[WIP] Challenger 2 TES
polycounter lvl 6
Hello
I thought i would start off my WIP thread here, i have been working on this for a while now and i am coming to the end of the high poly modelling. I am now just finishing blocking out the Enforcer RWS station which is quite a mission, as there a very few images of this RWS on the net and its very complex.
Anyway the rest of the tank is pretty much done in high res, juggling this and my masters atm so not going to be a massive amount of progress but thought i would get your comments on the high res at least. The only thing i am not modelling is the barracuda netting. I did give it a try, manually modelling it but it was a nightmare and still didn't look that good, i have therefore bought a 1m x 1m tile of the netting off the net, will photograph it and turn it into a tileable texture which i shall use in photoshop during texturing for the diffuse and normal. Should work....hopefully
Whisky
I thought i would start off my WIP thread here, i have been working on this for a while now and i am coming to the end of the high poly modelling. I am now just finishing blocking out the Enforcer RWS station which is quite a mission, as there a very few images of this RWS on the net and its very complex.
Anyway the rest of the tank is pretty much done in high res, juggling this and my masters atm so not going to be a massive amount of progress but thought i would get your comments on the high res at least. The only thing i am not modelling is the barracuda netting. I did give it a try, manually modelling it but it was a nightmare and still didn't look that good, i have therefore bought a 1m x 1m tile of the netting off the net, will photograph it and turn it into a tileable texture which i shall use in photoshop during texturing for the diffuse and normal. Should work....hopefully
Whisky
Replies
Then just going to redo some elements with larger rounded edges but then just planning on cracking with the low res.
Whisky
Update, high res now done...only taken 4 years!
Regards
Whisky
http://i.imgur.com/C444s00.jpg
Yes it is completely intentional, Basically the Theatre Entry Specification of the Challenger 2 is covered in Saab Barracuda Netting, which is comprised of netting on the top layer and padding on the lower layer. Reduced thermal signature and reduces internal heat.
I went about trying to model through geometry the netting effect but it didnt look great and was very time consuming. I therefore modeled the lower padding layer, added some subtle noise and gentle curves as opposed to hard edges on the turret and have bought some netting which i shall photograph to turn into a tileable texture to composite in Photoshop for the normal, diffuse and AO map.
Hope this males sense.
http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/40025/dsc01650.jpg
Whisky
Are you serious..? I don't think someone with this level of modelling ability would be a novice at hard-surface topology.
I mean c'mon, look at the flat surfaces - it's pretty obvious he sculpted the detail - lmao!
As for the OP, that's some mighty impressive work, looks bang on if you ask me. In-fact I'll be honest with you, I think this would look better as a high-poly textured asset for animation rather than a low-poly game asset.
Good work!
It did cross my mind about keeping just as an accurate high poly model but i realised I wouldn't have the patience to unwrap all the high res stuff to texture it, so halfway through doing the hull I swopt back to the idea of high to low baking. Which is why I ended up remodelling parts as they weren't going to work well for baking.
Started on the low res, not much to show but thinking tri count being in the 50k to 70k or so, so quite high but nothing too overboard. Textures wise, again, unsure but prob be 3 atlases, one turret (4k x 2k) one hull (4k x 4k) and one for the remote weapon station and machine gun as I can them reuse that asset (1k or 2k)
Whisky
Edit: it did cross my mind also that I could sculpt the netting inside of mudbox or something. Not really a sculpting ninja so if someone wants to point me in the right direction or see if it possible that would be great.
Been a while, but i have been doing bits and pieces on this when i can. Low Ply well underway, about 70% the way through, last few bits on the hull to model and the RWS
I have however completed the modeling and unwrapping of the Turret so as a break from modelling and UVing i finalised the atlas and did a bake for my base textures and the below are the results.
All C and C welcome
Whisky
Please see comments above, it is intentional. It is barracuda netting and the whole point is for it to look wobbly and like fabric draped over the top of the tank.
The actual "netting" affect will be achieved via a texture as i have bought some of the netting to photograph.
Whisky
Whisky
Latest update, Diffuse Texture is 95% complete, last few details, need to crack on with the Spec which wont be too big of an issue.
Any C and C welcome
EDIT: Just noticed ignore the fact my edge scratching is perfect white, i forgot to turn off an adjustment layer i use in order to easily see where the scratching is. This will be dark grey in the diffuse and bright white in the spec.
Regards
Whisky
Thank you very much for your comments, your Leopard 2 A6 was an inspiration many times to see this project through so high praise from yourself.
Light at the end of the tunnel, tweaked a few of the colours in the Diffuse to brighten it up, added my fun dust layer of bootprints on the tank so just spec to finish off, then texture up the RWS which i will re-use many of the layers i created for the tank in order to speed things up and keep consistency.
Regards
Whisky
Whisky
Yes, I am doing such a thing, but since I [part] completed my Leopard 2 project (at least A4 and A5) i decided to return to my Challenger 2 project.
Originally I modelled the tank in only the Theatre Entry Standard (TES) configuration. I have since decided to revamp the tank, model the tank in the base configuration and then model the dozer blade, different generation armour packages and camouflage systems as additional modular components.
Nearly completed the high poly revamp on the base tank, took longer than i thought as previously irrelevant turret or hull details which were hidden by additional armour etc now needed to modelled. Plus, as to be expected I looked at certain elements of the model and thought "WTF! What was I thinking when i modelled that!"
Here is the current status! A few errors that I will resolve before the next update. Slightly grainy renders as not used to Arnold yet in Max from Mental Ray being discontinued.
Whisky
Are you planning to make a lowpoly for it?
A lot of remodelling and re-UVing bits from the V1 low poly I did back in 2014 (image links no longer working). Should have some updates in a few weeks
Whisky