My name is João Milando. I was born in Cabinda (Angola, Africa) in 1986.

I’m currently living in Portugal just for study business and while living here I have seen things that I’ve never seen in my hometown.
My CG adventures started years ago (in 1998) after reading an articles that told me how Tomb Raider was created. That was when I started to browse the internet to learn more about CG and, here am I right now.

It was difficult for me to learn how to use MAX because my English was not that good and still not but I finally made it and started to model cars to start with. I’ve tried character modelling before but concept cars are what I like to model most.

Enough talking and let’s move on

Most of you may already know that some sketches are vital for a modeller when it comes to a concept car, not only in cars but for everything else. I made some sketches for some of my concepts and others not because I used other cars as reference.

The car that we’re talking about, in this article, is based on the marvelous and beautiful Mazda RX-8 as you may already noticed. I chose to base this one in RX-8 but I could’ve done sketches instead. Normally, I only create a picture of the side of the car because, to me, that’s what decides how the car will look.

When modelling/painting a concept car, we must be careful on two things: Style and Aerodynamics. Why “style”? Well, I’m still learning about concepts but in what I know now is that we must not draw the car just by drawing. We must idealize how it will be in the society and how the society will live with that car (for designers and engineers). A stylish car gets all the attention when it appears in a place full of people and by getting all the attentions, some people can be interested on it and this interest will be advantageous for the company. Now, “style” isn’t everything! When we think about style we must also think about Aerodynamics. I don’t know much about aerodynamics but I’ll try to tell you what I know. I could be wrong! Correct me if that happens. I love to put spoilers on the car but, there are some cars that have enough aerodynamics to do without one. Some people think that a spoiler is put on a car to give style. That’s not the only thing! A spoiler also increases aerodynamics on a car that keeps it stable at high speed. Are you thinking that the spoiler is the only thing that gives aerodynamics on the car!? Yes? You’re wrong! The car’s body also has influence on the aerodynamics. That’s why I said “we must not draw the car just by drawing”.

Here are two sketches of some of my future projects.

Most of you ask me what method do I use or what method is the best. Well my answer simple, “Try as many methods as you can and then choose one which is suitable for you.” I use “Poly Modelling. That’s the method that best suits me. I’ve tried “Spline Modelling”, “NURMBS Modelling”, “Box Modelling” and “Poly/Spline Modelling”. The last method consists in combining “Spline and Poly Modelling”. I use that method sometimes to first create the basic shape of an object and then convert it to editable poly to add the details.

How or from where do we start modelling the car!? The answer is simple too, “You decide where to start. Choose a random part to start, and then watch out for the results.” I, personally, prefer to start from the hood. I always start from the hood. I also tried to start from the roof. That’s a great way too. I fully advise beginners to start from the roof and change to any other part later.

Hint: Modelling the exterior (body) is the easiest part. Modelling other parts such as engine and interior is more challenging and also increases your modeling technique faster. So, always try to model everything! Try modeling the main body, engine, interior, trunk and suspensions.Also, this is very important, model the car in different objects, that is, each part of the car should be a single piece.

Here are some shots of the progress of the Bruttus 4Z.