Harey's Blog

Do The Right Thing!

2011-11-17T21:32:00.007-05:00

Recently it has come to my attention that the US Government is trying to pass a censorship bill for the Internet. Not only will this allow for the Government to remove things due to copyright, but give you 5 years in jail because of it. And this bill will also allow companies to SUE the offending people, for posting something as little as, a kid singing a song they heard on the radio. What they will do is also make the internet less stable, and less secure. So do the right thing contact your Congressman/woman.

This bill could directly effect the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, I think. I am of course speaking of, the Freedom of Speech.

http://americancensorship.org

Time disappears quickly it seems...

2011-11-01T17:51:00.002-04:00

Life catches me busy again, and again, and again. This isn't much of a surprise though, is it? Between work, and going back to school, and my personal life, do you really think I have much real free time? Nope.

Still on my job of driving, its been good, I heard something from a person the other day that just rang so true to me. The people can sometimes make or break a job, and for me it makes the job, it can be plenty of fun for me. But now I am going back to school now, for Computer Information Systems I figured since I'm on a computer 9/10ths of the day (minus when I'm working, naturally), that I should probably go into the computer field. Of course I had to take a math class, I figured take it first, and get it out of the way, most of what has been taught, has clicked for me, somethings I have had to ask for help from my math major sister for. I also took an Intro to Info tech class, more so to catch me up to all Office 2010, not that I haven't learned other things.

Of course this lack of free time, means I haven't really touched my models much. Last I did I was touching up my Omni's rear end. so now it has a window gasket around the rear glass, which makes it seem a little better. I did some other little tweaks, that just help it that little bit more as well.

Even my PT recieved some work in this busy time, somehow. Helps that my dad did buy a 00 Mustang not too long, with 22k miles on the clock, not bad. But that meant there was a spare car around. My PT got new sway bar bushings, new sway bar end links, and new lower control arm bushings as well. Now as it gets colder I'm noticing a slight buzz from around the passenger's front door. and the p/s is back to its usual random whining. She's only 10 years old, and 108k miles. But alas I have been busy enough that its now November, and I have yet to put the winter wheels on (I'm hoping i can do that later today, errr night).

Now a small rant, slow people, they are everywhere, but they are most annoying when they sit in the middle lane, not going the speed limit, and yet there's a slow person in the right lane as well, that is going about the same speed. Its really annoying when they are in the left lane doing this, now I'm going to clarify my definition of a slow person, one who is going under the posted speed limit on a nice day, on a terrible day out I can understand. (Like I can remember a day driving a Fiesta, we couldn't go the speed limit because of the weather, and later had to ford the lakes of Southfield, due to all the rain fall.

Its the whole Blogosphere!

2011-06-29T21:46:00.002-04:00

After a rather long Hiatus, I'm posting again, planning on ranting? nope, going to say something about 3d modeling? possibly. going to talk about something wildly off topic? most likely. going to keep on asking pointless questions in my own blog? does appear that way, doesn't it.

Anywho... Life has caught me being busy again, working, helping work on my sisters house, trying a new job to find out, its not even you, despite going to school for 13 months for that, and now looking into going back to school for something better, and my parents are pushing me to start this fall when I'm not sure exactly what I want, just something in computers I feel like would be better for me.

Of course I am back to my job of driving, and its been fun, I guess sometimes you don't realize what fun it is, until you take it away for a bit. Just thought i would say something quick, was stopped at a rest area for a, admittedly longer break, as we didn't want to get back early. but we had stopped at a rest area, were standing around talking, car goes by and goes all the way to the end then takes the parking spot, no one gets out, can't really see anyone in the car, and a little while later, they take off... going in the opposite direction, then not long after they go back again, going the right way lol. Nothing is funnier then watching someone go down the wrong way, to me at least.

3d models? yep there's those as well, been working a bit on the Iota-R for a new concept car competition. and to those waiting for this car, well, its a surprise. Omni and Mini? the Omni I've been on and off kind of working on every so often, the Mini, yeah nothing yet, because its the interior I really need to do, and well I haven't done it yet lol.

Also found an old chrysler radio (like out of the late 80s earlies 90s). the exact model you'd find in an Omni even (though I have a sneaking suspicion this one came out of an 86 Ram Van). Anyways, wired up some power for it, and it appears to be working, all lights on the radio appear to work, and the brief time I had enough charge in the battery to goto the radio I could see it could goto stations but some of the buttons you had to press pretty hard, or I think 1 or 2 of them just didn't work. But the clock itself, works perfectly. Now i just need to find a way to power it from the outlet. I tried the battery charger from the batteries I was using but it wasn't quite powerful enough for the radio to go on, got a power source from a slot car track, going to eventually see if thats enough power for it.

