Hi BA users. Another year, and I’m deeper into the gloomy but striking reality of wasted times, than last year. I’ve made so many mistakes in the way I lived through last year, that I do have not much practical energy left in me, but hopefully, I can get out of this place to seek new undiscovered worlds. My optimistic thoughts do precede me, as well as the ones that go the other way.
No more existential crisis as other people I’ve met have confirmed my existence and the presence of my personality, so I have nothing but to keep facing the future with my (re)claimed self-image to comfort me throughout my dreams and reality.
The cold hard images were once a molten river. Freely shaping into things only I can see. But alas. It has unfortunately shaped the land I stand on today. Merlin, I used to be a fish… very regretful.
I don’t want to confirm this circuit as my tool for life, this array of old overheating errors in the ways of living. I desperately need new components, new sophisticated systems of the mind that can process huge amounts of data; the world is a lot bigger than my capacity. There is more than just one common sense I want to use, there is more than just one color for the same sky we see from different places, and there are more types of people than I initially thought.
The gate is closing. Do I have enough time and resources to get through? The inevitable choice is coming close to the end. I haven’t quite made my decision… The world looks so peaceful when it’s still. Oh, how long have I been blind?
My worlds are still expanding. One day, I hope to be able to show it to you. Until then, there’s always my small works and whinings, so here we go! 2024-01-01T03:24:00Z
These are the change notes from 2023/11/15:
Change Log 01 [2023/11/15~]
[Headlight Glass 01] Tweaked (More Dispersion)
[Wheel 03] Added!
Moved Wheels/Shafts to 5mm GridStep
[Wheel 04(Wire, 16*7")] Added!
Changed Headlight light sizes (0.05 to 0.025)
Door 02 Interior Side being made [11/28]
Brake 01 Made [12/2]
Body RoundSkirt Ver 01 Made [12/4]
New Spine profile (More areo) [12/18]
Piston 01 for engine added [12/25]
Rigged Piston and Crankshaft [2024/1/1]
So I’ve made a simple rig for the engine I made. I followed this tutorial on how to make the rig. The independent axis for the bones confused me as I tried to lock the rotation on the same axis. Bones have their own axis, noted.
I’m happy that I haven’t given in on this project, it’s been so long since I finished one. Happy new year!
I’ve gotten into making the exterior of the engine since I’m pretty happy with the inner shape. I’ve moved the engine into place, and I think the scale is quite accurate. Surprising stuff, as I started modeling the whole thing from a single piston roughly meeting the F1 standards mixed with normal cars, and that’s why I model things in millimeters!! Separate blend file? No problem. I’m working on an environment scene for this car in Blender 4.0, kinda not there yet, but will be in scale for sure!
I also found a very useful add-on for being a tidy person in the software space. I used it to batch-rename all the mesh by their object name.
→ https://weisl.gumroad.com/l/simple_renaming_panel
Very useful indeed, as I have 157 active objects in my current scene, and over 200 if I count the backups. Works in Blender 3.2.1.
I got a little sequence for the rig, and even at 3000Rpm, it doesn’t break!
What do you think? So far, I’m pretty satisfied but if you have critical wrongness in your sights, I’d like to know what they are.
Daily updates are making me feel like I’m doing something! This isn’t really a good thing; I baked a ton of renders every few changes last year, and every time I worked on it, I was satisfied to sleep. Satisfied for the half of 2023, actually. And look where that got me.
I guess sitting at my desk for 10 hours straight isn’t very practical long term, but at least I’m making use of my New Year’s break. I’m tired. Here’s to six more hours! 2024-01-02T05:39:00Z
4-valve engines, yay! I just Booleaned those holes out of the dome piece. It’s simple, and I like things that way; I’m trying the Subd workflow for a big project for the first time!
I did some math.
15mm plug, valves 40mm & 35mm (In/Exhaust).
Engine Disp: 4272.24 ml (~ 4.3-liter V8)
I’ll do all maths when I finish it. I think I can calculate an estimated power output as well. Would be interesting, but mine will have twin turbos or something like that so it’s going to go off the charts! Apparently, modern F1 engines produce over 1000hp with a 1.6-liter hybrid. It’s really magnificent.
