you need more reference. You're going off of one, fairly small photo.
After about 3 minutes of research, I'd say you're reference is (roughly) an 1860 Colt. That will help you find more reference.
Since you can't see the back of the cylinder very well in that shot, you don't have it modeled right. Percussion revolvers don't hold self contained shells like modern revolvers do. They were kind of a bridge between older black powder guns, and more modern ones. So they shoot a ball, using black powder. The powder is ignited by a percussion cap (hence the name).
The percussion cap sits on little nipples at the back end of the cylinder (that's what you're missing.)
So, here's some free reference (some of these are slightly different models from yours, but should give you a better overall understanding, as well as some details to pick and choose from), enjoy:
johnny: such as? the cylinder shaped thingie was just a blockin at that stage, or do you mean more specific details?
tumerboy: thanks! waah just when i modeled it into the "classic revolver shape" (see here you made me look into it, and it turns out to be a cylinder...
after googling a lot, i found out that there are quite a few variations on this gun. i chose the "smooth" 1860 version as you suggested. thanks again for the extensive feedback!
this one seems a bit too soft, because it's turbosmoothed 3 or 4 times. obviously the gun-holding-cylinder-thing is still very wip. (how do you call it )
Looks like you're trying way way too hard to keep this a singular mesh, when in reality, this pistol is made up of multiple parts. As it is now, doing that is hurting a lot of your forms, and probably really slowing your process down as well.
First off, i would break off the entire grip area, split these into the separate wood sections, break off the trigger guard area, the barrel assembly bit is actually a separate piece as well, and i'm sure you could find a little more to seperate. Working in seperate, smaller peices will really speed up your workflow, as you can hide the rest of the objects, focus on that part for a bit, and not have to worry about making the geometry flow into other parts of the mesh that really shouldn't be connected in the first place.
The area behind the cylinder(the half ball type shape that intersects the frame) is pretty messy as it is, i would probabbly seperate this area off and just interset it into the frame, or at the very least, start over on that area with a bit more geometry so it dosn't loose its form when sub-divided.
dont be afraid to use more geometry, for the cylinder thing its probably best to start over using a lot more sides, right now it seems like on a lot of stuff you're trying to keep it very simple, as if it were a low poly model.
thanks EQ, is 24 sides better? i chose 24 so it's dividable by 6, and by 4 (so i can use symmetry, and only have to model one quarter).
ok restarted that cylinder thing. i'm having a hard time finding references, but here is the new base from which i'll build the rest.
only thing i can think of now is the indents in the outside of the cylinder thing. other than that i think it's finished! unless any of you have some good crits hehe .
Why do you have such tiny holes on the front of the cylinder?
Also the squarish notches in the back look like they're getting mushy when you smooth it. Can you show us a better close up of your geo, unsmoothed?
Looks good overall. Instead of trying to do lateral symmetry on it, it would have been better to use radial symmetry, model 1/6th of it, and then radial clone it around 5 more times. Not a big deal, but it's easier for future reference.
As for the index notches, just cut a couple of loops at the right position on the cylinder and then bevel them in. It's a square notch with a little divot taken out on one side. When you go to texture, keep in mind that the cylinder always rotates in the same direction, and there is usually a pretty strong wear line going around the center through all of those divots. This one doesn't show it because the finish is worn off all over:
This is a good example of a brute-force method to model those indents in, you just need a good deal of geometry to support them. Check the wires that he posted.
Thanks again for all the great crits! The chamber/cylinder is pretty much done now.
I redid the holes a couple of times, twice in the geometry, then twice on planes. then started over for geometry. this is how it turned out:
next problem, the gear on the rivet (on the right in the image) is causing some unwanted flubbering bits... waahh!
I cleaned it up some more (some double verts etc.) and lowered the "trigger holding thing" to match the reference. (somehow i misinterpreted it from a different picture).
then i exported it to zbrush for the red render, then to faogen to see how ambient occlusion would look on it now.
