[WIP] Walther P88, help needed

ChrisFraser

Hey folks,

I'm attempting to take it up a notch and model this Walther P88 handgun that I think looks pretty cool.

I've hit a bit of a snag early on though, in that I'm unsure if I should be modelling the different sections of the gun separately? Like, should I model the grip, then move to the body and the slide all as separate pieces? 

Should I block it all out and then add in the details after? Or just sort of meticulously work through from grip to barrel adding details as I go? I think being unsure is slowing me down here and maybe I should just pick a direction and keep going.

I feel like blocking it out would be a good idea. I feel like the grip and body should be one piece and I wanted to model the slide and barrel/spring as their own so I could sort of expand the gun to show it all apart.

Any tips on how you would proceed from where I'm at right now would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

kiru_ine

I don't know how the pros do it but I find the best way for me at least is to model individual pieces and then slide them together this helps me focus on individual peaces and makes it so I don't struggle to try to bridge each of the pieces I think it's a good start give it a shot!

VisualTech48

You are doing nicely so far, also do not be afraid to add geometry,  because at the moment it looks too low poly. Of course, add geo where it needs to be but you get the point.

Now regarding "seperate pieces" they are called floaters, and they, of course, are more than welcome. You do not need to connect every single thing. It really depends on if it's worth connecting to the main model for mostly bake purposes. 

Cheers mate

ChrisFraser

Thanks so much for the replies, guys. Very helpful.

What I've got so far now has taken me an embarrassingly long time tonight. I spent a good 2 or 3 hours just trying to figure out some of these angles, especially the circled area in the reference shot, which I never figured out. There's this weird slight angle there I just cant seem to reproduce. 

I've got the grip broken up into two floaters, just as if it was actually being built or as far as I can tell from the references.
I'm taking it slow cause I keep getting hung up on the details. I still don't know if I should be trying to block out a rough shape of the entire gun and then adding details later or if I should be doing meticulously as I am now. Right now seems like I'm doing it wrong. I'm still enjoying it and even laughing at myself when I can't figure it out but it feels like I'm doing something wrong.

I'm hoping once I get past the grip the rest will sort of start to make more sense. I have a feeling it will go a bit smoother.

I'm wondering if maybe I bit off something a bit too big for me to chew at the moment. We'll see I guess!

toxicsludge77

It's a great start, I'm looking forward to seeing more! Also, don't be embarrassed about how long something takes you. We all work at our own pace, who are you racing against?

Take your time, do it right, learn from the experience. Next time you do something like this, you'll be quicker because you took the time to learn the foundations

ChrisFraser

Thanks so much for the encouragement!

I guess I'm racing against myself and my high expectations of myself. Maybe my expectations exceed my ability at this point but I still want to aim high, you know?

Its like I can tell when things don't look right but I'm not sure how to fix them, yet. But I am learning as I go.

Just a quick update here on the back of the gun and a question.

I thought it would be a good idea to remove poly's from the internal part of the grip. Is that something people do? Instead of having all these extra verts hidden behind the outer part of the grip? Or do people usually just leave that stuff? It seems like a good idea to remove them.