Custom 3D Models and Mods Compilation

[Sgt.Squarehead]

9 hours ago, Aquila-CM said:

You or 37mm talked with me about bringing a Patton to H&E but I couldn´t remember which one was requested. This was likely discussed on Discord and I don´t have a chat log anymore because I needed to reinstall everything. So I assumed the M60 Patton was the right one.

Just to be clear you talking about this one:

Yup that one would be spot on.....It has a pintle .50cal on top of the cupola which is typical for 'Nam and would better match the underlying model (you could remove the MG in the cupola itself as they were usually the same gun).

Here's a typical 'Nam spec M48A3:

If you want more info about & pictures of this type, just give me a shout and prepare for a deluge! 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

First thanks for the kind words.

Second I fixed the turret on the M60 Tank

The turret rotation issue and alot of other scaling/rotation issues that often happen when moving/scaling parts should be fixable with this function which "zeroes" the model part:

I tested what happens when you name the new model track wheel "wheel wheel1 wheel2 etc" ... they dissappear"

M60 Tank V2

 

- turret rotation fixed

- other issues fixed

- commander open up position moved + added a little hatch which opens up

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

 

 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

If we could put the M60 on the T-62 and the M48 on the T-55 I reckon we'd have a very tolerable approximation of two very useful tanks in CM:SF2. 

Very, very impressive work.....Groundbreaking I'd say. 

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

About the M48 Patton, the model is from the same designer as the M60 shown here so it shouldn´t be that much work to get the M48 done.

Removing the commander mg, keeping the aa mg. What about the range finder box, which is covered by the "Rolling Death" dust cover on the picture right? Keep or remove it.

Making models out of initiative is sure fun but there are already enough for the time being and I wanted to focus on creating stuff that is definitely in need by active campaign & scenario designers. In other words if you guys plan to use it in one of your H&E scenarios or campaigns I will give the M48 a try.

  

Edited September 26, 2019 by Aquila-CM

[37mm]

The M48 would definately be used... we currently used T55's (1974) as the Imperials Main Battle Tank & T-62M's as the People's Army Main Battle Tank.

The M48 would be swapped for the T-55... a straight swap, I wouldn't even tag it.

Edited September 26, 2019 by 37mm

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

M48 Patton Tank

In Action:

- textures again are vanilla CM textures but you can apply some Camo scheme and a more detailed track texture to make it look better. Textures also can be reassigned in Blender.

- track/turret works

- commander open up in decent looking place

- use it for the T55 and the M60 can be renamed to a T62 replacement

- removed cupola and commander MG and reworked the AA MG (can be removed too in blender)

- project file included

I nearly gave up on this one as turret, hull, and range finder were molded into one piece. I had to slice them into pieces. I recorded the process and will upload it for educational purposes.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

Edited September 26, 2019 by Aquila-CM

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Awesome.....

Dude that is so cool! 

I'd give you +100 if I could! 

5 hours ago, Aquila-CM said:

Removing the commander mg, keeping the aa mg. What about the range finder box, which is covered by the "Rolling Death" dust cover on the picture right? Keep or remove it.

That's a searchlight, it's fine for later M48A3s in Vietnam (there was also an earlier hexagonal type), the cover was kept on unless it was actually in use and it was often decorated:

 

Here's a picture of a M48A3 in Vietnam with the dustcover removed:

If you wanted to improve the AA MG further, a .50cal from a jeep should be a good source, the mount itself is very simple:

5 hours ago, 37mm said:

The M48 would be swapped for the T-55... a straight swap, I wouldn't even tag it.

Please could you tag it, T-55s are the best approximation we have of genuine NVA tanks and IMHO they are more widely useful with the mod.....Putting it on the same tag as the M113s would make a lot of sense.

PS - Finally found it:

C-23 'Disaster' the M-48A3 that's sitting on my desk, in miniature (1/72). 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead

[Sgt.Squarehead]

@Geezer  Could you perhaps wrap detailed skins around @Aquila-CM's new tank models? 

It would be truly awesome if we could cooperatively make a mod of this magnitude.....Actual M48s in Heaven & Earth! 

PS - @Mord  Have you seen these yet? 

