Monday, December 05, 2005

Engineers Rock!

Here is the latest pic of the Tangara. I got bored doing the structural stuff that Ive been working on for a while now, so I started playing with some fun bits. I added some doors and animated them. So far its just the one set, but the principle will be applied to the other three. There is a long way to go. the animation works in Gmax, but will have to be scripted to work properly in Trainz.

I found some station platforms recently, which are fully set up, but not exactly the Cityrail type. Im considering converting them and integrating some of their features into the Tangara. I have to read the license first, to see if I can, but even if I cant modify them directly, I know how to do it myself now. They wouldnt be a requirement, but there is some good potential there for realism.

The picture above also shows the right hand side, with the completed skirt that I mentioned earlier, and is a change from the usual left side shots I have been posting. The roof and other pieces are hidden from the picture.

Its starting to remind me of photos that I have seen of Tangara's at MainTrain, with their doors open or even removed, and various other pieces missing during maintenance. I guess that means its starting to come together.

Engineers
Thank god for decent engineers! I dont have a lot of reference material for this project. Im working mainly from the info on the Cityrail Fleet pages, photos, and the ability to just take a short walk and ride on one, whenever I need to. Most of the time Im modelling visually, as the only measurements I have are the overall dimensions on those pages. This is where the engineers who desinged the Tangara have been very helpful. Things just fit! Ive been placing peices roughly where I think they "look right". I might end up with an item being, say 2.234 metres from the center point, or "örigin". Then I think to myself: "Ok, If I was en engineer, what would that measurement really be?", and I'll move it 34 milimeters to 2.2 metres. Im finding that dependent components surrounding the one Im focused on just fit into place around it, as they should.

For example: After having made the doors and fitted them into the door frame, I noticed a gap. The frame, which I did visually was a little too wide, so I did the excercise above for each corner of the door frame - Where should this corner be?. When I was done and the doors fitted the frame properly, I found that the center of the door frame was located at exactly 5 metres from the origin! Doh! Why didnt I think of that. There is a mathematically harmony at work here, and Im appreciating it more and more.

Current polys: About 650

Note: The poly count is an estimate because I have to subtract the polys used by my guides and temporary 'jigs' used to build a part, but which are not part of the actual model, and will be deleted later.

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