S333 Thunderstruck

Kanni3d

Hey everyone, 

Got myself around to start doing something, and it ended up being this little project that I've been working on and off over the past few weeks. I kinda thought to myself that if I were to model a gun, which is already a bit of a saturated and over done idea, I may as well lean towards something unique in design/function/aesthetic, or even commonality.



Here's the high-res, and low res done, along with some bakes (without symmetrical faces).





I still have to fix a bit of skewing, and tweak some areas in the low-res mesh, as there's some noticeable gaps in the areas with buttons and tactile screws that I just have to align/weld post bake.

I'm wondering if there's any other interesting spins I can do to this project, whether that be to the actual gun itself with actual geometry (attachments,ornaments,etc) something unique with the textures, or render wise something eye catching.
As I've mentioned, I feel audiences possibly think guns are over done and maybe lackluster, so therefore there really needs to be some good foundation and inspiration behind the project.

Or maybe this is just me. :shrug:

Thanks for checking this out, C&C/feedback always welcomed.

labeeb

i think the proportions dont feel right, maybe try to change them a bit, you can have an exact replica of the real life model but if it doesnt looks good in 3d then its okay to change it  a bit. other than that the hard surface modeling is fine but still needs more details, dont know if you would add that during texturing or now.

Kanni3d

labeeb said:

i think the proportions dont feel right, maybe try to change them a bit, you can have an exact replica of the real life model but if it doesnt looks good in 3d then its okay to change it  a bit. other than that the hard surface modeling is fine but still needs more details, dont know if you would add that during texturing or now.

Thanks for the feedback!! Maybe I'm tunnel-visioned right now, but could you point out anything that explicitly stands out as out of proportion? I agree there's some details/pieces that didn't translate well from reference to 3d, and I took some liberties in just realizing that it'll look better "incorrect" than forced.

C86G

Oh nice! I really like the original design and it´s cool to sew something we haven´t seen so many times. Really looking forward to the textured version.

Kanni3d

Man, I really put this project off. I finally got around to fixing some issues on the bakes, some geometry optimizations, and most importantly, the obnoxious gap issue on the frame-to-grip area.

Kanni3d

Few more changes to the grip, forgot recessed thumb area and some oval bumps on the serrated part of the grip. 

Kanni3d

Really forcing myself to finalize this project... texturing and rendering gets me most anxious I guess since it can really make/break the whole project.

Here's a small update on some very primitive base materials, and a small start on the frames material. Seems like some sort of oxide finish, despite the gun being made of aircraft-grade aluminum.

Zi0

Your metal is starting to look a bit too grungy, its not looking like gun coating. Take a closer look at your references.

Kanni3d

Zi0 said:

Your metal is starting to look a bit too grungy, its not looking like gun coating. Take a closer look at your references.

Yeah I agree, it was a bit too strong and I've pulled it way back after giving it a fresh look.

This coating is some sorta unique oxide coating that I'm still trying to get down before doing any details, would you know what exact finish this is btw? Seems a bit uncommon since it has some blue specular to it in most of the ref.

sacboi

Like it! modeling sure looks pretty tight.

Just checking the manufacturer's specs, frame seems to be milled from an aircraft grade alloy with a anodized finish alongside high strength steel for the cylinder.

At a guess, since this is primarily a volley fire weapon, these materials were sourced due too their robust properties.

Kanni3d

@sacboi

Thanks man! 
Yeah, its surprising how much good info you can get from manufacturer specs outside of dimensions, which is how i learned its actually aircraft aluminum. Good catch with the anodized finish, I'll have to grab loads more ref.

 Ironically, this gun has such terrible reviews in terms of quality/ergonomics/practicality, but it looks damn cool lol.

Kanni3d

Small texturing update, did some work to the grip and started moving onto the cylinder - most reference seems to have a matte finish like the frame, but I think the shiny blued steel cylinder in some versions of this gun offers the most interest.