You know, the Subd workflow is saving me so much energy. Roughly identifiable topology and that’s all you need?
Thanks to that, I’m on a routine kinda. Not sure how it will go with how unstable I am, but I think I’ll slip Blendering into my bodily schedule like this. Sneaky sneaky… there…
Thanks
It’s all just looking things up for me as well, never got good grades with math.
But knowing just what you just made is interesting to me. As I searched for a real 4.3L V8, a Jaag came up and I was happy. Because it’s a Jaag.
And also because sometimes I get too carried away in trying to be realistic in some aspects, leaving time out for better visuals, and therefore not looking real at all.
Thanks for the compliment!
I want the wiring to be neat before I work on the vents and outer stuff/interior, since integrating the pipeline into the design I believe is going to look a lot cooler than making “believable” curves and vents like some modern cars irl do these days. A balance of functionality - albeit imaginative, satisfies me more than plastic figures. What’s a cool car without a cool engine?
For the time being though, I’ll show how far I’ve actually gone with the exterior, in case you haven’t seen it yet: From my 2023 Sketchbook
Finally got to the final stage of modeling the cylinder heads. I had to constantly space out edges in a way so that the intake and exhaust manifolds lined up together. Turns out the outer edges were out of proportion.
I’m happy that I made good progress today; I really don’t feel like that every day so it feels nice.
The curves man! Ooh yeah. (O o O)
They came about from components inside. Like a shrinkwrapping tube. It feels so much more functional than the last entry with cylinder-like cutouts.
Working from inside out can be very rewarding, it’s an easy way to Subd, since you don’t need to care much about how far up you put things from the surface to connect them.
Been a well spent 6-7 hours. Wish I could constantly do this with no breaks, but unfortunately not. I listen to music while doing this, and sometimes I stop to just listen to the music. Today I listened to Pink Floyd. Some memories of the start of last year… Taken aback by just how many things come back to me through music. You know, the end of the year and into January might be the only months I do anything if at all in Blender. That’s sad, man. Maybe it’s the coldness that makes me feel anxious and rushed. I hope this yearly routine doesn’t become a thing… At least bring me back last year, you know?.. Even with the countless priceless memories I’ve obtained, with new skills I thought would be hard to get, I somehow feel like I lost one year.
One thing’s for sure, my writing has gotten more honest. “Are you feeling okay?” Hopefully, madame. 2024-01-06T23:10:00Z
I like your engine a lot. I don’t know very much about engines, but I just finished building the V8 engine in the Lego Technic 2023 Batmobile, and your engine looks like a sleeker version of that, so that seems perfect
Coming along geat!! I hope these aren’t the only times you can work on blender, because it has been great to see your engine (and car) coming along.
-Julian
I made Valves today. It was hard matching the Subded holes with additional geometry from the valves so they would fit. The valve got resized from valve port diameter to:
40 → 36mm, 35 → 30mm
I guess the valves are the ones to compromise.
I used the valves from my Saito engine (a model plane engine manufacturer):
Yep, I wanted to minimize the shrunk spring’s height, but I didn’t refine it. Idk, are there stiffer spring materials? I do not have much knowledge of the springs, though I agree it’s hard to press on those model engine’s valves.
You bet! I know the chain’s going to be tedious to wrap, but oh well.
There will be different grades of spring steel, different profiles, all that - but speaking very generally, look rather substantial. And yes, on a full-sized engine require quite a lot of applied pressure to remove and install.
Note: That’s not to say I’ve seen every value spring ever, of course… just that - if I were to pop that valve cover open in real life, at some point I’d being saying “whoa, check out these lightweight valve springs…”
ETA: One more thought - don’t know how much you’re trying to go with real vs fantasy , so feel free to ignore - I’m sure there’s an exception, but the parts I’ve outlined (the cylinder bores, and block) would be a solid singular cast piece, instead of having the bores bolted on top of the block.
) updates and the finished car!
