Dezignstuff SolidWorks Blog

I’ve been wanting to do an antique car for a while. A visit to a friend with a Model A street rod kind of inspired me. It took a while to get around to it. I promised the leader of the Happy Valley user group that I would create a new model as an example for the next meeting. I’ve got probably 9 hours into this model. It could have used some additional detail, particularly the engine. I got a simple engine off of 3D Content Central, and juiced it up a little. Work like this is usually worth the time because the model might get reused for other things. It’s nice having some models that don’t belong to someone else.

Some really cool effects on the paint for this model. There is a lot to show here. Some Photoworks, some modeling, lots of bugs, actually. Some quick and simple surfacing too, and several examples of different ways to use the Boundary feature.

I started this model on my tablet PC while on a road trip (Kim was driving). At that point the cockpit looked like a pumpkin and the whole thing gave the effect of Cinderella’s pumkin coach. I decided to back off the cartoon a little. This is still a bit cartoonish, and for all you purists, yes, I know the front end does not belong to a Model A, but I saw it on another car and decided I needed to mix and match. Cars from the 30’s are so cool to model.

The images above are all from PhotoWorks. This one below is from PhotoView 360. Some day I’ll get around to doing a review of PV360. Everybody else seems to have done one. Just as a hint, don’t try to run PW and PV at the same time. PhotoWorks always loses.

PhotoView360 has a distinctive look. That’s good and bad. It’s good because the look is gorgeous lighting, reflections, and shadows. It’s bad because it’s the only look it’s got, and there aren’t many options. Anyway, I’ll be back later with a surfacing tutorial on this model, and maybe a rendering tutorial too. Happy Valley gets first dibs, though. If you’re gonna be there, you’ll see it first.