Replies
Tighten up those graphics!
here's another wip:
I have no idea how to fix that roundish part near the hammer. Is it okay this way? it's got some n-gons...
After about 3 minutes of research, I'd say you're reference is (roughly) an 1860 Colt. That will help you find more reference.
Since you can't see the back of the cylinder very well in that shot, you don't have it modeled right. Percussion revolvers don't hold self contained shells like modern revolvers do. They were kind of a bridge between older black powder guns, and more modern ones. So they shoot a ball, using black powder. The powder is ignited by a percussion cap (hence the name).
The percussion cap sits on little nipples at the back end of the cylinder (that's what you're missing.)
So, here's some free reference (some of these are slightly different models from yours, but should give you a better overall understanding, as well as some details to pick and choose from), enjoy:
http://www.hobbygunsmith.com/Archives/May04/Feature.htm
http://armscollectors.com/mgs/colts_navies_part_2.htm
http://www.armchairgunshow.com/otsAC_percussion_colts.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/1665/colt1851.htm
johnny: such as? the cylinder shaped thingie was just a blockin at that stage, or do you mean more specific details?
tumerboy: thanks! waah just when i modeled it into the "classic revolver shape" (see here you made me look into it, and it turns out to be a cylinder...
after googling a lot, i found out that there are quite a few variations on this gun. i chose the "smooth" 1860 version as you suggested. thanks again for the extensive feedback!
this one seems a bit too soft, because it's turbosmoothed 3 or 4 times. obviously the gun-holding-cylinder-thing is still very wip. (how do you call it
First off, i would break off the entire grip area, split these into the separate wood sections, break off the trigger guard area, the barrel assembly bit is actually a separate piece as well, and i'm sure you could find a little more to seperate. Working in seperate, smaller peices will really speed up your workflow, as you can hide the rest of the objects, focus on that part for a bit, and not have to worry about making the geometry flow into other parts of the mesh that really shouldn't be connected in the first place.
The area behind the cylinder(the half ball type shape that intersects the frame) is pretty messy as it is, i would probabbly seperate this area off and just interset it into the frame, or at the very least, start over on that area with a bit more geometry so it dosn't loose its form when sub-divided.
i found some great reference image of a blueprint
still working on it, not really worth showing yet.
probably gonna redo the cylinder thing.
crits most welcome at this point!
edit: new reference
ok restarted that cylinder thing. i'm having a hard time finding references, but here is the new base from which i'll build the rest.
Also the squarish notches in the back look like they're getting mushy when you smooth it. Can you show us a better close up of your geo, unsmoothed?
Looks good overall. Instead of trying to do lateral symmetry on it, it would have been better to use radial symmetry, model 1/6th of it, and then radial clone it around 5 more times. Not a big deal, but it's easier for future reference.
As for the index notches, just cut a couple of loops at the right position on the cylinder and then bevel them in. It's a square notch with a little divot taken out on one side. When you go to texture, keep in mind that the cylinder always rotates in the same direction, and there is usually a pretty strong wear line going around the center through all of those divots. This one doesn't show it because the finish is worn off all over:
Here's where these shots came from:
http://www.antiquearmsinc.com/colt-1860-4-screw-antique.htm
Also yeah lol at tiny holes. The bits in the back you put a little snap cap on that ignights the gun power, thats not the size of the bullet
lol
and
SUCK MY BALLS EQ!
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?p=896985#post896985
I redid the holes a couple of times, twice in the geometry, then twice on planes. then started over for geometry. this is how it turned out:
next problem, the gear on the rivet (on the right in the image) is causing some unwanted flubbering bits... waahh!
I cleaned it up some more (some double verts etc.) and lowered the "trigger holding thing" to match the reference. (somehow i misinterpreted it from a different picture).
then i exported it to zbrush for the red render, then to faogen to see how ambient occlusion would look on it now.
good work
Last High Poly render (using xconvict's tutorial). Next i'm gonna do a lowpoly and try some baking. any ideas what an appropriate polycount could be?