Green Toaster's Car Sketches

GreenToaster · 26 Feb 2008, 18:54

. . . another not so good roof . . . it really must be frustrating for those who are really good with this stuff to see my slow progress . . . oh well . . .

GreenToaster · 27 Feb 2008, 14:06

. . . this was really funny - I changed my construction technique a little and tried some new stuff but didn't model around the wheels & tires - when I put these in later (after cutting the wheel wells), the result was humorous as the wheels & tires are way small . . . of course, this is not big deal to fix, but it emphasizes the importance of proportion . . . I guess . . . without specific details (hood lines, & so forth), sometimes the "pre-smoothed" version looks best . . . there's something about that raw, chiseled look that I like sometimes as in the bottom pic . . .

Happy Sketching,

Brad

GreenToaster · 27 Feb 2008, 17:00

. . . one of my least favorite vehhicles is the "mini van" . . . . . . so, of course, I sketched one up super-quick . . . lots of missing details . . . models as ugly as this don't make you think twice when deleting them . . . on to the next one . . .

CADken · 27 Feb 2008, 18:02

it has a lot to do with faces and such... I model cars in 3Ds Max and it's no picnic there either... here is what I do in 3Ds Max that you can apply to SU:

Use Blueprints to Model from.

Create faces and move the vertex of each corner to match the blueprints.

It sounds simple and 3Ds Max is great for car modeling, but I'm sure some advance SU users can do this in their sleep...

btw, your model is looking good so far!

GreenToaster · 27 Feb 2008, 18:23

CADken - thanks very much for your contribution - fabulous!!! I'll try that technique - the only orthographic views I found were of an Audi which were used in a Rhino tutorial.

Is there a great source for finding a bunch of 3 views of cars?

Thanks for your comment - I'm trying, it's frustrating & fun at the same time. My progress is slow . . . posts like yours are very encouraging - this keeps me going and teaches me how to do it the right way - that's cool.

Happy Sketching,

Brad

CADken · 27 Feb 2008, 19:57

@greentoaster said:

CADken - thanks very much for your contribution - fabulous!!! I'll try that technique - the only orthographic views I found were of an Audi which were used in a Rhino tutorial.

Is there a great source for finding a bunch of 3 views of cars?

Thanks for your comment - I'm trying, it's frustrating & fun at the same time. My progress is slow . . . posts like yours are very encouraging - this keeps me going and teaches me how to do it the right way - that's cool.

Happy Sketching,

Brad

in my travels: http://www.smcars.net/ and http://www.the-blueprints.com/

these are two sites dedicated to modeling cars and anything for that matter with blueprints... they both have great databases for car blueprints... i have a few Acura car blueprints handy, as well as a few Honda blueprints.

GreenToaster · 28 Feb 2008, 01:49

. . . I haven't taken time to try the method with the 3 views - just wanted to finish the body of this car . . . will finish the roof later . . .

ely862me · 28 Feb 2008, 01:52

it s easyer to make ur own cars,i build 3 models with blueprints the ferrari mythos,vw scirocco and the fiat stylo,they go greatbut u need more skills,that doesn t mean that u can t build something nice

GreenToaster · 28 Feb 2008, 02:18

@unknownuser said:

they go greatbut u need more skills,that doesn t mean that u can t build something nice
Yes but my car modeling technique thus far hasn't resulted in anything very impressive. I think I might learn something new which could help - one 3 view won't hurt - the distraction might be helpful.

GreenToaster · 28 Feb 2008, 14:58

So, a student doubts I can draw a car in five minutes . . . so, of course, I take the challenge . . . this is literally a five minute car . . . excluding wheels & tires . . .

GreenToaster · 28 Feb 2008, 19:10

. . . so . . . I thought I'd try modeling a car based on a quick hand-generated sketch . . . created the quick sketch . . . created a projection screen . . . tossed on the image . . . here goes . . . will post the results on Friday . . .

Happy Sketching,

Brad

GreenToaster · 29 Feb 2008, 01:23

Wow! That's really, really difficult!!! . . . so, I ended up slashing around a few sloppy lines - just something very quick to create this front end . . . I'm not defeated - I will try again to create a car like my hand-generated sketch . . . wow, this is a real challenge!!!

GreenToaster · 29 Feb 2008, 21:29

. . . well . . . this is sort of getting near the goal . . . not really, but I'm happy I got this far . . . obviously, significant tweaking is in order . . . no problem . . .

Happy Sketching,

Brad

ely862me · 1 Mar 2008, 00:42

is quiet good to have a sketch in front of ur eyes,but if u really want to do something nice,use blueprints,

GreenToaster · 2 Mar 2008, 02:05

Last night I bought a Porsche 911 1/24 scale plastic model . . . it's a little complicated, so, my wife bought this one for me thinking I might be able to model something a little easier . . . I am just eyeballing this one . . . no measurements . . . we used to have a blue one very similar to this year 1970 . . . it was blue & white . . . my wife cried the day we sold it . . . really . . . I was jumping for joy . . . this project is fun . . .

ely862me · 2 Mar 2008, 13:16

i ll tell u the easyest way to model it...take only the contour(u forgot the bumpers)and from midle to laterals copy paste the cpuntour about 4 or 5 time,rescale the contour in that way that at the laterals to be smaller than in midle,to be rounded,and then fit the contours,the laterals are harder to build,this u ll do how u can,easyest is with follow me for this car because has a simple rounded shape from the top to the floor,happy modelling

GreenToaster · 2 Mar 2008, 17:14

Great advice - thanks. I built my first model of it this morning on another computer (attached image below) this was just building from my mental image, proportions are way off and there's no detail, obviously. It didn't turn out too bad but I'll try the technique you suggested which makes sense.

Why do they have to put nice looking, variable radii curves everywhere on cars? Cars would be so much easier to model if there was just flat sheet metal and 90 degree bends. But then, I guess we'd all be driving electrical boxes with wheels.

I didn't forget the bumpers - I thought it would be easier to add them near the end of the modeling process along with mirrors, headlights, et cetera.

More happy sketching,

Brad

GreenToaster · 2 Mar 2008, 19:50

Well . . . the front end has gotta be ripped off and redone, but I'm fairly pleased with the rear window area - I used the SketchyFFD plug to help with the rear window area which worked out great.

I'm getting there slowly . . . which is appropriate because this vehicle doesn't go fast anyway . . .

Happy Sketching,

Brad

ely862me · 3 Mar 2008, 01:39

u are pretty close, , good work

GreenToaster · 3 Mar 2008, 02:07

Thank you.

Added just a little more - still missing the windshield and bunch of details . . . I love this project - could do it in 1/2 the time and more accurately if I did it again . . . I guess that means I'm learning, right?

Happy Sketching,

Brad