Aztek Posted June 19, 2011 Posted June 19, 2011 (edited) Here's a new render of an ELINT I started based on my VF-1S (You'll see incorrect textures and clipping). I noticed DG is back in the saddle so it inspired me to get going on my last project. I always liked the technical ugliness of the this variant. Fortunately since I'm very rusty at modeling and mapping the only major changes between the -1S and ELINT are "basic" polygons. Modeling the 2-seater offset cockpit/nose section will be a bear though ... Edited June 19, 2011 by Aztek Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted June 20, 2011 Posted June 20, 2011 Welcome back ... Why, oh why, does this board not have a FB-like "Like" button? LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE Quote
chillyche Posted June 21, 2011 Posted June 21, 2011 So far, the first three comments here are by three of the heaviest hitters in the macross fan-modeling world, imo. Quote
Aztek Posted June 21, 2011 Author Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Haha, I missed the encouragement from these forums Here's a mini-update w/ some undercarriage/antenna work ... Edited June 21, 2011 by Aztek Quote
Mommar Posted June 22, 2011 Posted June 22, 2011 All of the models you guys are whipping up here on the forums are better looking than the Master File versions by leaps and bounds. Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted June 22, 2011 Posted June 22, 2011 (edited) Haha, I missed the encouragement from these forums Here's a mini-update w/ some undercarriage/antenna work ... Sweet. Having never owned an Elint myself, is the "joint" in "U-bend" of the bottom antenna armature meant to be articulated, or is it a permanent fixed-position kind of thing? Edited June 22, 2011 by Doktor Gonzo Quote
Aztek Posted June 23, 2011 Author Posted June 23, 2011 I have the Yamato Elint and Hasegawa model but can't recall (they are packed away) if it swivels or not. All my lineart shows the pivot at the upper most segment near the fuselage and a "sliding joint" in the arm of the antenna. http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/hasegawa/haseve1/Has_VE1_Extra.jpg ... for reference from the Hasegawa kit. Quote
DatterBoy Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 Holy crap! I'm late to the party again! This stuff is like crack cocaine. Once you start, it will consume you! Amazing stuff, AZ! It's been years! DG gave me the heads up that you and he are back in the saddle. I'm going ot have to come up with an offering before the VF CG alter soon... Both of your works are amazingly inspirational to me as much today as they were back in the day. *bows respectfully* Quote
Aztek Posted June 25, 2011 Author Posted June 25, 2011 Hey Dat! Good to see you around here too. The kind words are what keeps this going Attached are two new renders, same scene but one w/ the cockpit open. Remodeled the whole nose section (had to adjust gear well, make room for two seats, new canopy, new gear doors w/ bump in it for gear that doesn't swing all the way up). Modeled the head and finished the antenna so it can be "stored" on ground. I think the worst part is over Quote
frothymug Posted June 25, 2011 Posted June 25, 2011 I've always had an eye for the VE-1 and the RVF-25. Nice work on the model. I'm looking forward to future incarnations of your work. Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted June 26, 2011 Posted June 26, 2011 Awesome. Let's see it in the other modes! Quote
Aztek Posted June 26, 2011 Author Posted June 26, 2011 Ha, soon DG ... I got the armature done for the dish, reshaped the tail fins for the ELINT/Ostrich configuration, reworked the chest and back since the Elint doesnt have the "notch" where the neck/head is on reg battroids. When doing the chest I mocked up the head and it was tiny! Resized it away from Hasegawa 1/72 proportions to Yamato 1/60ish. Not alot of immediately apparant updates but the mesh is coming along. Just have arm armor left to model then I'll clean it up and post some poses in diff modes while I work on texturing. Quote
chillyche Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Aw man, this is looking sweet. I forget, are you using Maya or Max or something else? Quote
Aztek Posted June 27, 2011 Author Posted June 27, 2011 Using Max, never tried any other software. Here's the near final mesh. I just need to fix up gaps and some global scaling (arms look too skinny in battroid). I'll post some poses soon and get to work on texturing this weekend! Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 (edited) Using Max, never tried any other software. Here's the near final mesh. I just need to fix up gaps and some global scaling (arms look too skinny in battroid). I'll post some poses soon and get to work on texturing this weekend! Az, Are you planning on rolling your global scale changes back into your other vf-1 variants? Also, your ortho renders here make me think it's time to do another "apples-to-apples" set of shots -- you, me, Dat, Rodavan, Brian if Dat gets him back here.... Dat was talking the other day about how much he loves looking at the tremendous amount of cool variation that can be seen in multiple takes modeled on the same source, and I agree with him that it's awesome to look at. Edited June 28, 2011 by Doktor Gonzo Quote
Aztek Posted June 28, 2011 Author Posted June 28, 2011 DG, this Elint started off as a way to knock the cobwebs off my skills I'm going to save the major overhaul for the VF-1S Strike. I might import the mesh if it comes out good on this project, but we'll see. My only major complaint w/ either variant is the dead space between the intakes/behind the head and the narrowness of the arms. The Elint masks that space w/ all the equipment she has. When I get the Strike back up we can do some ortho views in standard poses to see the differences. I like that the Strike armor disguises the anorexia that plagues a naked Hasegawa based VF-1 Anyone have scans of the 1/48 Hasegawa assembly manual? Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 Can't wait for that one should be awesome Rod, I'm sorry, I left you off my list! If we all generate new orthos for a "Rogue's Gallery" of valkyries, yours needs to be there too! Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted July 1, 2011 Posted July 1, 2011 Wow Az, we're in pretty close to the same ballpark -- my model (no FAST packs) clocks in at 269k polys. Quote
mickyg Posted July 1, 2011 Posted July 1, 2011 Seriously impressive stuff! I've got a very good friend who graduated from Full Sail in FL that I had always hoped would do some of this. He stuck with modelling people and things for computer games. Always annoyed me that I couldn't see some of this stuff properly done. Now I can! One question - since you have to model this as a 3 dimensional, working sort of thing (with landing gear "fitting" and that sort of thing) has it ever bothered you about the intake fans being so close to the front? I've wanted to see a model (3d rendered, real, whatever) of where the intake faces really would sit. I fully appreciate how long this would take to even mock up, so I'm not asking you to redo your model, just for me. I'm more curious if it's ever been an issue for you. Quote
Aztek Posted July 1, 2011 Author Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) @mickyg Since you ask I never got too wrappd up on the intake fans since they would be turned by the turbine shaft (attached to the core) anyway. I figured there was some heavy duty u-joints/couplings that connected the fan assembly to the core in the legs/nacelles. At least in my mind thats how I see it. Not sure if the engines are "air breathers" anyways. My biggest mechanical hurdle has always been the legs attaching to the nose and proper shoulder/joint rotation and engagement. "Cover panels" to cap of gaps I think are just a matter of preference and easy to mock up. The xform mechanics are the pain in my opinion. Good discussion though. @DG 242K w/out boosters ... thats crazy close. Edited July 1, 2011 by Aztek Quote
Aztek Posted July 3, 2011 Author Posted July 3, 2011 Spent some time re-rigging the model after collapsing it to basic objects to help w/ the complete rework. Still some detail work to do and import. Heat shield is off my VF-1S so the there's clipping and I have shoulder joints to try figure out again. These are things I didn't notice until xforming this bad boy Quote
Mommar Posted July 4, 2011 Posted July 4, 2011 Spent some time re-rigging the model after collapsing it to basic objects to help w/ the complete rework. Still some detail work to do and import. Heat shield is off my VF-1S so the there's clipping and I have shoulder joints to try figure out again. These are things I didn't notice until xforming this bad boy Even with the few issues it's still pretty sweet to see this thing coming to life and actually functioning now. Quote
Mommar Posted July 6, 2011 Posted July 6, 2011 Spent some time re-rigging the model after collapsing it to basic objects to help w/ the complete rework. Still some detail work to do and import. Heat shield is off my VF-1S so the there's clipping and I have shoulder joints to try figure out again. These are things I didn't notice until xforming this bad boy One thing of note, the sensor on the left arm physically swivels around to face towards the hands when in Gerwalk/Battroid rather than being crooked backward near the elbow. Check out the Elintseeker thread in the toy section to get an idea what I'm referring to. Quote
Aztek Posted July 9, 2011 Author Posted July 9, 2011 Copy that ... since there is very little out there in the form of official lineart for the Elint I'm trying to stick to what I can recreate from known macross mechanics. Having armor swivel on a flat surface 180 degrees doesn't exist anywhere else I know of? Seeing the lineart of the extending "elbow" joint of the antenna and actually rotating it in 3D and seeing how it aligns perfectly seems more true to the intent of the design. The joint, by design in the lineart and Hasegawa representation, is offset and features a swivel on the elbow and antenna head. This seems much more realistic than the swivel on a flat surface. I think Yamato may have made the swivel to help w/ toy production limitations. If there is canon support for the swivel I'd like to see it! I'm not that inflexible and enjoy finding new references. Quote
Aztek Posted July 10, 2011 Author Posted July 10, 2011 Had to relearn texturing this weekend ... and Photoshop. Got the nose section going though. Quote
Mommar Posted July 11, 2011 Posted July 11, 2011 Had to relearn texturing this weekend ... and Photoshop. Got the nose section going though. The grey panel lines and weathering look really good. The orange nose makes it appear to be a different material and makes the vernier look a little like a decal though. Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted July 11, 2011 Posted July 11, 2011 The grey panel lines and weathering look really good. The orange nose makes it appear to be a different material and makes the vernier look a little like a decal though. Az.... perhaps try a bump map for the vernier? Quote
Aztek Posted July 11, 2011 Author Posted July 11, 2011 DG/Mommar, The texture is from the black band aft. I'm going to work on the area fwd of the black "nose" band soon. The vernier has its own texture I'm just trying to get the UVW coords set back up. Even though it looks smooth it is 3 pieces ... the leg joint door, vernier housing and lens. I also have some weathering for the orange section Quote
Doktor Gonzo Posted July 13, 2011 Posted July 13, 2011 DG/Mommar, The texture is from the black band aft. I'm going to work on the area fwd of the black "nose" band soon. The vernier has its own texture I'm just trying to get the UVW coords set back up. Even though it looks smooth it is 3 pieces ... the leg joint door, vernier housing and lens. I also have some weathering for the orange section Do the nose blisters have modeled doors? If so, how did you handle the mechanism? I kind of winged mine at the time, since I couldn't find any detailed art... Quote
Aztek Posted July 13, 2011 Author Posted July 13, 2011 DG, I haven't had time to tweak this lately but on my next update I'll put the render in. The doors slide/rotate aft into the nose. The pivot point is near the center of the nose cone. I'm not sure how you animated your heatshield to come out from underneath your chest cavity to cover the cockpit glass ... but I used the same mechanics to animate the door on the blister. When rotated back it leaves an opening similar to the socket/opening on the Yamato 1/60 version 1 valks. Quote
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