Current progress:
I’ve been thinking about the BlenderGuru Character contest. Don’t know how far I’ll get toward an actual entry, but the character I’ve got in my head needs a little BMX bike. No work yet on anything but modeling, and that just started today. Crits and coments are encouraged…
There’s no images.
Thanks McGavish, I tried to work some magic so the images didn’t show up twice. I failed at that. They’re small images so I’ll just be happy with thumbnails.
Not bad. I’m sorry, I don’t have much else to say till the model is finished.
Thanks Ognjen. Not bad’s better than bad. 
Got the hubs and spokes mostly knocked out. And threw a little environment light on it, so the trashy materials actually look like something I worked on.
Here’s an update, I’m kicking myself though. The bike’s dimensions are based on the Kink Carve 16". It isn’t intended to be accurate reproduction, yet I am hoping for believability. On the stem I went my own direction on design, and got so into modeling I didn’t realize until I backed up and looked at it just how tiny the screws are. I’m not going to fix it for now, but I’m not happy with it.
Truth be told, I’m really not a BMX bike person, and the model probably already has a lot of problems that someone familiar can see easily. All I really know for sure is, if my character’s going to crank tricks, they’ve got to have a bike.
My time has been limited, and any hope of getting together an entry for the BlenderGuru contest is probably gone.
Okay, got a lot done today, for me…
Got the sprocket, chain and pedals done. I want to redo the design on the sprocket, but the teeth and chain are matched up good, and that’s an accomplishment. I did go back and resized the screws on the stem. There’s quite a bit of detailing to be done, the seat needs a lot of attention and I intend to add a brake, but I’m starting to think about materials, and rigging it for tricks.
It looks pretty decent. Normally I’d expect more chrome reflectivity from the bare metal parts, although some worn metal would work as well.
@rjshae, Thanks for the input. I haven’t put any effort into materials yet. I’m kind of a viewport guy, and don’t like to turn on cycles until I’m ready. When the time comes, I’m leaning toward matte finishes with some anodized parts and glossy labels/stickers for highlights.
Spent today banging out UVs. Have to rebuild the back spokes. Redid the front spokes last night. The first time I did them, I was worried about “how” to do them, and forgot the basics of getting one UV’d before copying it five dozen times. Though I did figure out a workflow that makes it pretty painless.
The seat still needs a lot of love, but I did get a reference I can actually hold in my hands. That always helps.
I thought the drive sprocket looked too small, but finding reference pictures confirmed you have it right.
Very nice meshes. I agree with rjshae above that it needs some chrome even if only a little.
@Initium Thoth, thanks for the input. Yeah I thought the sprocket looked small also. It’s a “cassette” hub. They can have just tiny sprockets, because the freewheel mechanism is moved to the side, at least that’s how I understand it. And yes, there will be chrome.
Okay, I’ve turned on cycles, and started poking at materials. Material nodes really are my weakest point, mainly because I usually don’t go there.
As an illustration, I brought in a DAZ model to show where it’s going. The character I’ve got in my head, is more stylized and cartoony, but this should atleast illustrate my intended direction.
I realize after getting a slightly more better material on the rims… They suck! Gotta go back and rework the topology around the nipples, and the valve stems are too small. But I did rework the sprocket, and for the most part am happy with the design, though it still needs to be finished. Started fleshing out the seat. It’s still just a mess, so we won’t look at it, Okay?
Just a quick update to show this hasn’t fallen completely off my radar.
I’m working on the brake lever and upper cables, that and the pads on the handlebars and stem, and I’ll consider the modeling pretty much done.
Been working on materials, but it really is a weak spot of mine. Need to grunge up the chain and at least the tooth portion of the sprocket.
I’ve given up on modeling a rider, going to use a DAZ mesh. Once I get it all rigged, and the rigs working together then I can go back and rethink the character if I want. This where the character is right now…
