Pole Apache (Longbow)

Artwork Works in Progress
1

I’ve been using blender for 3 weeks now and am having a great time using it.
My intention for this project is to do a detailed but modified version of the AH-64D Apache Longbow. So far I’m maybe 1/3 way done with the base mesh, there’s still a lot of rotary magic and detailing to go. Eventually (and i think this will be the real learning part for me) I will want to dig into texturing and rigging the thing for poses and short animations.

larger pictures are available on digitalaphasia.com/projects/pole-apache/

for the few that may be interested here are some lower res link-images

Thankyou!

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_027_frontview_sm.jpg

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_033_Weap_danlge_r1_sm.jpg

2

here is the wireframe viewport rendering, it shows some extra geometry …

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_035_flowControl2_r1_sm.jpg

3

very cool !! :slight_smile:

László

4

I suppose you used something before blender, havent you :wink:

5

i learned 3d on 3dsmax and AutoCAD, but this is entirely blender. doing the cockpit now, aint looking too pretty :frowning:

6

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_037_nasty2_r2.png

i’m having a bit of a nightmare doing the external cockpit. argh :slight_smile:

7

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_039_DIRTYMERGE3b_g_sm.jpg

the nose will be next

8

thank you :slight_smile: i’ve worked on this for 4 days now.

9

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_042_vent_r1SM.jpg

still a truckload of work to do on the externals of the cockpit

10

i finished the bulk of the exterior to the cockpit, now for the fun bits

Attachments

ap_start_048_r1_fWeb.jpg1024×576 70.5 KB

11

some parts (high detail) of the rotorgroup, prior to baking to displacement map

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_063_c_r2_small.jpg

just updated to blender 2.5 rev 28792. nice , so far :slight_smile:
it’s not easy to find cad drawings of the apache to help with exact shapes, so this is eye-balling…and the main
cover is more vague than i would like…

12

small update on fixtures :
http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_064_bout_sm.jpg

if anyone has detailed schematics for the rotorgroup, i’ d like to see them please :slight_smile:

13

Dude, 3 weeks and you’re already making stuff like this!? All I can say is; bravo! Hopefully you stick with Blender, I see great things in your future!

14

well, i have several years experience with 3dsmax and AutoCAD, and i must say that blender 2.5 is really not that far removed from Max… but i’m certainly still learning this stuff . thanks for your comment :slight_smile:

on texturing i am a complete novice!- and frankly … i 'm a little scared of it… (but i bet it will look cool eventually )
totally dig seeing all these blender heads doing marvellous work, and am spreadin the word!

15

Just wanted to add some support:D
Model is looking quite cool, I must say (although not even textured)
Before you start texturing save plenty backups. Because when I first started texturing in Blender all my models got pretty messed up! Good luck!!

16

Yeah. thats the healthiest mentality to all forms of computer interaction. save often, save in increments without overwriting the previous save/file, this creates a ‘hard undo stack’ of files one can go back to.
Thank you for the support !

17

detailing, getting close to the main group shaft, that will be interesting, but radial, modelling!

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_069_blade_03_nicer_render_r1.jpg

18

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_073_shaftPRO_LIGHT_r1.png

small updates

Attachments

ap_start_073_shaftPRO_LIGHT_r1_mod.jpg1000×563 106 KB

19

http://www.digitalaphasia.com/images/blender/ap_start_078_EasySurfer_r1_sm.jpg

crude update, needs tightening up

20

In case you’re not aware of this (and I think it might help), if you ever need to create nuts and bolts for your project, you can create them easily without having to model them. Go into the scripts window, select Bolt Factory (I think that’s what it’s called), and click create to create it. Adjust the settings for them as needed, or choose between nuts and bolts. Hope this helped, and good luck with your project. It’s looking great so far! :slight_smile: