I'm nearly two weeks late to my "monthly" update. I promise I didn't forget!
I kept feeling like I was
so close to finishing MainBody... but the days kept passing as I
obsessed over some of the details. It's not quite 100%, but I'm pretty satisfied with most of it. I may rebuild some of the front/nose of the cockpit, which I'm least satisfied about, but the geometry of that area is already tricky, and I'm not sure exactly how I'd fix it.
I took a lot of creative liberties with the greeblies in the lower torso and forearm areas. I tried to find and recreate the most visible shapes from the different on-screen models (there are at least
four versions with very different details!), but then I filled the gaps with my own various pipes and blocks.
Here's the front again but with the panels open like in the battle at the end of the series. I haven't completed the hinges, and the interior frame and exterior panels don't technically align correctly. When I optimize the model for 3D printing, I'll probably just close it permanently because 3D printing
functional hinges is very challenging and probably outside my skills+budget.
Last but not least!
Since I'm already so late for my self-imposed schedule, I just took even more time to render a long video so you could see the model from all angles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgT7uNMkiVQ
Do try switching to the 1080p/HD or 2160p/4K quality setting in full-screen if one of the lower resolution versions loads by default. Gotta see all those details!
I'm taking a break from MainBody for a while and will start LegTrax in the next week or so. I probably won't have much to show at the start of April, but I do intend to keep posting these progress updates.
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Matsukami2 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 5:28 pm
https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=21/06/0x1i.jpg
https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=21/06/bv7m.png
Two Bombardier X reference images according to me.
I wonder about the first one. Is it consistent with the proportions? The model seems elongated to me, I do not know.
The second is a fine work of d sheratt in the continuity of your work Brad.
This topic interests me because I have a project of 3d realization of the Bombardier X from the dai x evolution toys.
On the other hand, no 3d blender, no pla or resin printer, a pencil, a cutter and styrene will do for me.
I would like to illuminate the model and represent the Bombardier’s interior cannon called the duo laser frontal in France.
I’m very interested in your thoughts.
Hi Matsukami2! I've seen your physical model of the Imperial Carrier, and I'm very impressed!
I suspect you will have great success as you build the X-Bomber/Bombardier X.
I've also used that line-art illustration of the X-Bomber's side for a very long time, and it is the primary source for my 3D models. I believe the original artist traced a photograph because some of its unusual proportions indicate camera lens perspective distortion, and the image used for tracing was also probably photographed at a slight angle, further complicating things. There's a similar illustration of the front that suffers similar problems.
The illustration does appear very long, but that does seem consistent with most of the on-screen images I've captured. However, there are some surprising problems elsewhere in the illustrations. Some examples: I believe the big "X" pylons that extend up and down from the rear section are not proportioned correctly in relation to the rest of the body, the cutouts in the lower pylons that make space for the engines are the wrong shape, the rear engines are angled differently and too big, the long pod that hangs under the center of the ship is too high in the illustration and has a slightly wrong shape... None of this is
terrible, but it does make precision modeling difficult.
Maybe a picture comparing the illustrations would help...
I aligned the front and side with equal total elevations, and I added colored lines to connect points that also should have equal elevations. The lines should be straight, but their irregularities indicate some of the problems I described above.
Overall, I do believe the illustrations are still an
excellent starting resource for understanding the general shapes, sizes, and positions of things. They're just not as good as true blueprints. If you try to follow them precisely, be prepared to use some good artistic judgment to resolve the differences.
But that's okay! Even if we ignore the illustrations, the multiple real-world models definitely had some differences, and I have slowly accepted that there is no true "correct" version.
I'm less familiar with the specific details of Dorian Sheratt's models, but they are also very good and have some great features! I did notice that its lower pylons are missing the cutouts for the engines, and in his version they appear to connect to the rear body using some long flat boxes. I suspect those were placeholders for other details; maybe he didn't have time or enough information to complete them. The geometry of that section of the "real" ship is very irregular and difficult for me to understand because there are no good pictures or videos with proper lighting. I continue to struggle with its shapes, and I'm still not entirely happy with this part of my 3D model. My version of that area currently looks like this:
Sorry about the strange angle; it's difficult to capture this area in one image... (Also, I only have some of the greeblies detail placed here.)
I have not yet attempted 3D modeling the interior cannon, but that sounds like an interesting challenge! Have you ever worked with simple electronics like LEDs? I could imagine a pair of white LEDs at the end of the cannons with a simple wired circuit to a battery and switch. Most commonly-available LEDs can be powered by a typical 1.5 Volt battery with no additional components. I built some custom circuits with lights and sounds many years ago for a Ghostbusters pack that I constructed for a Halloween costume, which I'm proud to show off, but I am definitely not an electronics expert! Everything I needed to know about the circuits I learned from rigorous internet searching and lots of failed experiments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7iodI2OxLU
