M1130 Stryker (WIP)

Spur

Well I decided to put my XML tires to use after one last rebuild. So now I've moved on to an M1130 command vehicle with slat armor and a 'Duke' antenna. Right now its very rough with no optimization, just blocking out everything I want to include, after that I'll go low and high. I'm currently looking at 6908 tris. I'd like to keep it around 10k. It still needs a good bit of work on the turret, and lights. I'm also debating if I should model the top hatches, hinges, etc or just use normals. Its been tough trying to balance what details are important to include. I'm thinking for the whip antennas I'm just going to use single poly planes with a normal and alpha map. I'd also like to include the extra gas cans on the rear, maybe a spare tire on top if I have the count for it. I'd like to try to capture as much of the cluttered look on top as I possibly can. Also if anyone knows anything about Strykers, wtf is the square on the mast mounted on the front of the birdcage????

Ref pics

Titus S

Hey man, it looks like a great start so far. If I were you I would get rid of that cage thing and worry on the proportions of the truck first. It looks like it would be the less important part at the moment (since there are Strykers without it :P).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stryker

Definitely look here for the reference for the proportions, it can't get easier than that :P Then add the cage on it in thought to the already known dimensions.

In all. I think that the cage should hug the truck more like your 3rd and 4th ref picture.

Can we get a 3/4 view (looking down)?

Xoliul

Yeah I gotta be honest, Slat armor isn't one of the most esthetically pleasing things for armored vehicles. I'd opt not to create it since it hides shape and details and is annoying to create and is gonna use tons of tri's unless you opacity map it.

Spur

Thanks guys! I'll post some more pics without the slat armor asap. I definitely have the ref part covered, I managed to round up over 100 different pics in my ref folder, along a few blueprints. The only thing I've really had to eyeball, was the turret. Nothing I have as far as plans is really clear or lacks that particular turret with the M2.

As far as the slat armor. I'm the reverse, I actually kinda like it. With the slat armor and all the antennas, plus all the shit they pile on top of them, they resemble a big porcupine coming down the road. I'll probably wind up with two versions, with and without. Right now the tri count for the slat armor doesn't seem too bad. I managed to get it down to 1500 by deleting the bottom and back faces of all the slats. I had actually considered an opacity map. I had also thought about having the physical armor for the closest viewing, then opacity map for further away.

I think the biggest thing I'm having trouble deciding is how much should i put into this. I know I can make it as good as the effort I put into it but I'm not wanting this project to drag on for days. Just a nice game piece to fill out the portfolio. So I've been debating if I should make a high res version of the whole vehicle, smooth the body and all, then bake down to low or not smooth the body and just bake and add some basic details in photoshop like rivets, bolts, armor fasteners. These vehicles have a shit ton of little details around the hatches.

Spur

Here are a few shots without the slat armor. Also included what I have so far for the hi-res version of Ma Deuce.

gauss

Well you're a braver man than I for taking on a Stryker, any modern military armor like that is just chock full of detail. From what I can see so far it checks out--keep us updated

Titus S

gauss wrote: »

Well you're a braver man than I for taking on a Stryker, any modern military armor like that is just chock full of detail. From what I can see so far it checks out--keep us updated

I agree,

With that said I think I can do a well enough critique once I see a bit more

Good luck! Never be satisfied!

pliang

This is like the 3rd Stryker I've seen on the forums, it'd be nice to see the slat too, perhaps get a little creative and decorate it.

Any chance making a wrecked version of it?

Spur

@Gauss - lol I hear ya. For a bit I was starting to wonder if I bit off more than I could chew. All the details are definitely the hardest part, just deciding what to model in the low poly version, and what to represent with just normals etc.

@TitusS - thanks! Hopefully I'll have more to post tonight or tomorrow. When I woke up this morning I had a moment of clarity and knew exactly how I wanted to proceed with the rest.

@pliang - I'd love to decorate it. Just load it down with a ton of junk (boxes, nets, traffic cones) like some of the ref pics. I'm trying to finish up the must have items and then see where my count stands. I may wind up bumping it up from 10k to 12, maybe even 15k. 12 doesn't seem too bad. I've definitely considered wrecked versions. Or at least a really beat up one like the ref pics.

Spur

Hi guys! I haven't been able to work on this in a while but managed to get started back yesterday so I thought I'd post a quick update. Modeling is mostly done along with UVs. Right now I've been doing preliminary work on the normal and alpha map for the armor fasteners, saddle bags, and mesh over the rear suspension. The mesh covers for the suspension are a lot more transparent than I thought they would be. I haven't decided if I am going to remove the alpha and substitute shadows or model something behind the covers so it wont look so blank.