[WIP] Copenhagen Suborbitals SPICA-1 Rocket

[ethan829]

Although I have no experience with Blender, GIMP, or Unity, I'd like to try making a replica mod pack of the Copenhagen Suborbitals SPICA-1 rocket and capsule. Here's the hacked together reference material I'll be working from.

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I've been playing around with Blender for the past day or so trying to get the basics down, and so far I've made a fair amount of progress on the main fuel tank with the cable and fuel tunnels:

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Depending on how things go I might make some other CS rockets in the future as well.

Any feedback or recommendations are appreciated.

Edited May 12, 2015 by ethan829

[Kartoffelkuchen]

Interesting, good luck with this project! Modding is great, and it's great that you decided to get into this, it's really wort it, though it can be really frustating sometimes.

If you need help somehow, feel free to ask!

Edited May 11, 2015 by Kartoffelkuchen

[ethan829]

Thus far I have learned that I need more practice

[BlazingAngel665]

Nice to see another CS fan on the forums! I did the HEAT family and the Sapphire a few years ago. Nice to see a Spica! Try using the "smooth" render option along with your cylinders. It will help even out the edges.

[ethan829]

The latest issue: Modelling the cable tunnels seems to have shifted the center of the model a small amount, causing the attachment nodes to be slightly off-center. Interesting...

But I managed to get that sorted and added some more detail to the tank

Now I just need to figure out how the hell UV mapping works...

Edited May 12, 2015 by ethan829

[ethan829]

After fighting with some rotation and scaling issues, I finally got a rough outline of the instrument unit done. I've also decided to forego the cable and fuel lines on the main fuel tank and instead just model the welded seams between sections, as seen in the newer renders from CS.

[ethan829]

Also got the capsule blocked out, although I don't yet know how to make the fins create drag. I made a rough approximation of the other components out of stock parts, and took the whole thing for a little test flight. Everything seemed to work well!

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[hieywiey]

You might want to attract the attention of Copenhagen Suborbitals as they are on the KSP forums!

[ethan829]

Made an ugly nosecone

[Mecripp]

Reminds me of this mod back in .22 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/54751-22-copenhagen-suborbitals-Heat-1x-Tycho-Brahe-v1-1!

[The Yellow Dart]

Wow this is looking great! I love CopSub, great to see them in KSP!

[ethan829]

Added fins to the booster. They're nonfunctional for the time being. Now all that's left is the ballute, parachute, and BPM-100 engine. Oh, and UV mapping/texturing (ugh). I'm also starting to feel the effects of how unoptimized these parts are. Been getting some really low framerates ever since adding the nosecone.

Edited May 25, 2015 by ethan829

[ethan829]

Work has slowed substantially since I started a Summer job, and I'll be gone the entire month of July, but don't worry, the project isn't dead. I got a (very) rough approximation of the BPM-100 engine modelled and loaded up, although it's non-functional for now. Hopefully that's a result of not using Unity yet...

[curtquarquesso]

Hey! This is really neat. Haven't seen someone attempt anything from Copenhagen Suborbitals yet. Talk about an IRL Kerbal Space Program... Sheeesh. I'm really new to modding as well. I've just recently learned how to unwrap and do some basic texturing, but I haven't been able to put anything in game yet. Baby steps... Need any help? Sounds like a neat project.

[_Augustus_]

Hey! This is really neat. Haven't seen someone attempt anything from Copenhagen Suborbitals yet. Talk about an IRL Kerbal Space Program... Sheeesh. I'm really new to modding as well. I've just recently learned how to unwrap and do some basic texturing, but I haven't been able to put anything in game yet. Baby steps... Need any help? Sounds like a neat project.

Someone else did CS parts but that was a year ago

[Astrofox]

HECK YEAH!

I've always wanted to see Copenhagen Suborbitals capsules and rocket/spacecraft parts!

Hope development will continue to go smoothly!

Also, is this going to be a Hybrid fuel (Solid/Ox) rocket or is it just going to run off of standard LFO?

[Phoenix1583]

A CS mod? That's awesome! I'll keep my eye on this.

[ethan829]

HECK YEAH!

I've always wanted to see Copenhagen Suborbitals capsules and rocket/spacecraft parts!

Hope development will continue to go smoothly!

Also, is this going to be a Hybrid fuel (Solid/Ox) rocket or is it just going to run off of standard LFO?

SPICA-1 will be an Ethanol/LOX rocket. The BPM-100 engine will be similar to the BPM-5, but larger. Here's some video of the BPM-5 in action:

Hey! This is really neat. Haven't seen someone attempt anything from Copenhagen Suborbitals yet. Talk about an IRL Kerbal Space Program... Sheeesh. I'm really new to modding as well. I've just recently learned how to unwrap and do some basic texturing, but I haven't been able to put anything in game yet. Baby steps... Need any help? Sounds like a neat project.

If you know of any good unwrapping/texturing/mapping tutorials, I'd love a bit of guidance! I've been trying to put it off as long as possible, but I think the time is rapidly approaching where I'll have to learn.

I also did some more work on the engine:

Edited June 14, 2015 by ethan829

[ethan829]

Did some work on the ballute, although I'm not sure if I'm going about it the right way. Anyone know if you're supposed to model the "string" as a solid object or just a 2D line?

Edited August 12, 2015 by ethan829

[ethan829]

A small update:

I remade my tank model in a much more optimized way, and I think I finally unwrapped it properly.

[ethan829]

I'd just like to say that I haven't abandoned this project. Haven't made much progress as I've been busy with school and work, but CopSub recently released some preliminary BPM-100 images that inspired me to try some more modeling.

Still lots of work to be done, of course, but it's something.

Edited November 13, 2015 by ethan829