Local Fire Company Engine [Archive]

CADken

23rd Feb 2008, 05:33 pm

Here is a mock-up of a Fire Truck I'm working on... It's very rough right now and I'll most likely end up starting over with actual pictures of the engine to model from. I was going to model this in 3Ds Max, but after not using the program for a few months I honestly don't know where to start...

The nice things about SketchUp is the ease of operation, there's no hidden tricks and everything is pretty straightforward... and the best part, it's just like riding a bike, you never forget :D

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/FireTruck.jpg

Here's another shot of the rear.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/FT2.jpg

I'm hoping to incorporate the steering limits to the model and we're going to try to use this for "pre-plan" to see if the trucks are going to have any issues entering some areas of the community.

CADken

9th Apr 2008, 08:42 pm

Alright, now comes some serious modeling... here is a clay render of the cab, my goal is to fully furnish the cab with everything from seating, controls, etc.

here is just the cab:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/engineclay.jpg

CADken

9th Apr 2008, 09:31 pm

i smoothed out the cab to where I think it looks about right...

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/cabrounded.jpg

97catintenn

10th Apr 2008, 12:27 am

CADken

10th Apr 2008, 01:23 pm

Holy cow, man. You have a whole lot of work ahead of you!! Seating, controls, ect...That's some detail. You must be trying to impress a CAD chick or something, lol.

Your model is looking good. I haven't drawn any curved lines yet.

Actually, our Fire Company could use a bit of a moral booster... We've had a few members family members pass this past week and it's been pretty depressing with all the funerals and such....

I've been working on the "Pre-Plan Committee" drafting up site plans for buildings in our area and we've been debating whether or not to create a short animation... just something simple to determine whether or not our apparatus can make certain turns, etc. Anyway, I want to tackle this head on to really show them all we've got our crap together and that with today's technology we can simulate calls...

Plus all the guys get excited over seeing a shiny Fire Engine :D

CADken

11th Apr 2008, 06:20 pm

here's a few shots of the model, today I added windows, doors, and seats...

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/insidecab.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/testertester.jpg

Here's the seats we use, they are open back like this to accommodate for the SCBA tank and holster... i might model those later on, but for now i'll leave it like this:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/fireseat.jpg

f700es

11th Apr 2008, 06:48 pm

:thumbsup:
This is really starting to look sweet! Good job and keep going.

CADken

11th Apr 2008, 09:09 pm

here we are with some mirrors and newly added doors!

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/cabwithmirrors.jpg

CADken

11th Apr 2008, 09:12 pm

:thumbsup:
This is really starting to look sweet! Good job and keep going.

thanks... i'm trying to get this as close as I can... I realized after I modeled the cab that I had the wrong blueprints... but I decided to motor on and keep going with what I have...

so far this has been done 100% in SketchUP (minus the KT rendering) and I've been utilizing the "intersect with model" and a ton of shapes to achieve the looks I'm producing...

here we are with a windshield:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/OpenFront.jpg

f700es

11th Apr 2008, 09:16 pm

And there are people that say SU can't do complex modeling! Whatever!

CADken

11th Apr 2008, 09:22 pm

here's the final render of the day... i have to increase the door jamb width to make it more noticeable...

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/finalopenfront.jpg

CADken

11th Apr 2008, 09:34 pm

okay, so I figured I had 30mins to kill and my work has been caught up for the day... here is the final shot for today... i swear :D

I increased the jamb sizes, hopefully this will be noticeable.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/doorjambs.jpg

CADken

11th Apr 2008, 09:49 pm

alright, enough for today, my laptop is HOT!

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/windowswheels.jpg

CADken

12th Apr 2008, 08:56 pm

Alright, so normally during the weekends I rarely have time to model anything, but this weekend I managed to take a few minutes today to model the rear of the engine...

I'm not 100% satisfied but it's a good shell to work from:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/wholeengine.jpg

CADken

12th Apr 2008, 10:19 pm

this is addictive:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/rearupdate.jpg

Lazer

12th Apr 2008, 10:53 pm

That's looking so hot we will need that engine to put the fire out!:shock::lol:8)

CADken

12th Apr 2008, 11:27 pm

here are the compartments covered up with the roll up doors, from both sides...

