# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > 3D modeling (map elements and height maps) >  WIP: HMS Bounty

## Katto

After working on it for quite some time now I decided to show you the progress I made so far. I chose the Bounty, because it was a small ship (originally I wanted to model the Victory) and I thought it could be done in a reasonable amount of time. This was a mistake, scanning the plans from the book ('Anatomy of the ship' series), scaling/rotating them, create a proper scale, many tries in modelling the ship hull etc. took much time, but I still love old sailing ships so I'm still on it. No matter how much time it will take I will finish it!

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## Katto

And some more screenies...

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## ravells

The meshes are really clean and beautiful and I can't believe the level of detail you are going into. Are you going to texture it too? 

I hope you're posting these WIPs on the silo forums too! It's so good to see it being used for hard modelling!

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## Steel General

Very impressive Katto, looking forward to watching it progress.

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## Katto

Thank you ravells and SG!
Of course will the final objects be textured! Otherwise it would be like a map without a compass or a scale  :Smile: 
Here is a test render I did some time ago.

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## ravells

That is just super stunning!!!

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## Katto

Progress is slow, because it's getting detailed now. Here is an update with the three masts added.
Starts to look like a ship now  :Wink:

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## tilt

damn that looks good - great work Katto  :Smile:

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## Katto

Thanks tilt, still a long way to go...

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## ravells

The detail is just mind blowing!!!

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## barsoomcore

Absolutely stunning. I love seeing the insides of these ships, trying to imagine life on board. These really bring the dimensions to life! Incredible work.

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## Katto

I know what you mean barsoomcore. The crew members/space ratio is amazing. Here in this case the Captain's quarters only served for exotic plants. 774 pots in this room!

I had time over the weekend, so I've done the yards. Now it's time to get back to the hull...

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## Katto

The stern is nearly finished. It just needs a few adjustments when I will finish the upper deck.

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## blackflamingo777

Absolutely amazing. That hull must have taken you forever. I've just started messing with SketchUp and round objects continue to taunt me with their _curvyness_. What kind of plan/blueprints are you using? I've been "commissioned" to make a map/image of an authentic pirate ship for a family member's novel-in-progress and have had a terrible time finding good layouts. You can find a few top-down of the upper deck and maybe side view, but never any really good looks at the masts, riggings, or lower decks.

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## Katto

Thanks blackflamingo!
The hull was indeed the most difficult thing so far. After 3 failed attempts I found a great tutorial here and gave it a try. The first results convinced me to carry on and now I am quite happy with it.

Finding free blueprints of historical ships on the internet is nearly impossible. There is a great book series called "Anatomy of the ship" with detailed blueprints for hobby miniature shipbuilders. You can find the books on Amazon or elsewhere if you search long enough.

There I am using Silo for modeling I can not help you with SketchUp.

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## torstan

That's amazing! Repped for sure to keep you going  :Smile:

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## Troedel

You are crazy, but keep going...  :Wink:

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## Katto

I hope to post a WIP next week, except the figurehead and rigging (the next challenges), putting all things together I have so far. It will be the first time I'll see it altogether. Can't wait to see it, but now it is time to optimize many things that won't be seen at the end...

Thanks a lot for the rep torstan and Troedel  :Smile:

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## Katto

Here are the promised pics. I've subdivided many objects to a medium level. The resulting file size is ~70MB. Silo is a bit slow but stable.

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## joão paulo

amazing work. Deserves some rep!

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## Katto

Progress is slow at the moment.
Optimized the meshes for a week and started with the standing rigging. I got bored at it and played with the UV mapping of the outer hull.
Here are the first rendered pics, I hope you like them.

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## Lukc

Impressive indeed! Like lego for 3d-ups!  :Smile:

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## Katto

Hi guys,
progress is VERY slow at the moment until I manage to create an appropriate wood texture in Genetica. It is a very cool program, but  think I have to read the manual first. I've spent a few days in searching for a realistic colour scheme of the ship, but it seems there is none. I've also watched "Mutinity on the Bounty" in FF but was also disappointed about the colours and the layout of the replica.
Some new renders are attached...

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## maxsdaddy

Wow impressive work so far. You know they do say that slow and steady wins the race, so there you go for your progress. :Wink:  She does really need a nice transparent salt sea layer to caress her hull though, she looks so lonely floating in her virtual dry dock. lol

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## Katto

Thanx maxdaddy, there a lots of things to do, but I am stuck atm without the wood texture. I've definitely thought about a weathered layer.

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## dmather

I am so new to this - building a wooden model - 3-d is so great. Sorry if this is presumptuous, any change of getting one copy of a 3d file for Photoshop for me to practice with?

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## Katto

3.....2.....1.....Restart (BOOOM)!

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## Katto

Those who make maps know a map is never finished. It can always be improved in some ways. The same is with 3D models. They can always be tweaked and optimized. The model was too complex for my skills and the program I've used and I was always unhappy when I looked at it from time to time.

