Grease Gun Wip

maxivz

Hello polycount, i am in the process of creating this gun as i decided to put up a new portfolio as my portfolio really sucks. This project aims at getting some actual texturing skills as my texture skills are pretty bad, the high poly is almost done, but i want to get some critics on it before moving on to the low poly. Its not intended to be 100% real, i took some artistic liberties but i would like to know if i made any big mistake with the gun.
Heres it for now, the hps renders, trying to make some good hps renders as well. Would love to get critics so i can get better

maxivz

shameless bump

Bonkahe

Ok! so I did a little digging and I assume your using the M3A1 Grease Gun as it most closely matches your design and you didn't state otherwise, (hint for future reference, concept or just photos of the real thing your modeling are helpful for critiques) did a quick drawing to show you what I think needs work, also I'm using the references at the bottom.

First the bolts, I think the size gives it a little charm, plus its a bit more realistic to the time, where as bolts now days would probably be about that size, back then they were larger, see reference. Next the little piece of metal bolted to the clip holder on the front needs to be lower, to better reflect the reference, and below it down the middle their should be a little ridge. Next the handle where it meets the barrel should have a little ridge out, I believe it's already there just needs to be lower, minor error, you don't even really have to change it, just if you want to. Finally I personally would make the rim of the barrel slightly sharper, this is just personal I can't really say it is 100% accurate that way, just think it looks a little like plastic at the moment, could just be the shader applied. All in all its a wonderful piece, and other than those few little annoyances, its nearing completion (high poly at least) and I am very excited to see the lowpoly of this, I know you will not disappoint, subb'ed.

PS: If you happen to have a copy of Zbrush I would suggest before you move on to low poly drop this baby in there and give it a few dents and blemishes, see the reference for idea's, just a thought.

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=70434&stc=1&d=1354024554
http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/images/uploads/m3greasy/Grease3_11.jpg

maxivz

Quick render, to show the changes that have been sugested. I do have zbrush but i always sucked really bad with it, all i can do is evio stuff, havent used it very much either. I think that its somethign i would like to improove in so i will go and make the dents in photoshop. I really aprecciate the feedback and yes the gun was a grease gun m1a3

I would like to know if i need to spend some more time on the hp or move on to the low poly, my main focus on this is to get a really good hp bake and get a good texture going on, as texture is by far one of my weakest sides as you can see on this screen:
(yeah, trigger missing, acidentally deleted it in the low poly and saved and realised a load of time after, was too lazy to rebake it)

DWalker

If you're going to use this in a game, remember that the dust cover is the safety - it needs to be open when the gun is firing.

Bonkahe

Pretty sexy, low poly that baby!

KartoonHead

how are you doing your welding seams?

maxivz

5 mins tutorial on this, the mothod is well known and it works, just tune it up a little more to feet your needs, this was rushed just for the tutorial as i am in a hurry. I feel good for contibuiting to the community :P

Cheathem

Whoh nice maxivz!Iv never seen that method before.

akh

Thx you Maxivz, easy and very good tut !

maxivz

test bakes start! Exploded bake, just normal, going to bake the ao, i have been struggling 3 days with this, got a load of weird errors, until i realised my .fbx settings had smothing groups and normals off, stupid me

maxivz

Started texturing, this where i will need the most help, i am really bad at it, i have watched a load of tutorials including racers 445 and millenias tuts and they show great thechniques and i understand them, but it looks like i lack of the skills to drop them into my maps. Its early and very wip, basically color overlay and some work done in the clip, i dont like how its looking.

Bonkahe

Well its looking good, I assume the clip has been completed quite a bit more than the rest, so I wont say anything about the scratches other than the clips starting to look good man! The normal maps looking sexy, one thing on the color though I would make the gun (other than the clip) more golden, brass-ish color.

Edit: I think most of it will come together when you drop the reflection on it.

maxivz

Heres some progress in the clip of the weapon, bullet still using bases. would love critiques, i tried to add functional damage based on how the clip makes contact whith the gun

DWalker

If you're going to use a shot that's this close, the base of the cartridges should be smoother - 12 sides instead of the current 8 should do it. Failing that, you could rotate the bullet slightly, so one line of vertices is at the top, instead of a flat edge; that should help disguise the low polygon outline.

Also, the percussion cap is typically a different color, either copper or steel, and has inscribed writing around the base. In the images you've provided, the text might be barely visible and could probably be omitted, but the percussion cap will be very apparent even at a greater distance.

Both the bullet and the cartridge should be quite shiny, with a subtle noise added to the normal map to represent minor scratches and imperfections.

maxivz

Thanks for trhe comments guys! slowlly progressing as my workflow for textures currentlly is do, delete, do, delete and like that forever until i get something i kinda like, i would love advices on how i could make it look way better as its looking really bad at the moment. The bullet is just there to fill the mag, its not an important pice so ill just do some quick spec adjust. Still no gloss map as i am having some problems understanding how the gloss works in real materals

Critics rain please!

Bonkahe

ehhh I still think I would tint the main part of the gun towards a more brass-ish color.
http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=70434&stc=1&d=1354024554
See the colors?

DWalker

Grease guns actually came in a wide variety of colors and finishes, from glossy black to matte black to olive-drab and, yes, brass. When in doubt, stick to your color reference.

Having said that, I'm including an image that shows a well-worn gun. Notice how the paint has completely worn away over large areas, leaving behind bare metal.


Now compare it to a relatively new weapon, which is almost uniformly matte black. This would use a very broad and shallow specular and a subtle noise applied to the bump map.

maxivz

HEres some progress, its coming up slowlly, how many time would it take to texture something like that? it has been like 2 days for me so far, i dont know if i am just to slow.
I am gong for a rusted grease gun like the one Dwalker posted, using it as reference, really liked the materials
Would love critics!

DirkJan

The pattern on the back looks a bit to noisy. The rest is coming together quite nicely. I think the dirt on the trigger looks a bit much aswell. On the back of the trigger. Goodluck!

Bonkahe

I think it has a bit to much rust where the trigger meets the handle, I would think that with use that place would be pretty clean as it goes back and forth from firing.

maxivz

Is this working better? i have been breaking up the repetition and noisy textures, fixed the rust in the trigger, it was supposed to be some kind of oil rather than rust but i could nail it so i deleted it :P

Keep the critics coming! now i will progress some more in the other parts of the gun, sorry for the blockout colors

maxivz

Another update, i am slowlly finishing it. I would love some harsh critics on it. i really want to improove

CougarJo

Cool!

I'm am also modeling an M3 right now

Bonkahe

I would put more scratches (long thin ones) not just ware on the edges.

DWalker

The horizontal scratches on the trigger are too uniform and don't really match the wear pattern on an actual gun. Look at the first reference photo for an example of extreme wear; the bare metal is in two distinct strips, starting a bit behind the front of the trigger.

The patterns on the handgrip are vertical, whereas in the real ones they tend to run parallel to either the leading or trailing edge of the grip. The circles are also in alternating rows, with each circle in the space between two circles above and below. Also note that there are two distinct styles, as shown in the references. The first one has raised grips, with dense holes wrapping onto the beveled edges. The other style has incised grips with much sparser holes. In this style (which seems to more closely match your model), the front, rear, and bottom edges match the corresponding surface of the handle, but the top edge is horizontal.