Making New 3d Models

I have a new project underway at the moment. Another army... spoilers (expect posts soon).

After looking around the usual sources for a particular model i couldn't find what i was looking for.  And the model i had made previously (even without looking) wasn't going to cut the mustard in resin.

Specifically I'm looking at a 'Storm Eagle' transport, which is a smaller variation of the Thunderhawk.

I decided to remodel a new one from scratch, which is well underway, but i thought i'd also lightly document the process i go. It's all very basic really, it's not super-pretty either but it gets a model made. i'm definitely no graphic artist, but in this instance - since no one already put in the work for me damn it - i guess i have to make it.

As a starting point this is my first iteration at a Storm Eagle (left - the right one is a Fire Raptor). It's super basic and it works for fdm - and that's all that can be said for it.

It would look rubbish amongst a resin resolution army.

The way i make 3d models is a VERY manual process. Normally i start with pictures as end/top/side-on as possible (schematics). I then trace around the image to get a starting point. Which end/top/side is used as 'picture 1' depends a lot on the model being done - here, it's 'top'. 

In the diagram above you have the original pic (right), the traced over object (i have mirror imaged the two sides so what i do in one happens to the other, thus showing a 'complete' model),  and the boxes show the relative 'end size' (wireframe) for a Thunderhawk (bigger), and Storm Eagle (smaller).  I did a tiny bit of interwebs research to find the relative sizes of the two fictional vehicles.

In this case i also did a side on trace which wasn't as helpful as i'd thought. Anyway the process at this stage is all about connecting lines and extruding rectangles and triangles (pulling them into 3d solids from 2d shapes) until you get something vaguely resembling the desired object.

In the pic above i'm working on making the overall 'body' shape. the wings, trails and any fine detail are in the far future at this stage.

We skip ahead by many hours here...

The general 'blocking-in' of the vehicle is almost done. In the wireframe you can see a 'rescaled' version of the object at the front. this shows a more a less a print scale object.
In this instance i just worked straight off the size of the image - the object at the front is the main 'workspace'.

This is where it's at at the moment. Looks much like the previous, but i've pretty much finished the overall shape and will now continue on to add some finer details. i say finer deliberately because even though we're talking resin over fdm there's still a finite limit on the resolution you'll actually be seeing on the printed model  i.e. there's no point going overboard.
[aside: this is something i notice on a lot of models from thingiverse. the modellers aren't necessarily printers so even though their models are fantastic on screen and full of wonderful detail, they lose a great deal of detail when expressed on a printer. i mention it only because it's sometime frustrating to have models lose that available detail or more practically become so thin that they are virtually unusable.]

In this model there are several pieces that are a darker grey (excluding the bonnet and windscreen). these are all individual objects so they can be repositioned easily or handling separate of the main 'body' object. Eventually i will merge them all together and making this a 'one-piece-print'.

I was able to mainly reuse the landing gear from the Thunderhawk model, which is always a consideration to save work.

[Later 2020-03-29]
So here we have (almost) the final model that i released on thingiverse (sans-underwing guns). i smoothed some edges, added some 'gills' and 'fins' as required to make the shape a bit more interesting... basically breaking up large, flat, plain surfaces which are considered a bit dull.
Consider this one of those puzzles they used to have in newspapers... 'There are 7 differences between these two pictures. see if you can find them all.'

hint: there are far more than seven...

Overall... very happy with the result. Went to print out the two i need and accidentally punctured the final spare vat film i have for the printer... dagnabit!
So printing on hold until replacements parts arrive.

I have another model to make for this army. a ground transport this time which i won't bother documenting. Point of this one was to give an overview of the process which is probably covered sufficiently. It took many hours of dragging lines and faces around by minute amounts (literally 0.2 of a mm at a time). Several sessions of may be an hour here, half an hour there... early mornings, late nights... basically whenever the tv is the most rubbish and the partner is watching it.

Actually can't wait to print these bad boys out. always nice to have a physical proof that your model is 'as intended'.

Until next time...