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/compartmentcovered.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/compartmetcovered2.jpg

and with that, good night.

f700es

14th Apr 2008, 01:41 pm

Looking good!!!
My only and I mean only complaint is to smooth out your tires a bit. Just my personal preference.

CADken

15th Apr 2008, 04:49 pm

Looking good!!!
My only and I mean only complaint is to smooth out your tires a bit. Just my personal preference.

Thanks!

you know... of all the things, I'm not sure how to increase the smoothness... can I do it in SketchUp easily or in KT?

Ritch7

15th Apr 2008, 04:51 pm

Cadken That Is Very Impressive I Have To Say Congrats My Freind

f700es

15th Apr 2008, 05:16 pm

Thanks!

you know... of all the things, I'm not sure how to increase the smoothness... can I do it in SketchUp easily or in KT?

Can be done in SU either one of two ways, depending on how they were drawn.
You can select the wheel and right-click and select "Smooth Soften Edges" or when you start to draw a circle in SU, after clicking on the circle icon, look at the bottom right corner. You will see "Sides" in the VCB (value control box). Default is 24 I think. Bump this up a bit, 48 or so. It will give circles a more rounded look.

http://f700es.googlepages.com/SU-tires.jpg

CADken

18th Apr 2008, 05:03 am

Alrighty, I've been asked by a nieghboring department to model one of their apparatus and here is my go at a color render:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/761Cab2.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/761Cab3.jpg

Here are some of the Clay renders:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/76180Complete.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/76180CompleteRear.jpg

CADken

18th Apr 2008, 03:46 pm

Wow, looks like a Engine to me:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/Engine983.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/98CompleteEngineSide.jpg

Ritch7

18th Apr 2008, 03:48 pm

oh my lord this is brillance, how long in all cadken have you been working on this? im curious

architecture68-raff

18th Apr 2008, 03:49 pm

Looks sharp.

How many hours would you guess you've put into it so far? Just curious.

Ritch7

18th Apr 2008, 03:50 pm

Looks sharp.

How many hours would you guess you've put into it so far? Just curious.

lol look at my previous post JYNX,

Ps. your display avatar reminds me of the lead singer in Nickelback

IM a rockstar baby

CADken

18th Apr 2008, 04:05 pm

oh my lord this is brillance, how long in all cadken have you been working on this? im curious

Looks sharp.

How many hours would you guess you've put into it so far? Just curious.

Thanks for the kind words guys!

well, I posted the request for people to send me pictures of their apparatus (on another forum) and I received PM's back along with pictures within about an hour or so of posting...

I grabbed the very first one and started to create a model right away, here and there between actual work :D during the day...

After one day of about 2 hours of work I had modeled the cab (including the windshield, doors, handles, door handles and trim)... the follow day I modeled the rear of the engine and all the compartments, handles, trim, etc. and it took about an hour... later that night I took approx. 2 hours to finalize just the rough mock up of the engine.

I had 2 days break between due to a heavy work load and making sure I could create a bit of cushion to allow for more modeling time :D

Today I spend 2 hours creating some of the smaller features, cab lights, tailights and cleaning up my design and adding colors...

I'd say about 7 hours of work have been done to achieve this, 4 hours while at work adding little things here and there throughout the day and about 3 hours at home just messing around with ideas. Altho it's hard to judge since I'm doing a little here and there.

f700es

18th Apr 2008, 04:10 pm

Farkin' ROCKS man! Great job!

David, I think we have a new image of the month on this one IMHO.

