Challenge project: Orca

 I wanted to add a boat in yesterday's "Flower Island" landscape rendering. Only, I don't have a boat. So I thought about modelling one. *Sharp intake of breath* Difficult!

Well, I need something to challenge me. It's been weeks since my last Blender School session. Falling back into old tricks? Maybe. So, I've decided to throw myself into a big project. Build a great boat. Best boat ever! The Orca from the film Jaws, which the family watched together two weeks ago. The Orca is very memorable. It's a real character in its own right.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

References

I don't usually bother with using references. Because I AM RUBBISH. As I want to be less rubbish, I'm going to break with tradition and do the requisite preparation for the project. This starts with learning about the subject. To Pinterest! To Google! Then to PureRef, which is a really good image reference app. Highly recommended!

A good haul of reference images, mostly from scale models.

Starting point: Hull

Any boat is built upon its floaty part. The nautical term for which is "hull". That's where I'll start.

Blender references

Artisans of Vaul has a really nice tutorial on the best way to tackle two different styles of plank-built boats:

In the next exciting episode, you should see a hull. Fingers crossed!