Carriage Textures

I've spent the past few days pulling this model apart and building high poly parts. I'm getting very efficient UV mapping each model but as always each model throws up different problems to solve. I tried to use fewer texture maps with this piece even though that meant re-baking several times after working out better ways of mirroring and reusing parts. I changed the rear suspension to be the same as the front. I have found some versions of this carriage use this system and others have a more complicated different rear suspension method. I decided it would be more efficient to re-use the front suspension. This is the more likely solution if I were building this model for a game engine.

I'm not sure if I took the mud layers too far but I like the grimey used look. This carriage has been places!

Next I will be building a horse, reigns, and driver. I think I'll start on the driver tomorrow. It's been a while since I have done any organic modelling so that will bring some new challenges.

Brougham Carriage Model

This is the project I have been working on for the past week. I wanted to wait till I had it UV mapped and applied basic textures before I shared it. I found the undercarriage suspension tricky areas to get my head around. It has a lot of complex parts and finding good reference was tricky. Luckily I came across a blog in America who specialised in restoring carriages and wagons. I was even luckier to find they were also working on the same model of carriage. Good quality reference is always invaluable. I could make parts up and most people would be none the wiser but I can be a perfectionist with a strong desire to capture everything I create in a realistic manner. That meant getting my head around leaf spring engineering. I think I know how leaf spring suspension works now!

The next stage is to go back in and start building high poly models of the pieces. Then bake on some nice normal maps. After that I can apply proper textures. I like the idea of having a shiny carriage but I know it would push my skills further to add dirt scratches.

Sketching Vehicles

Two recent pages from sketchbook. First shows some sketches of the vehicles I want in my Goldeneye poster. The Aston Martin came out really clean and correctly proportioned. The second image is my some images getting used to the proportions of my current 3D project, a Brougham Carriage.

Goldeneye Ourumov Portrait

I came across some beautifully painted comic covers this evening that had a hand painted quality to them. After a quick search I found the artist actually created them using photoshop. This inspired me to have a go myself and create another portrait for the Goldeneye poster. This is by far my best piece using the graphic tablet yet. I'm still experimenting with it and finding my style so this portrait doesn't really fit together well with the otehrs. I'm running out of people to paint, I think Natalya is the last person I want to feature. After that I'll have to attempt the vehicles which I'm quite weak with. It will be good to get some practice in and develop my drawing in other areas.

Goldeneye Sketches

The top image are sketches I drew yesterday. Haven't drawn in a while so it took a while to warm up. The second image shows my sketches from today. The image of Boris and Natasha came out great. These images are the first two pages of a new A3 sketchbook. I hope I can continue with this quality and fill it up with even greater drawings. I don't want it to be a portraits sketchbook so I'll be drawing other things too in the future.

As a side note, the camera quality is really poor. I'd love to upgrade to a digital SLR camera at some point. It's an expensive purchase though!

P99 (correctly named)

I've been finishing off this model finally! Tidied up a lot of the normal maps and added small little details like the nuts and bolts. Built bullets which came out nicely. They add some interest to the image which I'm really pleased about. I can't decide if I prefer the gun with or without the silencer.

I shall be focusing on my 3D modelling for the next week. Hoping to start a new project soon.

Mud & Paint

 

 

I finally have had the time to get back to my Lancia. He's been unloved and neglected for at least a month.

Spent a while adding the paint lines in. As simple as they are, I was being too much of a perfectionist in positioning them and having be correct to the reference photos. I think this second attempt at mud is better but it still isn't quite there. The original rally car is covered in sponsor decals but I decided against them. Most would be covered by the mud anyway. :P

The car has a lot of life and history to it now. Actually feels a part of the environment. I tweaked the shadows and reflections again. I think they're right now.

My next task is to give more life to the muddy road by adding tire tracks and finally recreate some stronger grass textures. I also feel I could do with some bushes to fill out the distant background.