NOT creating everything from scratch

[pwillard]

There is this sort of unwritten rule that everything created in 3D needs to be from scratch. To me, nobody has time for that. Its better to take parts that have already been modeled and build off them. This is exactly what Tractive Power Corp did with the TP56 Switch.

Steal the traction motors from a road engine and build a new switcher on top of it.

So... I started with freely available trucks, just like they did...

TP56.jpg

[TrainSimJack]

Pete, is your creation available for download? I'd love to use something like that to practice painting with Substance Painter.

[EldoradoRailroad]

Pete,

In the model making world, as in physical models, like plastic ones, we call this "kit bashing".

The only gotchas I find is when you need to "steal" the texture too. If you are lazy and often I am, some creative and wasteful ideas are needed with textures, but it saves a lot of time.

I often wonder just how much "stealing" we can get away with. Ripping off a texture is more egregious then "borrowing" polygons and using your own texture. Have fun!

Steve

[eric]

I'd probably already have a working Crandall Cab if it were as easy as assembling some parts in Blender...

[pwillard]

I'd probably already have a working Crandall Cab if it were as easy as assembling some parts in Blender...

Hah hah, no kidding. You still have your work cut out for you, but I'll take all the shortcuts I can get.

Since I'm usually doing fresh paint models versus grimy photo-textures, I can usually get away with not needing much in the way of textures beyond what I've collected over the years with my camera.

The model will be available as a blend file - eventually. The truck is from Allen Norton aka "B&O Guy" on Elvas Tower supplied as TSM files converted to a Blend file via 3D CRAFTER as a starting point. As you can see the deck behind the cab remains undone as well as steps and this one will need a custom interior cab.

[LuFeDuTi]

WOW Tractive Power TP56

[scfe_fan]

I'd probably already have a working Crandall Cab if it were as easy as assembling some parts in Blender...

If I had a blender ready model of an E8b that I could chop up, I would have already given you a Crandall Cab.

[eric]

I tried to use Brandon's... it's mostly done but without textures.

[pwillard]

Screenshot 2025-04-08 085748.jpg

This is where I chime in and say... "Dang it. I need to be more like Erick and share some of the Assets Browser items I have in my collection."

Someday I'll remember to clean this up and make it available

[eric]

That's quite the collection for locomotive parts. With some basics like a coupler, diaphram, GSC 41N trucks, grab handles, window frames and a vestibule door, it would be fairly easy to make just about any post-war passenger car...

[ebnertra000]

I re-use parts constantly, but I imagine that's easier to do with stuff like signaling equipment than it is with something like rolling stock

[anderson martins]

I ....... I made a super hack here

[pwillard]

Wow, Neat!