First
of all here is a small introduction.
I was briefed to build an aircraft-launchable
missile, but this missile was special
in that it had DMF capability (Dual
Missile Fire). So this meant that I
had to conceptualise a missile that
could contain two smaller missiles inside
itself, so that the mini-missiles could
be fired off during flight.
So
I have compiled together an informative
tutorial of how I created this missile
in 3D Studio MAX from concept to rendering.
Unfortunatley this tutorial reads quite
MAX specific, but I'm sure the techniques
work over all platforms.
Enjoy
CONCEPT
Well
in the conceptual stages I got a lot
of reference images of missiles from
the internet, mainly using Google's
image search :). After looking at a
whole bunch of different missles and
bombs, I came up with the initial design
seen below
After
I had sketched out the intial design
of the missile, I had to create a way
of fitting two identical missiles inside
the larger, middle section of the missile.
Not only did the mini-missiles have
to fit, they also had to have a mechanism
that holds them in place. Mechanical
genius Dave
Wilson helped me design the clamp
mechanism. Basically it's an remote
electro-magnet that keeps the missiles
in place. The polarity is reversed on
release by remote signal, so that the
mini-missiles are thrown from the main
missile... cool huh :).
MODELING
To model the missile I used polygons.
To start off, I created a 64 sided capsule
(MAX primitive polygon). I then edited
the capsule by extruding, beveling and
chamfering. I then hollowed out the
mini-missile bay section of the missile
using a boolean. Then using simple boxes,
I cut out an intersection from the sides
of the mini-missile bay, to create bay
doors. I then went into more detail
by beveling the edges of the bay doors
and the bay area to create a seam for
specular highlights to reflect off.
For the fins I simply extruded and beveled
out a spline and then tweaked the vertex
positions to create the right kind of
shape.
After
the outside was complete I had to model
the inside mechanics and the mini-missiles.
Both the struts and clamps are extruded
and beveled splines. The electro magnets
are a bunch of boxes and cylinders with
a few nips and tucks. Basically I used
chamfer-edge to create bevel edges on
every thing. The screws are manipulated
capsules.
3DTotal
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The
mini missiles were also minipulated
capsules, with fins added afterwards.
