A Real Motley Crue

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Some models I've had floating on my hard drive for a while - fully rigged with bones - so poseable and the mesh bends/deforms with the skeleton (bones) manipulation.

Two of these are actually of Dick Cowen - who's likeness I've used for many years (with permission).

May I have your attention please...
May I have your attention please...
Will the real Dick Cowen...
--- please stand up
I repeat - will the real Dick Cowen...
--- please stand up


They are pretty crude - trying to keep polys under control - but at normal external viewing distance they will look far better than empty cabs. The hats are optional. The woman was an experiment - not quite Kelly LeBrock from Weird Science.





Regards,
Scott

[pwillard]

Nice Work. It would be nice to see the crew sometimes.

[CSRX]

And not a single safety vest in sight. I like it!

[frliss]

Hi Scott,

Are these flat people, like we've seen in the past or do they have some depth to them

Fred

[scottb613]

Nice Work. It would be nice to see the crew sometimes.

Thanks Pete...

And not a single safety vest in sight. I like it!

Yeah - safety vests are not in my vocabulary - I'm transition era - 50's at the latest.

Hi Scott,

Are these flat people, like we've seen in the past or do they have some depth to them

Fred

Yeah - I don't do 2D people - fully poseable rigged 3D models.


NOTE: The mesh stays smooth (attached to the bones) as it is deformed for the knee bends.



Thanks for the comments. Looks like Postimages is having an issue - my new pix is not downloading.



Regards,
Scott

[qballbandit]

Kelly LeBrock - fantastic reference! What healthy young man (at that time) didn't wish they were in that movie with her! Yowza.....🤩🤩🤩🤩

[scottb613]

Kelly LeBrock - fantastic reference! What healthy young man (at that time) didn't wish they were in that movie with her! Yowza.....🤩🤩🤩🤩

Hi Neil,

Great movie - yeah LOL - we all wished we could create one in our basement. I was also a huge Oingo Boingo (Dead Man's Party) fan and they did the Weird Science soundtrack as well.

Regards,
Scott

[EldoradoRailroad]

Will the real Dick Cowen...
--- please stand up

My money is on the one with a dress...far right!

Steve

[cuontv]

Wow, nice work Scott! What does the poly count come out to? I'm working on a model with lots of glass in the cab and these look so much better than my angular mannequins I concocted to sit at the controls.
-Tom

[docmartin]

Probably the best people models I have seen for ORTS. Are you going to release them - or have I missed something?

[scottb613]

My money is on the one with a dress...far right!

Steve

Hi Steve,

Hah - yeah - I bet Dick would beg to differ - last I checked - he was still active on the DTG side of the house. His BritKit models started me on the path to content creation.

---

Wow, nice work Scott! What does the poly count come out to? I'm working on a model with lots of glass in the cab and these look so much better than my angular mannequins I concocted to sit at the controls.
-Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks - about 1200 polys each. Yeah - I got tired of staring at empty cabs.

---

Probably the best people models I have seen for ORTS. Are you going to release them - or have I missed something?

Hi Martin,

Thanks as well - I haven't thought the whole thing through yet. Originally intended for my locomotives. They are Blender models that need to be posed for each custom installation - so - they currently require modeling knowledge to utilize. I guess I could save them in a seated position with their hands on their knees or something for generic adaptations? I'll give it some thought.

---

Hi Folks,

Bones Primer

If you’re new to Blender and wondering what all these “bones” are about — they’re basically the internal skeleton that lets your mesh move like it has real joints instead of being carved from a solid block. A bone is just a control handle: you rotate it, slide it, or pose it, and the mesh follows along in a clean, predictable way. It’s the same system used to animate characters in games, movies, and pretty much every modern 3D engine — walk cycles, waving arms, facial rigs, you name it, all driven by bones under the hood. For our purposes, they’re great for anything that needs motion: doors, couplers, bogies, wipers, or even a fully animated crew. Set up a simple armature, weight the parts that should follow each bone, and suddenly your model behaves like it was built with hinges instead of hope. Looks intimidating at first glance — but once you try it, you’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.

So - for my crew - you're never manipulating the mesh specifically (after you attach it to the bone) - you manipulate the bones under the mesh to move it in a desired position - and the mesh deforms automatically adapting to the new position.

I actually rigged up a steam locomotive's running gear - with bones (no mesh deformation) - in my first months of using Blender. We’ll need to have this if ever we hope to have fully animated steam locomotive running gear. In both MSTS and ORTS - they are locked into a single running position - so changing the reverser position - does nothing to change the running gear position - as it would on a real locomotive.


BONES



Regards,
Scott

[docmartin]

Well, Scott, if you do decide sometime to release them, it might be just what I need to persuade me finally to abandon TrainSim Modeler in favor of Blender!

Martin

[scottb613]

Well, Scott, if you do decide sometime to release them, it might be just what I need to persuade me finally to abandon TrainSim Modeler in favor of Blender!

Martin

Hi Martin,

Let me see what I can do - we NEED to get you off of TSM.


I was very reluctant to leave 3DC - the comfort factor - after I did - I was kicking myself for waiting so long - as everything is easier in Blender - - - your mileage may vary.

Tuned down my render exposure - fixed numerous mapping issues - and - for steam - added optional bandana.


Crew:



Regards,
Scott

[eric]

That's not real. None of them are smoking. Animated smoke or chew would be awesome...

[scottb613]

That's not real. None of them are smoking. Animated smoke or chew would be awesome...

Hi Eric,

LOL - I tried to put an eye patch on one - nod to Shawn's safety culture and the perils of ignoring it.


They need some Skoal rings on their back pockets (never drink from a warm Coke can - my Navy training).

I could put a cigar or cigarette in their mouth - everyone smoked in the 40's and 50's.

I wanted to make a fat belly guy - more polys and a whole new model - he would look good with a cigar.

I was going to look at animation - but I think I would need to divide the shape into separate parts - so I could use simple rotation?

It's definitely been fun coming up with some new crew figures.

Regards,
Scott