Custom .38 Special Revolver

ImsumDave

Hi polycount,
I've been working on a Custom .38 Special Revolver over the past 2 weeks. The aim is for it to be of similar quality to most weapons seen in modern fps games (see PBR/IBL/realistic). As for specs, I'm aiming for something similar to FC4: 12k to 15k poly count and 1024 to 2048 texture res as maximums.

High poly shots

Joltya

Hey not bad. Textures are looking pretty nice already. I think you could have rendered out the high poly a little bit better though.

Also I took a look at your website a little bit. That Evilsbane sword you have is a straight up Master Sword variant from the Legend of Zelda franchise. Even the text you have in the corner and on the blade is in Hylian, a language also from the Zelda games. I'm not sure if you're aware of that or not, but it would be a good idea to give Nintendo some credit for the original design as well.

ImsumDave

Thanks. I'm still finishing up a few things with the high poly. I'll try to get another render up when I think it's done.

As for Evilsbane, I am fully aware of the fact that it resembles the master sword. The reference sword was made by an Australian smith. I don't know how it came to be, but I'd guess someone asked him to make a master sword. He obviously cannot copy the design verbatim, so he changed the design to differentiate it. I've made a couple of his swords in 3D and I thought Evilsbane was a really awesome sword design.

Anyway, here's the thread for it.

Joltya

Ah okay I see. I thought maybe you saw the design and thought it looked cool without knowing where it came from, since there was no mention it was a master sword variant on your website. That's the impression that I got from it anyway. Still, you are using Nintendo's icons on your website, so it would not be a bad idea to mention them on there.

ImsumDave

I understand. However, at this point, the triforce symbol is iconic and directly linked to Nintendo. There is no confusing it. Additionally, the sword is named Evilsbane. Another name for The Master Sword is The Blade of Evil's Bane. I think it's a bit of a non-issue. Either way, I've removed my website from my sig. It's not quite ready to be shown yet.

Now on with the thread.

ImsumDave

high poly


high poly wires

mignonw

Hey it looks good, I'm a beginner and working on a smith & wesson, I didn't know modeling handgun is nearly as difficult as modeling complex buildings.

Oniram

lol, that whole evil's bane thing.. totally not a big deal. i wouldnt worry about having to credit nintendo.. its fan art for goodness sake.

as for your .38. i feel like it might just be a smidge too thin. its your last screenshot (the one with the wires) tha tdefinitely make it feel that way, but it might just be the FOV.

as for the model/execution itself, you're missing the slot in the barrel for the ejector rod, and your cylinder release seems a bit too small. as for the grip, thats a very interesting and unique design.. do you have a ref for it? never seen something like that before.

ImsumDave

@mignonw
Thanks. Yes, arguably, modeling the complex shapes of a gun is more difficult than the usual building. However, it all comes down to complexity and that varies depending on the object/thing. A building could very well be harder to model than a gun.

@Oniram
Yeah, I'm not worried about it. I talked to Shiggy, Reg, and Iwata and they're cool with it.

Here's a orthographic shot from above


My reference for the main grip

And a 38 with a similar handle accessory to mine


I'll model in what's missing before I move on with the low poly (ejector rod slot and whatnot).

ImsumDave

I've added the shell ejector rod bit and increased the thickness of both the main body and barrel.

ImsumDave

I've been working off and on on this over the past while, although, I nearly abandoned it at the texturing phase. I just wasn't getting good results. But here it is done. I'm glad I kept coming back to it. Comments and critiques welcome.

Here it is in UE4

and Sketchfab PBR

GrungyStudios

This looks good man, nailed the wood material IMO

Gazu

Like the Wood,too
Nice UE4 Renders.

Can you tell me what Map that is in which your Weapon is rendered?

ImsumDave

@Grungy Studios & Gazu
Thanks, glad you like it.

@Gazu I used a free asset showcase blueprint. You can find it here. I believe I used the greenhouse environment which is included with the blueprint. FYI, you may need to rename the folder to "Showcase" from "ShowcaseBP_0_2" if you decide to install it. I ran into a few problems setting it up for the first time and that seemed to fix things.

Gazu

Thanks Bro!

C86G

I wonder what kind of wood this is? No wood I know has such an extreme clean pattern. Even zebrano isn´t that clean.

Anyway, I like your revolver!

Polygoblin

nice work man, and thx for the showcase blueprint link

ImsumDave

@Polygoblin & Gazu
No problem.

@C86G
Thanks. Can't say I know what type of wood it is, exactly. I pulled a wood texture from my hard drive and slapped it on. You can find the exact wood texture I used here. 

EDIT: I baked a mask and made use of it so it looks like multiple pieces laminated together. I explain how in my next post.

a3D

I think the wood roughness is a bit too dark (too smooth) in some places. Almost looks like it's wet.
Great piece otherwise!

Doxturtle

How did you get that wood texture from the one you posted? they look completely different

Chase

Can you post your texture flats? The steel seems like it could be boosted some in the roughness. It's reading flat to me. Modeling wise you nailed it though!

ImsumDave

I'm back, several months later. Sorry about that.

@a3D
You may be right. I've struggled with glossiness/roughness a bit. For me perceived smoothness can change depending on the environment, so it can be tough to get it right. 

@Doxturtle
Well, to get to the final handle texture, I had done some pre-planning. I used a technique that I have seen some others use. Can't remember where I learned how to do this initially, but just know this idea is not my own.

So, I baked a black and white mask for the handle so I could simulate layered wood or carbon fiber. I first created a texture which consisted of black and white vertical stripes. I then applied this texture to a copy of my low poly handle in 3ds max. Next, I applied an "Unwrap UVW" modifier and used the planar map projection feature to flat map everything from a single perspective, aligned so the stripes match the desired position of the layers. I then scaled the UVs so that the texture matched the layer density I wanted. At this point I used the original low poly handle (with proper, unmodified UVs) and baked a diffuse map using render to texture and projection mapping. I used the resulting texture as a mask. In photoshop I took two copies of the wood texture, masked one using my baked mask and left the other unchanged. The masked copy should be above the unmasked copy. I shifted position of the bottom copy and played with the hue of both.

@Chase
The flats


\--
I recently finished a retexture of this thing.

Here it is in Marmoset

and Sketchfab

Najo

Wow! it looks so great, and you provided everything you worked. Thanks, it definitely helps me with my study.