the following is from an earlyer post on the Iain Banks forum but it basically outlines my project.

I'm doing my major project on movie production design for Consider Phlebas. my project is focus on designing the clear air turbulence, as is it a 'hero' object in the book.
altho concept for other parts of the story have been drawn to build a better under standing of the context inwhich the CAT existed

the following is a breif discription of the CAT


The Clear Air Turbulence:

The Clear Air Turbulence (or CAT as it is referred to as) is a space ship in Iain Banks book 'Consider Phlebas'. In the story it is a renegade mercenary/pirate ship, it has a long history and has changed ownership many times, having various alterations done along the way.


Quotes from the book:

'The Clear Air Turbulence was a venerable Hronish armored assault ship from one of the declining, later dynasties, and was built more for ruggedness and reliability than for performance and sophistication.'

'On either side of the hull the warp units bulged, like small version of the hull itself, and connected to it by stubby wings in the middle and thin flying pylons swept back from just behind the crafts nose. The CAT was streamlined, and fitted with sprinter motors in the tail, as well as a small lift engine in the nose, for working in atmospheres and gravity wells.”

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In order to properly design the CAT i need to invent a backstory for it. this would tell me who made it, what kind of civilization they were and what technolgies were avaiable to them.

Tthe following is the backstory i gave to the CAT. if you have any sugestions or ideas that you think i should add to this please post them i'm very interested on getting more points of view on the CATs history.

CAT History:

The Hronish dynasty that built the CAT was a society that valued their home planet above all else and through technology became a fully sustainable society. They were an honorable and prestigious race, proud to be part of the circle of life on their sacred planet. They had an abundance of recycled plastics leftover from a more wasteful era, this they molded using a high pressure injection molding technique which enabled the plastic to be super strong and heat resistant.
Energy was considered free, their power supply's needed no fuel to run but could only produce low at ampage so battery systems where ustilises for moments of high consumption. At the time of the CAT's construction the Hronish dynasty had been suffering from a long and treacherous onslaught from a larger colonising neighboring planet. The CAT was part of the Hronish Royal Guard and was one of only two armored assault ships in the guard. In a last stand final battle, when the Hronish army had been all but defeated the CAT managed to escape with the last surviving member of the Hronish royal family.
The CAT was then sold and bought many times undergoing alterations and repairs until all memory of the Hronish civilisation it spawned from had all but disappeared.

It is now considered an ancient relic but still boast a fast top speed for a ship of its size.

specs:
- Holds 18 people in 9 small cabins.
- Top speed = 1200 lights
- About one hundred metres long

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ok so this along with the rest of the book was basically my criteria.

the following are early concepts for the CAT,



this concept was going for a junk yard/ lopsided layer over the top of a sturdy elegant orginal ship.


This concept is alot faster looking with its two big warp units on each side and its bird like form.


this copncept was alittle bit more out there, its more bug like and features bright colours


this concept has a plastic injection molded shell with metal encasing areas for higher pressure. the sprinter motors have been replaced


this was my final concept at the end of last semester
   

i'll put some more recent stuff up soon


ed denton

I love you ed

get on the bag ed!

DEEEENnnnTToonn!

Fantastic work Ed,

the vectored thrust unit is a nice visual counterbalance to the smooth bodywork, and the overall aesthetic works well with Banks' writing (I'm reading the Algebraist at the moment).

Look forward to seeing some work on the model

these are some of my other drawings, i wont be developing any of these but it'd still be good to get some feed back on them

hey ed how do you get these pics to come up full size in the posts?

u have to have them upload else were on the web and then link to them

I really like the character of the third of the most recent artworks- the snowy one. Great sense of lighting and gesture- you should try and make some of your own brushes for extra texture, I think they would suit your style.

ok its been awhile since i've updated but basicaly the design is coming along well i've jjust got to finish a few small areas and work on details and storyboarding. but this is what it looks like so far.

this is the bottom of the ship. this needs so much more detail and refinement but most of the major functional aspects are in place.
   

the view from the front and back
   

the top
   

this is a shitty veersion of the side but its pritty old and undetailed.
   

and basically how it'd look in 3d except the tail is a bit small so it looks out of proportion. and also since the ship is 100 meters long it ought to have a much more extreme perspective.
   


this is just a quick form study to check the basic proportions
   

i'm just starting to realize how detailed its going to have to be to make it come across as a 100 meter long ship. but should get tghere.

any comments on the tail section would be much apreciated or on any part of the design.

this is kinda how i think the tail is gonna be but i've been having lots of trouble with it. most of my otehr concept have a much more technical and clumsy tail. but theirs somthing about this that i think works, so i'm gonna see if i can bring more of this elemnt into the hull of the ship as another layer explaining the ships history.