mer photos Options

[lyford]

wonderful work!

[jamescanvin]

Great work, as usual.

I'm sure you know this and it's on your long 'to do' list, but note that the forward hinges connecting the central triangle to the wings are missing.

James


PS - I see it's Spirit your modeling

[scooterlord]

yup, i know the front connectors are missing, they are my primary modeling target for today thanks for pointing it out though

[scooterlord]

hello again!

this might not seem like a big update compared to the previous render I posted, but trust me.. IT IS. most connections were remodeled, found more differences, surfaces needed optimizing for fillets to work. low gain antenna mostly modeled, a couple more object were modeled (ones that keep the pma connected to the mer's surface), front part also modeled. 'installed' and placed correct dimensions on the hga, that's my main goal to complete in the following days, it has a couple of parts missing and problem is I don't have all that good of reference photos, so don't expect a BIG update any time soon.



then I am off to model the pma's base, I need a clear photo of it's base, anyone has one PLEASE point me to it. I need CLEAR reference of the following thing there. there seems to be some kind of mechanism, all I can make out is 3 bolts, that's it. I need reference.



..and finally as a reminder, i need reference of the hga's part that holds the film that is connected to the mer, the rear part of the body of the mer without the cables and last but not least, the idd's holding base. i am getting really close to finishing (ahem, a few more months that is) so I need all the help I can get from you guys.

comments expected as always!

[scooterlord]

hey there.. it's me again I am almost done with modeling most stuff of the mer, reached the tough parts and that's why it's taking me so long to post. anyway, here I am with the most difficult update so far. It's been many days (even months) trying to model this thing and actually come out right. most dimensions and stuff seem to come out nicely so I assume it's quite accurate. This was a quick render though, a few stuff might be mirrored (like the base of the idd) so don't take serious notice of them. Of course little details are missing, but that's the easy part and will be added last. anyway, enjoy, comments are always welcome!



the few things that are left to model: finish the idd base, a few details at the top and the bottom of the pancam mast, bottom sides of the 'wings', and a few other minor details (like bolts, nuts, etc) and finally... the cables... :/ not in a very good mood to model lately anyway, outta job this period, fights with gf, difficult parts to model -take all my good mood of modeling away...

..Anyway I will render this in a new renderer (maxwell) that I just started using, I have been using brazil r/s so far, so it will take me some time until I learn how to texture with it!

[john_s]

Fantastic work as usual! Your patience is amazing...

John.

[dilo]

Nick, each time I see your fantastic progresses I experience enthusiasm and frustration, because I think to final, assembled version and cannot see it, for the moment! Happy to hear ymodeling is almost complete, less happy to know you have some troubles and not much time to finish...
I would like to help but I'm not able and, at the end, this is your work for your amusement. So, I said to myself, enjoy these progressive, great releases and don't stress this guy!
Thanks again.

PS: I do not see any mention of this MER project on your linked page.

[scooterlord]

thanks for the support already guys people interested in this project will have to be patient in order to see it finished. it will take some time and maybe some effort from you guys in order to help me find some reference. hopefully a few people from NASA were kind enough to help me with reference not found on the internet (one of them sent me reference for the idd base. someone else also helped me, kind find his name atm in my emails).

anyway, good to know some people enjoy this, I am not enjoying this YET, I will get all the enjoyment I want when I am done; that's what I am working for anyway . When I am done I am seriously thinking of giving this away to the public - will see what will happen.

..and I know there's no mention of the MER project on my site. Probably I will make a new site just for the mer once I am done with it. people interested in my project can just google them.

[Ant103]

Incredible, just an incredible work .

[djellison]

I was just re-texturing my low-res MER for project I'm working on, trying to find MER references...and I ended up back here

Doug

[scooterlord]

happy new year everyone!

doug! LOL!

haven't at all abandoned the project, reaching tough parts now though, even more and more difficult to progress. not much time/mood to model these days anyway.

plus.. the model has become so big that I tried to do test renders to half of the model and my pc chokes! and that's without textures! :/

[scooterlord]

hello. well, I have a bit of bad news (not all that bad though) but thought I'd share. Although I started the optimizing process of the whole model and the model so far ended up using 2/3 of its original size I am having major trouble rendering it as it is. the file is way too big, consumes 1,2gb if ram just when I open it and I still haven't started small-detail-modeling cables, nor did I put any textures on yet. :/ looks like I am going to need an upgrade in order to have this done properly.

by using alpha channels, I will miss reflections/shadows so that's not an option :/

[dilo]

Well, it seems you need a sponsor to finish this great work...

[scooterlord]

hmm... looks like I won't have to. there seemed to be an error of some kind with a specific surface in the model. Let alone the memory run out errors, I managed to locate this surface that caused the program to just exit without an error message. anyway, it took some time even before it started rendering but results are quite promising. sorry, there's a thing that seems to float in front of the left rocker-bogie, it was supposed to be under the warm box. anyway...

moreover I came across useful reference that i've been looking for over a year! i found reference of the pancam mast base AND a little help for the hga cable mounting bracket. however, the only thing so far I am not happy with is the hga cable mounting bracket, so if anyone has any sort of reference, let me know.

enough said, here it is...


comments welcome as always..

[djellison]

THe sandwich material of the arrays is probably the only feature making it look odd at the moment ( i.e. there isn't one ) - that, and the tiny little covers for the Pancam lenses on the end of the stalks. It's a bit hard to see some of the details with the background being the same colour as the default rover material - but having done some radiosity rendering, I know that's basically what you start with.

Doug