Steam Launch Geraldine (+ new)

[Speedster]

Hi all;

Been awhile since I've posted due to client workload.  But all done now, so it's play time!

You know me for medical device design, trains, SteamPunk and cars.  But I've found over almost fifty years in this crazy business that it really pays to stretch out into new areas- it keeps the brain cells active!

So I've gone on a tangent with several projects of steam and sailing ships.  A challenge to say the least!  Lofting is no fun in any CAD app.  A breeze for things like turbine blades and airfoils, if provided with accurate mathematically generated lifts (loft plane offset tables), but a bitch when done freehand.

My SolidWorks + KeyShot 7 + (minimal) Photoshop model of the 40 foot 1900 era Steam Launch Geraldine (named for my wife Geri) is actually a dress rehearsal for what will be my most ambitious project to date, the 135 foot luxury steam yacht Medea, built in 1904, in Scotland.  She's my favorite thing on the planet, and on my bucket list for over forty years.  She served in two World Wars, sailed under seven flags, and is now fully restored and  berthed at the famous San Diego Maritime Museum, where she sails under steam several times a year.

Monster files.  SolidWorks is 432 MB.  The KeyShot 7 .bip is 1.82 GB!  16,722,132 polys.

I used all the toys in KeyShot 7.  Rendered in "Interior" mode, 620 samples, in about 20 minutes on 30 cores. My own HDR, with two large Diffuse Light discs as fill.  Water is "water", heavily tweaked, with the "Wavy" bump map.

The last "Agustus LeRoy's Parlor" (also all in SolidWorks) was a .bip > .bip.  I used the awesome "Snap to lower object" command to place the Medea model. Two IES lights, HDR brightness at zero.

I can hardly wait to start the Medea!  Unfortunately I have another medical device program starting next week.  Hate it when that happens!

Bill G

[mattjgerard]

Brilliant stuff there. Just love it.

[Will Gibbons]

That model in front of the photo is my favorite, Bill! Great fun.

[Josh3D]

Great project Bill. Love those shots!

[Speedster]

Thanks, guys!  Sure learned a lot on this one!

Here's a teaser of my next project, the 1904 Steam Yacht Medea.  I was privileged to ride aboard her many years ago.  You cannot believe the experience, and how quiet she is under steam.  Sure not like the "dadburned infernal combustion" types, as a friend used to say.

Bill G

[Will Gibbons]

Looks luxurious!