How did you build the Idris?

The Idris was great fun to build and ‘engineer.’ The requirements Chris laid down were a long list of often mutually exclusive design points, but I find that having to package a lot of tough elements in an aesthetically cool design can really make for a neat ship. That is to say that a design ‘earns’ a coolness by being functional and thought out down to the spars and ribs, rather than just being a styling exercise. Chris knew the number of engines, rough weight class, armament fit, function and mission capability and I just worked from there. I always start extremely roughly and send Chris 8-12 rough ideas, each of which has their pluses and minuses.

With this ship there was more time than usual spent at this early stage to get the right look — something that worked functionally, but also a design that looked a bit older, a bit more pugnacious and a bit more functional than some of the other ships. I love this approach; you can have your sleek, refined F-22 but then next to it you can have your F-15 or even F-4, with all of their comparatively brutish shapes and forms, tons of antennas and pylons sticking off — yet they both look cool in their own ways.

Since this ship can land atmospherically and is pretty large, it was a special challenge to incorporate a plausible VTOL-to-orbit-and-beyond capability. I decided to arrange the pivoting engines in such a way that they functioned in VTOL, atmospheric, and exoatmospheric modes — it’s a similar concept to that used on the Avatar Valkyrie, but on a much larger scale and with better engine failure redundancy. Arranging the engines all around the center of gravity and providing functioning landing gear and a bridge with good visibility and weapons with good field of fire coverage were all challenges. For the Idris I also had to give special consideration to the interior packaging — enough room for the cargo and small ship operations, but also enough room for the crew to have some room to spread out and even some private spaces to eat, entertain or just get away from your crewmates for a bit.

What was your inspiration for the ship’s look?

Chris was pretty specific about wanting something that would subtly evoke naval ships but didn’t look too submarineish — something that had a very distinctive silhouette and looked more functional and utilitarian than the aesthetic of, say, the Constellation. It’s less about angular panels and it has more radii, a different surface development.

The Idris is built by Aegis rather than RSI. Did this impact your design?

Definitely, and this ties in directly with your previous question because we are really trying to make the manufacturers distinct. In the same way you can tell a Lockheed product from a Northrop product, or a current-day American aircraft carrier from a Russian aircraft carrier. We want to go much further than that; it makes the world seem larger and it’s more fun to do.

What can you tell us about your plans for the Idris’ internal cabin?

With all the designs I do I think about the exterior shape first, but almost immediately put rough blocks in the model that represent rough guesses I have about where the internal elements are. I start with the engines and specific payload requirements and then find a good place for the bridge and weaponry, and the last thing to go in are the personal spaces like kitchen and bathrooms. These often get shifted around in the back and forth process with Chris, but it is best to settle on them early if possible. From the research I’ve found this is the way it’s done when building real ships and aircraft, so I try to emulate that approach for greatest realism.

I also try and work hull thicknesses and doors into the equation early, as I realize the importance of figuring that out. I try to keep the forward and rear facing hull structure the thickest. The beam positions can be a little lighter, as they would have less of a chance of sustaining ongoing fire and would more likely take a fleeting shot. One idea Chris had which was fun to play out is that he wanted to stay away from a lot of elevators in this ship and force the use of a lot of stairs to help sell the fact that the design is a bit older and less techy. Therefore the final design has a lot of doors and some retracting stairs, which then forces thought into airlocking those hull punctures. It was a very fun ship to work on. While building it I would kind of dolly and zoom around, pick angles that look cool and ask myself what would functionally be there and what could I put there to make this a fun place to spend time.

Can you give us a hint about your next ship design?

Hmm, yes, I just started working on the next design and I guess the hint I would give is more of an indication of where my head is right now — realizing that the aesthetic for the new ship will be different than that of any of the other ships I’ve done so far.