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Please note that these webpages have not been updated since February 2011. See news page for more info.
| Project Title: |
Covered Steel Wagons |
| Status: |
First of three types released |
| Start Date: |
January 2006 |
| Completion: |
Autumn 2007? |
| Prototype: |
See profile on this site. |
| Models: |
Having built a PTA tippler many moons ago, I decided to modify this (as happened with the real thing) into a covered steel wagon. There were two variants of these JSA wagons, a blue one with angular hoods, and a green/silver one with round-topped hoods. Both were produced, and the hoods from the second were modified and added to my BBA wagon to make a BWA.
The hoods were static at first, but I was inspired by Bloodnok's VAA vans to make them animated, and include a visual representation of the coil loads within. The BWA was the first to undergo this treatment, but I then concentrated on the blue JSA. Improved bogies were produced (which then spawned the revised PTA project) and the interior detail added. However, there were major problems with the hoods in terms of their shadows and getting Chameleon to work with them. After several months break, I decided to release the blue JSAs as they were, creating a separate model for each of three liveries. Shortly afterwards I learned the procedure for making Chameleon work on sub-meshes so the second JSA and BWA will eventually benefit from this. |
| Releases - Main |
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| Item Name: |
BR JSA Steel Carrier British Steel |
| Base KUID: |
92263:16100 |
| Trainz Version: |
2.4 |
| Release Date: |
5th April 2007 |
| Links: |
DLS Prototype info Project info |
| Notes: |
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| Item Name: |
BR JSA Steel Carrier British Steel faded |
| Base KUID: |
92263:16101 |
| Trainz Version: |
2.4 |
| Release Date: |
5th April 2007 |
| Links: |
DLS Prototype info Project info |
| Notes: |
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| Item Name: |
BR JSA Steel Carrier VTG |
| Base KUID: |
92263:16102 |
| Trainz Version: |
2.4 |
| Release Date: |
5th April 2007 |
| Links: |
DLS Prototype info Project info |
| Notes: |
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| Item Name: |
BR BWA Steel Carrier EWS |
| Base KUID: |
92263:16090 |
| Trainz Version: |
2.2 |
| Release Date: |
17th December 2008 |
| Links: |
CDP DLS Prototype info Project info |
| Notes: |
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| Releases - Related and Dependencies |
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| Item Name: |
BSC axlemotion 102 black |
| Base KUID: |
92263:55010 |
| Trainz Version: |
2 |
| Release Date: |
31st July 2006 |
| Links: |
DLS |
| Notes: |
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| Item Name: |
BSC axlemotion 101 black H |
| Base KUID: |
92263:55011 |
| Trainz Version: |
2 |
| Release Date: |
31st July 2006 |
| Links: |
DLS |
| Notes: |
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| Item Name: |
BR FBT6 21A |
| Base KUID: |
92263:55120 |
| Trainz Version: |
2 |
| Release Date: |
31st January 2006 |
| Links: |
DLS |
| Notes: |
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| Item Name: |
TYind Steel Strip Coil 1m x 1.5m dia |
| Base KUID: |
92263:62001 |
| Trainz Version: |
2.4 |
| Release Date: |
8th August 2006 |
| Links: |
CDP DLS |
| Notes: |
Steel coil product for loading on wagons |
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| Updates
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16/01/2006
Covered Steel Wagons |
This early shot shows all three types in their original form (without loads or animation) and mounted on temporary bogies. |
15/06/2006
Covered Steel Wagons |
Once I had got to grips with loads and animations, I did a test modification to the BWA model so that the hood slid open for unloading. Presumably on the real wagons each end is loaded separately but this was ignored for the purposes of simplicity. The load seen here is Perchpole's steel coils which, although nice models, proved to be unsuitable as they included the wooden cradles. |
18/06/2006
Covered Steel Wagons |
The blue JSA is the most advanced model so far, with the hood fully remodelled with animation, and coil cradles and interior textures added. The white locking latches at the end have also been animated. This view was taken just after the original bogies had been replaced with photo-textured ones. An abiding problem with all three types is that the shadow of the hood cannot be animated. Therefore, when the hood is open, from certain angles the shadow mesh is apparent, as seen here. |
05/01/2007
Covered Steel Wagons |
This project had been put aside due to problems with the unmovable shadows, and also difficulties getting the Chameleon textures to work on the sliding hood. Minor work was still done between other projects. This view shows how the shadows do not show up against ground that is part of an object.
It was eventually decided to release the initial models without Chameleon, as they were complete in other respects. This took place in April. |
10/11/2008
Covered Steel Wagons |
The BWA has been brought back into the workshops to have the hoods set up for animation (the originals did not include inside faces). It seems I have learned something about 3D modelling over the past few years as I found many other parts that could be improved, either for appearance or to reduce the poly count. |
11/11/2008
Covered Steel Wagons |
I had my first ever problems with Gmax today (which must be some kind of record!). I had used a boolean to cut out recesses for the door locking latches at each end, then carefully rebuilt all the faces that got screwed up. Everything looked alright through several saves, but when I came back to them today, each of the files looked like this, with a collection of new and wacky faces created. Ho hum. |
16/11/2008
Covered Steel Wagons |
I redid the booleans using the same method, and luckily they held. The coil attachment points were added together with cradles, and the covers and locking latch were animated. The next step was to create a new texture and map all the parts, then test in Trainz as seen here. Apart from LOD, shadows and Chameleon, the snagging list runs to 11 items at this stage. |
18/11/2008
Covered Steel Wagons |
The BWA was completed today, along with three weathered skin variations. |
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| Key |
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| Features: |
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Industry compatible |
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Level of Detail reduction meshes |
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Chameleon (or equivalent) texture switching |
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Couplestar (or equivalent) working couplings |
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Animated parts (other than wheels and loads) |
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| Star ratings: |
These are my own personal appraisals of each model, based on the quality of the mesh and texture, the features, and the realism/accuracy of the complete model. |
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1 star. Poor. Inaccurate mesh and/or texture |
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4 stars. Almost perfect |
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2 stars. Adequate |
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5 stars. Unimprovable! |
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3 stars. Good |
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Not rated. Applies to my own models! |
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| Trainz versions: |
These indicate the lowest version of Trainz that an item will work with. For example, an item with version number 2.0 will work in any version of Trainz from 2004 onwards. Note that the version numbers are taken from the config file of the main item. The version numbers for dependencies may be different, resulting in the item having a higher requirement. |
| 0.9 | Beta |
1.4 | CE+language |
2.3 | TRS2004+SP3 |
2.8 | TC3 |
| 1.0 | Community Edition |
1.5 | Ultimate Trainz Collection |
2.4 | TRS2004+SP4 |
2.9 | 2009WBE |
| 1.1 | CE+SP1 |
2.0 | TRS2004 |
2.5 | TRS2006 |
3.0 | 2009WBE+SP1 |
| 1.2 | CE+SP2 |
2.1 | TRS2004+SP1 |
2.6 | TRS2006+SP1 |
3.1 | 2009WBE+SP2 |
| 1.3 | CE+SP3 |
2.2 | TRS2004+SP2 |
2.7 | TC1/TC2 |
3.2 | 2010EE |
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