Main Project Aesthetics: Plans and Alternatives

https://modelermagic.com/henri-2-0-a-science-fiction-short-film-by-eli-sas

My main project aesthetic will follow technical space exploration design. This aesthetic is that iconic industrial, practical, blocky yet slipstream design usually clad in all white that is in almost all space design from spacesuit gloves all the way to spaceships. It is probably just the engineer in me talking, but I have always just loved staring at anything that has been designed to go into space, the objects are made so incredibly sturdy and well.

Specifically, my final project will be scale model of a fictious long transit spaceship (think flight to Mars and beyond). Currently there are no existing designs for a spaceship of this kind and size, and I have always wondered what they will look like, so I decided to do it myself! One of the alluring aspects of the spaceflight design that I cherish is its grounding in reality, so I am going to try to stay away from science-fiction technology as much as possible, and stick to existing or very near future technology.

My plans are to not only design the outside of the spaceship, but also create a low-resolution mockup of the inside of the vehicle and be able to take off the ‘roof’ to see inside. Additionally, I want the separate modules able to be attached and detached freely, as that is actually how real spacecraft like the ISS is built. In keeping with the realism, I am going to do a fair bit of research into what systems and contents are present on a spaceship and include those in the design. At CU I have learned a great deal about human spaceflight and I want to take everything I have learned and pour it into a physical artifact.

My main plan of production in all of this is a combination of CAD modeling, then 3D printing using PLA, and then finishing with detailed acrylic painting.

As for alternatives, I would likely stick with vehicle design as it scratch’s that engineering itch, but potentially take it in another direction. Since I love space and space ships so much, I decided to sketch a spaceship in two aesthetics very different from practical space design.

60’s psychedelic: which funny enough was actually starting around the exact same time space design really took off. I took inspiration from the Beatle’s Yellow Submarine.

Cottagecore: I don’t think it gets any more different from the gigantic, industrial space structures than a quaint little cottage that probably inhabits a cute little grandma.