StykFacE

18th Apr 2008, 04:44 pm

dude, ken, that biotch looks friggin' awesome. I am jealous.... lol, good freakin work mang. :)

Ritch7

18th Apr 2008, 04:50 pm

dude, ken, that biotch looks friggin' awesome. I am jealous.... lol, good freakin work mang. :)

TOTATLY FARE OUT FREAKING AWESOME OUTRAGEOUS DUDE HIPY KOOL SHIZLE

lurchandpasta

18th Apr 2008, 05:03 pm

Don't you need a holiday in Italy, because I could sure do with some tutoring.:lol:

CADken

18th Apr 2008, 09:02 pm

Well, it's not as hard as it looks... if you've had experience with 3Ds Max the concepts are somewhat similar and just require a "designer's eye" :D

I think, however that I have met my match:

This 1949 Chevy Pickup is becoming the bane of my Modeling existance!

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/OrangeEngineRear.jpg

All I can model is the rear... unfortunitely the cab and front end are going to require some extras skills I've been working on.

matt41129

28th Apr 2008, 01:39 pm

Thats really cool, keep up the good work! Im a fellow firefighter myself.

CADken

28th Apr 2008, 06:53 pm

Well here is an updated render on the 7-6 Engine:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d82/KennEbee/2h32mRender2.jpg

CADken

28th Apr 2008, 06:55 pm

Thats really cool, keep up the good work! Im a fellow firefighter myself.

Thanks! always nice to have a few brother on board!

We're having HAZMAT Operations refreshers at our station tonight, we're looking to reach our goal of having 90% of our active members State Certified FF 1.

matt41129

30th Apr 2008, 09:39 pm

Yeah i have my Hazmat Operations and im almost a FF2. we have about the same tahts atleast a level 1

CADken

1st May 2008, 08:41 pm

oh, by the way...

in case anyone would like to see all the apparatus I model, visit my site:

shoot me a PM

sorry, no direct link due to the mass amount of spam that comes across!

Newest Project:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k242/KensNikonL3/ClayRenderBase3.jpg

Rob-GB

22nd May 2008, 07:48 pm

97catintenn

23rd May 2008, 02:41 am

CADken

23rd May 2008, 02:22 pm

CADken, not related to your obvious skills with cad designing,though pertinent to the designs in this thread, what is the reason for the oversized, step-like front fender on the appliance? I ask from interest as they are not part of the U.K fire appliances we usually see.( In the U.K) It is so refreshing to see an end user (so to speak) working on a new and improved design. So often merchandise or equipment is designed by people who have no "hands on" experience of the end use. Your posts have shown your enthusiasm for the excercise alongside your designing ability, best regards Rob.

Rob, the front "extended" fender on our apparatus contain extra equipment, some Engines have normal bumpers, and some have these custom bumpers that house extra hoses and tools for easy access.

The company I volunteer for has 3 of the 4 apparatus with these extended bumpers to house extra hoses, hooks, nozzles, and other misc items.

I just picked myself up off the floor. That is beautiful work! I can't believe sketchup can do this! And it's a free program...

well, the actual red portion of the drawing and the background is the real thing, the orange colored portion is a render of the rear of the engine photoshopped onto the actual picture.

Rob-GB

23rd May 2008, 05:55 pm

Thanks for the fender information, CADken, just thinking if I can do something similar on my motorhome (RV)! A great solution to storage issues. Regards Rob.

CADken

23rd May 2008, 06:31 pm

Thanks for the fender information, CADken, just thinking if I can do something similar on my motorhome (RV)! A great solution to storage issues. Regards Rob.

what a novel idea!

here's some pictures for reference (the front bumper and general Fire Apparatus in America)

http://www.seagrave.com/welcome.cfm

perry

28th May 2009, 07:19 pm

CADken

29th May 2009, 02:54 am

Heya CADken im trying to model a uk fire engine (scania p270) but I want to get it looking really good like yours I plan to do the cab with smooth edges but I dont no how any help or advice would be great :D

Do you have any pictures?

I've been in and out of the forums so I apologize if I don't get to you right away...

