Battery Loco WIP

[Mick_Berg]

Battery Loco - Work in Progress

Hi.
Here's a screenshot of my latest project, a LU Battery Loco. Still a Work in Progress. First attempt to upload using Imageshack.

The loco is hauling Tempest70's 1938 LU Stock over the Northern Heights Branch of the LNER.

I had to remove the roof rivets as they added huge amounts of polys. Next project, learn normal mapping!

Mick Berg.

Thnaks to ImageShack for free hosting.

 

[airtime]

Great work Mick,

I don't really remember these, as I was born around the same time as the Intercity 125, but I have to say the detail is stunning, and definitly one for the rivet counters out there.

Keep up the great work Mick, you sure have an eye for detail.

Joe Airtime

 

[rumour3]

Looks promising, Mick.

If you are working with Blender you might find a combination of the Edge Split modifier and Edge- Mark as Sharp useful, if you haven't come across these already- they give you a lot of control over how faces are smoothed with each other.

You will see the effect in Blender, but the modifier needs to be applied before export in order to see the results in game.

Regards

R3

 

[Mick_Berg]

Joe, thanks for the compliments. I still have a long way to go, and it's far from accurate, but I just got some good drawings which will help. These units have all kinds of gubbins attached to the front of them, including hinged buffers on the older versions. They're still around, BTW but are painted yellow. They are referred to as "Rats". Used to haul maintenance equipment with the lines de-energised.

Rumour, I'm very willing to try those techniques, but could use some guidance as to where in the model they would be applicable. The weird red patch on the roof front is strange as it doesn't appear in Blender.

Also, if you look at these locos in real life, they look as if they were built with a can-opener and a pop-rivet gun, so a bit of lumpiness is actually a good thing!:hehe:

Mick Berg.

 

[rumour3]

Hi Mick

The front of the cabside door looks like it may be being smoothed with an adjacent face (possibly the window cutout), making the light fall incorrectly on it. This could be curable by setting the adjacent face as solid or alternatively you could mark the edges around the door and window opening as sharp, and use an edge split modifier. The edge split modifier is great when you want to create a crease between two otherwise curved surfaces, and it can sort out a lot of smoothing problems if you select the Edge Angle button and use an appropriate value in the Split Angle box.

I think you might also have a smoothing issue around the tops of the cab windows. If I've found the correct prototype (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battery_loco_16_at_West_Ham.JPG) then the windows sit in a flat panel and the curve to the roof doesn't start until quite a bit above them. Your model looks like the panel curves from immediately above the window surround, which might be because the faces around the cab are smoothed with those of the curve of the roof.

I hope the above makes sense and is useful to you. I only found out about the edge split modifier after a lot of Googling but I now rarely make a mesh without using it at some point. Note that doing a 'remove doubles' after you have applied an edge split will join the split edges back together and nullify the effects of the modifier.

I also make all my models as either quarters or halves, and use the mirror modifier to make the other half. Unlike Gmax's mirror feature, this works a treat and doesn't usually create issues with incorrectly facing normals. Your battery loco looks like it would lend itself well to the quarter technique, mirrored on both X and Y (if you haven't already made it this way).

Keep up the good work.

R3

 

[Mick_Berg]

Hi.

Thanks for the good advice. I fully accept that the front area of my model is pretty bad. I did originally make it using the "quarter" method, but I was impatient to see what it looked like, and mirrored the other quarters too soon. I then had to make changes resulting in the messy front appearance. I should have fixed that, and the shape of the cab front windows (they are rounded at the top) before posting the screenshot.

Since making the model, I have found some very useful drawings (I had only "eyeballed" it originally) and armed with this new info, I am going to have to start again.

BTW that's an interesting picture. Why is one white and one red marker light lit up?

Mick.

 

[alex217]

Mick, will you upload this to the download station when you are finished,
I have searched all over the world for a trainz LU Battery-Loco.
Just to let you know, the livery is yellow, not red.

 

[H222]

Mick, will you upload this to the download station when you are finished,
I have searched all over the world for a trainz LU Battery-Loco.
Just to let you know, the livery is yellow, not red.

