Trekmeshes.eu

Well, after the relative success of my Starfleet Museum Orbital Annexe, (which was a cool learning process), I've decided to advance slightly and do something a little more complicated.

I rarely see 'civilian' models from the Trek universe and so have decided to construct an orbital mining/refinery complex.

Again, don't expect too much out of it because this is only my second model and I'm still working hard to discover and understand things in Max 2010. (Hey, I'm 50, gimme a break!)

First elements are the storage tanks.

Ok, this is one of the support arms for the storage tanks. Again, the detail is provided more by texture than modelling although these will be slightly difficult to see in the final model.

Here we go, the full tank and mounting assembly.

These will form the central area around the processing facility itself which is next on the list!

Looking very nice.Love the dirty look on those textures. You must have some grapic experience to come up with that so fast. Did you draw any plans out before you started?
Be honest you work for paramount right


PS : one slight remark. the tankholder looks like its not fitting snugg round the tank.

Hahaha! Paramount! I wish....

Because I can't model too well I tend to put a lot of detail into the textures because it hides a lot! The grip around the container (you're quite correct) is not tight. At the black and yellow marker there's a tractor/forcefield which supports the tank without crushing it.

Ok, so the complex's general purpose is to mine and refine just about anything really although the back story to this station is that it's on orbit around a gas giant whose moon disintegrated and formed rings (much like Saturn) rich in dilithium. 'Harvester' vessels go out, collect the dilithium and return it to the refinery to be processed.

Anywho, here's the central core and processing facility. I want to light the central core later, but figured that for the processing facility there wouldn't be that many windows top and bottom because the majority of the space is taken up by machinery.

Large hangar bay to come for the Harvesters.

Well, Christmas and New Year out of the way, it's time to get back to the mining platform!

The two images show:



1. That's the hangar/loading/unloading bay, yet to be lit but prepped for attachment. You'll see when the lights are added just how big this baby is!



2. The admin/accomodation/biodome. The biodome aboard this orbital station is important in that it gives the miners and their families a sense of 'planetary' life with a small town in there that has restaurants, shops and parks as well as the mandatory greenery. The copper coloured sheathing (with the hexagonal grids) is a large holo-grid allowing the inside of the dome to show blue/cloudy/night time skies. The Ganjitsu Mining Consortium has extensive experience with such domed structures from their terraforming affiliates.

C&C welcome guys and gals.

Well I do believe she's just about complete with all the elements now joined and lit!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present my second ever model,

THE GANJITSU MINING CONSORTIUM ORBITAL REFINERY!

Daaaammmnnn..... You the man!! Very nice buddy, will the asteroid field also be included?? How does it mine? is it using tractor beams to pull in the ore?

Thanks Chainsaw!

The mining operation is carried out by automated drone ships. Scoop it up from the rings, haul it back, deposit it in the hangar area and back out for more. I'm hopefully gonna try and make one of these 'ore trawlers' but I'm not quite sure I'm up to a ship like that yet

The background image was a random internet picture I'm afraid so the asteroid belt isn't included. Unfortunately there was no credit with the image.

Look at this http://www.trekmeshes.ch/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=400 post, might give you some idea's.

Would it be of any interest to upload this mesh here? It's not strictly Star Trek so I wasn't sure?

Hi, Unusualsuspex!

I have followed your work. It's very good!

I wonder where you got the Kanji and Katakana?

Ano... Unusualsuspexsan wa nihongo dekimasunodesuka?

Welllll...... I really like the model -- but the STMC is, as you say, designed for Trek. It's to stay true to it's origins so to say. Non-canon (ie. fan created as opposed to designed by official Trek writers/designers) is fine, as long as the idea is based upon Trek. I would say somehow it needs to be recognizable as a Trek inspired model.

Does that actually make it any clearer? I'm not sure .

No problem Erik, I thought that might be the case!