Anyways post again soon, hopefully...

Ranty McRanterson

2010-08-27T00:44:00.002-04:00

Amazing really how much I can rant about the people that drive on the roads today. looking back at old blog posts, I've basically ranted about everyone that drives on the road today.

But does it stop there? Not at all. Monday night, or was it Sunday night can't remember. Anyways, I was the tail driver in a group, with two fairly new hires, and obviously a lead in front of me. Now the lead i know well, hits 70 on the freeway, then turns on the cruise. well my cruise never was on the entire night. and I'm not sure which speed I was doing more, 65 or 75. Already not sounding good right? well. were also supposed to keep a 4 second gap, which isn't exactly small, but the 2nd driver let a semi in because of the gap they had. the person would NOT go 70. would not speed up to go on a freeway (like at one point we were on an on ramp doing about 45, at the same point normally I'd be doing at least 60). Now when that 2nd driver wasn't doing so bad, the 3rd driver, well was. annoyingly enough. By the end of that night I wanted to shoot myself, and at one point even though about going from tail to the 2nd driver. (yeah as in I pass both of them). Now what really kills me about that 2nd driver is my lead that day told them that they were on cruise at 70. the 2nd driver had said that they didn't set it up before they left...

...I'm trying to not blow up here, but seriously? last I checked to make cruise control work. you pressed the on button then press the set button. is that really that hard?

Now another rant I have is bikers. today was a fairly nice day out, got a little cold at night but nothing bad. At one point I had my window open, and two bikes went past me on a 4 lane road going the other way. I'm amazed my ears weren't bleeding after they passed me. (and for those that think, oh its not that bad, it was like a Harley, in a tunnel... but louder). Then later I had a bike BLOW by me (it was a crotch rocket) no idea how fast he was going, but I was doing 55. he must of been at least going 80. I should note that there was a car in that lane when he blew by us, but the car was far enough up he basically cut my lead off and kept on blasting ahead. I do wonder if a cop got him because he wasn't just cooking, he was burning. But I have noticed that a lot of bikers seem to go faster then cars. now being a little louder I can understand, but they have to obey the same speed limits cars have to obey so I don't see why they are going faster. or is there something here I'm completely missing.

Also I went to the Woodward Dream Cruise this past weekend. it was pretty good, didn't seem quite as packed as previous years. (but now they are spreading it out over like two or 3 days I think as well).

Long Time... No Post

2010-08-10T02:28:00.002-04:00

Was it laziness or was it forgetfulness.... I forget now. Life has been busy lately for me. My oldest sister got her first house, and I've been helping on cleaning the place up getting it ready for her and her husband and daughter into very soon. Work has also been keeping me busy, between to two really I feel like I've had very little personal time.

and first of all I got to get some ranting off, to blow out the steam thats been building inside of me. STUPID F#@%!#@ PEOPLE ON THE ROAD. Just today nearly had an accident because a guy just started moving over. blinker? nope. did he look? didn't seem him move his head until I honked at him. Should I have slammed on my brakes for him? No i should of let him hit me, he had a pos Ranger I was in something that was worth about 10x what he was driving. He wouldn't of been able to pin it on me because he never signaled. On top of that I later had to deal with RUSH HOUR traffic. no longer do I think the I-275 and I-96 merge is bad. now I know whats worse. Haggerty Rd up by Pontiac Trail (believe its in Commerce). They are freakin crazy up there, if only I had a nickel for every car I just saw pull out of a dam driveway. I looked at the front of my vehicle and there thankfully wasn't a hit me sign on it. Thought it felt like there was.

Last Night (as in Sunday night, I forget I'm posting this on what is technically Tuesday morning). We got stuck behind a Sprinter van not going the speed limit (at some other location) and then this minivan with the flashers on passes us. so we go to pass the van, and they slow down, ends up being a blazer (or something like that) that was slowing the minivan down. I get about halfway to passing him, and he takes off like a bat out of h#!!. Then the minivan passes us again. -_- k seriously?

Oh I'm not even done yet. probably a month ago. I had a guy cut in front of me. and i might of had a car length between me and the car in front of me (I did it on purpose as to not allow that person to get in front of me). guy still cuts right IN THERE. I should of blared my horn at him for being not just a complete moron, but also a complete and uder a$$#@!#.

