Vorlon Fighter Design Page
Using videotapes of Vorlon fighters, I've reverse-engineered their 3D structure and used Raydream 3D studio to make a 3D model. The battle between the Shadows and Vorlons in Interludes and Examinations was my main reference.
If you're unfamiliar with the show, see the sections entitled "Vorlon Empire" in the first, second and third season background summaries on the Lurkers Guide to Babylon 5 for more information.

Images


Vorlon Fighters on Modified MyCn18 Nebula
(74 KB JPEG)


The 3D model was rendered using a background created from an image on the Astronomy picture of day site (the MyCn18 Nebula image is archived).

Fighter Passing Camera
(113 KB AVI)


The fighter passes the camera in this 2 second clip. The image to the left shows the first and last frames.

Single Vorlon Fighter
(61 KB JPEG)

A larger rendering of a single Vorlon fighter on a black background.

Color-Coded Vorlon Fighter
(48 KB JPEG)

The same 3D model of the Vorlon fighter in the same orientation as the above image was rendered with different sections of the fighter in a different primary colors. You can see the structure of the ship more clearly.
3D Model Details

Creating this model was fairly easy. Because of the fighter's high degree of radial symmetry, there are only four master objects in the model: the body, tentacle, bulge (light blue on the shaded model) and petal (yellow on the shaded model). All are single cross-section shapes except for the petal, which has a flat cross section in the back and a scooped out cross section in the center. While building this object, I found that you get a much smoother surface (without the dreaded 'trangularization' that Ray Dream sometimes puts in) if you use the same number of drawing points on all the cross sections for a single object.
I used Ray Dream's 3D paintbrush for the first time on this model. This feature lets you draw on the surface of objects and was used to create the engine on the back of the body (which is still part of the main body object) and the glowing surface on the inside of the petals.
I'm interested in feedback on the model. Let me know how close you think it is to the real thing on the show, and what modifications you would suggest to get it closer.

3D Model Files

Ray Dream Designer 4
(6 KB PKZip file)
Ray Dream Designer 3
(6 KB PKZip file)
DXF
(578 KB PKZip file)

Feel free to create your own renderings or modify the models. Please include a link back to this page if you put any of the results up on the WWW.
You can E-mail me if you would like me to add you to a list of people I notify when I put up new or revised models on this site.

My Other Babylon 5 3D models

Shadow Battlecrab
Shadow Fighter
Shadow Scout
Vorlon Dreadnought
B5 3D Model Index
Unreleased B5 3D Model Index

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