Setup
Blackbeard's Ship from One Piece was a major inspiration for Ship One of Carrier. Initially, I had proposed the three-log design Blackbeard used as a joke, but that soon became the reality. This image was used as the front reference image.
This and the image below it were used as side references for Ship One. I remember this sailboat being something on Amazon.
This and the image above it were used as side references for Ship One. This model was based on a real ship which I then used as inspiration for the main body of Ship One.
This final image was used as a bottom image for reference. Made quite simply in Photoshop, but maintained a balance of the various references we were using, and how it should look from the most important angle. The place the players would stand on.
NURBS
Nurbs were used many times throughout. The main instance is in the creation of the ship's hull.
Most of the ship was hard surface modeling, the next best instance of splines and nurbs was in the creation of the ship's fences.
Highlighting Areas on Ship One
Displaying the front fence area of the ship. This includes a step of 7.5 inches to get the upper deck.
Displaying the cargo storage area, and oars at the ready. This ship has a built-in storage section that would build up as your crew collects more loot.
Displaying the Steering Wheel. This object was a beast upon itself for the amount of detail it took. It had to be made in a separate Maya scene so reference images of its own could be used.
Well hard to notice in this image, There is a cord that goes up and around the rotor of the steering wheel and back into the bottom panel on either side.
Making the steering device and the back fence was especially fun. Most of the fence was 100% procedural in nature. This was less so and made easily symmetrical.