Swamper's Garage

[Swamper77]

Hinges?! I have to be at most about 40-50 (i think) feet away to see the kind of hinges used on these doors... That's a little TOO detailed if you ask me

My friends and family know me best for being really detailed on things. Being a Perfectionist is a blessing and a curse. The hinges on the rear doors are the usual cylinder shaped ones that stick off the back of the vehicle a bit. If you look close enough at the drawings surrounding the vehicle, you can see them on the drawings.

-Jan

[nerdly_dood]

Oh I've seen them before - they have them on the back doors of almost every van with two back doors on earth. They're on Chevy/GMC Suburbans too. (But not Tahoe/Yukon)

[Pat]

LoL Jan I am soo soo very sorry and I think the ones that are used currently if I am not mistaken are from the 2003 model of the E350.... Progress on the Astro is looking real good there!!

[Swamper77]

@Pat: I have no idea which E-Series Econoline is used for the EMT ambulance model I have, but I'm suspecting it's a E-350, purely for the horsepower that would be required for it to get moving in a hurry. In real life, most ambulances that use the Econoline for the cab tend to be E-350's.
I've made some more progress on the Astro van:


I got both of the rear doors done tonight. The windows are fitted to the openings in the doors and have rubber trim around them. I haven't decided on the color of glass for the windows yet, so the window tint color you see is just temporary. It's probably the right shade for a police vehicle to make it hard to see who/what is inside. For the civilian versions, I'll use a lighter color to indicate that the windows are not tinted.

Left to do for the back of the van:
- Install the license plate holder on the right rear door
- Add hinges and the rear door handle assembly
- Make a visible line to separate the doors from the body and each other
- Install the bumper and trailer hitch. I might add the exhaust pipe tip, too.

Once the back of the van is done, I'll move over to the passenger side to start working on the sliding door and its details. Yes, the sliding door track will be modeled into the side of the van. Speaking of doors, I got a little carried away with the back doors while I was modeling them:

Yes, the doors are 3D and I have added a simple interior in the back. This allows extra flexibility for usage as a prop. There will be some prop models with the doors open for a light-duty utility/delivery vehicle. A bunch of businesses around here use vans for delivery or construction/maintenance firms. These "open door" prop models should add some interest to Lots once I release them

-Jan

[nerdly_dood]

Going the extra mile with the doors, aren't you? The part where the windows are looks a little too thick but it's a great model otherwise.

[papab2000]

Looking good 

[Simpson]

Wow really good 

[Swamper77]

Going the extra mile with the doors, aren't you? The part where the windows are looks a little too thick but it's a great model otherwise.

@Nerdly: Of course   I'm adding additional details such as opening doors on the model to get more uses out of it as props. Besides, I can do what I want with it because I am doing the modeling.   I will see about slimming down the thickness of the doors slightly.
I haven't much spare time until tonight, so I've put a few more hours into the Astro van:


The van now has two front doors, 4 wheel wells, and some details to show the separation of the doors from the body of the van. The front doors are 3D like the rear doors. I don't have them open right now as you would be able to see through the van body up front if I did. I will be adding a simplistic interior soon for use when I make prop models of the van. I may be able to use the van model for some projects outside of SC4 as well, so the additional details such as the interior allow for this. So far, I'm liking how this is turning out and I'm actually enjoying the modeling process. I'm making good use of GMAX's limited tools and basic primitives (and lots of use of Notepad.exe) while I'm doing the modeling.

To-do list:
- Detail cabin: add simple interior, install windshield
- Detail front end: install grill, hood, and bumper
- Install rear bumper and license plate holder.
- Install sliding door and slider track; door handles and hinges will be installed at that time.
- Install wheels and maybe add some undercarriage details (axles, muffler tip)
- Add trim pieces and prepare vehicle for UV mapping for vehicle graphics (stripes, etc.)

-Jan

[Tarkus]

Jan, the Astro is looking fantastic there.  I'm amazed at how much detail you've put into it--I'd say it's paying off well. 

(and lots of use of Notepad.exe)

I know that feeling all too well.  

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Pat]

Jan I am speachless with the detail there at how well its looking too!!! great job 

[nerdly_dood]

That definitely qualifies as "not bad"! Keep it up!

[Simpson]

Very fine work here 

[Swamper77]

Thanks for the encouraging comments. On Friday, I made the picture from the 25th outdated in a matter of a few hours:


I got sent home from work early on the 26th, so I spent my evening working on the van. I stole the wheels off a Suburban and rescaled them to match the van's drawings. The difference between the Suburban's wheels and the Astro's? -5%. The van's wheels are slightly smaller.

I also finished off the back door by installing the license plate holder, the rear door handle and lock, and the license plate itself. They are now part of the door, and move with the door when I open it

And I made that picture above outdated today:


The sliding door is installed and the interior has an opening that matches the door. I've also modeled the door frames for the front doors as well, so there is a visible opening when the doors are open. The door handles and locks are installed for the sliding and front doors, too. The panel next to the sliding door covers the space that the sliding door mechanism operates in. Inside the sliding door, there is a step modeled into the interior as there is a difference between the rear doors and the bottom of the doorway.

It's starting to look almost like the real thing now.   Next, I'll be working on the front end, installing the windshield, hood, and the front grill assembly. I'm going to model the front grill assembly myself as the one I took from the Suburban did not fit well.

-Jan

[Pat]

Love that license plate there Jan and the van is looking darn good!!!

[nerdly_dood]

Whoa - it's got wheels! And it (probably) can't get pulled over by a cop who notices the lack of a license plate because it HAS a license plate... Not bad at all!

[Swamper77]

That license plate is just temporary, like the ones you find on cars at a dealership. Here's the actual image in JPG format:

The original is both a .PSD and a .BMP image.

I have images of license plates that I will be using on the vehicle, and the images are for specific uses of the van. Obviously, I will not be using the same license plates on a police van as I would for the civilian version.

-Jan

[nerdly_dood]

I could probably find a Virginia local government license plate picture... (it's what they use on local police cars and school buses and whatnot) Maybe I could find an image on the DMV website? That would probably include applicable plates for Washington (Seattle police) and New York (NY State Police) and if I find such a site I'll post a link.

[Swamper77]

@Nerdly: I have quite a few Washington plates, including civilian, police and fire plates. I think I lost count after downloading 24 of the license plates. The more the merrier, though.
It's starting to look very much like an Astro:

Tonight, I got the front grill assembly modeled from scratch and installed the windshield. The windshield also has the dark band modeled into it. The windshield also has a thick rubber trim around it as well.

The colors of the front lights and the window glass up front are subject to change. I'm just sticking in colors to apply to the parts of the model for now, and I will tweak them later to suit the project(s). In fact, several of the materials on this vehicle will change before I start making automata out of it.

Left to do:
- Install the hood and bumpers
- Build the front interior, including seats and the dashboard.
- Model and install the mirrors
- Install trim all the way around the vehicle
- Add minor details as needed...

-Jan

[squidi]

i love that van with open doors and would love to have it 

great work

[Pat]

dannnnng Jan you are simply kickin ____ on this Astro!!!  It truly looks like one now