P-47 Razorback

[giant551]

Hi guys, I started this the other day and ive become a little unstuck already !! I have taken the plunge and decided to move over from Rhino into XSI. Ive got to say ive found the transition to poly's a little traumatic !!! LOL

Anyway i've done a few tutorials and i'm getting fairly ok with getting around XSI and a little bit of polymodelling. There's hardly any XSI specific modeling tuts so ive been using stuff from other applications i.e the fiat 500 tut and Bazze's really good P47 one for C4D (hence this thing LOL).

Now i started really well and got the fuselage sussed and the wings but have come really unstuck with the cockpit. I'm not sure if its my lack of XSI skills or Poly's in general :D but i suspect i'm going around this in the wrong way.

i was wondering if you guys can throw me a couple of pointers ??? Ive found it very frustrating being fairly ok with one package to not having a clue in another LOL but i'm determined to crack this :mad: Could anyone show me some unsmoothed wires to point me in the general direction:) :) Also i think the tail could be a little iffy too !!!

see the attached piccy's for my prediciment. Thanks guys

[giant551]

And i've just noticed ive managed to spell razorback wrong. dam its been a long day:o :o

[Martocticvs]

Fixed. Nice start too!

[kevjon]

Great start Giant a nice first effort. I think you'll find in the long run you'll get much more flowing joints and fillets in XSI compared to Rhino.

Couple of things I found are that fuselages with a denser mesh (24 sided cylinder) helps when it comes time to blending in wings and tailplanes. This doesn't matter if you intend to model them self intersecting.
I also model the canopy in one piece, then convert to high poly and then cut out the glass panes.

The cowling on your plane looks a little strange in shape but apart from that...its looking pretty good.

[Skyraider3D]

Good start indeed. I agree with Kevin that your low-poly mesh may need some extra detail and I too find it easier to cut out the glass later. But that's a personal choice, really.

By the way, unlike most drawings show, the Razorback cockpit is slightly bulged:
http://www.web-birds.com/8th/4/Maj.%20Oscar%20Coen%20in%20his%20P-47C%204th%20FG%201943.jpg (note the curvature at the front)
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/p-47/42-27608/2000/p47cockpit.jpg (note the curvature of the top frame)
http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/aprilskies/264/p-47pilot2.jpg
http://www.hanscom.af.mil/hansconian/2003/Apr/04042003/Sutcliffe.jpg

What drawings you use for your Razorback, by the way? I'm about to start one myself and I've compared a couple of sets and found the Design With Precision ones (thanks Kevin! ;)) the best by far. Popular drawings, such as those found in the AeroDetail book about the Jug, are often way off!
Below is a comparisson of the Design With Precision drawings with an almost perfect sideview photograph. As you can see, the match is near-perfect!

http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/modelling/P-47/razorback_wip01.jpg

[kevjon]

Possibly not worth getting to caught up on strict accuracy at this stage but just learning the art of poly modelling.

Probably would have been a little easier to do the Bubbletop version of the P47 as the lines a bit simpler.

[denders]

Ronnie,

What are the "Design with Precision" drawings you mention? Are they a current item or out of print?
And by the way, I'm looking forward to seeing a finished corsair!
Thanks

Dave

[kevjon]

Design with precision is a series of books with drawings by Matsuba Minoru. He is considered the most accurate of draftsman when it comes to planes. The books are available through hobby link Japan. There are nine volumes of drawings but not all volumes are readily available.
http://www.hlj.com/hljlist2/?MacroType=All&SeriesID=56&Dis=2&GenreCode=Boo

[Spinner]

Do the back order books of his come through from Hobby Link? I've never seen the fighters or attack aircraft books listed as available, nor on ebay.

[giant551]

Thanks guys i think your right i think its the fact that ive made it too low poly. it makes the poly's too big to cut out. I think i'll restart the fuselage again. Ronnie its just the plans off airwars. I got a little misled following bazze's tut he starts really low poly but by the looks of things C4D lets you select the little poly's after you've smoothed them, something to do with hypernurbs ?????

any chance of a wire guys ?? come on you know you want too !!!!!he, he

[kevjon]

Posted by Spinner
Do the back order books of his come through from Hobby Link?

I purchased backordered books and HLJ just sent them when they finally got them. I think it was about 2 months. Worth the wait though.

