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3D Studio Max Grab Iron and Hand Rail Tutorial

In this tutorial you will learn how to create the grab irons and hand rails used on many North American Locomotives.

3DStudio Max will be referred to as 3ds.

Grab Irons

1. Torus, boxes and cylinders.

Create the following objects with the following demensions.

Parameter	Torus
Radius 1	0.03
Radius 2	0.01
Rotation	0.0
Twist	0.0
Segments	12
Sides	8

Parameter	Box01	Box02
Length	0.02	0.02
Width	0.01	0.01
Height	0.063	0.063
Length Segs	1	1
Width Segs	1	1
Height Segs	1	1

Parameter	Cylinder 1	Cylinder 2	Cylinder 3
Radius 1	0.010	0.010	0.01
Height	0.055	0.055	0.385
Height Segments	1	1	1
Cap Segments	1	1	1
Sides	8	8	8

Once you have created all the objects rotate the torus 90 degrees in the X axis and rotate the long cylinder 90 degrees in the X axis. Then convert the torus to editable mesh and using the polygon sub-object select and detach the torus into four quarters as shown in figure 1. Make sure "Ignore Backfacing" is un-selected. Once you have split the torus up into four sections convert the other objects to editable meshes and delete any unnecessary polygons which are the ends of all the cylinders and the base of the two boxes.

Figure 1 Objects created and torus divided into four

2. Rotate and move

Now that you have everything created and optimized we can now rotate and move the torus segments into position but before we do we need to use the hiearchy tab to reset the pivot point for the torus segments to 0. Select the top left segment and rotate it 180 degrees in the Z axis. Select and rotate both the bottom segments to 90 degrees in the Z axis. Now using the select and move tool and osnap move each segment into location as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 All objects in location.

Now that you have everything in location you can now attach all the objects together and use the grab iron on a locomotive or rolling stock item. This method is only one of a number of possible methods to create a grab iron. I prefer this method as it gives excellent control over the shape of the grab iron.

Hand Rails

1. Types of handrails

There are many different types of handrails used in Trainz ranging from a double sided plane with an alpha channel to the high detail handrails used on payware locomotives. In this tutorial I will be showing the creation of two different types. One comprising of boxes and one comprising of six sided cylinders. Both types are very easy to create. Methods used to create the shape of the hand rail also vary and for this tutorial only a segment of the handrail will be created. The method used to create the grab iron can also be used and another technique using the loft tool is detailed here

2. Box type

Create the following boxes using the dimensions shown;

Parameter	Box01	Box02
Length	0.03	2.0
Width	0.03	0.03
Height	1.25	0.03
Length Segs	1	1
Width Segs	1	1
Height Segs	1	1

Once created use the Osnap tool to select the horizontal box in the centre and place it on top of the vertical box. This gives a small segment of a hand rail. You can extend the horizontal box to create as long a hand rail as required and the vertical boxes can be duplicated with the clone tool.

3. 6 sided cylinder type

Create the following cylinders using the dimensions shown;

Parameter	Cylinder 1	Cylinder 2
Radius 1	0.02	0.02
Height	1.25	2.0
Height Segments	1	1
Cap Segments	1	1
Sides	6	6

Once created rotate the 2m long cylinder 90 degrees in the X co-ordinates. Once again use the Osnap tool to select the horizontal cylinder in the centre and place it on top of the vertical cylinder.

To create bends in the handrail there are several different methods you could use. You could use the method listed above for the grab irons or if you use the loft tool the bends are created automatically provided you have the correct path. The easiest but least accurate method is to create a mult-segment box convert it to editable mesh and then select the front segment and simply move it up or down. However this will result in the middle section becoming noticable thinner the further each segment moves in relation to the other. To correct this can be very time consuming but involves slicing the ends of the boxes at the required angle. For example if the angle between the two sections will be 45 degrees then the ends of the boxes or cylinders will need to sliced at 22.5 degrees then moved into location and attached together.

Figure 3 Fast handrail step method

Figure 4 Accurate handrail step method

Figure 5 Hand rail created from boxes

Figure 6 Hand rail created from 6 sided cylinders

Figure 7 High detail hand rail

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