Kyven × 850 MA Hydrofoil

Process & methodology

Carbon fibre is the hardest material to sell in the dark — take the fill away and it collapses into a silhouette. We built the mast, fuselage and wings in Blender, then put the work into the shader: anisotropic specular aligned to the weave direction with a clearcoat lobe over it, so the fibre still reads inside the shadow instead of dying there. The animation runs on the same principle. Screws never enter at constant speed — they approach fast, hold for three frames at the mouth of the hole, then seat with a long ease-out, each offset from the next so nothing lands in sync. The piece is lit twice: a bright technical set for the build, a two-rim black void for the reveal, and one transition between them where the key falls and the rims rise.