I know I have been spamming these over the interwebs for a while now, but I'd like some feedback for the pros about what I've been up to. So here it goes, the complete deLuxe set of carriages up to this point. I'm mainly looking for critiques on the way they look, full blueprinting still has to be done.
A bit of history: all of these carriages were built for the dutch State Railways (SS). Despite the name this was a fully private company, the lines they operated on however, were built on state initiative. The full name would be something along the lines of 'Society for the Explotation of State Railways'. Starting in 1921 the major companies in the Netherlands started to operate under a single name, 'Nederlandsche Spoorwegen' (which, incidentally, is plural). The constituent companies were formally merged in 1937. NS liveries haven't been done (yet) as they are rather boring.
SS DIII No. 218 - 351, 360 - 370
This is what in UK parlance you'd call a guards' van I guess. It's got a cozy compartment for him to sit and watch the locomotive (up to the 1930's passenger carriages were not allowed directly behind the engine) and do guardy things. Luggage could also be taken aboard. Picture of the real thing, prior the installation of Pintsch lighting.
SS LIII No. 20 - 64
L for Lettres, because french is fancy and all that. I've come across the nickname Tea Cosy for these carriages. I've actually managed to track down an interior picture of these in a book somewhere, so I feel pretty confident the interior makes sense. Can't say that for the other carriages. Heralds still have to be added next to the door. These carriages have been built in several batches from 1891 to 1905.
SS A4c No. A101 - A128
First class carriages built in 1900 - 1903. Built based on rather poor line drawings, however, I managed to track down a couple of detailed pictures of the B6c below which is basically it's second class twin. Every compartment has got its own toilet in these things. The interior is complete guesswork.
SS B6c No. B201 - B241
Second class carriages, built to accompany the A4c series in 1900 - 1903. This is a slightly earlier version compared to the A4c, as the inset panelling was removed around 1910.
SS C7 No. C400 - C497
I accidentally made a sauna. Where teak often denotes a certain luxury, this isn't remotely that. The SS ordered these in 1891/1892, for express trains. Wooden benches, no toilets, and no practically no windows. A set-up the SS would be maintaining until 1901 with the introduction of the C8c (I believe some the earliest IIIrd class carriages had windows as well). In 1915 these carriages were rebuilt to include the luxury of windows.
SS C8c No. C651 - C760
Built in two batches, in 1901 and 1910, these were third class carriages featuring the luxury of wooden benches, windows to look out from, and for the first time a toilet (retirade). Again a teak panelled sauna. I need to do some cleanup on the textures of this one. SS C723 has been preserved, quite a rarity for rolling stock this age.
Technical bits
Right, so I'd like to give some info on the 3D aspects of these carriages. The top LOD has around 20 000 to 25 000 polys (double that for tri counts). The lowest LOD has around 1000 tris. I've made use of common components for the underframes, using:
- Diffuse 2048 x 2048
- Specular 2048 x 2048
- Normals 2048 x 2048
Each carriage has three large materials of it's own. One 2048 x 2048 for the sides and some details I'd like to give environmental reflections, one 1024 x 2048 for the roof and other details, and a 1024 x 1024 for the interior. All external textures have spec and normals applied. The interior is just a tex. Apart from these there are a few smaller textures for decals, windows, and numbering. How's this for texture usage nowadays?
Critiques are welcomed.
Cheers,
-deLuxe.