Fun With Firearms (M4 WIP)

NoltaN

Hey guys, It's been a while since my last post so I figured I'd post a high poly model of an M4 I made a couple of months ago. After some crazy deadlines I have a chance to continue working on the model. I'm about to begin making the game model so i'd like to get some opinions.


Reference:

This is the main image I based the gun off of. I've used other references on some minor pieces as well.

Render:

I have tweaked the handguards proportions a little bit after this render. It was to cylindrical.

jackalope

that looks really nice, but where is the charging handle?

NoltaN

Ahh, thanks for pointing that out jackalope. I actually finished most of the model 2 months ago and just dusted it off to finish off the final pieces this week. I guess I forgot to create the charging handle :P. I'll go back and add it in.

Thanks again

nick2730

VERY NICE, god i love the M4 my fav gun

Drew++

It's a fairly nice job. But I can tell you didn't gather much reference.
Here's a website with tons of M4/AR15 references.
http://www.pixagogo.com/0896214432

Few things to improve on/rework that could help a ton are the front sight/gas block.
The forward assist isn't just a cylinder, it's got a very different shape to it.
The back of the lower receiver and pistol grip need to be a lot rounder and smooth.

Those things could really make this thing look more like a gun, rather than a toy!

You should gather a bunch of reference before you model a real world object with a lot of complexity! To start, maybe just do blockout to get proportions right, like width and depth which is hard to tell from one reference image from the side. Then start moving on to the details and subdivision of it.

NoltaN

Hey Drew, Thanks for the reference. I agree about using more reference and I will need to gather more in the future, I had probably 20-30 images. This site you've recommended is awesome! I'm going to rework some of the shapes you've mentioned. I did notice that the pistol grip was a bit sharp awhile ago when I was working on this project I just never went back and reworked it. Thanks for the critique it's been a lot of help.

gauss

Pretty good! Such a universally known weapon makes it harder to get everything right, but most of your dimensions are quite good. Glad someone already linked the pixagogo set because that's the level of ref you'll need to finish it up.

Only places that stick out:

-missing the little metal endpiece on the bottom of the magazine, which should read Colt or other such manufacturer. A billion pics of STANAG mags out there so you should have no end of reference.

-Drew's right about the lower back portion of the receiver just under the buffer tube and above the grip, in reality it's fully rounded, it shouldn't come to a point

-forearm looks like it could use just a little more taper to it, a little wider at the nearer base and a little narrower toward the fsb. Hard to tell though without the gun being in perspective

-speaking of which the FSB, as pointed out, is wonky. Spend a little more time dialing in the shapes and you got it.

Basically we see a lot of these over the years but with a little more careful tweaks and maybe another round or two of crits I think you've got a very solid piece. You follow through on the low poly and texture with the kind of attention to detail you brought to the high poly, and you'll have a really nice model here.

NoltaN

Drew++ wrote: »

It's a fairly nice job. But I can tell you didn't gather much reference.
Here's a website with tons of M4/AR15 references.
http://www.pixagogo.com/0896214432

Few things to improve on/rework that could help a ton are the front sight/gas block.
The forward assist isn't just a cylinder, it's got a very different shape to it.
The back of the lower receiver and pistol grip need to be a lot rounder and smooth.

Those things could really make this thing look more like a gun, rather than a toy!

You should gather a bunch of reference before you model a real world object with a lot of complexity! To start, maybe just do blockout to get proportions right, like width and depth which is hard to tell from one reference image from the side. Then start moving on to the details and subdivision of it.

hey Drew, i'm just trying to clarify what you've said about the forward assist. I've looked at some more reference and I believe what your referring to is the fact that the object is more of a cylinder with an extended base that attaches to the rest of the weapon.

Is this what you mean? (the red part being the cylindrical piece, blue being what I've missed)

gauss

Noltan: I can confirm that's what he's talking about. You've got the basics of the FA down, but as shown you need to extend the cylinder to connect fully with the receiver, you are correct. For trivia's sake the little pin visible in your shot is the detent pin that holds the forward assist in place. Eugene Stoner was gaga for detent pins, bless him.

NoltaN

Gauss: Awesome, thanks for confirming that for me!

NoltaN

Hey guys,

I've updated everything except the magazine (I've still got to do that).

Looking for some more critiques!

NoltaN

Hey guys, Here's my next update. This is the low poly model for my M4. The model is basically done, looking for some more critiques.

ajr2764

Looking good but my concerns are why is there so much un-needed detail in the low, I see alot of areas that could have been left up to the normal map that could have easily been done. Areas that I'm talking about are: those indented areas in the back of the gun, the ridges going around the front part of the gun, even the magazine.

NoltaN

ajr2764, hey thanks for the review. I'd like to mention that pieces in the back are a bit to deep to be accurately portrayed by just a normal map. I may run some tests with and without the geometry to see if it works but there are actually fairly deep so for a 1st person model they could be necessary. I could and probably should remove the grooves from the magazine so I think I will do that. For the hand guard, I'm sure I could cut some more but I would lose some definition from a first person perspective.

I'd like to hear opinions from some others as to the hand guard and the back stock. Thanks again for the crit ajr

NoltaN

Heres a first person screenshot. I can see that I may be able to get rid of the ridges on the hand guard. They really don't add to much, I'll have to try a bake on it I think.

Arac

Looking good!

I would get rid of the ridges, as they don't add anything to the silhouette and would just make baking it properly harder.

NoltaN

Hey guys, I've removed the the grooves from the magazine and the ridges the hand guard. The model is now down to 7,962 tri's. I'm going to keep optimizing a few more pieces and I will post updates when I've gotten it unwrapped and everything.

Thanks again.

Kitteh

The handguard in front should be cylindrical, not smooshed like you've modeled it. Also the main cylinder in the receiver (gas tube) is too small in yours and doesn't take up enough of the receiver.

NoltaN

kitteh. Is that always the case on the handguard? A couple pieces of reference I have fairly clearly appear to have a 'smushed' cylindrical shape. I'm sure it's possible that the camera or angle shown could just be deceiving. I've changed thats shape from cylindrical to squished quite a few times haha.

I'm glad you've pointed out the size of the receiver's gas tube. It is definitely a little to small. I'll adjust the tube's size and look over some more reference of the handguard. I'm heading home from work now though so i'll post updates later.