Fireball XL-5 rocket and launch track.... Space City too

I loved this show when I was a kid. Still love the ship and city ....... please somebody, it would be great to see it. 

Comments

  • I haven't explored the whole site yet, and it's a bit ancient, but have a look here; it's someone's old Fireball XL-5 fan site. Scroll down to the Dave Kleve link, and there's a download in Lightwave format. It's in two parts, the main rocket and the "Junior" nose rocket.

    There are others, in various other formats, but this will probably be the easiest to convert into D|S files.

    It will need a bit of work, though — converting it into .obj format and importing into D|S, I've discovered some glitched polygons (probably reversed normals), and all the materials will need to be reworked. The body of the main rocket in particular is a bit weird with repeating patterns. I've seen this kind of thing before, I think it's a Lightwave weirdness.

    There's an amazing amount of detail, though. Both cockpits are modelled, and there are basic empty rooms inside the row of little round windows. I'll definitely have a go at fully converting this myself. It has a few issues, but it'll be a nice little fixer-upper. I'm just a bit busy right now playing with Daleks (see the Dr. Who freebies thread).

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,574

    As a young child I was not fortunate enough to watch any of Gerry Anderson's "SuperMarionation" series on a regular basis.  They just were not broadcat where I usually lived.  the only time I caught any random episode was when my father and I visited my paternal grandmother.  (I found it ironic that WCTV, a CBS affiliate for southern Georgia nd northern Florida would air this material when no stations for Birmingham, Alabama did.)  Anyway, because I saw them so infrequently, I developed an amusing misconception.  Because the characters for the earlier shows like "FireBall XL5" and "Thunderbirds" would often use elaborately contrived mechanisms for personal transport, often just to get from their headquarters to their showcase vehicles (in the case of "Thunderbird"), I got the false impression the characters were paraplegic!  Well, in a way, it was true.  The use of weird buggies and scooters helped the puppeteers avoid trying to "walk" the puppets all the time.  Yes, I'm aware there were many scenes with the puppets standing and or walking.  But you know how it is, kids (and often adults) have just "filter out" evidence that contradicts certain preconceived perceptions.

  • Thanks, SpottedKitty

    That is a great help.

  • SpottedKittySpottedKitty Posts: 7,232
    edited September 2020

    As an example of what can be done, here's a quick test render of the Dave Kleve Lightwave model, converted in Poseray and with my first-pass WIP Iray materials. I haven't done anything in the cockpits yet, and there's something very odd going on with the UVmapping of that green door. I'll figure it out eventually...

    I just wish I could convert some of the other models, but a lot of them are in trueSpace, Cinema4D, or 3DS MAX format, which I can't do anything with.

    FireballXL5-01.jpg
    1700 x 1190 - 53K
    Post edited by SpottedKitty on
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