A start of the Shamrayev project

 I'm not rushing into modelling. I wanted to do some sketching out to make sure that I do a proper rethink of the design. The early sketches have guided me to the following decisions:

1. The configuration should be structurally sound. The sail masts could be more efficient at bearing load if they're biased toward forward acceleration. This means that the aft beam is angled more steeply and might be larger.
   
   
2. The superstructure mustn't be too chunky. Load-bearing beams that are the wrong proportions (too thick) would weigh too much themselves and be self-defeating.
   
   
3. Modular, as each component of the ship could be detached from the frame, and swapped out with a replacement, which just then gets wired and piped up to the rest of the vessel. And yet unified; all the older designs look mismatched, with some parts looking a bit Sci-Fi, while other parts looking realistic and NASA-like.
   
   
4. Test the design against all criteria at each step of the design process. This means designing with the Big:Medium:Small principle and the 30/70 rule. Maybe get a second or more opinions as the design progresses.
   
   
5. Strictly no greebles. If it's in the design, it fulfils a specific purpose.
   
   
6. Keep to the spirit of the original design. Through the redesign process, let's keep one foot in the old design. Keep the component list and basic arrangement. I like these aspects of the design; it just needs a lot of refinement.
   
   
7. No compromises. If I get tired, I stop and recharge rather than rattle off work to race to the finish line.

Early design notes and sketches

Mood board 1

I looked through some designs, new and old. The 2010 Leonov remains a favourite, although I'm aiming at something that looks more spindly and structural. The starship from Avatar is a brilliant example of this - I love how organic the core truss looks. There's the movie and concept version of the ship from Project: Hail Mary. Really cool work by Ivan Weightman, who started out as a concept modeller on Gravity, which is a perfect fit for the film. The personal piece by Maciej Rebisz is way closer to the book's version. I love Maciej's work, and he primarily works with Blender. On the subject of Blender users, Rasmus Poulson (AKA Technouveau) remains a huge inspiration. His work is more on the Sci-Fi side, with his Star Wars-inspired designs being some of the best -- better than some of the official ships. One ship he designed that took my breath away:

This is an incredible "have your cake and eat it" design that combines the fun and creativity of a Sci-Fi combat carrier with plenty of plausible engineering. The yellow superstructure gives a sense of something real, not a bunch of hollow 3D model parts. Although I'm not super keen on how the structure connects to the main ship, that visual mess is, in the end, a feature, not a bug, as it breaks away from the ship designs that are too sleek and regular...dull, dull, dull.  

Takeaways for the Shamrayev:

• A balance between the cool overall shapes and a sense of visual mess. 
• Maybe the crew hab module needs to be a smaller part of the overall design?
• Maciej Rabisz Mars Cycler has fold-away masts. These look very cool. Something to think about? Some element of folding away might make sense. Possibly for high acceleration (2G+ spurts)?