Posted by giant551
any chance of a wire guys
I haven't tried to post any images with the new MM yet but I may have to make 20 posts again before I can. Skyraiders subdivision modelling solutions thread was a really good reference as well. He will repost when MM gets back up and running again more fully. I'll send you some wires of my Buffalo and Zero in the email.

[Skyraider3D]

Design with precision is a series of books with drawings by Matsuba Minoru. He is considered the most accurate of draftsman when it comes to planes.Some of his drawings are a bit disappointing though (assymmetric wings!) but that could be a result of faulty scanning/reproduction.
More info about these books can be found here: www.skynet-1.com
I got issues 4, 8 and 9 through HLJ.

any chance of a wire guys ??Have a dig through my old modelling folder. Most wireframe images are here too:
http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/modelling/
Just search for anything called 'wire' :D
"a" versions are before and "b" versions after subdividing (x2).

By the way, XSI has fantastic NURBS support! Why don't you try importing Rhino models into XSI? I would if I had your Rhino skills. XSI converts them into lovely meshes at minimum effort. Give it a go, you might find you don't have to go through all the tedious poly modelling stuff and can continue using Rhino for modelling (which you know and what you're good at).

[giant551]

By the way, XSI has fantastic NURBS support! Why don't you try importing Rhino models into XSI? I would if I had your Rhino skills. XSI converts them into lovely meshes at minimum effort. Give it a go, you might find you don't have to go through all the tedious poly modelling stuff and can continue using Rhino for modelling (which you know and what you're good at).

You right the nurbs in XSi are really good but its still a little iffy when it comes to importing Rhino stuff as OBJ format. I need to expand my skillset and i'm afraid that means poly's:D Having now used both i can definately see the pro's and con's of both but i just want to be able to knock up a project in one package and at £300 it is probably the best value around it in my opinion even the foundation version gives some of the bigger packages a run for its money.

You will never know how close i came to ditching poly's this week !!! Its very frustrating knowing i could have knocked this fusalage up in a hour in rhino. But i'm confident that once i get the basic techniques sussed things will start to come together. I must be one of the only modellers never to have used pol'ys:D :D :D

Thanks fella's

[Skyraider3D]

I don't think OBJ is the right format to use. Try IGS. If XSI is real clever, it should be able to open Rhino files too (MAX can).


PS. I've just started modelling the rudder on my own Razorback and it's still not done after an hour...

[roshent]

I don't think OBJ is the right format to use. Try IGS. If XSI is real clever, it should be able to open Rhino files too (MAX can).

Never heard that XSI can open Rhino models (can be wrong though), 3DS can read them cause the Rhino developers are former staff from Autodesk/Discreet... Is XSI still so buggy ??

[zarroun]

Looks very nice so far though. I'll have to follow a bit on what you're doing because I keep having the same problems. I either have too many polys or not enough. Don't seem to be able to find the comfortable middle. Keep at it, good stuff so far.

Is XSI still so buggy ??

Last I heard, yes. But that came from a person who will tell you that Max is the only program to create good models and renders. So I don't know how reliable that claim is. Never really looked it XSI.

[giant551]

Last I heard, yes. But that came from a person who will tell you that Max is the only program to create good models and renders. So I don't know how reliable that claim is. Never really looked it XSI.

No its not buggy :D :D :D Its extremely stable and works like a charm ( if you can use the thing):D :D

[zarroun]

I hope to be able to try it out one day.

[:FI:Exec]

Have a dig through my old modelling folder. Most wireframe images are here too:
http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/modelling/
Just search for anything called 'wire' :D


Lol there is some very interesting stuff in there mate! like for instance this:

http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/modelling/mutant02.jpg

Now thats an ugly bird if I have ever seen one!.

[kevjon]

Stick at giant.

Modelling with polys is no easy task and requires very heavy commitment to become good at it.

[Skyraider3D]

Paul, have a go at importing your Rhino model (the spit for instance) as an IGS file. Should work a charm. Since XSI does a really nice job of converting NURBS to polys, you could combine both techniques easily. Build things you prefer to do in Rhino in Rhino (canopy!) and other stuff in XSI with polys. Then weld em together using XSI-made fillets, for instance.