So I've decided to start again from scratch: scanning the book, adjusting the pics and modeling the stuff (and in the future UV'ing and texturing the model). 
This is what I have so far. Next will be the stern...

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## J.Edward

That is really impressive Katto.  :Smile: 
From having done 3d modelling in the past, though not to that level, I can really appreciate what is being done here.
It looks like you had been using Silo and went to Modo...
How have you found MODO, to work with? I always wanted to try Modo but never had the money for it.
What lead to the change from Silo to Modo?

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## Katto

Hi J.Edward,

Silo was really cool for modelling, but lacked in many ways: advanced modelling features like arrays, symmetry,... yes everything you need for complex models.

I've tried almost every 3D program that is in reach for a hobbyist and chose modo (I hate the new MODO spelling), because it is like modelling in Silo but on steroids and the other features like rendering, UV'ing and rigging are good.

If you are really interested in that program, watch Peter Stammbach's Youtube tutorials to see its modelling power and start with modo indie. It's Steam summer sale at the moment and you will get it 40% off. Of course there are limitations, but for that price it is a steal. If you want the full version, wait for a sale that is normally 2 or 3 times a year.

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## ravells

Glad to see you're still working on this Katto. Wow, just wow.

Hey, I use silo and it has arrrays and mirroring (which is the same thing as symmetry.

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## Katto

Eeek, four months since the last update.

Ravi, you're right, the options are there, but not very convenient. Silo is an abandoned piece of software.

OK, here are some new pics.
I've merged the inner and outer hull, which was a lot of work, because I wanted one clean mesh. Next the framing for the decks was done (really stupid work, but it looks cool) and then I've created all structures for the upper deck. At last I've modeled the stove and put it in place. Adding things like this really gives an impression how crowded it was on ships these times.

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## johnvanvliet

> 've tried almost every 3D program that is in reach for a hobbyist and  chose modo (I hate the new MODO spelling), because it is like modelling  in Silo but on steroids and the other features like rendering, UV'ing  and rigging are good.


i have been a big fan of Blender for the last 10 years 
the current 2.76 is rather nice 

and it is FREE  and under the GPL license

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## Katto

I've tried to learn Blender for about 5 times, because it is free. I didn't manage it, so I gave up.

I've also UV'ed the hull (did I mention that 4 months is a long time?) and made a copper plate material, which I am very happy with. At the moment I work on a wood material for the hull. Texturing so far is painful, because the hull is much larger than the other pieces. To add a satisfying amount of details on the texture I had to work with 16k maps, which results in saving times of about 10 to 15 minutes.

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## Troedel

That comes along pretty well  :Wink:   3d work eats time like candy...

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## lonewriter

Nice job! What program are you using? I mainly use lightwave.

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## Katto

Time for the yearly update. Started with the standing rigging. You can see larger versions of the pics here and here.

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## Troedel

It´comming along  :Wink:    I´m looking foreward to see it finished one day in all it´s glory. 

@lonewriter ...Long time since your last post but -> modo

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## Katto

Thanks Trödel!
I stopped the rigging ATM, because I need more references.
Next I will model the tender ships and try to sculpt the figurehead.

Just a small test (right click, save as).

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## Katto

Hi all,

yes, another update this year! lol...
I thought that it is time to make a map from the 3D model I have so far. Since the last update I have added the additional boats. The figurehead is in progress, but not implemented yet. I rendered each deck with an outline stroke, but I am not shure which direction I should follow now:
Should I create a map that is similar to a technical drawing or should it be an old map with a lot of effects or something else?
Please give me your opinions and c&c about it.
Thanks in advance.

P.S.: There is no scale yet because the renders are from a perspective view. I haven't figured out how to render an orthogonal
view with the same scale.

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## Falconius

This is still so, so, awesome.

Though they'd probably obscure stuff I'd love to see the gun complement as well.

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## Katto

I almost forgot about the cannons, thanks Falconius!
Damn, I added or let me say I have tried to add the cannons and discovered an epic fail in the schematics.
OK, you can say the Bounty was just a trading ship, but I think the responsible people in this time were aware of it. I see what I can do.

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## BlindBlake

xD they shouldn't have worked with drunk engineer.

Fantastic work by the way, the amount of details is crazy. Can't wait to see the final piece

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## Falconius

I think I've seen elevations before with the gun ports between the shrouds (had to look that word up  :Smile:  ).  The shrouds were staggered though to leave space.  Perhaps they didn't bother with that here because it's main purpose was not war?

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## Katto

Thank you BlindBlake! The final model will take time. I am working in my spare time and of course, there are other projects in between.

Falconius: I am no expert in this, but those shrouds are part of the standing rigging and are imminent for the stability of the main mast, so I can't say if this is right or not. I moved the shrouds and everything that belongs to them to the left.

Here is a grungy version of the map:

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