CODY2003

ya someone pointed that out to me on another forum a couple days ago. I just forgot to update here. here are some pics of the canopy, and the current state of the model as of yesterday.

well..... I've hit an road block. I cut the canopy to start working on the cockpit, but I have no idea how the canopy opens on the vf-4...... Does it slide forward? Hinge up? Or has it ever even been shown? I would say it would have to slide forward based on the position, length, and position of the pilot. I may just take creative license again, as I did with the gear.

Thx for the good words guys. Here is an update on the project. a few more tweaks to the body and the rear gear are getting pretty close to done. Haven't had a chance to work on it over the last few days (can't imagine what else I could have been doing ), but hopefully the coming week I can get some more done. also I did a couple ideas for the paint scheme. the first is inspired by the skin of the F-22 (Kind of updates the craft some) and the second a modified version of the one I found on Macrossworld. Not sure which I will end up choosing, but opinions are welcome.

incredible work! I have Maxwell, but it just sits there... on my desktop.... mocking me ruthlessly for my complete inability to get it to work. I can't ever get it to render models out of max with textures, even when using maxwell textures. anyway, are you using an illumination map, or did you actually apply each light separately?

much obliged! Considerably more clear than what I was working with. I'll replace my current orthos and compare. I'm sure there is, but I honestly couldn't say. I try not to pirate much, as I suck terribly at it. lol. I was lucky enough to get my copy of MAX after winning a state 3D contest. It helps to be a graphic designer some times. I know that you can get maya for free, but your renders will be watermarked. Maya is the other cinematic 3D program made by autodesk. If you are someone who might like a more animation oriented program then you could go with that, and have someone else render for you, at least until you find something yourself. in the end it really doesn't matter all that much which program you have. I've seen some impressive stuff come out of the really crappy programs, you just have to work a little harder with them. lol.

The creation tools and layout are very nice IMO. Basically all the tools you need to create your meshes are all in one tabbed palette. Things start to get fuzzy when it comes to animation. Especially rigging when combined with scripts or links. you'll be bouncing around menus like a ping-pong ball.

I use 3DS MAX 9. It's one of the more expensive ones out there, and probably not the best, but I like it. Very nice! What program are you using?

Thx for the feedback! I've actually got most of those saved already. I based the nose like everything else on the only orthos I could find, and those were pretty low resolution, so it could be partly that. Now that I look at it, the nose on some of the screencaps I have actually show the nose more upturned than the orthos I used. I may try that and see how it goes. Kinda iffy on how it looks though. Having the nose that upturned might look odd. Not sure about the front of the canopy, but I've been staring at this thing for about a month now so who knows. I'll try the nose for the next update and see how everyone likes it.

Hi, Been lurking on and off for a while, but finally signed up (oddly enough, so that I could get reference photos for this project. lol). Just thought I would share my current project. I've been a fan of the series for a while (as well as robotech, but I won't touch on that too much since it's a touchy subject. ) Here are some shots of the mesh where it stands. I'm currently working on the landing gear. There wasn't a whole lot of reference for it that I could get my hands on, so I just based my guesses on the location in the line art, and references of planes from the era the design was worked on. any comments/criticism welcome, and quite frankly needed. thx.