Now thats an ugly bird if I have ever seen one!Check the gallery, Ben ;)

[giant551]

Paul, have a go at importing your Rhino model (the spit for instance) as an IGS file. Should work a charm. Since XSI does a really nice job of converting NURBS to polys, you could combine both techniques easily. Build things you prefer to do in Rhino in Rhino (canopy!) and other stuff in XSI with polys. Then weld em together using XSI-made fillets, for instance.



Check the gallery, Ben ;)

Ronnie it works a treat !!! Used softimage Iges from rhino into XSI And it goes in excactly as the rhino model was !!! No tweeks at all !!! This opens a few doors, thanks for the tip :D :D

[Skyraider3D]

Great news! :D
Can you now try to convert it to a polygonal mesh? I am curious what it will look like. I've heard XSI's meshing tools are about the best :)

[giant551]

well made a sort of progress with the cockpit:D Its the best ive got it so far, i'l try and give it some thickness next and tweek the shape.

Ronnie i'll have ago at converting some nurbs to mesh tomorro:D

[kevjon]

Nice progress, its looking very smooth.

[roshent]

Ronnie it works a treat !!! Used softimage Iges from rhino into XSI And it goes in excactly as the rhino model was !!! No tweeks at all !!! This opens a few doors, thanks for the tip :D :D
What version of XSI are you using ? I lost track of XSI versions a while ago. And if your testing tomorrow anyway, could you check if you can get it out of XSI to other formats (MAX) as well ??
I still got some (non military) models to convert from Rhino to MAX, so thanks in advance !

[zarroun]

Very nice mesh, hoots for you.

Do you by any chance have a good tutorial source for Softimage? I found a few but they were too advanced. I would just like to get comfy with the interface first.

[giant551]

Had ago at converting the wing to a polysurface:) it seems to work a treat !!!

Roshent - I am using 4.2 foundation version at the moment but now i know its a good choice for me i will be getting 5.1 in a couple of weeks. Just awaiting full clearance form my bank manager (the wife):lol:.

Zarroun - there is some really good basics video tuts over at 3dbuzz. I bought the digitaltutors intro to XSI DVD which is really good to start you off you make a sort of skybike thing, pretty cool and very well put together. I was suprised with the lack of good tut's on the net for XSi, no cars or aircraft and alot of them are pretty old. there's a couple of video tuts over at 3d-palace which are worth a look. Ive been using Max and C4D tuts and as far as i can tell the theories similar its a case of finding the commands in XSI:D sort off !!!

[zarroun]

Thank you for the information, I'll have a look at those places. I wasn't too surprised though that I didn't find good tutorials. Somftimage has gone forgotten for a while there.

The conversion seems to be working fine. Yay for you! (insert party music and strobe lights here).

I hope noone here minds my ignorance, but what's the big difference between NURBS and poly modeling?

[Skyraider3D]

That conversion ain't too bad indeed. Nice quads. I think you could crank the detail up a good bit too, as it looks very low-poly at the moment.


Zarroun: NURBS uses a surfaced curve network to represent the shape, while polymodelling builds up a model out of triangles (or quads). You'd only appreciate the massive difference in how this behaves by trying either technique yourself.
NURBS are especially powerful when it comes to curved shapes and booleans. To give you an idea, a cylinder can be represented just by three lines (two are full circles, while the other is a straight line connecting them). With polygons, you'd need a whole row of quads to represent the curvature of a cylinder accurately.

[giant551]

Nurbs stands for Non Uniform Rational B Splines..... What does it mean ??? ...do i really care ??? not really :D

In the simplest way my tiny mind works - Nurbs modelling creates surfaces from splines using lofts sweeps ect....

Advantages of nurbs?? Its a lot quicker than poly's its alot easier to create more organic looking surfaces

Disadvantage ?? in my opinion its harder to create acurate modes in nurbs. Its not as easy to change a surface once its built (ive never had much luck with point pulling:D ) In poly's you can move points and verts untill the cows come home :D

[MagnumHB]

There's a ton of information about the mathematical basis of NURBS and Bezier curves in general available if you care to find it. Of course, if you don't like math, don't bother.

[zarroun]

So NURBS and spline modeling are pretty much the same? I guess C4D uses the term NURBS the wrong way then. There, it's pretty much what MeshSmooth or a Sub D would do. Thank you!

