The real sphere has a diameter of 32m. I would first make a 1/10th model because life size it is difficult to handle in Poser.

As for UV mapping, you've got me completely lost. The program I use (a house creator!) allows me to size the textures, then it automatically does its own mapping. For instance I can set a square size, allowing seamless tiled textures or a size identical to the object for example a poster. Or set no texture at all, then the object remains unmapped when exported. Though until now I only worked on rectangular surfaces. The sphere, part of a minimal modeler within the program is new to me.

I haven't really worked out yet how to do the sphere as it should include a minimal interior for the 2 floors visible through the glazing. It should consist of 3 main sections, the upper and lower section being the closed parts of the sphere, using your shader and the middle section representing the 2 glazed floors. To begin with I should try to find out how many windows there are exactly.

I could construct the parts in the aforementioned modeler but as this modeler lacks precision the assembly should be done in Poser. In all a very complicated model that would be almost as great an achievement as the real thing. It would probably also take as long to build as the real thing, about 3 years.

 

 

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