49 replies to this topic

[BLaaR]

Oky, so it has been some time that I actually made something, so why not kick of with a bang.

The Mektek Super Nova will be coming soon, and it will be a goody. 200+ parts should make for a fun lengthy build and very detailed.

Watch this space for updates.

[parman01]

Cool SuperNova was on my "to-do-sometime-in-the-future" list too. 200 parts....oh man....it's gonna be monstrous. I suppose it is safe to assume that you'll be adding a lot of extra little details to default game model right?

[Martini Henrie]

Nice, my favourite mech

[Mokou]

Wait for me, my 6xER PPC super nova.

[BLaaR]

parman01, on 04 March 2013 - 06:14 AM, said:

Cool SuperNova was on my "to-do-sometime-in-the-future" list too. 200 parts....oh man....it's gonna be monstrous. I suppose it is safe to assume that you'll be adding a lot of extra little details to default game model right?

Actually no. I always keep the model true to the original ingame model or that of the orignal artist. Only thing I do is clean it up:

Fix intersecting faces.
Fix parts that do not properly join.
Worse case I would sometimes remodel a part to make it easier to build.
Sometimes parts are scewed then I also fix those , makes it much easier later on.

Even after doing the above the model is still about 99.9% the same as the in game model.

Maybe one day when I am good enough I will try my hand to create a model from scratch like you did with that wonderfull Atlas.

Edit : Man I love cleaning uip the meshes, but I hate doing the unfold work.

Edited by BLaaR, 04 March 2013 - 09:10 AM.

[BLaaR]

Half way done with the unfolding.

While I was unfolding I noticed just how good this thing will look once built. To bad the textures used are only 512x512 and there are 3 of them.

Which brings me to my request.

Is there any artist out there, who has some free time, and is willing to help us out to "upgrade" the textures to 1024x1024 since that is the highest res pepakura standard can use.

I think that if the 3, 512x512 textures is upsampled to 1024x1024 and then redrawn it will make this great model even better.

Not sure how hard it will be, but if any artist is willing to help out, then I can send him the model in OBJ ingluding the 3 base TGA textures.

Keep in mind that I would like to keep the alpha channel intact because it is nice to be able to make custom camo's.

Any takers ?

EDIT : Even if the textures are upgraded to 2048x2048 it would be even better. Then I can export it with the high res version of pepakura to BMP, and for those who want to use the standard edition the 2048 will be lowered in resultion by pepa to 1024.

Edited by BLaaR, 06 March 2013 - 04:12 AM.

[TheTeacher]

Go BLaaR! Go!

[Monkeyrum]

I've been stuck in the same spot on about 4 mechs right now. I want better textures for them. The hardest part is finding a decent an quick way to UV unwrap them. BLaaR you said you were using Wings 3d and it seems to go Ok. Still the case? I'll keep playing with it in my spare time. Hopefully it will come to me like making your own alpha's. Once I find a good UV unwrap process I'll be unstoppable.

Edited by Monkeyrum, 07 March 2013 - 01:30 PM.

[BLaaR]

Yes I worked a bit with Wings3D years back when I attempted to create my own textures. The UV mapping was relatively easy compared to other programs I tried. Still the model I tried was not really that complex ed.

I then realized how bad my photoshop skills are and never went through with it.

Still if you want take a look at Wings3D.

I see another app people tend to like is Blender, but all those menu's and buttons I find intimidating.

I while back I came across 3D Coat, which seems easy to use but I have not tried it yet.

http://3d-coat.com/

EDIT : You really shout finish up that tut you are working on, how to create the alhpas. I would really like to know how you do it.

EDIT 2 : Good to see you posting here to MonkeyRum. Welcome.

Edited by BLaaR, 07 March 2013 - 09:39 PM.

[shasta girl]

BLaaR, on 04 March 2013 - 12:01 AM, said:

Oky, so it has been some time that I actually made something, so why not kick of with a bang.

The Mektek Super Nova will be coming soon, and it will be a goody. 200+ parts should make for a fun lengthy build and very detailed.