[Sky_Eagle]

Looking very good Paul.
keep it up mate , you're getting good at polies.

[roshent]

So NURBS and spline modeling are pretty much the same? I guess C4D uses the term NURBS the wrong way then. There, it's pretty much what MeshSmooth or a Sub D would do. Thank you!
No, NURBS and Spline modelling are not the same. Take a look at the special software packages for the two and you'll see they are awfull in polygonmodelling (thinking of Rhino for NURBS and Animation:Master for splines). The biggest difference is better to grasp from this standpoint, polygonmodellers all have a (control) cage that define your mesh, most packages call the bits in between the points of that cage Splines, but they shouldn't do that. Because you cannot modify/alter the resulting mesh (the subD, meshsmooth or HyperNurbs mesh) directly, you mostly have to use the cage for that. NURBS and splinemodellers don't have a cage and for that matter no SubD or meshsmooth, they control your mesh directly.
But we're hijacking giant's topic here, better start a different thread for that... or can the moderators place this stuff out of this thread?

[zarroun]

Because you cannot modify/alter the resulting mesh (the subD, meshsmooth or HyperNurbs mesh) directly, you mostly have to use the cage for that.

I don't want to make this toppic even bigger, but C4D now lets you directly control the HyperNURBS/MeshSmooth object of your poly model. Haven't played with it too much, but it's quiet nice to work with.

[MagnumHB]

I didn't mean to imply that NURBS and spline modelling are the same, but they are mathematically related.

[giant551]

A bit of slow progress on this one:D Ive been away in London doing some flash action script training so not a lot of time of poly modelling:D . Anyway i'm slowly getting my head around the concept of this type of modelling:eek: Next step is to start cutting out all the control surfaces and adding the details. I am struggling with how to create the the flaps around the engine cowling ?? Any ideas :D :D Anyway have a look at my mesh and please feel free to shout if you see a better way of doing things:D :D

[kevjon]

I cut out the cowl flaps after the mesh is collapsed (some call it frozen depending on the application you use) to high poly and then rotate them one by one to the desired angle. You need to study photos to determine what the angle should be. It is different for inflight or on the ground. If I had any clue how to animate things, that would be a better way to do the cowl flaps as you can easily tweak them for each render.

You seem to have a lot of triangles in your fin/rudder. Not good.
The rest of the mesh looks very efficient.

[yobiko]

Nice work so far. :)

Though, in front of the canopy there seem to be a small bump. Might be nothing. Maybe just the lighting or something, but I've attached an image showing what I mean.

[giant551]

Hi Guys well i decided to redo the fuselage from scratch so here it is Ive frozen the mesh and i'm starting to cut out the details, it took me a while to get to this method !!! But it seems to work. :D

Anyway starting to feel a little more comfortable with XSI now :D even smacked it a bit of finalgather for the wip render (check me out !!!:lol: :lol: )

[kevjon]

Thats looking pretty good. Cowling looks much better than the last attempt.

[Skyraider3D]

Niiiice... that's looking a lot slicker now :)

Try making the last row of polys on the cowling planar with the first row of polys on the cooling flaps, so they don't stand out as much.

What exact model are you making? If I'm not mistaken it's a C-model now, judging by the number of cooling flaps, but within the C-series there are some variations as well.

[giant551]

Another little update:D It was supposed to be a d version Ronnie:D But ive got so hung up on learning how to put it together ive sort of lost it with the acuracy forgive me ??? That way it can have a lovely set of invasion stripes and rocket racks:D :D

thanks for you comments fella's

[Sky_Eagle]

Wauw , nice.
You're getting good at poly's.

[kevjon]

Good going Giant. It looks pretty good to me and looks like your coming to grips with the software pretty quickly.

The engine cylinders look a little too far back but maybe you have another row to add in front yet ?

Nice job.

[giant551]

Thanks Kev i'm kinda pleased the way this one is going :D The transition has been really tough but i think ive turned the corner over the last couple of days:D and are really starting to enjoy modelling again:D Did some more tonight and the modelling is not far of finished, then its the fun part:D

[Evan]

Looks really nice giant! I'm really nit picking here but I think the rear horizontal and vertical wings are a tad to thick on the leading edge.