Would love any input/cc at this stage, I'm way too apprehensive with proceeding in texturing. I always feel it's such a balance to have subtle, fewer details to make sure it doesn't get too muddy and busy, while trying to make it not look so plain and boring.

sacboi

Looking at this...I'm hearing AC/DC "You've been...THUNERSTRUCK!" with Angus riff-ting his axe HARRRD!!!

icegodofhungary

Are you using only procedural noises/scratches/grunges? I feel like a good stencil and some hand-painted scratches/wear would benefit it a lot.

I watched this tutorial (40mins) the other week and it's really good on adding those kinds of details:

https://www.artstation.com/learning/courses/YR7/creating-and-texturing-with-custom-stencils/chapters/O5Zx/intro

Kanni3d

sacboi said:

Looking at this...I'm hearing AC/DC "You've been...THUNERSTRUCK!" with Angus riff-ting his axe HARRRD!!!

Guh, I actually dislike ac/dc and this always comes to my mind every time i look at the right side of the frame with that logo haha. Was very tempted to not even stencil that in. 

icegodofhungary said:

Are you using only procedural noises/scratches/grunges? I feel like a good stencil and some hand-painted scratches/wear would benefit it a lot.

I watched this tutorial (40mins) the other week and it's really good on adding those kinds of details:

https://www.artstation.com/learning/courses/YR7/creating-and-texturing-with-custom-stencils/chapters/O5Zx/intro

Very good point, yeah. Most of the details are procedural but additionally hand painted, but this can really benefit from some uniquely placed stencils.

Kanni3d

Bit of a detour - does anyone ever have this really debilitating apprehension/anxiousness when doing something you need to improve on? It's a little hard to explain, but I know for certain my textures need improving, and so every time I sit down and try to texture this thing, I just feel a bit overwhelmed and anxious because I constantly doubt and question my choices, and have some thoughts like "is there a better, or more attractive way of approaching this sorta detail? god damnit, once I post this thing I'm going to have that annoying fear of having to go back and adjust/add/remove things...". I'm forcing myself to just do what I can and finish the damn thing, but it sucks. Most artists will just ignore that, do their best, learn from it, and go forward - maybe that's answering my own peril lol.

Anyway, an update on textures, going with a bit more subtle approach with the details compared to typical wear and tear treatment for guns, mostly because all of the reference of this firearm I've found from used gun auctions don't have much abuse and/or interesting wear details. Keeping things subtle rather than super contrast-y and obvious may do more harm than good? Dunno.

 

The frame is yet to be fully touched upon and has mostly some procedural stuff for now to visualize how well it contrasts/pops in renders, kindly ignore that lol. But I'm mostly done the grips, cylinder, steel elements, cartridges and smaller bits to the gun. Arguably the frame is what should have the most eye-catching detail anyway, so everything else being subtler make a bit of sense.

Here's some renders in a test scene that are much closer than they ever would be in final renders, just to highlight some smaller details.

Thanks!!

Kanni3d

Some more roughness levels adjustments, and changing that cylinder style out-  the blued/anodized steel wasn't looking too great.

Kanni3d

Another update on textures. Scratches on the frame are placeholder/generic just to see how well it contrasts/reads on the frame, mostly everything else is near final - lighting needs to be much more improved of course.

sacboi

Looks good.

EDIT:

Bit of a detour - does anyone ever have this really debilitating apprehension/anxiousness when doing something you need to improve on? It's a little hard to explain, but I know for certain my textures need improving, and so every time I sit down and try to texture this thing, I just feel a bit overwhelmed and anxious because I constantly doubt and question my choices, and have some thoughts like "is there a better, or more attractive way of approaching this sorta detail? god damnit, once I post this thing I'm going to have that annoying fear of having to go back and adjust/add/remove things...". I'm forcing myself to just do what I can and finish the damn thing, but it sucks. Most artists will just ignore that, do their best, learn from it, and go forward - maybe that's answering my own peril lol.

Similarly, been there, done that!

My first portrait commission, many years ago which by the way was very much a lesson hard learnt thus never forgotten.

When one must lay down their pigment and brushes so as to not over-work a given piece.

Kanni3d

Trying to get the hang of lighting, here's a test render

Kanni3d

More renders/lighting updates

Kanni3d

Let's call it done - thanks for checking this out and for the feedback everyone

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lxkvZY