The Resupply Mission by NefariousDrO
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Any long-term human presence in space quickly runs into a very important (and surprisingly often overlooked) need for basic volatiles: water, air, and the like. Closed-loop recycling systems can only do so much, as there's always some loss in any system no matter how good. Add to that, as soon as you insert commerce, travel and the like your system is no longer closed. Now you have people and goods bringing things in and taking them out. Not to mention the volatiles needed as propellant for space craft. All of this means that comets, Kuiper-belt objects, and Oort Cloud bodies all become valuable sources of what just might be the most important resources for sustaining humans in space. Prospectors and miners of course cover the asteroid belt and such finding a surprising array of resources, but the more daring prospectors go for the comets. Here they brave objects that are shooting random hazards at your ship as you approach, prone to unpredictable changes, and can even break apart unexpectedly. Naturally, this leads to getting to a comet early enough that it's still far from the sun and less prone to these hazards. Then it's simply a matter of setting up to get what you need where you'll need it. Here we see a miniature convoy slipping around a super-massive comet preparing to rendezvous the operation that plans a bold undertaking, one that may either result in a fabulous success, or total disaster. But in either case, it will make for quite a story!
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These are all ship models I've used several times before, but I like them so much I just can't let them languish for too long. The models are my own creations, done entirely within Bryce 6.5, textures are a mix of presents, modified presents, and a few of my own for good measure. Post work was all done in Photoshop, including some of the "wear" on the surfaces of the ships, the starscape and comet in the background, compositing, border, and resizing.
Thanks for taking a look everyone, and as usual comments/suggestions/critiques are definitely welcome. Have a great week!

Comments (24)
Kick.n Sci-Fi/Space Scene/Art!
As always an excellent image made all the more interesting by the dialogue you havecreated for it.
LOVE IT ...SUPER COOOOOOOOL
WHAT TO SAY? SUPERB?AMAZING? GLORIOUS?WONDERFUL? ONE I KNOW .IT IS U N I Q U E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Fantasic scene! Great modeling and lighting. Corrie
fantastic spaceship creation, great presentation
EXCELLENT
This is an amazing image...fantastic work!!!
SPLENDID space ships !!! Wonderful 3D mood and great SciFi scene !!!
Good explanation, and great pic! I really like the heading part of the conveyor.
Magnificent space ships..great modeling! SUPER :)
Love this theme and the results!
Amazing use of your modelled ships.
Fantastic work on both the ships and the comet and space-scape! Incredible work, my friend!
Great scene! I like the bluish look. Yep, a lot easier to mine something that isn't exploding and falling apart...
Oldies but goodies...really like these ship designs,and the overall scene is really well composed...excellent work!
This is a VERY cool design, and also the render in marvelous! BRAVO! Just added to my preferred images!
magnifique!
love the detail extent of this work of art!
Wow, this has quite the dizzying POV. Fine texture work as well.
Okay, that comet-body is largely spherical, which means ONE thing. It's a frakkin' whopper! Anybody bold enough to do stuff with that is pretty effin' cool in my book. The ambition (propelled by necessity) is worthy of admiration. And this scene itself is really stunning. As always, your attention to detail is amazing, and your ships are completely believable--though not as boring as "real" starships are likely to look. Oh, the designs are sound, and feasible, but lets face it..."real" ships simply lack pizazz. Give me a fleet of these any day, especially the central vessel, pulling those cargo/equipment pods behind it, like some exotic insect exuding an egg-case that hasn't fully exuded yet. I love that! This scene, and the backing narrative completely rock!
Nothing wrong with re-using a good design. I particularly like the bigger ship.
I like the color combination
Amazing image. Well done. Geoff.