[Skyraider3D]

The early D and C models are very much alike. The main visual difference is in the number of cooling flaps on the engine cowling. Yours now has the arrangement of a C-model. Cut in a couple more and it'll be a mid-production D (D-10 to -23) or alternatively remove a section of the cowling and clone a few of your existing cooling flaps to make an early D-model (D-1 to -6).

Below is an overview I've puzzled together to make order out of the jungle that makes up the P-47D Razorback model designations :)
Below that a list of serial numbers, so you can precisely pinpoint the exact type of the aircraft you want to build.

Any questions... shoot! :D

P-47D Razorback Models:
--------------------------
D-RA 110 Farmingdale C-2
D-1-RE 105 Additional cooling flaps compared to C-model
D-2-RE 665 As D-1-RE with Turbosupercharger shroud removed
D-3-RA 200* Similar to D-2 (*shared production)
D-4-RA 200* D-2 with C-21 supercharger and water injection
D-5-RE 300 Two-point bomb/droptank provision on belly
D-6-RE 350 Identical to D-5 except electrics
D-10-RE 250 R-2800-63 engine /w switch on throttle for water injection, hydraulic flap equalizer deleted, cooling/oil/hydraulics changes
D-11 650 Like D-10 but with automatic water pump
D-15 653 Underwing pylons for droptanks, jettisonable canopy
D-16 283 As D-15 but with fuel system changes
D-20 287 As D-15 but with R-2800-59, longer tailwheel strut, redesigned wing pylons, new gunbay heating; no camouflage from 42-25274
D-21 440 D-20 with redesigned throttle button for water injection
D-22-RE 850 Hamilton Standard Hydramatic 24E50-65 13'1 7/8" propeller in place of the Curtiss Electric 12'2" as earlier used, GE-23 turbosupercharger regulator, carburetor heat eliminated from 89th aircraft
D-23-RA 889 As D-22 but with Curtiss Electric C542S 13' propeller


Serials:
--------------------------
40-3051 Republic XP-47 Thunderbolt
40-3052 Republic XP-47A Thunderbolt
41-5895/6064 Republic P-47B Thunderbolt
41-6065 Republic XP-47E Thunderbolt
41-6066 Republic P-47C-1-RE Thunderbolt
41-6067/6123 Republic P-47C-RE Thunderbolt
41-6124/6177 Republic P-47C-1-RE Thunderbolt
41-6178/6305 Republic P-47C-2-RE Thunderbolt
41-6306/6667 Republic P-47C-5-RE Thunderbolt
42-7853/7957 Republic P-47D-1-RE Thunderbolt
42-7958/8402 Republic P-47D-2-RE Thunderbolt
42-8403/8702 Republic P-47D-5-RE Thunderbolt
42-22250/22253 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
42-22254/22363 Republic P-47D-RE Thunderbolt
42-22364/22563 Republic P-47D-2-RA Thunderbolt
42-22564/22663 Republic P-47D-3-RA Thunderbolt
42-22664/22863 Republic P-47D-4-RA Thunderbolt
42-22864/23113 Republic P-47D-11-RA Thunderbolt
42-23114/23142 Republic P-47D-16-RA Thunderbolt
42-23143/23299 Republic P-47D-15-RA Thunderbolt
42-24920/24939 Curtiss P-47G-CU Thunderbolt
42-24940/24979 Curtiss P-47G-1-CU Thunderbolt
42-24980/25039 Curtiss P-47G-5-CU Thunderbolt
42-25040/25119 Curtiss P-47G-10-CU Thunderbolt
42-25120/25273 Curtiss P-47G-15-CU Thunderbolt
42-25274/25322 Republic P-47D-20-RE Thunderbolt
42-25323/25538 Republic P-47D-21-RE Thunderbolt
42-25539/26388 Republic P-47D-22-RE Thunderbolt
42-26389/26773 Republic P-47D-25-RE Thunderbolt
42-26774/27388 Republic P-47D-27-RE Thunderbolt
42-27389/28188 Republic P-47D-23-RA Thunderbolt
42-28189/28438 Republic P-47D-26-RA Thunderbolt
42-28439/29466 Republic P-47D-28-RA Thunderbolt
42-74615/74964 Republic P-47D-6-RE Thunderbolt
42-74965/75214 Republic P-47D-10-RE Thunderbolt
42-75215/75614 Republic P-47D-11-RE Thunderbolt
42-75615/75864 Republic P-47D-15-RE Thunderbolt
42-75865/76118 Republic P-47D-16-RE Thunderbolt
42-76119/76364 Republic P-47D-15-RE Thunderbolt
42-76365/76614 Republic P-47D-20-RE Thunderbolt
43-25254/25440 Republic P-47D-20-RA Thunderbolt
43-25441/25664 Republic P-47D-21-RA Thunderbolt
43-25665/25753 Republic P-47D-23-RA Thunderbolt
43-46952 Republic XP-47J Thunderbolt
44-19558/20307 Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt
44-20308/21107 Republic P-47D-30-RE Thunderbolt
44-21108/21237 Republic P-47M Thunderbolt
44-32668/33867 Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt
44-87784/88333 Republic P-47N-1-RE Thunderbolt
44-88334/88883 Republic P-47N-5-RE Thunderbolt
44-88884/89083 Republic P-47N-15-RE Thunderbolt
44-89084/89283 Republic P-47N-20-RE Thunderbolt
44-89284/89450 Republic P-47N-25-RE Thunderbolt
44-89451/89683 Republic P-47N-RE Thunderbolt
44-89684/90283 Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt
44-90284/90483 Republic P-47D-40-RA Thunderbolt
45-49090/49554 Republic P-47D-40-RA Thunderbolt
45-49555/49974 Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
45-49975/50123 Republic P-47N-20-RA Thunderbolt
45-50124/53574 Republic P-47N Thunderbolt

