This post has content warnings for: passing of a family pet(but mostly not).
So I'm not sure what the state of specifically Derail Valley modding is going to look like in the aftermath of the Simulator update (whether loading in custom locos/skins/whatever will work at all, whether things like the Coupling Mod or Track Gauge mods will transfer, etc etc etc), so tentatively this is just for my own sake if all else fails(though it may end up in another trainsim or something. We'll see what the future holds) ... but I'm back modelling train stuff.
Obviously it's still in progress, and it's barely more than the bones, but I'm at the point where the general shape and vibe can be seen.
What we've got here is a WAGR/Westrail C Class - a Co-Co diesel-electric mainline diesel built by English-Electric, Rocklea (the Australian subsidiary). Three of the class were built in 1962, some of the first of what as a comparatively flourishing relationship with the Eastern-states manufacturer.
While their originally foreseen use was to haul the long-distance freight and passenger services to Kalgoorlie, the crews preferred the EMD-built A-classes on the route, so soon found themselves on other services. They held long service lives - outliving even some classes built to replace them. They were regulars on Albany and Geraldton express passenger services up through the 80s, suburban loco-hauled passenger diagrams until their end, and a variety of freight services anywhere on the narrow-gauge side of the network.
They were solid all-rounders, highly capable of most tasks thrown at them, though their one achilles heel- their compatibility and performance in MU hookups, became the prime factor for their ultimate retirement from service. On withdrawal in the 90s, all 3 were sold into private ownership and ended up in operations with Hotham Valley Tourist Railway.
C1703 saw an enduring post-retirement life, of the 3 it being the one that maintained a Mainline service operations ticket, so was seen on loan to private rail companies like Qube and Southern Short-haul for MOW/Infrastructure trains.
Anyway, yeah I'm modelling them. Been trying to keep in mind some sense that these might need to be modular, because of specific detail variances between the 3 of the engines, things like handrails, MU Pipes, Headboard and Lamp Irons all changed over their lifetimes (and one of them has Ditch Lights now). As a contingency for modding and such, I'm also planning to make Standard gauge bogies as an option for them, despite the ahistoricity of that.
Watch this space, I guess.
To heck with it, I'm pulling the sheet off. For the past few months I've been working on a VRChat avatar and while she's probably about as complete as below - meaning, there's still some tuning to do and a couple of bits of extra clothing to actually finish, all the mechanical bits are all now together and in a state where she's good enough to start using.
Ta-dah~!
I am really quite pleased with this, honestly. It's been an time learning to both do character modelling in Blender, learning character rigging in Blender, AND learning both Unity and the specifics of VR development in all one go, but sometimes you're given a mountain and your choices are to scale it and achieve what you want, or you don't.
So this has been my primary occupation in my off time for that entire, putting basically every other project aside to get done. I wanted to get it done as far as I could go while I had some fire to finish- motivation being a notoriously fickle thing. Humorously, this is in contrast to my last attempt at an avatar, which was last year, which I ultimately got frustrated at and left languishing over months- binned and started anew with this one. I may finish it as a gift at some point, but I'm basically uninterested in finishing it for myself anymore.
Things still not 100% complete on the Avatar as-standing -
- Texture work (clothes, hair, glasses - all just basic colour thrown down to get the point across)
- Some clipping occurs on the shoulder when it bends certain ways.
- I think I need to hone the look of shaders a little, the effects are a little coarse.
- probably needs some more emotes and I would LIKE to get some emotions-based ear movements in.
- Technical issues with regards to outfit toggles and a couple of expressions
- There is an entire set of clothes I've yet to complete that I'm extremely excited for - the train-themed overalls with the trains 'n' trans pins
Anyway, I just wanted to share. I'll probably do an update when I have the overalls with the pins done, because it's a special treat, but.. yah, this is a thing I have been doing.
So, as a little bit of an experiment, because I'm still out of the game on my cardcraft projects (need some printer stuff to resume), I decided to take a stab at making a "toast-rack" carriage to go with the engines I'm making - "Toast-racks" being open-sided passenger vehicles with basic bench seats. Dilemma- there aren't actually that many 2-axle toast racks, and I wanted a 2-axle deal. My solution: Pinch from another side project.
First image is a roughed-out FD Louvre van I'm working on for the game Rolling Line. Build for the 3' 6" WAGR on a standardised 18-foot Steel bar frame, they're kind of a standardised shape that in the days of yore basically what toast-racks were made from - box van minus some walls.
Second image is the first step in rack-ification: cut down the tops of all the walls, add benches. Keeps the van frame, roof, etc. Looking good so far, uses mostly standard lumber dimensions in the construction where possible (1x2s, 2x4s, etc). So now we hit the next issue - the loading gauge (maximal dimensions) of the 3' 6" van are not anywhere near where the much lighter and smaller 2' gauge stuff I'm crafting is- it's got to be narrower and much shorter. So, the twinkification of the rack begins. Wheels resized from just-over 3/4 Metre to just-under 2-foot, and re-gauged. Frame is checked against existing vehicles and made narrower. Body, benches follow suit. Frame height set so coupler ride height is in-line. Roof pitch Re-profiled (but max-height retained). Vacuum braking gear removed.
Result: picture 3. Fun little afternoon project. Now to figure out how to make this into card templates...