Where it All Began

Everyone has a starting point. A place that sparked their interest.

For me it was editing cars in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Hot Pursuit 2 (NFS:HP and NFS:HP2 respectively).

It started simple enough. Just editing the textures of a car or two, but it quickly escalated into trying to create my own meshes and import cars from other games. Unfortunately I did not have the presence of mind to save screen grabs of my work in progress let alone the files I was working on, so my records are scarce.

Here was my first ever re-skin of a car:



A simple enough. I did make a version 2.0:



This was a small step in a big pond. All of my knowledge in this area was taken from searching the NFSCars.net forums for tutorials. Moding extra/ custom cars was a rather large thing back in the early 00's. There was information to be had, and I searched as much as our 56k modem would allow. The free tools of the trade at the time were two 3d editors known as Oedit and ZModeler.



My grandest achievement that I actually had working (mostly) was importing the car texture and mesh from EA's F1:2001 to NFS:HP2. It was a rather long process and I never did get it working 100% right, but I did get the mesh and the textures to load/ run in game. The wheels never spun correctly, but just porting the mesh over was a feat in itself.

Here was my first attempt:


As you can see, the mesh is there, but the textures were all wrong. Most were simply backwards, but some (as evidenced by the wheels) were simply out of place. What followed was a rigorous trial and error period of repainting the textures and moving the splines on the texture map to fit.

Version 2.0:


And there it is in all it's glory. I believe I even went on to further edit the textures but I am not able to find any screen grabs. If memory serves I instead was focused on improving my Photoshop skills (as the splotchyness of the above image attests).

So that's my beginnings. What sparked the journey to become a Graphic Designer.

I love It When A Plan Comes Together

It's been a long time since I made any headway on this project. I've been getting married, moving, all that. I had some time in the last week or so to actually get a large chunk done on this. The top is now 100% PEP'd (meaning made out of paper).


Also, the side plates are starting to take shape. It's just the back top potion, but coupled with the completed Chin Bar, and the MKVI is starting to take some shape.



I'm excited to get this pre-build out of the way. I have learned lots of things about how best to put this this together. Two of these things are: Always line up the edges, and put boxes in their holes.

Further Progress

I've made some headway on this project. Not much, but some. I've got the entire chin-bar completed and most of the top.


It's now painfully obvious that this model is to small to fit over my mule helmet. I'm still bummed that it's not the right size the first time. I'm worried now that the competed model won't fit over my own head... But we will just have to see.

So it Begins

I've decided to take on a summer project of sorts. I did have plans at one point to make a spare helmet into a Gundam helmet, which would still be cool, but then I discovered the 405th.com. There I found detailed plans for Halo Spartan helmets and armor made out of paper. They use the paper as a base and then resin/glass/make a mold from it to make a rigid/semi-rigid helmet. I am a decent paper crafter so I decided to jump in head first and try and form the most detailed helmet plans around one of my spare helmets.

The progress so far:



At this point I have the Top Left Brim done as well as the right cheek. At this point I can tell that the plans I have printed are to small for the application I intended them for. They said on the site that they are scaled to John117 proportions... but if that's the case 117 has a small head! So I'll have to figure out just hoe much bigger I'll need to make it in order to fit it over a full size moto helmet. I'll still finish this one out just for the practice so look for updates in the future.

Test Ride: Brammo Enertia

I heard through Hell for Leather (the online mag) that they were going on sale this weekend and that test rides were being offered. I decided to check it out. I've been interested in the electric bike movement, since I used to do electric R/C car racing and it's pretty much the same thing.

No deposit is required, just insurance, a valid moto license. They have some gear provided, but it's limited in size at this time. After about 10 min of minor paperwork the bike is all yours for 15 minutes.

I left the Jansen Beach Best Buy and promptly did some circles in the parking lot. It handled quite naturally, and though there was a bit of lag in the power from a standstill it comes on refreshingly consistent from there on to it's top speed. From there I headed south and hit the Delta Park / PIR exit to see how it handled corners at speed. It does. From that point on a smile never left my face. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

It did that clover no problem. It feels like a small Supermoto. Foot out is the way to go. I then headed north for some minor twisty testing. I took the 99th street exit and took that right there towards the Ross Complex. Holy Cow does it handle like a champ!

I did some more parking lot circles and headed back south. I took the 39th street clover exit to see how it handles with uphill corners... It passed. (I even scraped the peg :ninja:). I then promptly turned back south cuse my 15 minutes was almost up.

As I headed down the on ramp I was behind a particularly slow elderly couple. I was forced due to traffic to stay behind them until I was fully on the freeway. When I took my pass at them I closely followed the passing SUV and gunned the throttle. I saw the speedo tap the 70mph mark for an instant and then drop back down.

Before I left on the test ride I asked what the top speed was, they said 65. I was doubtful I would hit that since my 6'2" bulk was quite the airdam. They Brammo guy was elated when he heard I hit 70mph. Apparently I now hold the land speed record on that bike :mfclap: :nana

Needless to say I was thoroughly impressed. If I had the 12g's to get one I would. It's a freaking blast to ride and would work quite well as a commuter.

Did I mention that it will put a permanent smile on your face? :mrgreen:


Like a bonehead I forgot to get a picture of me on the test bike... I was so excited about the ride that I had a brain fart :tard: so the best I got was a seat on the one in the store:

Wasougal MX

Had a fun day out at the Washougal AMA MX race. Haven't ever seen one live. These guys (and gals) are skilled.

Gundam Astraea

I had some free time on my hands a few days ago. I settled upon drawing as a way to pass the time. I don't draw often enough, though I try to draw something every day. Today it was Gundam Astraea from the Graphic Novel series Gundam OOP (double O P). It's one of my favorites, and I had recently finished assembling the 1:100 model. It seemed as good of a thing as any.
After a few prelim drawings trying to get the perspective/ scale right; this came out:

I kinda liked how it came out. Not 100% accurate, but good enough. I then decided to try out an old technique for coloring/shading. I placed a clear plastic sheet over it and began tracing with a fine Sharpie pen.



So not quite as good as I would have hoped. It was my first attempt, and admittedly rushed. You can kinda tell where I started and where I ended in the drawing as it goes from bad to good. I plan on drawing more to re-hone my skills. It's always good to keep your tools sharp.