3D Aircraft Modeling: An Old Hobby Goes Digital
If there is anything I love more than dinosaurs and modern-day predatory animals, it's no other than an interest I share with millions of boys and men around the world - military aviation. As a young boy growing up in the '70s, nothing captured my fancy more than the sight of an airplane flying overhead.
My elders often tell me in our family reunions that all I ever talked about as a young boy were airplanes. Add to that the fact that we were often flying back and forth, between Manila and Surigao del Sur, and all those airplane rides were something I would often look forward to.
Such was my love for aviation, that they all thought I would end up as a pilot someday in the military, something my maternal grandfather wanted me to be. It was his dream to fly too, but bad eyesight kept him from becoming an air cadet before the War, so he became an infantry soldier instead.
My grandfather plied me with books about aircraft and lots of toy airplanes. Then when I was 10, an uncle sent me my first plastic scale model kit of the first space shuttle, the USS Enterprise. More scale model kits would follow that first one, and it eventually became a serious hobby I practised well into adulthood.
The downside of that hobby is that the finished models take up a lot of space, and need to be enclosed in glass to prevent dust buildup on the surfaces. Another thing is that it takes a lot of time to assemble and paint a kit. And as I got more and more busy with work, I had less and less time to indulge in the hobby.
Then I realized that I could still continue the hobby by making digital 3D models of aircraft, instead of building from a plastic kit. 3D vehicle modeling is just as fun and challenging, and also allows the artist to animate it, or put it in a game.
In fact, it's one of the required skills for hard-surface modelers who work in game development studios. So plastic kits were out, and digital model making was in. And this blog will showcase my aircraft and vehicle modeling skills. Here is my first sample for you.
Reference Materials: Gathering and Preparing for Use
The "Blueprints"
When tasked with the creation of 3D models of vehicles, such as this jet fighter, a car, tank, or a ship, it is necessary to acquire and work with visual reference materials to aid in the creation of a seemingly accurate digital representation of the vehicle.
The primary source of visual information is a two-, or three-view "blueprint" drawing. They are called "blueprints" because they resemble engineering drawings, and are almost always based on official manufacturer drawings and documentation.
Without such resources it would be difficult to create a visually accurate 3D model that realistically resembles its real life counterpart. There are situations in which such visual accuracy is of paramount importance, such as when the 3D model will be used in a feature film.
So it has be modeled with extreme attention to accurate detail to make it hold up well on the big screen. And here are some of my favorite sources of vehicle blueprints.
Cutting and Cleaning Up the Drawings
To prepare the drawings for use, it has to be cut up first, trimmed, and cleaned up of any unnecessary lines or marks. The parts most needed are often the top, bottom, front, and side views of the aircraft.
The drawings are then loaded as background images into their corresponding 3D viewports. Each drawing is carefully positioned so that certain parts of the aircraft are aligned with the other drawings. This is usually checked by zooming in and out, and just plain "eyeballing" it.
As you can see, the front and side view images seem to be of the same height and seem to align accurately with each other. But zooming in tells a different story, and some parts don't line up or are even misproportioned. That is often a problem we have to deal with, as these drawings are not exact, and one must still rely on good old-fashioned visual judgement.
Once I am satisfied with the alignment, I can commence modeling. I often employ a mixture of box and edge modeling for this type of task. With either method, it is like tracing an outline, such as the fuselage or nose, not with lines, but with a 3D volume such as a box or a cyclinder.
Also, I model the parts separately and put them in their own layers, so I can hide them when I don't need to see them. Separation is also necessary when modeling the moving parts such as the ailerons, flaps, horizontal stabilizers, landing gear and covers, and the canopy.
At this point, I reckon I am about 30% done, but I had to stop because I feel like making the two-seater version instead. Since both aircraft are of the same length, all I have to do is lengthen the opening for the cockpit, and stretch out the canopy to match it.
Before I resume modeling this aircraft, I will create a short demonstration on how to model one in Blender. I will choose a simple aircraft design to make it easy to set things up and model, and so you can follow along if you want to. You'll see it in another post someday.
Books About the Subject
Books are another invaluable source of visual and technical information, although they are not as popular anymore as digital sources, such as videos and pictures that can be easily downloaded from the Internet. But still, nothing beats being able to flip through the pages of a good coffee table book about one of your favorite jet fighters. Books are expensive, though. And thank God, animation is a job that pays well. It allows me to afford such luxuries.
Videos - Another Important Resource for Visual and Technical Information
As a netizen for 21 years now, nothing gets me more excited and my blood pumping than seeing videos of people doing one of two things in the world that I am so envious of another human being for: flying high-performance combat aircraft for a living.
Yes, people, it's what I really wanted to do in life. But you know how things panned out, so here I am creating and animating 3D models of those aircraft, instead of flying them.
Watching and collecting such videos is necessary, as they show us how the aircraft flies, and how its control surfaces and other parts move. It also shows us how to separate parts from others, and that's something that isn't always easily gleaned from pictures.
A modeler will often have dozens of such videos along with hundreds of reference images stored in the studio's servers. These two sample videos below best exemplify what a modeler and animator like me needs to accomplish this project.
This documentary video is a great source of technical information about the aircraft.
And this one is good as a reference for aerobatic flight for animation. Not only that, but the driving soundtrack and awesome editing never fails to get me psyched up for this task. The Blue Angels are my favorite flight demonstration team in the world.
Speaking of the Blue Angels, this aircraft model began life one boring afternoon in the office, back in June 15, 2016. The effort to create this model was a tribute to Capt. Jeff "Kooch" Kuss, USMC. He was the pilot of Blue Angel aircraft no. 6, flying the opposing solo position in the team. He perished after losing consciousness and crashing during a practice, on June 2 of that year.
I guess I'll have to create a version of this model dressed up in Blue Angel aircraft no. 6's livery, and post it in the Blue Angels official Facebook page someday. We'll see.
WIP Screenshots in Blender 2.8 Alpha 2
Solid Shaded Views
Wireframe Shaded Views
So, this is a wrap for now. I will be posting updates on this personal project from time to time, until its completion. And you'll be seeing more aircraft and other types of vehicle and weapon models from me someday. I may not be as active as the other artists here, but I'm in for the long haul.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this post informative, or even helpful in some way, especially if you are looking to get into 3D modelling someday. I hope I have inspired you. God Bless you all, and have a nice day.
This blog was created with eSteem Surfer, Blender, and GIMP.
I have a bunch of new stuff on the way, and currently in progress are blogs about the books I have in my library, creature animations, the 2D/3D graphical elements for my own branding here, as well as some portraits.
Ciao!
All copyrighted materials used in this blog belong to their respective owners and were used for illustrative purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. Other images are mine.