PPS - @Aquila-CM  I will absolutely make a custom mission for these models, can't promise to do it fast, but I will do it.....Once we have the intricacies of riverine stuff sorted out, I'll look at doing something with that too.  We have to be able to design the maps so that sneaky players can't take their 'Pibber' for an overland adventure (as they are based on amphibious vehicles), which is actually a harder proposition than it sounds. 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

M48 Patton V2 with Searchlight

 

M48 Patton V2 without Searchlight

- removed the ugly mg and added 50. cal

- fixed some alignment bugs

For the time being a simple olive or camo bmp texture would look definitely better. The model doesn´t have UV maps which tells the model which part of the bmp texture should be used where which is required if you want highly detailed textures. I won´t dig into this as textures, uv maps, and skinning is not my speciality. However I recommend to further decorate the model with gear stuff like you did with the IED jeep similar to the real life M48 screens you provided. The British vehicles for example are a really good source for camo nets etc. and eyecandy gear can be found on basically every vanilla vehicle. Keep in mind to attach the gear to the right parent i. e. if you park gear on the turret, place it under the "turret" model or otherwise the gear won´t rotate with the turret. This will make the models definitely more "plastic" and would cover the somewhat simple texture.

For the Searchlight I provided two versions which can be modtagged according to your scenario. However it can also be randomly displayed by naming it "gear"in blender. If you want to add a cover onto it you can do that. You can add several painted covers and name every model with either -optiona -optionb -optionc so one is exclusively used when the game loads. I´ve made a post which covers this in this thread. Also loading an original model like the German Panzer 4  which comes with alot of "option" skirt models is a good auto-educational source.

If you plan to further work on the model START FROM THE BLENDER PROJECT FILE. For some reason loading the .mdr and exporting it again will cause an error and can result in loss of worktime.   

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

Edited September 27, 2019 by Aquila-CM

[JM Stuff]

...a word a gesture Aquila-CM does the rest !

[Geezer]

15 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

@Geezer  Could you perhaps wrap detailed skins around @Aquila-CM's new tank models? 

DL-ing the models now, and will take a look at them to see what can be done.  Authentic, detailed skins require the 3D model's exterior surfaces to be unwrapped into a flat pattern.  Sample below of a low-poly Lancia truck illustrates the unwrapped skin surfaces - like a template - and how the artwork is then designed to fit the template.  What can be done will depend on what I find when I open up the model's files and examine the template.

[Mord]

15 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

@Mord  Have you seen these yet? 

Yeah! Every time I think I am done being floored here comes another round. It's amazing.

At this point BF oughta have you guys shelve the mod and hire you to do a full blown Nam title.

 

Mord.

 

P.S. I wish Aquila and Geezer played Field of Glory II. We need lots of models in that game!

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Mord

[benpark]

This will help your UV unwrapping in Blender greatly:

https://gumroad.com/l/uvpackmaster2

[MOS:96B2P]

19 hours ago, Aquila-CM said:

M48 Patton Tank

 

- textures again are vanilla CM textures but you can apply some Camo scheme and a more detailed track texture to make it look better. Textures also can be reassigned in Blender.

- track/turret works

- commander open up in decent looking place

- use it for the T55 and the M60 can be renamed to a T62 replacement

- removed cupola and commander MG and reworked the AA MG (can be removed too in blender)

- project file included

+1  Very cool, interesting stuff.  Thanks for taking the time to do this. 

[Geezer]

OK, I was able to import the M60 model into my legal copy of 3dsMax9, and then export the Max model as 3ds format into Blender2.79.  However, both the Max and 3ds models were unusable as game models as they were just one big mesh.  They were not broken down into sub-objects - turret, hull, gun, bogie wheels, etc.  Also, the exterior surfaces were not UVW mapped so they could be unfolded flat into templates.

I suspect the problem is my old 32-bit edition of Max is not compatible with the newer 64-bit version of Blender?

[Geezer]

Allow me to expand on my interest in CM.  I'm a WW2 guy and - currently - only interested in the next release of Fortress Italy.  However, I am willing to do some work with you guys so I can learn the ropes of modding in CM.  I hate Blender's user interface and refuse to work in it except to import/export files.  So.....I would like to hear from any of you guys who are familiar with Blender about importing/exporting models that are broken down into sub-objects (separate turrets, guns, wheels, etc) and also UVW templates so artwork can be made.

