[WIP] AK-74

Stoy79

Not exactly a new model (made it +/- 1 year ago), just something I decided to revamp a bit - fixed some details, re-UVed, re-baked normal maps (hence the previous changes) and am now I'm finishing texturing it.

I'll use this for presenting the GP-25 model I had posted previously (which I've nearly finished as well), but since it'll be a standalone model too, I decided to show it separately. + it would be nice to know what you guys think of it.


It's basically an early 80's AK74 and there'll be two versions of it - laminated wood and plum/brown polymer furniture.




Polymer furniture - Currently it's just basic material.





Suggestions, critics, comments will be very much appreciated.

Mr Digital

One of the best AK i ever seen, the model is pretty nice and solid, for the basic texture base, is ok for now.

Pedro Amorim

Excelent work!
Really live the clean look of this model

Shrike

the wood and metal is read really well, the plastic would need some edge highlighting to come out better imo
Presentation is dragging you down a bit, your background makes it a lot more bland that in actually is. Grey is pretty boring and does nearly not exist in real life. you can do magic with decent and simple gradients per example

Really nice model, came out great

Oniram

lookin sweet.

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

the model is pretty good, and the metal reads well in texture. the wood has too little specularity to it I think, generally they don't just make weapon furniture out of raw wood, i'd expect some finish to it. ditto for the bakelite, it's a hard plastic, it's not dull and it has quite an interesting specular response irl.

it'd be great to see some more unique details in the texture, too.

Stoy79

First, thanks to all for the feedback and the kind words.

the wood has too little specularity to it I think, generally they don't just make weapon furniture out of raw wood, i'd expect some finish to it.

Yes, it's indeed lacquered, but with time it wears off. It's not uncommon to see AKs which have been in service for a long time, having their furniture worn down to bare wood, with remnants of the original lacquer only in the most recessed areas.
At least that's the effect I tried to reproduce. Here's the picture where I got my inspiration from:


But looking back at the reference, I think I got a bit carried away with the weathering. I'll add some more traces of lacquer and make it darker (like in the reference) in the next updates.

The mag is the so-called matte plum version and the original is pretty dull. It's not bakelite, btw (these are usually orange - Soviet ones, at least), it's the same polymer as the plum furniture.
Anyway, in the meantime, I've opted for the "shiny" plum, two color mag. It's... well... shinier and more interesting, in my opinion - (dark) plum in the middle and black towards the extremities. In other words, this type of mag :

it'd be great to see some more unique details in the texture, too.

You mean writing, number stamps, basically personalization of the weapon, stuff like that?

Presentation is dragging you down a bit, your background makes it a lot more bland that in actually is.

Yeah, I agree on that. I've been using black backgrounds previously, but decided not to, as it "kills" some details. The gray is temporary, as it was a WIP screenshot, I'll definitely come up with something more interesting than that (or at least try to), for the final renders. Maybe, if I have time, I'll create some environment and render in CryEngine 3.


Some update on the poly furniture (tried some more "colorful" background ):


A close-up on the mag:

CougarJo

Really cool! The wood really ''feel'' like wood (if it make sense )!

The last mag looks great, maybe the ''red brown'' color need to be a little more brighter or saturated? (like on your picture.)

Stoy79

Thanks, CougarJo, that's a good point - it was indeed a bit too dark. Brightened it a bit and it looks somewhat closer to the reference, now, I think.

CougarJo

Yep, I think it looks better Keep up the good work!

Stormfreek

That looks super man, sick work! As everyone said, the wood looks like rough coarse wood, which is really cool

Stoy79

Reworked the wood version a bit - added some more lacquer to make it closer to the reference. While at it, I also decided to make a "not-so-worn" version too.

The super-worn furniture:





And the light-to-medium worn edition:

woot

that looks so nice, awesome job on the materials!

Shrike

Its looking good, but you made the lacquer exactly on the opposite spots where it actually would be.

Best seen on your heavy wear picture, that place where you have that lacquer layer is where it would be worn out the most, not the least. Having lacquer left on only that place is telling that its worn out there the least, which is wrong.

Stoy79

Its looking good, but you made the lacquer exactly on the opposite spots where it actually would be.

Best seen on your heavy wear picture, that place where you have that lacquer layer is where it would be worn out the most, not the least. Having lacquer left on only that place is telling that its worn out there the least, which is wrong.

Yeah, it wasn't in the right spot, indeed. Moved the lacquer a bit, I think it's closer to the reference, now:

Havoc89

Very nice work. Excellent surface definition, and very clean textures. Nicely done!

Stoy79

Small update - just changed the mag a bit (as originally it was of an earlier type, thus it had a slightly different design than the plum mag). I also finished the, so called "Bakelite" orange mag. I had a harder time than expected reproducing the marbled look of the material, but I think the end result is close enough...

So, here's the "old school" orange mag :









And the updated plum mag:

woot

i prefer the plum mag, the orange one distracts me from the rest of the model with its brightness.

CougarJo

Nice

Don't you mind showing your texture maps?

Lonewolf

really like this one?
btw. did u use ddo on that one?

J0NNYquid

Really great looking materials. Well done.

Stoy79

Hi,

Sorry for not coming back earlier, I was doing a different kind of art - repainting the garage...

@woot : Yeah, I thought that too and it's actually one of the reasons it was replaced by the brown/plum/black ABS plastic mags - too noticeable. Personally, I prefer the plum one too, btw. But, well, I needed that mag for my mod.

@CougarJo : I'll show the maps, but I wasn't satisfied with the UV mapping - too many textures and galaxies of wasted space. The laminate furniture was using two separate 1k textures for hanguards and stock and a 4th for the mag. The compensator was thrown in in the mag texture... In other words, a big mess, remnant from my previous mod. So, I'm currently combining all that in two 2k textures - one for the main body and one for all the rest. Also, I need to finish texturing some parts, like the ammo and interior and top of the mag.

@Lonewolf : No, just the usual, "old school" stuff.