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3D Studio Max Locomotive Tutorial

Chapter 8 Fuel and Air Tanks

In this tutorial you will learn how to create the fuel and air tanks of a locomotive and texture them. The methods used to create the objects can be adapted to any Trainz item.

3DStudio Max will be referred to as 3ds.

To complete these tutorials with the dimensions listed herein you will need the following setup
1. Open the "Units Setup.." dialog from the "Customize" menu and select the "System Units Setup" button. In the "System Units Scale", use the system unit scale of 1.0 units = 1m
2. In the "Units Setup set "Display Units Scale" to Metric Meters.

The "Select and Move" tool will be referred to as the "Move" tool

The "Select and Rotate" tool will be referred to as the "Rotate" tool

1. Create and move a box

The first thing you need to do is create a box to represent the fuel tank. Create the box using the following dimensions.

Parameter	Box1(FuelTank)
Length	4
Width	3
Height	0.8
Length Segments	1
Width Segments	1
Height Segments	1

Move the box to the following location

	X	Y	Z
FuelTank	0.0	0.0	0.5

2. Chamfer and edge move

For the FuelTank we need to chamfer the outside upper edges and move the inner edge in towards the center . Convert the box to editable mesh and select the outer front edges and type 0.05 into the chamfer box. Select the newly created right inner edge and move it in towards the UnderbodySupport. Type in -0.5 into the "X" co-ordinates for the right side and 0.5 for the left side. Now we can create the radius edges on the underside. Select both outer lower edges and type 0.15 into the chamfer box. While the edges are still selected type 0.05 into the chamfer. If you want an extra smooth appearance, with the edges still selected type 0.022 into the chamfer box. Before continuing on we need to remove the polygons from the top. Select the "Polygon sub-object and select the top polygons and delete them.

Figure 1 Result after first chamfer and edge move

Figure 2 Result after second edge chamfer

3. Filler tube

To create a simple filler tube we need to create a cylinder and move/rotate it into location. Create a cylinder with the following dimensions.2.625

Parameter	Cylinder 1(FillerTube1)
Radius	0.05
Height	0.4
Height Segments	1
Cap Segments	1
Sides	6

Now rotate the tube to 110 degrees in the "Y" axis and move it to the following location

	X	Y	Z
FillerTube1	-1.5	1.8	1.3

Convert the tube to an editable mesh and delete the polygons on the end inside the tank. Open the "Material Editor" and add the Misc_01 texture to the FillerTube and add an "Unwrap UVW" modifier to the stack. Now we can mirror the FillerTube to the other three corners. Make sure the FillerTube1 is selected and select the mirror tool. Type -3.6 into the Offset box, change the "Mirror Axis" to "Y" and ensure the "Copy" checkbox is selected and click on "OK". Now select both the filler tubes and again click on the "Mirror" tool. This time change the distance to 2.625 and the "Offset Axis" to "X".

Figure 3 Result after mirror

Figure 4 First mirror settings

Figure 5 Second mirror settings

4. Creating the Air Tanks (Air Receivers)

The first item we need to create is an Oil Tank. Use the following specifications for the box.

Parameter	OilTank01(AirReceiver1)
Radius	0.1
Height	3.0
Cap Height	0.1
Blend	0.0
Sides	12
Height Segments	1

Now that we have an OilTank we can rotate and move it into location. Select the AirReceiver1 and the rotate tool and rotate the AirReceiver 90 degrees in the "X" axis. Once you have that done move the AirReceiver1 to the following location

	X	Y	Z
AirReceiver1	-1.3	1.5	1.35

This should place the AirReceiver1 approximately in the center of the FuelTank lengthwise and approximately central between the FuelTank and the MainBase

Figure 6 Extended Primitives

Figure 7 Oil tank object

Figure 8 AirReceiver in location

5. Texturing the FuelTank

Open up the "Material Editor" and drag the Main_01 texture onto the FuelTank1. Add an "Unwrap UVW" modifier to the stack of the FuelTank1 and use the "Select Face" sub-object to select the entire right side including the radius edge. Click on the "Planar Map" button and map the texture to the labeled section of the texture. Repeat the process for the other side and then continue with the rest of the FuelTank1. The texture mapping end result should be similar to figure 10

Figure 9 Fuel tank side selected ready for mapping

Figure 10 Finished mapping location

6. Texturing the Air Receiver

Open up the "Material Editor" and drag the Main_01 texture onto the AirReceiver1. Add an "Unwrap UVW" modifier to the stack of the AirReceiver1 and use the "Select Faces" sub-object to select the entire object. Click on the "Planar Map" button. Now that we have a flat shape in the "Edit UVW's window we need to rotate it 90 degrees using the "Rotate + 90" tool. Resize the map to fit the Air Receiver texture. Once you have done this deselect the "Select Faces" sub-object and you will notice that the lettering on the AirReceiver is reversed. To correct this we need to flip the texture in the horizontal plane. Go to the "Tools" menu in the "Edit UVW's" window and select "Flip Horizontal" from the menu and you will notice that the text is now reading correclty.2.6

Figure 11 Rotate tools

Figure 12 Texture mapping located correctly

Figure 13 Flip horizontal

After you have textured the AirReceiver1 we need to mirror it to the other side of the locomotive. Select the AirReceiver1 and then select the "Mirror Selected Objects" tool and type in 2.6 into the "Offset" distance and select the "X" axis. Also make sure the "Copy" checkbox is selected and click on "OK"

Sometimes it is usefully to have the air receivers mapped to separate textures however for this tutorial there is no real need.

The size of the fuel tank textures are kept large as this is a very visible part of the locomotive and the large portion of the texture allows for weathering effects.

Figure 14 Finished product

You have now successfully created and textured the Fuel Tank and the Air Receivers for a locomotive.

Chapter 9

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