Welcome to my "To The Stars" contest entry!

This time, I tried to deviate a bit from my usual, heavily greebled ships, and went for a smoother design, at least for the top part of the project. Building this entire thing took around 40 hours, I'd say. Some parts of the ship are not as detailed as I would have liked, and there are currently no interiors (though it might change after the contest is over, if people really want them). That's the downside of IRL: giving you less time to build stuff. But still, I managed to finish before the deadline, so yay for me, I guess. And for you, if you're a fan. Yay, you!

Block count: around 1,156,000
Texture Pack: Minecraft Default

Background:

The idea behind the Vanaheim project was to build a self-sufficient space colony, be it for the journey between Earth and a colonizable planet, or simply as a place for people to live in.

The main hull of this leviathan acts as a shield for the vulnerable city underneath its belly, deflecting heat, asteroids, and other hazardous space objects. A mining complex was also built on the back of the outer shell: after having been pulverized by the impressive "Tractionless Toroïdal Cannon", or TracTor Cannon (hi VoV), mineral-rich asteroids (or what's left of them) are transported with smaller crafts to the gaping maw of the smelter (careful, it burns). Directly under it, on the belly of Vanaheim, its heart: the huge Foundry/Factory, in which what comes out of the smelter is used to build spare parts, ship components, and even ship hulls, allowing Vanaheim to build and repair not only itself, but its own fleet of vessels.

The age of the boring colonization ship where everyone sleeps is over: the upside-down city of Vanaheim can comfortably house thousands of colonists, including their families. Stores, cinemas, and entertainment areas are there to make sure that everyone who isn't currently working at the Factory is as happy as possible. Some buildings even contain gardens, for the spacefarers who want to stay close to nature (and grow their own vegetables).

Huge hangars on the side of the ship allow each citizen to have his own spacecraft, for recreational and asteroid-handling purposes. Don't get too close to the engines though, those massive thrusters pack a punch!

As always, thanks in advance for all the diamonding/downloading/favoriting/subscribing! :)