Bugatti Tank Car

[CuKart]

I went to Dr. Simeone's museum (Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum | One of the greatest collection of racing sports cars in the world.) a few times this summer. If you've never been there you should check it out. It's just at the edge of Philadelphia International Airport, if you ever have a layover.

One of the days I was there they took the 1936 Bugatti Type 57G Tank car out and ran it around the back parking lot. This car, which won the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1937, is original and unrestored. Dr. Simeone is a preservationist and does not believe in restoring cars, just maintaining them. A volunteer at the museum told me they get lots of requests to show the car in Europe at Bugatti-inspired events and at vintage races. Dr. Simeone refuses to go; he is convinced that if he takes the car back to Europe the French government will seize the car on the grounds it is a national treasure.

This is the only one remaining of the three that were built. Jean Bugatti died testing one. They value the car at $20 Million USD.

I've got lots of details to still add to the model but I think the shapes are close. I just threw some color on it, none of these materials are final.

Thanks for checking this out. Suggestions, tips and tricks are always appreciated.

[blackleo]

It looks very interesting,i realy the model :d....hope to see some last renders

[CuKart]

Here are some new renders. I am still refining shapes, I have modelled more details, and I have started modelling the cockpit. I am also making a texture mask/map so the dark blue color will appear correctly on the car.

[ettore]

Love those Bugattis. (That's why I'm Ettore) Keep up the excellent work.

[CuKart]

Here's a small update. While I'm refining the model I have been thinking about a setting. I want something besides the usual photo-style backdrop, and my computer can't handle the big hdr files. I saw some nice photos of vintage Jaguars in an industrial setting, so I have tried to recreate that.

This particular Bugatti was always a work in progress and was modified as required by racing conditions, so a factory background seems fitting.

[CuKart]

After much time I have finally figured a method to add the dark blue color to the model. Since the color doesn't follow the body lines, this is difficult with Blender's normal texturing options. Also, when I upgraded to later versions of the software this file kept crashing so I couldn't work on it. The newest version allows me to work on this again.

So here are a few new renders and I hope to finish this soon. I am appreciative of everyone's positive responses.

[Peyman_3dsmax]

great model bro
modeling with blender is very complex i think !
keep it up
cheers