Modelling

Lanterns

With the lamp i started with a simple Polygon cube and added a few edges, then I extruded a few times and then merged the vertexes at the top.

I made two different kinds of lamps one as they wouldnt use one design for the ship.

Pulleys

We had some trouble with reseaching the pulleys for junks as all of our reference picturs where from very far away, or too pixelated, so we watched Pirates of the caribbean : worlds end, where there is a junk, although we couldnt get such a good look at it we could see that they wernt too different from european designs, maybe they where better made but the basic shape was the same. 

Cannons balls and sand bags

The cannon balls where the simples object i modelled for obvious reason, but I spent a bit more time on the shader, I gave it a metallick shiny shader, with bits of rust in it, I also gave it a bump map.

I laso made a hand cannon, although we decided not to use it as there where not enough reference pictures avaliable in the internet.

bottles

To make the bottles I used a curve and revolved it to  make a Nurbs object, i then added a green shader and I upped the transparency to make it look like glass.

Sail Rigging

i will be designing the rigging for the sails, attaching them to the ship.
mu team mate Greg has allready done some work on the sails( http://junkgregmartin.blogspot.com/2010/10/concepting-sails.html),and my job is to create workable designs to attach and control them. i have have already researched pulleys and other systems to controll the sails and lift cargo

Objects

And here are some more research pictures from my trip to the Victoria And Albert museum in London.

A brazier used in ships. this will be VERY useful as we had no idea on how the kitchen worked, and we had assumed they made a stone chimney , but this would weigh a lot more and take up lots of space.

Japanese armour close up (liked the texture and thought it could be used somehwere)

Tea set

european locking mechanisms

Arabian astrolabe (Arabic scholars where at this time world famous for their knowledge, and there is proof that the Chinese used Arabic navigation technology)

Deck

Concept art

After doing my research I can now start using it to make my own ideas. The section of the ship I am working on is the Sleeping quarters for the sailors, I imagined this to be a hold deep in the ship, packed full of hammocks (take up less space and copes better with swaying of the ship than beds), I made two rows of hammocks on either side of a middle corridor, with two tiers of hammocks.

I will place personal belongings of the sailors tied to beams , below and on their hammocks and above hanging from the roof, this will give it a really cluttered claustrophobic look, although i will have to pre plan my shot so I don't do unnecessary work that wont be seen in the final video.

I'm also starting to make concept drawings of the sleeping area, to give my team-mates an idea of the feel i want for it, especially when the person doing the lighting and texturing gets to it.

Research

Now that we have done a bit of research into the basic shape of the ship, we have discussed the roles we want to do.
I will be a Concept artist (and i will work on the blue prints of the ship)  and will also do some modelling,
my other team mates will also do modelling, animating,lighting texturing and other jobs.

I have started with a basic plan for the ship , not bothering to add any objects , simply making sure the ship inst a death trap if it burns or sinks, (clear walkways throughout) and the main thing I am doing  at  the moment is getting bits from everyone research into one concrete idea, i have done a few blue prints:

pic to be inserted!!

And also a small plasticine model to help our main modeller:

More Research!

Junks where very well designed, they could withstand massive amounts of damage at sea and still stay a float, this was due to the hull begin split into sections which could be sealed, this will be a very important design feature for our model as we will mostly have hatches rather than doorways for the lower decks.

As there is very little visual evidence of their interior we have decided to apply what we have learnt from our research to what we can easily find about European ships, here we see a basic plan which we will use, although we have taken everything out of the bottom level, as in Junks these would be used for ballast (large pieces of stone to balance the ship out, and fresh water tanks and even water tanks containing fish!

I happen to have read this book a few years back , it described the whole treasure ship journeys and had some very detailed descriptions of the ships, their travels and their occupants.

I chose this for the kitchen/eating area

Research of pulleys and other ship details

Not much detail but it shows the characteristic curve of junks

usefull for panels

One of my favourite ships, i've seen it a few times and i love the design of it.

Few basic design for junks, mainly smaller vessels, as were not going to make the huge treasure carriers.

Not too detailed but i like the feel of it!

Some details I liked for the interior of the captains room,  sailing charts, paintings wood carvings and writing