We have had a few variations on altered photographs or press drawings in the CC What If series thus far. I have created a few 3D models of factory vehicles over the years so thought about taking What If into the third dimension. Follow along for a bit of fun as I use free/open source software Blender 3D to modify a few factory designs as well as create one of my own.
Building a 3D model can a little time consuming. All the geometry has to be built from scratch. Here is a Land Rover body shell in wire frame mode.
A set of blueprints can help get the proportions correct.
Here in solid mode we can see all the components fully built. They do not have any material on them yet which is the next step.
After the materials are added a final render is produced. The result is a reasonable representation of a short wheel base Series 2 Land Rover. Since I built the model I can now alter the it with an extra set of doors, give it a hardtop to get …
A long wheel base model.
Or a pickup truck variant.
A few tweaks and we can convert to Series 3 specification.
The whole point of What If is to imagine something the factory did not produce. So what about a low rider pickup truck? The name might have to change with the loss of off road pedigree. Maybe Low Rover?
Not wild enough? Cutting off the roof and a fitting a set of Seventies inspired “slot mag” wheels might spice things up.
Or a roll cage and a set of Minilite wheels borrowed from a Triumph Spitfire model I previously built. Race Rover?
The boxy styling means it could work rather well as a North American style three ton farm truck.
Perhaps that is enough Land Rover variants. This is a fairly standard early Jeep I built a while ago.
Now altered into a never factory produced pickup truck variation.
The rear box could likely use a few addition details but you get the idea.
Perhaps something a little more sporty? Morgan is well known for their trikes.
But what if they had just added that fourth wheel? While more conventional it is still rather unique looking with the exposed engine hanging off the front.
Jensen made the Interceptor with different body styles; hatchback, convertible or the rare coupe.
But they never did a four door … perhaps for good reason.
The beauty of 3D software is you do not have to limit yourself to variations on real production vehicles. I am a big fan of the Voisin automobiles. This two door convertible is inspired by their design language but nothing exactly like this was ever produced.
A What If in the third dimension obviously takes significantly longer to produce but the results can be worth it. Like any complex software Blender 3D takes practice and patience to learn. If you would like to check it out Blender can be downloaded for free at www.blender.org. There are plenty of tutorials available online as well.
You have great imagination. I really like the low rover with the slotted mags. Very rat rod looking.
+1 on the Low Rover and the stake bed variants. So cool with steelies!
The similarities in styling between the current Range Rover models (they all look the same, even the Evoque and new Discovery) would suggest they use a system similar to that outlined here when coming up with new models.
Heck, with all the FWD Fords looking so similar, they must use this program, too.
Nice work and some fun fantasies, but there’s one that actually existed in the real world back in the last century. A very small number of Morgan three wheelers were, in fact, converted to quadricycles.
Here’s a link to a page about one of the “better known” examples….
http://morgan3w.de/photos/album10.htm
Interesting to see those. Thanks for the link.
Cool. I wish I had the knack and time to play with something like this. I got Photoshop a few years back, but didn’t get very far.
+1.
The 4 door Jensen looks as awkward as the Porsche crossovers. I always thought Porsche has the name just build a damn crossover, a 4 door 911…doesn’t do it for me.
That reminds me of awkward-looking four-door Avanti produced in the tail end of 1980s. (Photo source: Wikipedia)
If you haven’t seen the second generation of Porsche Panamera (2016 onward) yet, Porsche got the design and proportion right.
Great skill shown there. Do these surfaces can be imported into CAD?
Yes – it is just polygon mesh so it could be exported to a CAD format.
Hmmm… some exports are more painful than others.
Would it export as a single part, or would you be able to separate the ‘assemblies’?
They are separate objects right now. Not an expert on the CAD import/export however.
Thanks for your replies. No need to be a CAD expert
As I had to build a CAD model of a car out of pictures, I am interested to learn from your techniques
As I said before, very good skill shown in there
Not by me but here is a basic how to for Blender – would be similar for other software.
https://cgi.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-a-low-poly-camaro-in-blender-part-1–cms-21730
Thanks for the link :). I followed a similar procedure… although not as detailed. AutoCAD makes things more ‘challenging’
Nice 3D modeling and graphics. Getting to the point where it’s hard to distinguish from the real thing.
What’s the next step? 3D printing of a scale model, then full-size replica?
I know aerospace is using 3D printing to build fuselage and wing components.
I wonder if we’ll see full-size 3D printing auto reproductions, if not already done?
I read the 1994 Dodge Ram truck was designed using CAD drafting, then went direct to pre-production prototype bypassing the usual clay model mockup.
The “what-if” 3D conceptions are interesting. Imagine taking the best or worst features of the wild chrome trims and fins era 1950s GM, Chrysler, Ford, etc. and putting them all together in one car.
Everywhere I go reminds me that I need to actually learn Blender, instead of spending 20 minutes to make a plastic cup – there’s no escape! Beautiful models, I hope I’m as good as you one day.
My kids have been playing around in it and coming up with some neat stuff. They have a bit more free time though.
Wonderful models! I really ought to master Blender one of these days, I’ve been thinking about redesigning the ’60 Valiant.