Examples of existing WW2 models.  If we can develop a workable production process, I would be happy to make some stuff for you guys to learn the ropes.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Geezer

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

If you load the blender project files directly into blender which are included in the m48 & m60 download releases on my dropbox you will get seperate objects which can be assigned seperate textures. There is also an UV editor in blender but like I said I am not into uv editing and can´t provide feedback about differences or compatibiliy between max and blender.

Making Of videos of M48

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

Note to Part2: press F6 to open the menu which lets you decide which side should be cut away. You can copy/paste model parts between blender windows with usual CTRL+C or V commands.

I used the finished M60 for visual comparison and because it was easier for me to move all the relevant stuff (crew, muzzle positions etc.) to the M48. You can also see me assigning quickly vanilla textures from the t55mgun.bmp. The workflow is a bit rough as I run into issues because the turret,hull, and searchlight was one object which needed to be cut in order to create separate objects. What is not shown: ALL my custom models have a vanilla model base, in this case I used a T-55 hull object made invisible with blank.bmp. Without this my models wouldn´t display ingame. 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Aquila-CM

[Sgt.Squarehead]

1 hour ago, Geezer said:

Allow me to expand on my interest in CM.  I'm a WW2 guy and - currently - only interested in the next release of Fortress Italy.

I'd certainly be willing to cooperate on some WWII stuff, I have all of the games, but all I could offer would be maps & scenarios to test your wondrous creations. 

[Sequoia]

I could be wrong, but might the Canadian Leopard I be the best candidate to use for the M60/M48 ?

[37mm]

On 9/26/2019 at 10:02 PM, Aquila-CM said:

I nearly gave up on this one as turret, hull, and range finder were molded into one piece. I had to slice them into pieces. I recorded the process and will upload it for educational purposes.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

I hear you... a real balls ache.

Amazing work... again.

 

PS

I see you've tried out 'House of the Holy' too, how did you like the H&E soundscape & effects?

Edited September 28, 2019 by 37mm

[Geezer]

17 hours ago, benpark said:

This will help your UV unwrapping in Blender greatly:

https://gumroad.com/l/uvpackmaster2

Thanks.  Interesting software.

[Geezer]

Aquila -

Thanks for the Blender info.  I'm currently researching how to interface between Blender and Max.  Hopefully, I can work out a seamless process for transferring models back and forth.

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

3 hours ago, 37mm said:

I hear you... a real balls ache.

Amazing work... again.

 

PS

I see you've tried out 'House of the Holy' too, how did you like the H&E soundscape & effects?

Yes the sound and effects are outstanding. I noticed that some wheeled vehicles seem to be very silent which can be observed in the Bong-Hai Air Cav Video. Its the Marines truck there.

49 minutes ago, Geezer said:

Aquila -

Thanks for the Blender info.  I'm currently researching how to interface between Blender and Max.  Hopefully, I can work out a seamless process for transferring models back and forth.

Would be handy because alot of good models are only in max format.

 

 

 

About Textures in Blender

- You can assign textures to every model part in Blender.

- bmp files for Combat Mission need to be lower case

- save them in 24bit. I use GIMP2 and my export settings are shown below.

- even without UV map editing skills everyone with little time effort can assign (simple) textures to model parts. With UV maps and detailed textures the result looks of course way better.

Blender Navigation for assigning textures to model parts: 

 

GIMP2 BMP Export Settings:

Edited September 28, 2019 by Aquila-CM

[JM Stuff]

Soon presenting by Aquila CM

The Shifttain
The Centurion
The Merkava
The BTR 152
Water Cannons and much more...stay awakes !!

Like always zipped files to download will be available, enjoy.

Sigh !!

[37mm]

3 hours ago, Aquila-CM said:

Yes the sound and effects are outstanding. I noticed that some wheeled vehicles seem to be very silent which can be observed in the Bong-Hai Air Cav Video. Its the Marines truck there.

Yeah, I've realized they've been subdued a little too much at the moment.