EYWTKATICAWATA

Here you'll find the files you need if you want to create your own Courier stills and animations. You are free to use these files non-commercially, provided you mention somewhere their original author (me). Hey, there's an ego to be satisfied here!

Rhinoceros 1.0 model (80 kB) - recommended if your favourite 3d tool knows how to handle NURBS. It is a *.3dm file. AFAIK there is a plug-in for 3D Studio Max that imports these. Maybe your 3d program can too. If not, you'll need to use Rhinoceros to export it into the format of your choice - get Rhinoceros 2.0 evaluation version here.

3D Studio parts (747 kB) - Parts of the model saved as separate high-resolution 3D Studio mesh files (Release 4, not Max). Most 3d apps know how to import these. If you use the default scaling/coordinates they will all fit precisely.

trueSpace 4 scenes (800 kB) - If you use ts4, here's a couple of *.scn files you can use. Also provided is a materials library to get you started, and a gas giant to use as backdrops for your Courier scenes. WARNING! 70,000+ polygons in the Courier scene. For maximum confort when using it you should have a 3d card installed.

Some info on the model: The first thing you might notice is that there is no "gear-up pose" provided (i.e. engines spread apart, extended). The reason for this is that I feel it is very difficult and of very little real use to have the Courier do that. The engine-hull junctions are massive load bearing structures - having them extend and retract would just complicate things and create problems. It also looks cooler to me with engines retracted. However, if you want, you are free to modify the model to include this.
The other thing is the landing gear placement. At the first glance it might seem that the Courier would be very unstable while sitting on its struts. Since Rhinoceros has some interesting solid analysis tools (mass center finder, and rotation/inertial moments calculator), I did some investigations. The Courier model, in its present form, can be tilted forwards and backwards as far as it will go and it'll still snap back into upright postition. Assuming, of course, an homogenous density throughout its volume, or at least a symmetrical mass distribution. The engine thrust vector, however, is not concurrent with the mass center. As such, a real accelerating Courier would have a tendency to pitch up. It is minute, though, and the on-board gyroscopes could certainly take care of that.
My first Courier model, featured in the first EYWTKATICAWATA had a lot more problems of this kind. It also wouldn't stay on it feet, it would fall on its nose if let loose.