard before I release it.
The ship used by the squad in the novel is the one mentioned above, and I have a rough idea in mind of what it looks like, but I find it so hard to describe things from only a mental image. Hence they want to build this thing.
Open side doors, and swivel gun seats attached are a must, so in a way, kind of like an old school helicopter, or at least that's the rough idea, however, that mixed with one of the Republic Gunships from Star Wars.
The TT-31 is an older model transport ship, which is still being used by the team and is constantly maintained by the engineer/ pilot, Bird.
Creating this ship will be a lot of fun, and I'm going to film the entire process, warts and all. Considering it'll be the first model of this type, I'm sure there'll be a lot of learning during the build. For that reason too, I can't wait. There's nothing better than learning something new, and having a new form of a creative outlet.