MI-24 - A Russian Aviation Icon

#561

Boy-o-boy…Andre!, these subtle refinements in fuselage detail lift this piece to whole altogether hyper-stratospheric level, heh…apologies for the over-the-top :slight_smile: hyperbole, but then again very much deserved to be honest :slight_smile:

Anyways I’ve actually seen these day-to-day operational wear-n-tear incurred overtime up close due to my previous military experience usually as you’ve defined around the engine cowlings & such.

As an aside my Regiment [Armoured Cav Reconnaissance] worked with the rotary air wing element of the parent Brigade when mission tasked during offensive operations/exercises’ in desert environments circa: 1986 - 90.

The assets I was most familiar with, ranged from the light Recon Bell OH-58 “Kiowa” through to the heavy lift Boeing CH-47D/F “Chinook” and not forgetting the Sikorsky UH-60 “Black Hawk”.

…so again just truly inspiring work - U-Dah-Man extraordinaire :slight_smile:

Cheers :wink:

#562

@xtrm3d: Thanks bud, it is! :smiley:

@utopia780: Hey great to read you were able to take something with you form this thread :slight_smile: Yes I’m trying everything possible to get the last few %… long way to go though.

@sakboi: Oh wow fantastic to have someone with the real life experience on board here! I wish I could have seen all that stuff so close by myself. The Kiowa Warrior is on my to do list as well, I love the exotic look with the stuff on top of the rotor and it looks really cool from the front when it carries a rocket pod on each side. Being close to a Chinook during take off must be like being in a small storm. Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you like it and that it all goes into a believable direction for someone who spent a lot of time close to helicopters!

It’s micro updated day! Another 8K map went into the two big exhaust and some lesser visible internal stuff. I like how the light goes through it in the lower rendering. Of course later that’s gonna be blocked by a turbine dummy :-/ Some wobbles on the panels that cover the engines as well now.

Click on image for full res

Cheers
Andre

#563

Oh boy!!!
This is another Thread that a like a lot!!

I’m just passing through to see your Updates!

JUST AMAZING!³ :thumbsup:

#564

The microscopic detail is really blowing my mind, seriously!..those upper engine cowling access panels [I’m not a aeronautical engineer] by any means, so I’m not exactly sure of the correct terminology.

But anyway they’re looking absolutely delicious in the recent update plus I’d have to include the preceding ones as well come to think of it. The “wobbles” or warping I think as I recall all those years ago when speaking to one of the Blackhawk support ground crew at the time, [but don’t quote me on this :slight_smile: ] I think was due in part to radial heat exhaust outblast from the jet-turbine powerplant.

On a side note:

…The Kiowa Warrior is on my to do list as well, I love the exotic look with the stuff on top of the rotor and it looks really cool from the front when it carries a rocket pod on each side.

Agreed I loved the simple no-nonsense design, and when we worked along side these guys, for the record they flew the unarmed scout variant at that time as a result, man were those things fast. Like a Ferrari with a couple of rotary blades slapped on. :slight_smile:

Being close to a Chinook during take off must be like being in a small storm.

Yes its a pure assault to the senses, when one is weighed down with 60kg’s of kit, made more arduous with the load master shouting in your ear to clear the ramp. :slight_smile:

OT: Again just phenomenal work Andre. :slight_smile:

Cheers :wink:

#565

You don’t need me to tell you how amazingly fabulous this look, but I’m gonna. This is insanely brilliant…and depressing not knowing if I’d ever be this amazing. I’m a fan of military aviation and especially Russian ones. Hind happens to be my favorite gunship because of its many odd shapes. Those bubbly canopies; who think to make them that way?

I’m sure you’re quite busy but would it be possible to show the pieces with edged faces on? I’m sure it’ll teach some of us new to 3d modeling, ok me, how to attack complex shapes when modeling. There are quite a few times when I’d like to go crazy on some parts but had to settle for basic cylindrical or boxy shapes because I couldn’t get them to look the way I fancy them.

#566

@2xbo: Thanks I’m glad you like this stuff so far :slight_smile:

@sakboi: Yeah it’s that level of detail that makes it taking so long. I can imagine that the exhaust of the turbine warps a lot of panels around it as well as temperature shifts from waether as well as just the daily use. Kiowa Warrior is pretty cool. I think it’s based on a Jet Ranger? Looks like they will retire soon from what I heard. I wonder what’s going to replace it. Man I hope one day I somehow have the chance to fly in a Chinook :slight_smile:

@leafer: Thanks for the kind words! You absolutely do the same. Just do what you enjoy and be dedicated. The rest comes by itself. It’s no rocket science, more a game of patience and… dedication. Yes I love the Mi-24 too because of it’s unique and menacing appearance. I guess all those shapes must make sense in the end. The cockpits are separated so in case there’s some chemical warfare going on and one canopy gets a bullet hole or crack, the other pilot is still safe as those are sealed. There are some close ups of the mesh of a panel in the video tutorials I posted earlier. Have fun checking them out, they are just some 10-15 minutes. You’ll see that the panel edges are quite simple. What also helps in cases of complex forms is to start with a single quad and extrude the edges, check and double check, then the next edge etc etc. Seems like a long and boring task but it goes faster than you think and that way you can ensure you;re going down the right path.