[franken_johan]

Hey just found another aircraft spotter here!

[giant551]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/giant551/wildhair.gif
wow!!!!!!! I just want one with some pretty nose art :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[yobiko]

That's the P47's pilot? :p

[Skyraider3D]

I just want one with some pretty nose artShould've picked a Mustang then! :lol:


It's not that difficult really... let's say you want to make this P-47 with penguin on the nose:
http://www.airconnection.on.ca/airconnection_decals_thd48048.htm
Check the number... 225836, which is 42-25836, which according to the list above is a D-22-RE model. This model has the late style cooling flaps, bomb rack and a different paddle-blade propeller.

Late style cooling flaps: http://www.web-birds.com/7th/318/bugs2.JPG (on early style the bottom two flaps are the same shape as the others, on the C they are missing altogether)

More: http://p47tbolt.tripod.com/jugevolution.htm

If not interested let me know and I won't waste my time anymore. Just trying to help :)

[Martocticvs]

Ronnie, you know too much! haha

[kevjon]

It seems like every WWII plane came with about 50 variations. It makes it hard to model a version that you can apply many different and interesting skins to.

[Skyraider3D]

Ronnie, you know too much! hahaThat's what you get when you research the aircraft you modelling ;)

It seems like every WWII plane came with about 50 variations. It makes it hard to model a version that you can apply many different and interesting skins to.Quite true. It gets worse when making multiple versions too. I want to convert my D-model Mustang in a B/C. To keep a long story short, only the wingtips and horizontal tailplane remain unaffected. The rest nearly needs to be build from scratch... terrible...

[giant551]

Should've picked a Mustang then! :lol:


It's not that difficult really... let's say you want to make this P-47 with penguin on the nose:
http://www.airconnection.on.ca/airconnection_decals_thd48048.htm
Check the number... 225836, which is 42-25836, which according to the list above is a D-22-RE model. This model has the late style cooling flaps, bomb rack and a different paddle-blade propeller.

Late style cooling flaps: http://www.web-birds.com/7th/318/bugs2.JPG (on early style the bottom two flaps are the same shape as the others, on the C they are missing altogether)

More: http://p47tbolt.tripod.com/jugevolution.htm

If not interested let me know and I won't waste my time anymore. Just trying to help :)

only joking Ronnie :D of course i appeciate you taking the time to help out, its the Matlot in me gives me a wierd sense of humour:D :D

[giant551]

Well just to let you know i'm still working on this one !!! Things have been a little busy so not alot of time for this one but ive finally started some textures and this is what i have so far

[kevjon]

Nice work so far Giant. The right hand bar on the american marking looks a little long though. Colors of the aircraft look really good and so does the weathering.

