[WIP] pzkpfw VI ausf H1 tiger tank WW2

kymo_thys

Greetings everyone,

I'm modeling the famous german ww2 tiger ausf H1 and thought to share my progress and hopefully get some c&c on it if you would be so kind hehe. I'm gonna try and limit my polycount to about 50-60k because it's gonna be a portfolio piece and I really hope it helps me finding a job in this amazing industry. So far I've spent a couple days on the tracks getting them baked to planes and still have bits sticking out etc and I'm pretty happy with the result so far.
Rendering is done in Marmoset Toolbag 2.



They're made out of a couple of planes to give it a sense of depth which I like.
the 2 tracks combined contain 5450 triangles
These planes are then using a tileable 2048x512 texture which will also be used to animate the tracks by animating the UVs sliding over the texture. Here is the wireframe for the tracks.

That's it for now, hope you find this one interesting and I'll keep this one updated with the progress!
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Latest Update:

kymo_thys

Didn't like how the tracks looked on the inside so I changed it to this which is more accurate to the real thing. I'm not to sure about the tracks texture, anyone got a suggestion for them? The tiling is also pretty obvious on it but I hope that will be less noticeable when there's wheels and suspension in place.

Maxilator

kymo_thys said:

I'm not to sure about the tracks texture, anyone got a suggestion for them?

I think it looks pretty good, though it's not very telling of where it has been driving nor it's history, it seems more like it's just worn in general. One thing that it missing though is that the contact points to the ground should be scraped up, right now a cavity looks just the same as an edge so that should be fixed. But I think you should think of where you want it to have driven, Did it go through the dessert? Then put a bunch of cavity dust on it, Did it go through a grass field? add some caked dirt and grass strands on it. It's really up to you, here is a nice reference for some mud wear (I think) You can also see the corners scratched up on the segments where it's making the most contact to the ground:

kymo_thys

@Maxilator
Thnx for the feedback you are absolutely right about the wear and dirt, got this atm is the dirt too much considering it drove through some mud?
Also went for a painted layer instead of the super reflective steel one. I'm not happy with how the inside of the track looks now, don't know what's wrong though.

Maxilator

I think it's better to judge the inside when you have some wheels (Are they called that?) in place since you would not see this much of the inside on the final model. I think it looks better now but you seem to have put the dirt on the edges, It should build up in crevices, Switch that and I think it'll look spot on! The new painted color Looks good but It should be more worn down on the contact points I think. 

kymo_thys

@Maxilator Think I got it right this time hehe, dirt is in the cavities as it should be indeed, a lot more wear on the contact points too.
Thanks again for your amazing feedback!

kymo_thys

Almost done with the road wheels + suspension, in the screenshot I've done a test bake already but some bolts etc are missing which I will add in Photoshop after the final bake. So here is the low poly mesh of the wheels with the normal map applied. Still need to model the rear wheel though.

kymo_thys

Update:

gfelton

Treads look especially sexy.

kymo_thys

thnx, it's been a real headache to make them too haha.

Wenceslaus

But worthy. It looks really nice!
I'm about to start working on Cromwell IV tank. I looked how they made tracks in War Thunder and flip the tank over, watch the tracks. They have loop cut on the track in the place of every wheel (both top and bottom) to animate the suspension (which lead to some texture stretching). Otherwise the tracks could sink into the ground.

kymo_thys

Yeah War thunder is awesome! I might have to add some more loops too if I want to animate it indeed. Good luck btw with your cromwell!

amirabd2130

looks awesome. keep it up

kymo_thys

Update:

kymo_thys

Update: slowly getting there hehe, details will be done in zbrush + ndo. Got 37k triangles so far, think I can get this one finished around 50k for sure.
It finaly starts look like a proper tank with the gun and turret

kymo_thys

Finally got some more time to work on this, got the gun+mantlet baked and ready for texturing, I only need to model 1 more hatch and the locks on the back of the turret and then it's time to do some zbrush work on it.

kymo_thys

Finished the low poly and got to 62k triangles, a bit above my budget though but it's not too bad. Still need to add so much bolts and other details I'm gonna add with NDO. Still need to unwrap the hull though so that's up next.

kymo_thys

Final version for now, might play around in ue4 and get the tracks moving.
more screens at :https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8P8zx