Hope to be able to jump back onto this bird soon. I’m on an emergency job which sucks up all the possible working hours of a week :stuck_out_tongue:

Cheers
Andre

#567

Finally found some time for this old bird. Decided to remodel some parts of the wing as I wasn;t very happy with the edge flow. All new and pristine in this just for fun render :slight_smile:

Click on image for full res

This one has a lot of interesting parts. Maybe worth a video tutorial?

Cheers
Andre

#568

This is an extraordinary amount of detail and it looks fantastic… awesome work! I just watched your other videos, thank you it is great to see your work flow and glean some tips. Any more you are willing to share will be greatly appreciated :bowdown:

#569

Beautiful render. I like how those bevels bring out highlights. Can you show the wireframes? I am interested to see how you dealt with the geometry on those holes.

#570

@DVour: Thanks glad you like the stuff! Yeah I’ll make a video covering a bunch of things.

@AlexSarakapudaff: Yeah all those little bevels are really a key piece for realism. There’s just no such thing like a perfectly hard edge.

Here’s a wire frame of that piece:

click on image for full res

Cheers
Andre

#571

I can appreciate the effort. Everything looks nice and neat. I like that rounded outer rim piece. Did you use curves to make it, or some other way?
Fortunately we have ways to duplicate details in 3D. I was thinking about it yesterday when I came across a paper model of Boeing 777. The man made every chair and window in that model and even other smaller details. I figured you would be curious to see it since you modeled that plane too. So here is a link to his Flickr channel: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucaiaconistewart/sets/72157632208677161/

#572

Wow, the whole project is incredible. I think the heli’s manufacturer itself hasn’t such accurate images of its model. That’s insanely good !!!

#573

@AlexSarakapudaff: Thanks! The outer piece was started with a cylinder and the rest is cutting holes and connecting vertices for the right edge flow. The edge mesh following the curved contour is done via loft and a curve for the correct twist of the cross section. I know that 777 made of paper, that’s truly nuts :smiley: We model one wheel and duplicate it, he has to do every single one from scratch. That’s some real dedication. My effort is nothing compared to that.

@interstellarOverdrive: Thanks I’m glad you like my stuff! Ha I bet the manufacturer has every advantage as he has the real blueprints. Those would have made my life sooo muuch easier. Figuring everything pout by photos can eat up plenty of time.

Alright, back onto the bird!

Cheers
Andre

#574

Two of my WIP renders in a German 3d magazine arrived on my desk, featuring a friends HDR Sets. I wish it would have been the final bird!

#575

Hi Andre:

Yep…ultra-hi-end work that’s pretty much damn near…whoops I’ll amend that too PERFECT 1:1 OEM data modelling…jeez C’est magnifique!

That said… :slight_smile: I couldn’t figure out which part was referenced until you’d posted that wireframe.

Looks to me its part of the ordinance package, I’d say and I’m taking a stab in the dark here, but I think is the rear assembly of one of the four 57mm rocket pods mounted on one of the four underwing pylons?

…if indeed so, in order to capture the detail, were you referencing from manufactured specs’? or some guess work?..anyways inspirational as always.

Cheers :wink:

#576

It is definitely worth a tutorial!
A lot of beginner modelers like me have hard time creating something so complex not because it is hard to move vertecies, but because we don’t know how to approach such intervened pieces, It is also hard to comprehend how pros like you approach the overall workflow, and I am sure there are things you do when you model, that mean tons of saved hours and frustration for newbies.
I am sure you understand, you probably weren’t born knowing how to model like this :slight_smile:

#577

@sakboi: Haha thanks! Yes it’s a very unusual angle and that’s what I love about it. made me think about a whole new way of presenting this bird. And yes it’s the rear end of the rocket pod under the wing, good catch. My main reference was a straight on photo I took of the real thing. It basically worked like a blueprint.

@galastrato: I saved several stages of the remodeling with keeping another video tutorial in mind. Modeling the whole thing step by step would result into a way too long video but I saved the steps that show how I did certain parts and the workflow/thinking behind it. I hope i have the time soon to make a new video.

#578

Hi andre! I remember stumbling upon your videos a couple of weeks ago, I was stunned.
As others did, I just wanted to stop by to say thank you! I hope you won’t be tired by now :slight_smile:
This thread has been a great sunday reading and a fantastic source of inspiration and technical insights.
That said… you are beyond crazy :slight_smile:

#579

Will bewaiting the videos for sure! :0

#580

@dammilo: Hey thanks, glad you like the video tutorials and good to hear this thread is inspirational to you!

@galastrato: Ha yeah me too haha :slight_smile: I’ll make a new one soon.

Did some recreational modeling on the the pilot’s cockpit which has been just a huge black hole in the model so far. I blocked in the shapes which took quite some time thanks to the weird organic arrangement of all the panels. After blocking in the panels and making sure they are somewhat correct, I started modeling them out.
Here’s what I got so far, shaders are just plain for now to keep things separated.

Click on image for full res

Gonna be fun to texture all those dials :stuck_out_tongue:

Cheers
Andre