@rspierenburg said:

Wow. That looks like quite a bit of work...can't wait to see it all finished. After looking at the animation I wouldn't doubt if it was done with Sketchup in the first place.

Rob

Could be, i think sketchup is perfectly for things like this, could take some shortcuts, like when it says 32x piece A, i could make piece A just 32x longer, but hey whats the fun in that hehe.
We dont have components for no reason. ^^

And it looks way cooler in some exploded view if its done like in the blueprints with all the pieces imo.

Well, not that complex, but it takes quite some time because there are no measures on the blueprints and there are alot of pieces left to make...

End result is already animated in 3D, from the makers where i bought the blueprint/assembly guide.
It can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhOAkFaWYEA

But from that end result i want to expand it with more pieces, but first the original with some minor adjustments.

@unknownuser said:

It's probably some fine work but when I see those imgshack thumbs I never click them. They load so slowly for me.

There's another member here who always uses imgshack and it makes for painful page loads.

Fair enough, resized them manually to an acceptable size and included them in my post instead of imageshack.

My first WIP on this forum, i found a website where you could buy blueprints for various vehicles, buildings etc.
And i thought it would be fun to buy one and model it instead of laser cutting it or making it out of wood.

Finished 11 pieces so far which make up the barrel and top mount, nothing special but funny to do.
Next would be the bottom part which is quite more complex, but will get there. ^^

The result would be a completely working product.

I just noticed while uploading that one part is a bit off, forgot to fix it for the render, but nothing more then 2 extrudes.

Results so far:

Any chance this ever might come out which works for round shapes?
Love to use this as subtile shadows over the textures, sort of lighting baking.

Warning the next content of "Hopper Dredger "Crane" might make you feel like a crappy modeler, continue at own risk.

hehe, Awesome work. ^^

What happens if there is some more weight at the back because of the engine then there is in the front with the ropes being in the middle? hehe.

Nah it looks awesome. ^^

The Sky Orca...Hubbahubba...

It seems to break VRay too, Funny plugin tho.

For two days of sketchup i think its a fine model already. ^^