The creator details their process of building a detailed 3D interior model of the Ironclad ship using Blender, combining photogrammetry, procedural geometry nodes, and modular asset creation to achieve an accurate and efficient design. Supported by their community, they developed original assets and shared interactive versions, while also planning to release procedural tools for fans to create their own interiors.
The video provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creator’s process of building a detailed 3D interior model of the Ironclad ship using Blender and various techniques. It begins with the creator explaining that this project follows their previous work on the Galaxy interior, and although it won’t offer much new information about the Ironclad itself, it focuses on the modeling and design process. They mention having completed an interactive version of the interior for channel members and Patreons to explore, emphasizing that all work is fan art and not officially affiliated with Cloud Imperium Games (CIG).
The creator started by aligning a camera to the official holographic model of the Ironclad to ensure accurate placement of interior floors and elements. Using reference images and the external gantry as a starting point, they began reconstructing the floor plan. However, due to limited visibility of some sections, especially the back and upper floors, they employed photogrammetry on clips from the Ironclad ISC to generate rough 3D models, which served as guides for building a clean and accurate layout by hand. Community help during livestreams was instrumental in solving complex alignment challenges.
To manage the ship’s vast interior efficiently, the creator leveraged Blender’s geometry nodes system to proceduraly generate repeating elements like doors, steel beams, catwalks, and staircases. This approach allowed for the creation of numerous variations of structural components while maintaining texture integrity and avoiding manual placement. The creator also developed an asset library from scratch to avoid copyright issues, ensuring all models and textures are original for interactive scenes shared with supporters.
With these procedural tools and modular assets, assembling the Ironclad’s interior became much faster and more manageable. The creator highlighted how improvements made to master scenes automatically update across the entire model, streamlining the workflow. They credited their Patreon and channel members’ support as a key motivation for undertaking such a time-consuming and ambitious project, which would be difficult to sustain through YouTube alone.
Finally, the creator shared an anecdote about the hangar design, noting it was originally constructed from angled corridor pieces and steel beams floating in space, reflecting concept art liberties. They decided to keep this design in their video but later created an additional piece to make it more polished. The video concludes with gratitude to supporters and a teaser for upcoming content, including plans to share the procedural asset setups for fans interested in building their own interiors.