Tie Fighter

Before I even started to make my Tie Fighter, I wanted to import my blue prints into 3dsMax so that I had something to work with and guide me when making my model. To do this, I created a plane using the Create tool at the top. I made sure that the size of the plane was the same size as the image of my Tie Fighter, which I did using the right hand panel and adjusting the pixels accordingly. 

I then went to the Material Editor window so that I could lay my image of the Tie Fighter on top of the plane. Under the 'Blinn Basic Parameters' section, in the 'Diffuse' option, I clicked the small box to the right which made a new window appear. I selected the 'Bitmap' option, which allowed me to select the image I wanted. I then applied it to the layer using the small icon just underneath all the spheres. 

I did this twice, once for the side view of the ship and again for the front view. 

I then needed to align the two planes so that they were evenly mapped out, making it easier when it came to creating the actual model. I used the align tool for this, making sure I selected both planes. I adjusted the axis's accordingly so that they touched corners and were centred evenly. 

Now that both my planes were in position with each of the images on, I was now able to begin making my ship.

To start with, I created a basic sphere. I didn't worry too much about the size at this stage. Using the 'Select and Move' tool, I moved the sphere into the right position using the plane images. It was now that I adjusted the size so that it matched the image. To be more accurate, I typed in the radius size in the Parameters panel to the right. I did this several times in order to get the size as accurate as possible.

I just wanted to make the basic shapes of the ship first, so I then created a cylinder to make the rest of the body. Once I'd made a basic cylinder, I needed to rotate it so that it was positioned horizontally rather than vertically. I did this by right clicking on the image and clicking the small box next to the Rotate option. This bought up a small new window, which I adjusted the degree of the axis so that it rotated 90 degrees and became horizontal.
Using the 'Select and Move' tool I positioned the cylinder correctly on the grid in relation to the image. I had to adjust the size as it was not long enough and the radius was far too wide. In the Parameters panel I changed the 'Height' so that it was much wider and fitted directly through the cylinder, right through to the other side. I then changed the 'Radius' so that it was much smaller and matched the image roughly.

Now that I had a very basic shape of the body of the ship, I wanted to make the sides. I did this by firstly creating a long thin box. Like before, I adjusted the size in the Parameters panel so that it matched the image guide, and then positioned it accordingly. 

To make the exact shape of the size however, I needed to reshape my box slightly. To to this, I right clicked on the box and selected the 'Convert To' option and then chose the 'Editable poly' option. This allowed me to now select the 'Vertex' option from the new 'Editable Poly' drop down menu on the right hand side. The vertices of the box now appeared on the screen, which I was able to change in order to achieve my desired shape. 

For the vertices in the middle of either side, I stretched out so that both sides became pointed and were at the same positioning to the image. I then needed to alter the two top and bottom points slightly so that they became wider. I did this by simply using the 'Select and Move' tool and dragging each point out accordingly.

Now that I had the basic side shape of my ship. I wanted to change the widths of the top and bottom as they were thinner on the image than the middle section. To do this, I remained on the 'Vertex' option under the Editable Poly menu. I then used the front on view to select all the top and bottom vertex's by dragging my mouse over the points and holding down the 'ctrl' shortcut key so I was able to select more vertex's at the same time. I then used the Scale tool on the top menu and moved the vertex's inwards to make the width thinner. 

Now that I'd made one side of the ship, I needed to clone the shape to make the other side. I did this by right clicking on the image and selecting the small box next to the 'Clone' option. This bought up a small window where I chose the 'Copy' option. The new clone was automatically placed in an identical position so I used the 'Select and Move' tool to simply move it across to the other side of the ship.

I now wanted to start adding a bit more detail to my ship. I wanted to add some small bumps to the main body sphere. I did this by selecting and right clicking on the sphere and choosing 'Convert To' then 'Editable Poly'. In the right hand panel, I then clicked on the 'Editable Poly' drop down menu and chose the 'Vertex' option.

All the vertex's of the sphere then appeared. I dragged the mouse over the centre top ones, about 3 rows, and used the 'Select and Move' tool to drag the points up to create a small bump. I repeated this method at four other points evenly along the top of the sphere.

I also used the same method to create a small bump at the bottom of the sphere too by selecting the vertex's I wanted to move and then pulled them down. 

I now wanted to change the cylinders slightly as they were not so smooth and even in the image. Like before, I converted the Cylinder into an 'Editable Poly' and chose 'Vertex' from the drop down menu. I then selected a whole column of vertex's and moved then using the 'Select and Move' tool, I positioned them were I wanted to put a curve. Once I had positioned them correctly, I then selected the 'Scale' tool and clicked and dragged in the small yellow box between the axis's, which moved both axis's simultaneously maintaing the shape. I did this evenly for both sides of the cylinder so both sides matched.