Re-incarnated 2003 Mini Cooper S

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Hi all,
I must first start with saying that I'm not a new member to this site, but haven't posted for just over two years. I've changed my username from Dutchy mainly because I can't remember my old password and also have moved state and changed e-mail addresses.

For those of you who were around this site during '04, you may remember the 2003 Mini Cooper S I was building (WIP). Here's a link to that thread: http://www.smcars.net/forums/work-pr...-s-2003-a.html

I have only recently decided to get back into modelling, and as such have not progressed this model from the final post. This, I hope, will change and I may be able to contribute to this site on a semi-regular basis.

Here are some test renders I did tonight to give an overall update of where I am up to. I still have to do the front seats, fuel cap, steering wheel and some minor interior works. Secondly, my rendering skills have actually decreased since '04 so any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm still working with the same 1Ghz iMac, but have now gone up to approx. 750mb RAM - woo hoo!

I look forward to getting stuck back into this project and maybe even venturing out into something new (small steps first, I think!)

Cheers

Dutchy....... on a bike.

[clix101]

great work looks awesome

[Dr. Feelgood]

It's looking good so far mate, although I think something a little wierd is going on on the front next to each light...You might want to have a closer look a'ight?

[XSImatrix]

I wasnt around back then but I remember going through older threads and looking at it. It was a great thread back then! I think your going to need to upgrade the computer soon, we want some more detail!!!

[Silent][Moebius]

1Ghz and 750 MBRAM and such rendering result .... respect dude

nice Mini you got there

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Originally Posted by Dr. Feelgood

It's looking good so far mate, although I think something a little wierd is going on on the front next to each light...You might want to have a closer look a'ight?

Dr. Feelgood, I think you may be right where there isn't a smooth transition from the headlight through to the air intake - although there is a rather pronounced bulge on the real car (ref pic). I'll look at that in more detail later, thanks.

Originally Posted by XSImatrix

I wasnt around back then but I remember going through older threads and looking at it. It was a great thread back then! I think your going to need to upgrade the computer soon, we want some more detail!!!

More Detail? Things have changed quite a bit obviously....
I'll see what I can do.

Originally Posted by Silent][Moebius

1Ghz and 750 MBRAM and such rendering result .... respect dude

nice Mini you got there

Thanks for the compliment. I think working in the dinosaur age is not going to help things a great deal.

Dutchy.....on a bike

[RedStar]

Welcome back man. I remember way back when i saw ur model i was like WOW hes my hero

Nice to see you back here. Reflections are very strange but maybe its the hdri or whatever but lets see how this goes. Nice to see you back and hope to see you finish this.

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Here's an update on the interior. I have only modelled the front seat so far - since starting again - and I can tell already that I've lost some speed and skill since '04.

I still need to model the stitches and creases in the seat, but that will come.

Cheers

Dutchy.....on a bike

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Another update to the interior.
I've completed the steering wheel and column as well as added stitching to the seats.

Looking at the piccie for the dash, it's looking pretty cr@p. I may redo some poly placement in the future.

Hope you all like.

Dutchy...on a bike.

[Silent][Moebius]

oh wow nice stuff.

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Here's a render I did today (should be celebrating instead!). The interior is almost complete with only pedals and seat belts to install. I can't think of anything else to include at this stage, except maybe add more stuff to the engine bay due to a few short cuts being able to be seen at certain angles whilst rendering.

Merry Xmas all.

Dutchy...on a bike

[RedStar]

The bottom cornors of your doors are a bit round.
Reflections seem wavy maybe you have some bumps going around the door and rearfender area?
Also can you just post screenshots of this car in lightwave with a simple grey material over it all?

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Redstar, thanks for the crits.

I've noticed that the mesh is pretty messy around those areas - a hangover of two years ago. I'll have a look at it again and see if I can improve in any way.

Here are two shots from modeller, nurbed and un-nurbed. Looking more closely around the door handle, I noticed I took a short cut when modelling and that has shown up in the render. I'll fix that too.

Cheers

Dutchy...on a bike

[Silent][Moebius]

wow that engine bay area looks cool, it would be great if you showed some more renders of that part

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Originally Posted by Silent][Moebius

wow that engine bay area looks cool, it would be great if you showed some more renders of that part

Thanks,
The top half of the engine bay is pretty much complete, but the bottom half hasn't been done, hence no real detailed renders . Maybe something to work on in the coming days.

I've fixed the flow of the polys in the door, but still can't get it perfect, it's better though. I've included a before and after shot of the door. I've also fixed the flow through to the body and also the rear windows (they looked messy too). I almost had to remodel the whole side of the car, but ran out of time and patience, so this may have to do for now (1am in the morning at the moment).

The circled part is annoying me due to the poly placement and trying to get the curvature of the bonnet and door matching to where the indicator light is. I'll have to work on this too.

Cheers

Dutchy...on a bike

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Here's an update to the engine. It's hard to see what's been added, but there have been some major updates.
First is the supercharger - going from a plain box to a more realistic (and accurate) look.
Pulley system for the engine/supercharger and alternator (added also).
Beginnning of gearbox (not seen from this angle)
Bottom part of engine (block) being added with bolts and sump etc.
Pulley tension arm with spring to keep tension on the pulley belt.
Alligning air intake from air box to supercharger and then from supercharger to the air/air intercooler.

That's all folks!!

Dutchy...on a bike

[feral1]

model looks good and engine, a lot of time spent no doubt. my only crit is the render, to me the green looks a bit too glassy. but overall very good

[Dutchy_on_a_bike]

Originally Posted by feral1

model looks good and engine, a lot of time spent no doubt. my only crit is the render, to me the green looks a bit too glassy. but overall very good

Thanks, this is a highly polished version of the car BTW

Here's a small render of the engine bay - with no textures. I'm tired of waiting two hours for a render, so I reduced the size. I'll get better detail renders when I set the computer up over night.

Dutchy...on a bike

[feral1]

great detail in the the engine mate. been awhile since seeing one myself, so cannot comment on acuracy, but damn good job.