Serious Car Modelling Question

[Xer0123]

Everytime I try to model a car in 3dsmax I first get the blueprint of the car I want to model. . . no suprise there. I never get ref pics I just do google search for images cause it saves time. Now I know blueprints are 100% accurate, but everytime I set up any blueprint except for my Supra the prints are NOWHERE near proportional or whatever to each other. I seem like the type of person who can't model a car without close to accurate prints cause nothing is precise in my work and I don't know where things go. Can anybody help me out here with a method to modelling or making better prints?

[darth carth]

you are very wrong with saying that blueprints are 100% accurate... I haven't seen many which are. Also when cutting up the blueprints you can make little changes in porpotions that can ruin whole details. Search for alot of ref pictures cause only those are 100% right

[basudev]

after you have setup the blueprints.(by mapping onto planes) it's time to align them right. very easy

TO ALIGN FRONT AND REAR-
try and align the car front's middle with the grid middle(the dark vertical line). draw a spline section for the rear view mirror.
goto back view and align it's middle also to grid middle. then move the rear blueprint vertically so as to match the rear view miiror spline. If scale is different adjust that too.
-OR-
make one translucent the other two sided and align them.

TO ALIGN TOP AND SIDE-
do same as before, look for something common and align wrt it.

TO ALIGN (TOP AND SIDE) AND (FRONT AND REAR)-
do same as before, look for something common and align wrt it.

also some times like darth carth says, they aren't accurate. Ref Pics are definitely the way to go.

[Xer0123]

I ment to say aren't 100% accurate haha.

[basudev]

Guess i got a bit carried away their.

[Xer0123]

Damn. . . I feel so reliant on the blueprints. Ref pics seem like guessing to me and when I try to use only those then my mesh comes out like crap.

[basudev]

well man you can say modelling a car or any other model isn't just about blueprints, or ref pics it's about recognising and realising and digesting the form of the real thing. it's pretty much a mind game. blueprints don't show all the lines.

[Xer0123]

Great . . . now if there only was a good tutorial on modelling a car that doesn't just teach you how to model one part usually being the easiest part.