some of my non-trek WIPs

[AnyStar]

since my other models have been so well recieved I thought i'd put up a thread about my other non-trek WIPs that also eat up my hobby-time.

first up is one of my favorites, this is another of my long-term projects that i've recently been working on again. i'm converting this one too from AutoCAD to Max, here's a couple snaps of the old Autocad model

and the most recent renders of the new 3dsMAX version

and here is something i fiddle with whenever i get tired of all my other projects , a Buck Rogers Thunderfighter.

.

 

[AnyStar]

when i was learning MAX i did a bunch of stuff with Lego, honestly building with legos is even MORE addictive in CG!!!! haha

here's a SW Snowspeeder and a ST Enterprise i worked up

and a little fun i had with the TMP warp effect

 

[Patrickivan]

Sweet X-Wing, dude! I was just looking at the toy in the store yesterday...

 

[AnyStar]

tyvm sir!

that thing is either going to be my masterpiece, or the object of my inevitable insanity...
there's a more detailed thread on it over here -> http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/3d-wips/73564-anh-x-wing.html

 

[AnyStar]

--- this is a continuation of a discussion in another thread, about how i constructed the x-wing ---



it could have been done a lot easier; but i wanted a hollow object since i was replicating the SS models, i wanted the end result to be an empty mouldable object

here's the lower-fuselage construction series.

first just a couple simple shapes to work from

a little rounding over of the curves

you can see here how i just sliced both objects at the seam where they met, then extract the cross-sections, and i can just loft them together from then on every time i made a change i didnt like (hence the earlier mentioned trial-and-error, this is why i do a lot of them this way since autocad like to simply create and not edit.)

end result

and exploded view of the sections lofted for the lower hull

now this was all simple stuff, once you start adding complex curves in, well, lets just say wear a hat or else you'll have less hair at the end of the day!

the top was similarly created, (i dont have an old backup of all the parts the way i did the bottom) but it was made with just 4 vertical cross sections, then a series of box-objects aligned and rotated around to cut away the angles in the mid-section.

i cant remember why, but i remember getting all those planes just right gave me a lot of grief, i'm sure you know what i'm talking about the way Boolean cuts or mergers sometimes just "dont work"

the new fuze (in max) isnt detailed yet, but compared to a day or two of modeling in CAD, this one only took about 15 minutes to get shaped... but of course it's not hollow either, and i'm not being as anal about accuracy tolerances.

 

[AnyStar]

i really need practice with lighting and animations, so i worked up this lil model today (i'm surprised i couldnt find another one anywhere, i guess its just an overlooked 'lil dude)

its the gat-bot from MIB-2

 

[Saquist]

Where did you find the details for this level of...detailing?

 

[AnyStar]

^on the x-wing? its a process i'm using now on the greebles for my dry-dock project too.

i individually model the kitbash parts used on the filming replicas, then arrange and trim them to match.
its all various pieces from old scale models kits of tanks, planes, battleships etc.
like this part you'll recognize from the buttplate

 

[Albertese]

i individually model the kitbash parts used on the filming replicas, then arrange and trim them to match.
its all various pieces from old scale models kits of tanks, planes, battleships etc.

You are a golden god.

--Alex

 

[Albertese]

Oops! Double post.

Sorry

 

[Saquist]

Anystar...is it possible to cut solids with surfaces?

 

[AnyStar]

no, but it is possible if you extrude or thicken them, even if its by .00001.

if you are trying to "carve out" a chunk that way, you will also have to perform a solid-separate on the chunk afterwards to completely remove it.

 

[Saquist]

no, but it is possible if you extrude or thicken them, even if its by .00001.

if you are trying to "carve out" a chunk that way, you will also have to perform a solid-separate on the chunk afterwards to completely remove it.

OMG you may just have saved my life.
I've just tried it on an elementary object and it worked...amazing...

I already have surfaced models of Enigma...
Perhaps this in the key to creating the complex shapes in the lower hull!

 

[Saquist]

Negative...Thicken does not seem to work on complex meshes...
Too good to be true.

 

[AnyStar]

it gets finnicky when trying to cut curves or rounded areas. we'll get something worked out though!

 

[Saquist]

I'm just going to have to loft it and attempt to find the cross-sections in the surface model and attempt to project the lines correctly to produce the "ghost" sections that the surface model doesn't describe.

 

[AnyStar]

^ good luck! hope you find an easy solution!!!

update on my x-wing

 

[AnyStar]

a couple more quick shots, forgot to turn on the cockpit!!! these have a better shader as well

 

[Saquist]

ABSO lutely DE-lish...

 

[Saquist]

Your help was invaluable Anystar. You helped me realize that I had the tools to do the lower half the whole time. I was reading your email yesterday and looking at the picture and I suddenly thought..If I need to described the curve on the plan view more precisely then ....Add more cross-sections. I don't know why I didn't think about it before..

Maybe I was trying to avoid that because right now I'm on the 5th out of what will be 11 crossections to describe the lower secondary hull. I was trying to do it fast and ending up taking forever. I haven't finished but I expect this was the shake I needed to get my head on right.