[Spinner]

Trailing edge of the prop tip seems off to me but I've nothing to compare with.
Coming together strongly now.

Skyraider,
Half the world thinks history is what Hollywood showed.
Today's CG artists are the modern equivalent and I believe for that reason alone we should strive for research and accuracy. Its always worth the effort IMHO.

[zarroun]

Sweet! She's starting to look very beautiful!

[giant551]

thanks guys :D I have a quick question does anyone know what colour the cockpit interior would be ??? I'm guessing a medium grey ???

[kevjon]

Nope, it is likely to be zinc chromate (interior green) , same as wheel wells.

[giant551]

here's a bit more with the textures still slow going but we're getting there:D Thought i'd do a european theater version as well. Not sure which version i'll use for the final scene yet:D

[kevjon]

Render both in seperate renders. Good stuff. There are so many cool schemes for this aircraft.

Don't forget the panel lines around the wing root.

[giant551]

Render both in seperate renders. Good stuff. There are so many cool schemes for this aircraft.

Don't forget the panel lines around the wing root.

I know what you mean i would like to pluck up the courage to do a Aluminium version but i wouldn't know where to start at the moment:D thanks Kev

[Skyraider3D]

Good stuff, mate!
I believe your first option has a bare metal belly. The camouflage was field applied. So that'll give you a chance to experiment with aluminium finishes without focussing all the attention on it ;)
Try to randomise the text on the nose ever so slightly, so it looks less "typed".

PS. I have the impression the top of the cowling is a bit flattened left and right?

[giant551]

Well just about finished with this one :D A few more details and we're just about there. Its been a pretty steep learning curve with this one and definately see the advantages of poly's and nurbs now:D Time to start putting some sort of scene together now. Thanks for your comments guys

[kiwi123]

Looking good giant ! Maybe a specular map to break up the highlights ?

[giant551]

Thanks Weik, yeh i want to give it a spec map but not sure where to plug it into the render tree at the moment :D I will have a dig around and see where its suppose to go:D

I have found XSI mentalray really powerfull but it does take a little getting used to. Its quite a complex little beasty:D Mind you most things are complex compared to my dear old flamingo:lol: :lol:

[freddie]

Look for zBump on xsibase.com, it is alot easier then XSI's bumpmap generator. :)

Nice plane anyway :)

[giant551]

Thanks Freddie will have a look at it:)

[freddie]

It´s even possible to use 2 bumpmaps on the same model with different factors on them, one that is heavier factor then the other.
It´s a great tool :)

[kevjon]

Well done Giant, pretty hard to model, texture and render a whole plane with new software.

I know the intergration of Mental Ray with max is pretty poor which is such a frustrating shame as I like the speed of it compared to the scanline renderer. From what I have read the integration of Mental Ray with XSI is the best so you should be able to get some great results with the rendering engine. Just a matter of coming to grips with it.

Came across this tutorial which may help you understand the render tree a little better and how specular maps might sit within the setup http://www.mackhouse.ca/portfolio/troy/tutorials/texturing01/vintage01.htm

I've enjoyed watching your P47 take shape so far.

[giant551]

Thanks kev a appreciate your comments. That tutorial find is great thanks !!!As frustrating as i have found learning it i have found my package of choice from now on. :D Now lets hope i can take what i have learned from this on into my next project.

[kevjon]

Glad XSI is working out, seem to me to be probably the best value for money 3D software. No doubt lots still to learn !

[JFandL]

Very good!

The only thing I see is your star on the wing needs to be fliped so it points forward.

[mo0nykit]

Have a dig through my old modelling folder. Most wireframe images are here too:
http://skyraider.allaboutwarfare.com/files/modelling/
Just search for anything called 'wire' :D
"a" versions are before and "b" versions after subdividing (x2).


Hi! I tried to follow the link but I can't get through. How do you do it? Thanks

[Skyraider3D]

Hi! I tried to follow the link but I can't get through. How do you do it? ThanksIt used to be possible to browse the index, but not anymore. Bit clumsy, but all the images can be found here too:
http://www.military-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89

[mo0nykit]

Thanks Skyraider. They say you're the big man for P-51's. I'm a noob doing a WIP here (http://www.military-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1435). I'd very much welcome critique. Thanks!