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Hey guys,
Im kind of new to modelling, I have done tids and tads here and there, but nothing that has ever been finished.
Recently, I have done a Masada Magpul, and I am really pleased with it.
I intended to get it into FPSC, but UV mapping it is going to be an absolute nightmare. It has all been done with boxes, and polygon extrusions in 3d Studio Max. Its somewhere between 1.5 and 2k pollies. It is actually a massive, massive improvement for me. Trust me, I am a messy modeller. And when I say messy... I mean really messy. But this on the other hand would be my best work yet. Still a few things here and there that shouldnt be there, or can get tweaked a little, but, this is still a work in progress, and I am very much still a learner at this.



So, if you guys have any crits, or advice, or just some friendly words to share, I really would appreciate it.
As you probably all would know, starting modelling, without any prior (proper) learning isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Also, if anyone can give me advice on UV mapping the darn thing, that would help, ALOT. more than you would know

I am also currently working on a few small items for a pack myself and a friend have going (for FPSC again) and the other odd weapon or entity I need. One of these being a luger. But that will come later.

Again, I really would appreciate support and crits, it helps a lot.

TiTaniUm

EDIT:
If anyone wants to give any tips on working out the UV map, i've attached it to this post so you can look in awe of how hard this is going to be

nice model!
*looks at the UV*
WHAT HAS YOU DONE?! NO! NO! BAD DOG! DO NOT! NO! NOO! U HAS RUINED IT!

I shall not give tips though because quite frankly, iam crappy at uvmapping and iam not good at explaining stuff...
BUT I KNOW THATS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT xD

I can take a look at It when I get home, I might have a idea.

edit: i may need the model... as that uv map is well... i would not use it honestly.

Try seperating the gun into chunks to UV Map

I thought I would bump this thread up a little bit with a picture of the first gun I made.
Wayyyy to many pollies on this one. and its a shocking looking mesh. It was made out of just regular shapes and rotations/scales of verticies/polygons.
The above gun was made entirely from a box extrusion method. It works a charm.

One area that causes concern, are those 3 little cylinders behind the clip. It looks to me like those are like 24 sided, with detail inside, and 3 of them... For detail that you probably won't see, I think that's overkill - I'd try and reduce the amount of polygons you've afforded that area. Does the model even need it - in a FPS view it'll be mostly hidden anyway. Just seems to me like a waste of polygons that could be better utilised elsewhere - in fact you could probably get rid and add a scope for the same number of polygons.

UV mapping guns is very challenging and takes a lot of practice. Try and use 1 big diffuse texture, and try and get a uniform scale. I think it's easier to use a checkerboard texture while UV mapping, so you can ensure that the scale on the polygons is uniform. I would tend to UV map, concentrate on scale, then draw the gun texture after that using the UV lines as a guide.

For actually drawing textures, well I found that Deep Exploration is a vital tool - you can use it to preview your work, as you work - save your image and it will update Deep Exploration as well. Deep Exp is a model viewer and converter - but even just the free version is useful for previewing your texturing. I tend to draw a solid colour guide - so the little rivets and recesses get drawn, then that acts as a guide for the texture, normal map etc. Texturing guns is actually pretty good fun, just take your time and don't get fed up and rush it - I would suggest working on whole areas when texturing. Like start with a base metal, draw a guide for the details and get that exactly how you want it before doing anything else. After that you have lots of shading and detail work. I wouldn't get a base texture in place, then start shading right after - because I'd get sick of working on it and rush half the shading. The best weapon modellers tend to be completely crazy about the details, an eye for detail is pretty vital - it's how models go from good to awesome.