Watch this space for updates.

That looks amazing, might be too complicated for me though. Keep up the good work Blaar!

[BLaaR]

shasta girl, on 07 March 2013 - 11:27 PM, said:

That looks amazing, might be too complicated for me though. Keep up the good work Blaar!

Thank you. But really the artist who initially made the model is the one who deserves all the credit. I merely took his work and make so that we can actually build it.

Speaking of building, it may look intimidating to build, bit it will not be that hard. There are maybe 6 pieces that I think will be hard to build (mainly because of their size), but for the rest it should be pretty easy. Also those small parts you do not need to complete the model. So if you find them tricky then leave them out.

[BLaaR]

I think this model is prime to have see through cockpit windows since the cockpit is so nice and big. So I decided to cut away the windows and make a easy to build cockpit. Nothing fancy. I will texture the cockpit next.

So, for those who want to build the Super Nova, now you can do so with a see though window including a cockpit with.

I know the scale might be off, but it will have to do.

[Monkeyrum]

Loving the cockpit! I was hoping to do a mini tutorial that covered everything from start to finish (cleaning the model, unwrapping the UV's, doing an alpha texture, and then unfolding). Something simple like a turret as an example. Up to this point I was using Zecks method of doing the UV's. Basically you take a bunch of perspective screenshots and then paint them and build the UV back in inside Metasequioa. It works, but you run into scaling issues with manually moving the camera around on your own to get a screenshot.

[BLaaR]

Thanks monkey, but I plan on redoing the cockpit. Call the above a concept lol

[shasta girl]

BLaaR, on 08 March 2013 - 01:08 AM, said:

Thank you. But really the artist who initially made the model is the one who deserves all the credit. I merely took his work and make so that we can actually build it.

Speaking of building, it may look intimidating to build, bit it will not be that hard. There are maybe 6 pieces that I think will be hard to build (mainly because of their size), but for the rest it should be pretty easy. Also those small parts you do not need to complete the model. So if you find them tricky then leave them out.

I like how you officially acknowledge where the real credit belongs. But I'd still give credit to you for what you did to prepare this paper mech model for the community. You give good advice, I'm new to paper models, i think I will leave the more complicated parts out. Right now I'm working on one of Stingrays models, I think I'll try this supernova next! (though it may take a while)

[Rift Hawk]

BLaaR, on 04 March 2013 - 12:01 AM, said:

Oky, so it has been some time that I actually made something, so why not kick of with a bang.

The Mektek Super Nova will be coming soon, and it will be a goody. 200+ parts should make for a fun lengthy build and very detailed.

Watch this space for updates.

I built a super nova once in my backyard.

It burned my house down. Blasted novas !!!

[BLaaR]

Righty.......I am happy enough with the cockpit. Tried my best with my limited skills. Took couple of pics from the net and make shift a cockpit. Think it looks okay.







Just need to export now and add the cockpit, think I will make it a seperate file as not to mess with the already unfolded pattern.

Edited by BLaaR, 09 March 2013 - 01:50 AM.

[Dopenudist]

That looks very cool. I will sit in it.

Maybe i build your super nova after the atlas (If i have the patience )
If you have the textures in high-res can you please make some ,png files in high resolution? Like parman01 did it with his atlas?
The difference between normal pepakura and high res files is immense.

[Agent Cooper]

All hail Blaar.

[BLaaR]

Dopenudist, on 09 March 2013 - 02:08 AM, said:

That looks very cool. I will sit in it.

Maybe i build your super nova after the atlas (If i have the patience )
If you have the textures in high-res can you please make some ,png files in high resolution? Like parman01 did it with his atlas?
The difference between normal pepakura and high res files is immense.

Well, I managed to track down the original artist of this Super Nova. He was kind enough to look through all his old HDD's to try and find the high res TGA's.

He did say he had a few HDD crashes over the years and since this model is several years old, it may or may not be lost. So lets hope he can find it for us.