New Train Model

You guys are giving me tanker envy ! <!– s:D –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!– s:D –>
I’m going to have to go through all my prototype drawings now and find one to do as a break from engine building, which gets tiresome at times. I have a lot of work to do to even get close to the quality of the above models. <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

I finally started doing stuff again…

[img:1dlfdns4]http&#58;//tkw&#46;tzo&#46;com&#58;8080/amaizo&#46;jpg[/img:1dlfdns4]

Pete

Congratulations! It is a very good model. Where is it from? Is it a Corn syrup or corn oil, wagon?

RP

I grew up with these around when I was a teenager in Framingham, Massachusetts. I’m still tweaking the model… It is designed to carry corn syrup.

A very nice model. <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>
The lettering looks very authentic.

Not that I would know if it wasn’t, <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –> but it certainly adds a lot to the appearence.

Bazza

Hello Pete,

An excellent tanker model as always. Very good job on the fine detail.

Will this one be available for download at some stage ?
<!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

Like it – any chance of a close up of the wheel sections – are those springs texture or model ?

Well, to answer a few questions.

1) It will be available, but I have about 4 different versions to produce before I release it as a collection.

2) The springs are a photo texture. The trucks (actually, I just remodeled them again), are now at about 82 poly’s each.

3) The lettering is all done using my own TrueType Fonts. I’ve been creating fonts as a hobby since 1992 so it’s nothing to ‘whip one up’.

The main texture is 1024×1024, which accounts for the detail. Oddly enough, the MSTS exporter will process all my textures except for the 1024×1024 texture, which I need to convert to and ACE file format manually.

You may already know, but some older ATI cards throw a wobbly when given 1024×1024 textures. If you are going to make these widely available, it is probably advisable to include some 512×512 files that can be swapped in if the end users have trouble.

yes, I hate to do it, but I include a 512×512 in the kit.

Pete, with the optional 512 x 512 textures, do you plan on using a batch file to swap between them, or just allow users to do it manually ? <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

I have a similar situation with my latetest model in that it too uses mainly 1024 x 1024 textures for majority of the model, which is why I was asking.

Here’s an update.

[img]http://tkw.tzo.com/data/images/dot111a-ts.jpg’]

Very nice. <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

Just one question. Are you using separate faces on your tanker to get the writing crisp and clear ?

I used LITHUNWRAP to BOX-UNWRAP the TANK BODY and from that I created the following low distortion texture.

This picture is HALF full size, the original is 1024×1024.
[img:2kj1lqrn]http&#58;//tkw&#46;tzo&#46;com/data/images/texture&#46;jpg[/img:2kj1lqrn]

Yes, the Box-Unwrap option is certainly handy, as is the use of the larger texture files in order to make the model’s designation clearly legible.

Thanks also for giving me access to download your work, via your forums. I appreciate it. <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>