If mick made it red, he didn't choose a random colour to use,

That certainly is an ugly little loco there, but unique

Jamie

 

[D9007_Pinza]

Right you are Jamie. The reason is because that was the livery they wore from new. The yellow is a more recent scheme. Looking great Mick. The more LT stock, the better.

 

[Mick_Berg]

I will upload the battery loco when it is done. I didn't expect any interest in it, but if even one other Trainzer wants it I'll be glad to share it and it's about time I contributed something to the community.

It's looking a lot better now than the in screenshot above (which, despite Joe's praise, is pretty awful really) but there's still a ways to go, especially to get it to DLS standards. I have learned normal mapping (thanks to Paul PCAS' tutorial) and now have to apply hundreds of rivets onto this "tin can".

Early versions were red, later ones yellow. I can easily make a yellow one, although I intended it to be used in my ECML steam route, in which red would be the correct colour. Also, early versions had hinged buffers which were folded back when towing tube stock, and lowered for regular wagons.
Later versions had retractable buffers. Hopefully I can get the buffers animated and scripted.

Thanks for your interest. Watch this space!
Mick Berg.

 

[chris30sg]

Hi Mick,

Love the loco and I, for one would love one When you decided to release it give me shout. I would work perfect with the stuff I have.

Many thanks

Chris

 

[Mick_Berg]

Battery Loco Nearly Done!

The battery loco is nearly done, here it is in red, it will be available in yellow and also the old version (1946) with folding buffers, dark red paint job and red roof.

The model uses Andi's Superscript and has a driver, windscreen wipers, fleet numbers, and the buffers retract or fold up when the loco is coupled to stock with Wedgelock couplers (you will probably have to add those to your LU stock, if anyone can tell me a way to avoid this I'd be grateful to know about it!) There are two levels of LOD.

The red thingy on top is a temporary indicator of the front end, it will not be in the finished item. The vent panels are normal mapped planes, the rivets on the roof are drawn. There is a load of stuff in this model from Andi06, to whom I am very grateful.

[/URL][/IMG]
Mick Berg.

 

[Mick_Berg]

The yellow version.............

Here is the yellow version viewed from the other side. There's a problem with the number, it will be fixed. And I see I have some lighting problems that don't show in the red version.

EDIT: I'm seeing that these locos come in all different flavours. I've recently seen a photo of a yellow one with blue or green vent panels. That will be very easy to implement by simply changing the colour of the vent panel's texture file. And they can come with many doffferent kinds of couplers. I'm going to fit them all with a screwlink coupler for maintenance stock, and a Wedgelock for the tube stock. That will simplify things and be a reasonable compromise, I think.

[/URL][/IMG]

Mick.
Images hosted by ImageShack.

 

[Mick_Berg]

Battery Loco 1946

This is the last of the three versions, the older one from 1946, in dark crimson lake (paint left over from LU steam locos apparently). It has fold-up buffers and different lights. I have fitted it with a wedgelock coupler, and a simple hook, which is what I am going to do with the others, as it seems that there is no end to the combinations of couplers you might find on these locos.

[/URL][/IMG]

Image hosted by ImageShack.

Mick Berg.

 

[stovepipe]

Looks really good Mick, especially the last one!

:clap:

 

[Mick_Berg]

Mick, will you upload this to the download station when you are finished,
I have searched all over the world for a trainz LU Battery-Loco.
Just to let you know, the livery is yellow, not red.

If mick made it red, he didn't choose a random colour to use,

That certainly is an ugly little loco there, but unique

Jamie

Actually he's partially correct. In all my research I have found lots of different versions of these, different colours, different couplers etc. But I haven't seen an instance of red body and grey roof. The older red ones were red all over, and it was a dark red. But I think it looks nice so I'll keep it as an option.

Mick.

 

[hholdenaz]

I know the last post was made in 2011, but has any progress been made?

EDIT: Never mind, I found them on the DLS.

 

[Dean_Forest]

Tip: have a look before posting!