[WIP] A7V WW1 Tank

WhiskyDelta

Evening

Started the latest project a few weeks ago. I was starting something more modern but there was a request for me to do a A7V to pair up with my Mark IV through work so i decided to give it a crack as it shouldnt take me too long.

Still on the high poly but all C and C welcome





Whisky

John Baxter

One nitpick after comparing it to photos: the set of four bolts under the machine guns on the sides should be horizontally aligned to the set of 6 bolts.

Looking great, can't wait to see it finished!

simou

Nice start! I would see more!

WhiskyDelta

Evening All

Been a while since the last update as i got caught up on the lower running gear. Was quite a challenge to recreate what's underneath the A7V's skirt to sufficient level to be authentic but through analyising Timya model kits, historic photos and drawings i finally got there. Will do a render with the shell removed as it is somewhat lost in the shadows




With High Poly now done, onto the Low Poly

Whisky

.Wiki

Looks good

for the lowpoly you could leave the rivets as models. If you take a look at the vehicles in war thunder you can see that they have all the rivets as 3d models too .

WhiskyDelta

Afternoon PolyCounters

Been a while since my last update but i have been working away in the background with doing the low poly, unwrapping, baking and cleaning/ making the base textures.

Here is the results thus far before diving into Substance, no proper Gloss/ Spec maps, just tweaking values in Toolbag to make something presentable.

All C & C welcome. Opposed to my Mark IV, the tracks are not in fact individual track links, but the traditional tank track tube, but with a multi layered track texture, similar to how World of Tank and War Thunder does them. Far less Tri's yet stil looks convincing!





Whisky

james01

Wireframes and a tri count would be nice to see.
I've actually made one of these a while ago so I'm fairly familiar with the design.
It looks as though you have used reference that was taken from the replica tank, and not the preserved ww1 tank.
For instance the metal strip above the main cannon should be shorter and stick out more, the armour plate at the bottom front should be lower and further back, and there a few other minor details which are probably only noticable if you have photographs of the original.
Regarding the texture, I would say add a soft blur to the camouflage to get rid of the hard edge, then add some dirt and paint scratches.
Looking good though.

WhiskyDelta

hi James

Thanks for the comments. you are correct i mainly used reference from the replica tank, but also a few sparse images of the only remaining A7V and finally also Tamiya 3D Models.

Yes the texture is very WIP (ie, no even really started doing the textures, other than prepping the base textures and camo layers for substance)

here are a couple of Wireframes, tri count is around 55k




Whisky

EDIT: Also, i did blue the camo pattern for the screenshots, but i will "undo" this and manage it as part of the substance workflow

james01

Thats interesting, I wasn't aware that Tamiya had one too. I used the MENG kit as reference for the lower hull assembly.
About the wires, looks like a clean build, although I'm not sure that the beveling on the edge of the tracks is necessary.
You might even be able to remove at least two of the loops and it would probably still maintain the same silhouette.
Also had a quick look at your MKIV, nice one.

WhiskyDelta

Hi james

Thats not beveling on the tracks, but what i am referring too as the multi layered alpha textured tracks to give a more convincing illusion of track links than just a singe sweep of geometry.



you can see from the above image, within the raised section of the track, there is another set of polygons, sweeping within the track, and on those faces it uses a portion of the texture with different amounts of alpha, so when stacked upon each other, it builds up the illusion of 3D depth. At the moment its quite noticeable as the spec and gloss maps are not complete so there is some extreme highlighting. Its basically the method War Thunder and World of Tanks do it for their HD tanks.

Whisky

james01

Ah yes, I see now.
Similar to what modelers used to do with tank road wheels.
(Cutting back on geometry by adding a flat plane over the top of a low res cylinder then using the alpha texture to give the appearance of a smoother roundness).
It's probably good to use the method you have. Less heavy in geometry than making every link independent like tanks in Heroes & Generals.