3d art

Transport
Model and render a realistic
Spitfire for an animation or for
compositing in your artwork
Dieter Meyer specialises in aircraft modelling
The Spitfire first flew in 1936 and made its combat
debut in 1939 defending a Royal Navy base in the
Firth of Forth, Scotland. Since then, it has been
regarded as one of the best fighter aircraft ever built.
This article will focus on the modelling of a Spitfire Mk5B.
This project will require a high level of skill and a good
knowledge of working in modo. However, most 3D
packages offer the same general methods, so this tutorial’s
workflow can easily be applied to other software. There is a
great deal of work to modelling an aircraft and I may not be
able to cover every aspect of the detailing process. I will be
covering the major sections of the aircraft and the general
process I follow in creating highly detailed models.
The greatest challenge you will face on this project is the
ability to keep the model entirely in SubD without the need
to freeze the mesh. The benefit, of course, is you can
control the subdivision level at render time for a higher
or lower level of detail depending on your needs. It also
allows for a much easier UV mapping process.
In the second part of this tutorial, we’ll cover all the
aspects of UV mapping and texturing the Spitfire.
219