I model everything in SketchUp, then export the model into Kerkythea.. Kerkythea pretty much smooths things out for ya...

here's the latest model I've been working on:

perry

29th May 2009, 05:57 am

Thans for the reply heres a couple of pics wich i found on the net

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/perryjohnson/3519404175_2c331d9cbe_o.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/perryjohnson/5940.jpg

Zorg

29th May 2009, 12:19 pm

Good ol' british fire engines huh! :lol:

That is a serious peice of work there man, very clever! :ouch:

This was all done in sketch up then!? :? I am seriously thinking about using this as my preimier 3D modeling software if it was!:cute:

Z

CADken

29th May 2009, 05:19 pm

Thans for the reply heres a couple of pics wich i found on the net

WOW, I can see what you mean about curves and such... that would be an interesting task to take on designing one of those in SU that's for sure.

If you can have a local department send you blueprints of their apparatus that would be even better... Seagrave - one of America's finest Fire Apparatus Manufactures has PDFs of every piece of equipment they have ever made... all within reason. These blueprints are great for modeling.

Good ol' british fire engines huh! :lol:

That is a serious peice of work there man, very clever! :ouch:

This was all done in sketch up then!? :? I am seriously thinking about using this as my preimier 3D modeling software if it was!:cute:

Z

Z - if you are referring to the model I recently posted; yes that was created in SU (rendered in Kerkythea). I just so happen to be a firefighter with the department of that orange "Truck" up there, so I have access to all of our apparatus blueprints from the manufacturers... which is an extreme benefit.

SketchUp is an amazing program.

perry

29th May 2009, 05:37 pm

I certainly like a challenge I'm actualy at a fire service football match tonight so Il see what i can find :D

perry

29th May 2009, 09:45 pm

:( no luck however ive started to get all the photos i can find of the appliance to try and help me any ideas on modeling from a photo?

CADken

30th May 2009, 01:31 am

:( no luck however ive started to get all the photos i can find of the appliance to try and help me any ideas on modeling from a photo?

you can either do "photo match"

or this:

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22914

perry

30th May 2009, 07:33 am

I like that idea it will take time but I new whatever I did would take ages lol

michaeloureiro

30th May 2009, 09:31 am

That´s some serious modeling. Don´t know how you do it Cadken, everytime i try to do some more complex modeling, SU gives up on me. Doesn´t SU start to slowdown on you with so much detail?

perry

31st May 2009, 07:18 pm

I found something wich may help me alot but I cant view the files because they are .dxf Ive never heard of this file type anyone no anything about this?

Cad64

31st May 2009, 07:24 pm

You won't be able to open .dxf files in Sketchup, but you should be able to Import them.

perry

31st May 2009, 07:31 pm

Cheers cad64 :D lear a new thing every day :D

perry

31st May 2009, 07:48 pm

Ok now ive got all that done is there anyway of converting the file to a JPEG so i can make it a material? cheers :)

CADken

1st Jun 2009, 02:12 am

That´s some serious modeling. Don´t know how you do it Cadken, everytime i try to do some more complex modeling, SU gives up on me. Doesn´t SU start to slowdown on you with so much detail?

I create every part in it's own file, like the cab, front end, rear sections, tires, etc. then I import them into one master file... create half of the model, then "copy", "past in place" and essentially mirror the half to create the full size model you see...

and yes, making little correction on such a large file does get a bit slow... it helps to turn off the color and textures so that way SU isn't trying to regen everytime you move.

michaeloureiro

2nd Jun 2009, 02:28 pm

I create every part in it's own file, like the cab, front end, rear sections, tires, etc. then I import them into one master file... create half of the model, then "copy", "past in place" and essentially mirror the half to create the full size model you see...

and yes, making little correction on such a large file does get a bit slow... it helps to turn off the color and textures so that way SU isn't trying to regen everytime you move.

thanks for the tip:)

CADken

27th Jun 2009, 11:18 pm

Just a little update...

perry

14th Jul 2009, 03:03 pm

haha I like it CADken, Im still struguling with the fire engine I left alone for a while I found something what I imagine will help me alot with the cab (look at picture) but its not in scale any idea how to make it all to scale?

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/perryjohnson/scania-300-500-series-cp28-31-crewc.jpg
cheers Perry