Gentle Peoples....I seek inspiration!!!!

[psteinert]

I am searching the unknown for ideas. Where do you get your ideas from? What source of insanity drives you forward to create something that is your"s alone? Do you design by building or design on paper? Do you use a CAD design program? Please tell me the mystical ways of your muse.

[Johnnycrash]

Do you design by building or design on paper? Do you use a CAD design program?

Yes, and yes. It all depends...

Randomly open threes kits, and put the parts on the bench. See how they might fit together. It may not be the design you will build, but it might inspire you with shapes, and patterns and so on.

[Kylwell]

Paper, 3D apps, hacking plastic. I designed a ship based off a frying pan once. It's a matter of seeing a great shape and figuring out a way to pervert it for your own use.

[Andrew Gorman]

Indole Alkaloids and Bach work pretty well for me. And 70 year old issues of Popular Mechanics.

[Kylwell]

...And 70 year old issues of Popular Mechanics.

Quick! To the dentists office!

[naoto]

Simple. Go put on several layers of clothing, then stand in a sauna with the heat turned on high.
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Oh, wait... You asked for inspiration, not perspiration... never mind then.

[Scotaidh]

I tend to find my inspiration from the others on these forae (forums? fori?).

Keptin Barnes, for instance, who inspired me to try to build a model with my left hand, when I'm right-handed. Not my best model, technically nor any other way, yet not my worst, either.

The hover tank challenge, where we're not allowed to use tank hulls or turrets as hulls or turrets, respectively.

Comics inspire me - The Trigan Empire, for one.

Johnnycrash's idea sounded good to me - give that a try.

I have also just sat down with a grunch of parts and a bottle of glue - oh, wait - that was Iron Modeler.

[naoto]

How 'bout Lego? If it worked for Shoji Kawamori, didn't it? (referring to TV interview in which he demonstrated how used a Lego prototype to work out details of the VF-25 mecha from "Macross Frontier")

BTW does anybody else remember a book from the late 1970s or early 1980s which had illustrations along the lines of "how kids see things". Things like disposable ball-point pens becoming rocketships, etc.

In the meanwhile... here is something amusing to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaAXlbRCN9E

[AbsoluteSciFi]

My inspiration comes from within mostly- But for when I am looking for directions to go in, I usually Google "starships", or "spacecraft" or anything that relates to what I am in the mood for.

I am an artist (for the past fifteen year) and I have always started with a thumbnail drawing; thumbs are a great way to get your inner thoughts onto paper without expending too much effort or thought, and you can pump them out in little time. I have thousands of thumbs for spaceships, most of them I will never develop any further than a thumb, they just don't shine.

When one thumb catches my fancy, I will do another, and another, then make a larger drawing, refine the details, and ultimately, do a schematic that I can then use to build from. Most of the time- I need to do a small model out of cut chipboard to flesh out the 3-D detials. Not all models need this extra step, but some models with complex curves need this attention.

That pretty much sums up my entire creative process... hope that inspires!

[AbsoluteSciFi]

BTW-

I did try CAD- 3-D programs seem to run out of polygons before I finish the model!

Even then I need to do a thumb just so I know what it is I am spending my time on- for most people, time is the most valuable thing we have! If you haven't an idea- then your just playing around till you find something you like...

Thumbs.

See what sucks faster.

[MillenniumFalsehood]

My inspiration comes from the brain's ability to recognize patterns in chaos. I'll stare at a section of 'noise' for a long time. It can be carpet, sand, stars, textiles, anything that has static noise. When I see an interesting shape I'll jot it down. Maybe I can develop it later. Or maybe it's a flop.

I once designed an entire starship based on the lines of a rug that was roughly dropped on the floor.

[USSARCADIA]

There's a pattern in my driveway I'd love to make into a large dropship.
There's also cool patterns to be had in wood grain(birch) and clouds(just sketch them quickly).

[en'til Zog]

Bugs.

Not the rabbit, real bugs.

Or at least pictures of bugs.

Organic, yes, but many bugs are quite mechanical looking.

[walter]

I here voices

[raser13]

i usually see a piece(pen,toy,plastic spoon handle) and my brain just says that's not a _______ it's a nacel/pylon/bridge/whatever and then i think of what other "pieces" i have at home that would fit with it and the plan just kind of puts itself together. that's why i have little boxes of parts gathered together with a rough sketch on note paper so i can remember the inspiration when i get time to get back to it. but the parts usually kind of calls to me. i say just dump your greebly box on the table, have some sheet styrene near by and just look at them and let them just talk! then glue them as they suggest. if you get pulled away just write yourself some notes.

