USS Drum in Drydock

[Victariand]

A while ago i built a model of the USS Drum, a gato class submarine. More recently I decided to try dropping it in an environment of some kind. Anyway, i found a few pictures off google and took a shot at building a drydock - although i'm fuzzy on how accurate this layout it. The render was done with mental ray with an occlusion layer for good measure.
It is still a WIP, any feedback would be appreciated.

[starship]

Still a wip ? It's a very good job!

[Skyraider3D]

That's looking pertty cool. Nice setting. I'm surprised nobody replied until now.
O, and a belated welcome to MilMesh :)

[Martocticvs]

The scene looks very good, although the lack of textures on the subs obviously makes them stand out a bit at the moment... Any progress on this one since you posted it here?

[Spinner]

Yeah, I know the photograph you mean. I did a bunch of hunting for the smallest floating dry docks for a thing and found a fair few of the various sizes.
I think you're right that it's not really correct but very few would know. That particular one had entry at either end and straight sides.
Coming along nicely I think.

[pete.cook]

Well, having stood in a few drydocks in my time, I think you have this pretty much spot on. A lot of the drydocks in Portsmouth Naval Base are similar to this with the stepped sides and curved end, although few are big enough to have two subs in side by side.

The image itself looks very good. The stones of the dock wall look very authentic and the equipment and the blocks look good too. I agree with Paul's comment, that the subs look a little too clean, a bit of weathering and rust with add a lot to the image.

[Spinner]

Actually I was thinking of a different pic. There's photos of the Drum in a fixed installation with curved end at Puget Sound. Although the walls still seem quite vertical. I was thinking of the floating docks first built to support the fleet in WW2 Pacific theater. They had four sizes from tiny to terrific. There's a great pic of a sub almost lost in the immense space of the dock in one of those.

[Victariand]

Wow, admittedly I am somewhat surprised that this thread came back so suddenly. The image is from a short term project - specifically a number of short animations for a personal demo reel. The ships do have textures, although they are so subtle they are barely noticeable - I tried following the color scheme on the present day refs which keep a consistent light blue scheme. On the other hand I had the chance to view some screenshots from the recent silent hunters which featured loads of rust. Ill try experimenting a bit.

Anyway, just for grins here is where i stopped - the main hangup was trying to eliminate the aliasing from the decks.

[pete.cook]

I suppose the AA is one of those things you have to just live with sometimes. Actually, there is so much going on in the image that it's almost imperceptible anyway.

Another stunning image, btw. The subs still look a little too clean. An alternative to rusting them up could be to add a spec map that breaks the hull up into plates, that could give the impression that these are new boats that have just been built.

[cobra6]

If you did a German Type VII or IX I would probably have it as wallpaper for a year hahaha.

Nice work!

Cobra 6

[Aceman]

Man that's awesome.. It's like looks in a history book at an illustration. Love it. Kinda of inspiring me to do a scene I've had in my head for some time.

Kudos on a great job!
Aceman

[Chukk]

Kudos as well. Very nice image. My only critic is the lack of worker debris. Welders gear, pry bars, a few 45 gallon barrels, steel plates and stuff. Looking at it again, its like they are just about to flood it, but you would have lines on the subs and lots of crew and worker around and the contents of the dock cleared out.
Still I love seeing these models put in their enviroment, really gives them their scale.

[Lukem]

Superb image!

I agree with Cobra - Type VIIC next...please!:D

[ModelWarships]

Very nice. I agree that the drydock looks too clean, but an awesome setting just the same.