I would like to add my comments to these entries again, and I hope many other people will do so too! But first of all, this was an excellent challenge with great results, and I think almost every entry brought something new, interesting or unexpected into the mix.
TimothyC's CCBL
I loved this design. It's quite realistic, as a command ship developed from an existing hull design and powerplant does make sense. To do this from a combatant hull is not something that is often done but also certainly not something that is impossible. TimothyC is not known for tons of detailing on his drawings but this one is detailed to a nice level, but none of it feels as detail for the sake of detail: it could actually work.
Looking at the scores though, I do wonder if having a top view with less detail hurts someone's chances compared to having no top view? Because I personally felt this should be higher on the list.
Schlemm's Diamond Head class
This is a nice drawing of an interesting ship. I do wonder about the weight on top of that very low volume and very low strength stern, but there is no reason why it couldn't work. I dislike the shading on the bow though, it feels very contrasting and very sudden the way it is drawn and it does not continue under the waterline. I do wonder how this ship would look using the standard blue window colour, but that is personal preference. I think this was based on a real ship (design), can we hope for a drawing of that as well?
Hood's Tobol class
When everybody submits western style ships for the challenge, it is great to see Hood submitting an excellent soviet ship. I cannot see anything really wrong with this drawing, and the fact that it is a realistically drawn soviet ship (while the soviets IIRC had no UNREP ships like this) makes it an unique entry even when it follows more or less the standard arrangement of UNREP ships
Dalamace's sail training ship.
There is nothing wrong or unrealistic about this drawing and it is well drawn. It just doesn't seem to fit the spirit of this challenge very well.
Apdaf's rescue sub
The technical issues with launching multiple daughter craft from the back of a submarine while submerged are not something I like to write home about. The ship would also need tons of lead in the bottom to stay right side up, and would have a lot of drag making it unable to reach usable speeds. All in all, basing your rescue capability on these seems more of a risk then a benefit, seeing that their reactors and hulls are 40 year old technology when commissioned already. The drawing isn't terrible (although I don't think those propeller shafts work the way they are drawn) but it is not up to the standards set by the rest of the entries in this challenge.
Corp's Stargazer
A challenge entry being hindered by being close to the real design. I know from the talks on discord that almost every detail the real ship has is on this one, but it still feels bare and empty in many areas. That said: I am pretty sure the bilge keel isn't shaped like that, the hull shading seems strange, and I would expect a ton of openings on the (underwater)hull. If far less visible plating is drawn in, I would expect more noticable details to be present as well. All in all, a nice drawing that isn't bad, but the competition is strong this time around
Garlic's Liathui class
Well drawn, and everything seems to work well. Almost too well, to the point that it feels a tad derative.
The artwork is well drawn and well detailed, as expected of garlicdesign, but I personally felt that I would expect more.
Soode's Anchungang
An excellent drawing, which only real drawback was similar to garlic's: it feels as if I've seen this ship before, being so similar to real UNREP ships.
thegrumpykestrel's river
Another excellent drawing, well detailed and well drawn. This ship however has the advantage it also looks unique due to the straight bow and smaller size. I didn't like the shading not following sb standards on some ocasions (like the bridge wings), especially as this is not used in every instance on the drawing (the same shading style would also need to be applied on the satcoms, the crane, the control station amidships etc).
Superboys MV-47
Well drawn, nice ship, I only wonder if it isn't too many eggs in one basket. This is a good drawing but also nothing unexpected from Superboy, which might have hurt his scores
WesleyWestland's Assistance
This drawing feels a little toyish, I think because of the bright window colour and underdetailing in some areas and overdetailing in others. the crane looks very simplified, the boat seems to have no way to get into the water, the mast platforms are all in weird angles and the fire hose in the mast would never be placed like that in real life. With the design of the ship is other then that nothing wrong, although the bow thruster would definitely not be in the place it was put here. I am really not a fan of the hull plating as done here, detail like that would not be visible like that and other details (like openings in the hull) would be far more visible then these plating lines. I hope to see more drawings by WesleyWestland though, as with some others this isn't bad but just not up to the excellent standard set by others
Heuhen's L3
I really think we have seen Heuhens entry before. There is nothing really wrong with it, but it is small and nothing unexpected.
