Vehicle Modelling

This week for my personal project I worked on an old Soviet truck. This project in particular taught me a great deal about different modelling techniques I had no idea about. Some examples are the bumps on top of the covering, basic surface detail modelling, tires, and grouping objects together to manage large numbers easier.

Straight away, my biggest mistake was not importing a blueprint and just eyeing the proportions on the model. Especially when modelling something that already exists, and something as precise as a vehicle, I should have imported a reference. With my next project, I will be sure to do this first thing before modelling at all. 

I did some basic modelling by utilizing the basic tools. Halfway through the project I realised that I had made another mistake: I had added too many polygons from the start, instead of connecting edges as I needed to. This made my poly count unreasonably high. I noted this and proceeded with my work. 

After watching multiple tutorials, I settled on a simple way of modelling the tires. I selected the one of the outside edges, and moved it downwards, creating the shape seen above. I believe this is close enough to the original.

I added a texture for the ground. Overall, this project was my most ambitious yet, and taught me a large number of things. Vehicle modelling has a lot of sides to it that I would like to explore, and with every project I am finding new challenges to face.

Personal Project, AK 47 Model

 For my personal project, I decided to model the AK 47 rifle. It is a subject that I have knowledge about, and it is easy to find blueprints. The modelling aside, this project introduced me to multiple fundamental concepts that I see myself using a lot.

I was dissapointed that Max has no option to import images directly. I created a plane and then added a bitmap, and plugged my reference into the diffuse color. This allowed me to import my reference that I would be using for the model.

The fundamental process of stabilizing my view and modelling by extending and scaling one primitive object really helped me stay focused. I decided to improve this workflow in my later projects as this process really suits my way of thinking. 

This little personal project was a really good chance for me to learn multiple good techniques that I will be using a lot in the future. I struggled mostly with rounding my model, specifically the stock and the pistol grip, for which I resorted to using the bevel tool. 

Personal Modelling Project 1

 I decided to work on a military vehicle in order to learn more about the software. On top of being my area of interest, I also have previous experience working in Blender on such models, such as the model below I made last February. 

I used the M1296 APC as a base, although I did not model this vehicle directly as I do not have the skills for yet it. Nevertheless, I hope to be able to model vehicles such as this one with far better quality that seen below in the future. 

I started with a base rectangle, which I developed into a form more suited to the core of an APC. I added some sufrace details using the extrude and bevel tools. The low poly count limited me but it also allowed me to make progress on the model instead of wasting time on details.

I modelled the turret. At this point I started taking a lot of liberties and stopped looking at the reference, as I had only intended to use it up to this point anyways.

I modelled a wheel which I would later copy and insert on both sides of the vehicle. I also added little details like the bolts and the slight curvature of the wheel.

I added a simple set of coils using the provided tools to create a basic suspension for the wheels to make the model more presentable.

Finally I added all the wheels and suspension together and made a floodlight which I copied a couple of times.

Overall, this project made me more aware of my shortcomings. I struggled with bad topology, especially where I curved the surface. This ended up causing me trouble later as well, as I had to spend a lot of time on trying to bridge open edges. However, I learned a lot from this little project, and would like to work on further excersizes such as this one. I do feel like the lack of texturing is holding the model back a lot, but it is important not to rush into everything at once. I will continue to just make models using a simpler process for now.

References: 

The AK47 was created by me, here is the ArtStation link:  https://www.artstation.com/artwork/R3OR5e

The M1296 Photo is taken from http://www.military-today.com/apc/m1296_dragoon.htm