Okay, so, “dreaming of guns,” huh? Sounds a bit intense, but lemme break down what I was messing around with. Don’t get any weird ideas, it’s all about the look, not the actual… you know.
First off, the idea. I’d been scrolling through some concept art online, saw some badass weapon designs, and thought, “Hey, I wanna try and model something like that.” Not copy it exactly, but get that same kinda… feel.
Then, the software. I jumped into Blender. It’s my go-to for this sorta thing. Free, powerful, and I already know my way around it pretty well. Had to dust off the ol’ skills, been a while since I did anything hard surface.
The modeling started rough. Seriously, it was just blocking out shapes, getting the proportions right. Think like… rectangles and cylinders all mashed together. I spent a good few hours just staring at reference images, figuring out how the different parts would connect.
Details, details, details. Once I had the basic shape down, the real fun began. Adding the smaller bits, bevels, grooves, all that jazz. This is where you can really make it your own. Used a bunch of boolean modifiers, which, yeah, sometimes they can be a pain, but they’re great for adding complex shapes quickly.
- Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to mess up. I swear, half the time I was just undoing things and trying again. That’s how you learn.
- Another tip: Save often! Blender crashes are real. Lost a couple hours of work once because I got cocky. Never again.
Texturing time. This is where it really came to life. I went for a kinda worn, battle-scarred look. Lots of metal, some plastic, maybe a bit of wood. Used Substance Painter for this. It’s amazing for creating realistic textures. Played around with different materials, roughness, and metallic values until it looked just right.
Rendering it all out. I used Cycles in Blender. It takes a while to render, but the results are worth it. Played with the lighting, added some depth of field, and BAM! A pretty decent looking “gun.” At least, in a digital kinda way.
Learned a ton. This project was a good reminder that you gotta keep practicing. My hard surface skills were a bit rusty, but I’m feeling a lot more confident now. Plus, I got a cool “gun” to show off. Might try something even more complex next time.
So yeah, that’s the whole “dreaming of guns” thing. More like “dreaming of polygons and textures,” but you get the idea.
