[Becco_UK]

Some detail added to the radar dish and supporting structure. A slight deviation from the original is the inclusion of an hydraulic ram instead of what looked like a simple plain bar.

[Becco_UK]

Here's the rotating radar assembly with a few more bits added. Most of the parts are simple reshaped objects which fits in with the overall 'feel' of the original model (as I rember it all those years ago!).

[Becco_UK]

The radar assembly rotated. This is all the bits I'm adding to the radar at this stage and will see how the total polygon count progresses before deciding whether to add more. The radar base plate and dish have also been UV mapped, painted and given some medium brown baked ambient occlusion treatment.

[Becco_UK]

Taking it 'outside' for a quick look at how my metalic paint material copes in Maxwell Renders' 'sunlight'. I've always assumed the pipe at the front of the body to be an engine exhaust system, so I've added some smoke as postwork using Particle Illusion by Wondertouch http://www.wondertouch.com/default.asp .

[Becco_UK]

The Shadow Mobiles' suspension generated plenty of thinking time. In the TV series there clearly is a suspension at work but from the basic plans and dvd screen grabs I have there is very little shown.

However, I've read the original model had a spring suspension and I toyed with that idea for sometime before deciding something simple may work equally as well. So, whilst assembling a model T-55A tank kit I noticed the swinging arm suspension arrangement.

[Becco_UK]

This is how my interpretation of the T-55A suspension transferred to the Mobile. As with the actual model my swinging arm suspension is not visible from profile views but still allows for a notional suspension which seems better than leaving the wheels hanging in virtual space. As there's no real need for detailed texturing of the Mobiles' underside one suspension assembly part was mirrored and copied.

I'm thinking of using that idea for a model kit of the Mobile (when I eventually start it!).

[Becco_UK]

The whole underside. The front and rear axle assemblies do not fully reflect the original model accurately but for my purposes they will be fine.

[Becco_UK]

A new front view. I can add more parts later on if I think there is a need to. This image has reminded me to modify the front/lower section of the Mobiles' bodywork. Test renders have their uses!

[Becco_UK]

The rear structure assembly modelling is complete and all ready for UV mapping and painting. This component will end up being a seperate object so that I can choose not to render it when not in view - it will also have its own texture maps.

Made a rough start on the rear doors - these are very simple on the actual model and mine will probably be even simpler. As with the cab doors these will be non functioning parts.

[Becco_UK]

A VITAL step happened before this preview render. All the data of of the Shadow Mobile was zipped and backed up to a seperate external drive. As machines can and do break at any time I thought lets back up the project now instead of waiting for it to be finished.

A number of polygon selection tags were created for each of the backplate parts and then all those parts were connected into a single component ready for UV mapping. I find this so boring but the reward is easier and more accurate painting later on.

Ambient Occlusion (AO) was baked and the AO image used as a dirt mask layer in my paint software. I wasn't that happy with the AO outcome this time and will redo it by hand once the final painting starts.

A few parts have been added to the rear of the Mobile.

[Becco_UK]

Back to the cab - looking at this area again I decided the glass could be improved, both in terms of its shape and material used.

For main components I always make copies as I go along and hide them from view - so with the older cab mesh bought back into play the window cutout gets reshaped.

The plans being used are very low res' so I've used some simple Cinema cubes as a guide. Using Cinemas slide tool, points are slid and now the window shape is much more accurate.

[Becco_UK]

A similar preview render to a previous one but this time the cab mesh around the windows is now tidied up and the glass has some thickness with a new glass material applied. To me the glass now looks much better and can be textured with some dirt soon.

[Becco_UK]

With the windows sorted out, I have now made a basic interior shape ready to start adding some detail.

I have also found some virtual volunteers! - a couple of Zygote figures that are included with Cinema 9.6. They are being used to help scale the cab parts such as seats, consoles, etc. With this model the question of the cab interior scale comes down to what looks ok.

[Becco_UK]

Details start to get added inside the cab area. This is where the scale difference between the studio model and the studio cab set become noticable - the rear plastic pod structures should be closer together - adjusting their size to make them fit makes them look very odd so I've opted to keep the greater distance.

Simple plastic and cloth materials used for most of the parts added so far.

Glass excluded from this preview render.

[Becco_UK]

Mattia Sullini: Thank you. I've been making this some time now and forgot to post it here. It's a spare time model so progress isn't so fast as the images have been posted here!

Adrian: Thank you too.