LtMaverick114's Kristianstad
A nice little support ship, along the lines of the Pelikaan and Snellius it seems. I do wonder about the lines of sight forwards with the crane and cargo there, and I suspect the bilge keel is a tad oversized. The ship could use a tad more detailing near the waterline and I cannot find the logic in the deck lines on the hull.
Farooqbhai007's 17500t fleet tanker
The ship feels a bit basic in some areas (UNREP masts, crane, masts) While other areas like the boat bay and the waterline are nicely detailed. I am worried about sight lines from the pilothouse forwards. Shading isn't matching shipbucket standards, as well as the lack of black outlines on some overhangs (notably, the lights in the masts) as a suggestion, some deck level weld lines would make this superstructure look a lot better, and I am personally not a fan of this window colour
Mitchell van Os' Kopenhuuwen
An excellent drawing of an unrealistic ship. Not unrealistic in design (Because I think with these requirements this would be about what it ends up at) but beause I think a navy that needs fast UNREP vessels would have enough ships and crew available to separate them from transports, not needing this JSS. Minor quirks on the drawings are that I don't like the cargo door details without black outlines on overhanging/extending parts, the fat lettering on the bow and the weird shape where the bow meets the bulbous bow, near the waterline. Design wise I think the bow thrusters are a tad big (they result in a lot of drag on a high speed hull, so I would minimize them myself) and I suspect a different kind of propeller would be used (controllable pitch) but I am not entirely sure on that.
Skyder2598's multirole fleet support vessel
I highly doubt it is an good idea to put a dock on an UNREP ship, especially one that feels a tad small already for it's 18500 t. The big overhanging stern shape that the sideview suggests with the shading also seems a bit against having a dock there, especially in combination with the high placement of the stern thruster suggesting a narrow single skeg. The drawing is excellent however, especially the top view with it's shading, but I cannot help but notice some parts don't have shadows while others of similar heights do. The specification and top view shows a double hangar, so the helicopter should be shown landed
. I am not a great fan of having deck lines lighter then the painted colour. I am curious how most of the container spots are loaded, as the cranes do not cover all of them (but a few good forklifts could fix that issue of course
, if not ideal it works)
acelanceloet's zuiderkruis
I do wish the hot weather did not make it so troubling to work on this ship as I wish I would have had a bit more time (it was so hot in my workspace that it was hard to work a lot on this vessel) to add further details and fix small issues. In the end it came out reasonably well. The design was based on an IRL conceptual idea for the Dutch JSS to have a full length helideck and 6 spots, but I wanted to keep the role as an auxillary ship primary so created this fore and aft deck with UNREP area fitted between the 2 superstructures.
I guess my goal in that wasn't met entirely as I got a suitability score far lower then my other scores. Design realism is what I normally go for, or at least I try an original concept and create a realistic result of it, so I am happy I got good scores on originality and drawing quality, I wish I had gotten my design realism a bit higher with a concept that was highly based on a real ship (just with the impact of more flight deck and hangar)
Kiwi imperalist's Toliara
I like kiwi imperialist's design quite a bit, it feels realistic while also being a tad different. I do think the helicopter hangar is a bit low, the UNREP masts are a bit close together, the forecastle deck is a bit long and I would really expect an propeller that size on a single shafted ship, but all in all nothing about it looks wrong, just 'unoptimised'. I personally dislike the hull plating lines like this, I would really recommend just drawing the most visible lines (which is IMO none under the waterline, deck lines and mayor bulkheads above it, possibly all structural bulkheads in the superstructure with it's thinner plating)
Schodact's Burg
I too wish to see more of Schodact's drawing in the future. This drawing is not up to the standards visible in these challenges, but comparing it's design with the real life Blue Ridge and we see both the inspiration and realism of this layout. Could it work? I think so. Could it use tons of details? Certainly. Personally, I would recommend taking a good look at deck and mooring gear, boat gear and ventilation, followed by some attention to the hull shape and the details there. But, all that said, this drawing tells ,e that this artist has a good basic grasp of how to look at real ships to create own designs, a skill that many a shipbucket artist has only gained after drawing multiple real ships.
I want to congratulate Mitch on his victory in this challenge. We did some cooperation on our entries and I suspect we should do so more often, as it seems to have gotten results