Note: since you have a cylinder of only 1 segment (height) you'll need to cut a line in the model to get the extrusion of the HP nicely centered. After baking, remove the cut again.
I've gotten some semblance of the density and texture scales figured out. Going to investigate a fibermesh curve and polystrip extrusion combo with Modo to see if I can get to the flow sections faster, BagelHero.
Hey buddy, try this out: Add red edgeloops. Your extrusions in the middle of the barrel and the rim are probably throwing the normals off a bit. You can also possibly get rid of the purple loops!
Looking really awesome Joe. On the low, you only have three of the rectangular extrusions on the sides of the barrel that make up a rail, why is that? Just curious. Keen to see how the low + normal map.
I usually just make my cage in Xnormal's 3D viewer by adjusting the global cage extrusion. So, however long it takes to load all the models, plus about thirty seconds or so.
you could also opt to only add a 6 sided cylinder, and not the extra extrusion.. would make them 16 triangles instead of 40 triangles and save you a bunch.. ~1500 triangles or so
No pics, no crits! But yeah looks ok for what it is, the tube could have a more interesting shape, there's no weight to it at the moment, and you could try adding some subtle extrusions to get away from the box aspect.
it seems to be looking a bit "toony" to me. try adding in some more dirt in the cornered areas (of the inside extrusion). the welding in the normal map to me also just looks like lines as opposed to weld marks.
Looks nice and clean, but will it have a lid? You seem to have an extrusion along the upper part of the inside lining as if a lid is to be rested there, even though there isn't one.