[Assignment Models] Tie Interceptor: Part 2 - Wing Panel Detail

 After creating the basic cockpit and wing shape for the Tie Interceptor model, I decided to expand work on the details for the wing next. To begin I started using the multi-cut tool to make cuts across the panels where the detail lines up with the schematics. While using the multi-cut tool I found out that while holding shift (snap to an increment) you can also hold control and create an edge loop that is snapped to that increment. This was incredibly useful while creating the different cuts needed to add detail to these panels as they needed to be the same on the inside and the outside.

After cutting the detail out for these panels I then selected the faces inside the borders I had created and inset them slightly, to give the effect that they are separate to the rest of the wing panel.

I repeated this process for the top and bottom panels towards the back of the ship, making sure to keep them as close as possible to the schematics.

I then repeated this process on the top and bottom panels towards the front of the ship, making sure that once I had finished I deleted some of the unnecessary edges created while using the multi-cut tool.

Below is the finished product of this detailing.

After looking at some reference pictures of the actual Tie Interceptor, I realised that the schematics I had been working off didn't show the panel detail clearly and that the panels should not be inset, but instead there should be a small border around the panelling that is extruded. While annoying that I had to redo all of this detail, I felt it was a more accurate representation of the Tie Interceptor wing panelling detail. Using similar methods to the first pass of detail I used the multi-cut tool to create a border around the panels as they appeared in the schematic and then extruded those faces outwards by a small margin. After this, I deleted any unnecessary edges made from the multi-cut tool.

Below is a picture of the finished second pass of the panel detail. While this added a layer of extra work, having to start the panel detail from scratch, I am much happier with the outcome and feel it is more representative of the actual tie interceptor model. I learnt a valuable lesson from redoing this detailing and have since made sure to have multiple reference images open at all times while working on the model instead of relying solely on the schematics.

Next I started to work on the spines that hold all of the wing panels together, starting with a flat piece of geometry that runs parallel to the seem between the back and front wing panels. This shape was a simple cube that was extruded a few times in order to make a small curve towards the end. I also added a small hexagonal shape on the outside of the wing that was a continuation of the connection from the arm connecting the wing and cockpit, making sure to shape it inline with the schematic.

After adding these panels I then created the actual spines that you can see on the ship. These stick out much further than the panels and connect up to hexagonal shapes I created on the inside and outsides of the ship.

While creating the spine on the inside of the ship I found I had some issues with at the connection point of the 2 shapes I used to create the spines. In order to fix this I used the target weld tool to connect the vertices of these 2 shapes together and create a tight seam.

Below are some pictures of the completed wing panel and spine details.

Moving forward with this model (and my remaining 2 models after this one) I will make sure to work with reference images available and not stick 100% to the schematic. Sometimes the schematics don't show enough clear detail or have slight deviations from what you find in reference images. A balance of both schematics and reference images will help to make my models more accurate and detailed.