[Mr.Sci-Fi]

I walk the isles of retail stores, looking at textures , colors and angles one little item might spark something.

[Butters]

Alot of my inspiration comes from wanting something and A, it not being available or B, not being able to afford something. Awhile back, I considered mastering a kit of a Star Wars subject because there was'nt one available for purchase. I haven't sold the master, but I did build it.

Other times, I get inspiration from the guys here on the board, who, suprisingly, know what they are doing.

And then there's this guy, who I'm absolutely in awe over.
http://www.jbadiorama.com/the_abbey.php

[ulvdemon]

How 'bout Lego? If it worked for Shoji Kawamori, didn't it? (referring to TV interview in which he demonstrated how used a Lego prototype to work out details of the VF-25 mecha from "Macross Frontier")

BTW does anybody else remember a book from the late 1970s or early 1980s which had illustrations along the lines of "how kids see things". Things like disposable ball-point pens becoming rocketships, etc.

In the meanwhile... here is something amusing to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaAXlbRCN9E

Have to laugh at that. The cap of a Bic pen became the inspiration of a space fighter when I was into drawing in the early 90's.

[Glorfindel]

Simple. Go put on several layers of clothing, then stand in a sauna with the heat turned on high.
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Oh, wait... You asked for inspiration, not perspiration... never mind then.

Actually that's not a bad idea. North American Indians have "Smoke Outs" and they would meet their animal spirit guides. They, in turn, would speak to them and show them the "way". So great ideas can arise from such activity. Literally sweat it out of you and when your at peace...the magic happens and pops into your mind. Very metaphysical indeed!

[Bellerophon]

When attending some boring obligatory event (a family holiday dinner or a high school football game where my daughter's in the marching band), no one can see that up behind my glazed eyes, slowly taking form, is a superdetailed 1/72 cutaway D-7 complete with 25mm Klingons doing their duties and having knife-fights while off-duty. Other times it's something more achievable, and then maybe it gets drawn in AutoCAD and the bugs worked out.

[Tony Agustin]

Usually I get the best ideas when I'm not intentionally seeking them. Usually a good long quiet walk will shake out those miraculous visions hiding in your head.

[Glorfindel]

Usually I get the best ideas when I'm not intentionally seeking them. Usually a good long quiet walk will shake out those miraculous visions hiding in your head.

I do find a few beers or glass of wine and talking to myself releases the Kracken.

[Butters]

Endless hours of interweb surfing usually spur me to some effort to copy someone elses work of excellence for myself. That's what led me to scratchbuild my Warhammer40K KillKrusha Tank. Too lazy to come up with my own ideas.

[Bellerophon]

I do find a few beers or glass of wine and talking to myself releases the Kracken.

If your creativity is the kraken, are all your ship design ideas for the Mon Calamari?

Maybe you can think up ideas then, but can you execute them? Not me. I love both beer and modeling, but alcohol and modeling cannot coexist! If I drink so much as one beer, I lose any desire to do modeling. Conversely, when I'm at my workbench, I don't want so much as one beer.

Same goes for the talking to myself thing, too, I guess. If I'm building models, my thought processes go totally nonverbal and become purely visual/spatial.

[Kylwell]

The Kraken?

[PetarB]

I find deadlines are the only thing I need to inspire me - this is usually for work by the way!

However, for a modelling project, I'm surprised by how motivated I am once I give myself a deadline.

If it's a creative issue, I put myself out of my comfort zone, by looking at, or participating in things I wouldn't normally. This often provides new experiences, or new inspirations, or new perspectives on existing ideas.

[chrisjon65]

I would love to see some photos of everyone's creation.

[rpauly]

I am searching the unknown for ideas. Where do you get your ideas from?

I get mine from an outfit in Schenectady, New York. I send 'em $25 a month, and they send me back an envelope of ideas. It's great!*

Humble apologies to Harlan Ellison, but this hole was wide enough to drive a truck through, and Harlan, that was a damn funny truck...

[ajmadison]

I get ideas from a couple of sources. For images of pure imagination, I go to conceptships.blogspot.com.

For confirmation or deeper thoughts that I'm on the right track I go to whatifmodelers.com

And wish I had actually found these sites on my own. Other posters here on S-M recommended them to me.