(Rip from the Budweiser radio ads) (Chorus sarcastically "Real Men of Genius.") Here's to you Mr. attempted multitasking driver. You so gracefully float between lanes nearly causes accidents, with full horns blaring behind you.(Chorus "Mr. attempted multitasking driver") While talking on the phone... and texting.... and shaving... and eating breakfast. (Chorus again "Oh your car is going to be wrecked")

In other news. Progress on all my 3d models has been minimal at best. I did pull out my parents old lawnmower and got it running, not well but its running. and it took me about 4 hours (this is including rather frequent breaks) which is probably about 3 hours longer then it took to do the same backyard with the good mower. The problem is, it hits any amount of grass and it bogs down so my thought is tighten up the governer spring. (could the problem really be that easy though?). the carb could probably be rebuilt again. as the mixture screw has as far as i can tell no jurisdiction on how much fuel that engine gets. Only thing that seems better about that mower then i recall is, its starting in 1 pull just about everytime, not too shabby for a 1983 Briggs and Straton that mowed a lot and half for probably about 10 years. and mowed a much smaller lawn for another 10 years until being rebuilt and put away. I do seem to remember running it before i put it away and I seem to remember it chugging black smoke when it hit just a little grass. never did that now though... there were a couple times where it started chugging out blue smoke so I shut it down and let it cool off. (and proceeded to say "UGH").

I can also tell the engine has no power because its barely chucking grass into the bag, and when it does it doesn't chuck too much into it before it overloads the mower (and the bag won't be very full).

Anyways I need to sleep now.

Who's good... errr not me I guess...

2010-07-02T13:20:00.003-04:00

Finally, finally. some free time from work, and a nice day out to boot, need to wash my car now lol.

Obviously I haven't been regularly posting around here as I have been working. Oh its been a long hard night and I've been working like a dog... whoops sorry lol, might hit a copyright infringement if I go any further there lol.

in terms of 3d models, well my Iota-B didn't get an interior, but it was released.

and then theres this thing...

Yeah, its a Ford Ranger, XLT. its i n testing right now, so its also equipped with a 2.3l 4 cylinder engine and a 5 speed manual transmission right now.

Anyways I think thats it for now maybe more later, if I don't forget again of course.

Congratulations its a.... Errm....

2010-04-29T19:48:00.002-04:00

If you couldn't already tell, I have been somewhat busy lately, my grandpa passed away earlier this month. my oldest sister has been dealing with depression (and a baby of course). and I've been working 4-5 days a week (yes some of those days were my weekends). But as I calmly sit here waiting to watch Live Time With Jon & Jory. I realized I hadn't posted a thing here in a long time. So other than personal matters in my life, and ranting to myself about the bad drivers on the roads. Seems I've been driving 5 speeds at work a little more often, my favorite so far was a base model 5 speed Ranger.

But my 3d models, oddly enough a acquired and have been somewhat working on converting a Ford Ranger (looks like a Sport model one) to Racer. and also working on my Rauss Iota. Firstly I'll show off the wheels for the Iota.

This first one is a 5 spoke more open design, and the center is more inset to create more of a dish shape with the wheels.

This 2nd one (obviously not quite finished) is a 5 spoke, hubcap (still have some detail work to finish on it to make it look more hubcap-ish). the design is based off an old Dodge Superbee hubcap design, but obviously altered.

The body, has only had a little progress on it the rear quarter glass and front window frame, and some lights.

bad driver redux.... (and more!)

2010-03-29T02:33:00.002-04:00

Well thats right, another rant about more bad drivers, and even stupid drivers.

First up today, oh boy, the best of the breed. let me paint the picture for you, your going along you see a sign "Road Work Ahead" and you think "ok" (remember this is on a tri lane freeway) then another sign fast approaching reads "Left Two Lanes Closed Ahead" so you do the smart thing and move into the right lane, as you get closer to where this construction is, it starts to heavily back up. As your waiting 50 cars blow by you on the left, and as your sitting there you notice people behind you going into the left lane, and you remember the sign "left two lanes closed ahead" and are thinking to yourself "wtf?". these people that go into the lanes closed off for construction (before the barrels are set up), then cutting in very rudely up front (by ways of a blinker and just moving over), are the exact people that I don't just dislike them, I hate them, they are the stupidest people in the world. how big do we need to make the sign that says those two lanes are closed ahead so they can READ THEM!!! and the people that go from the open lane into the ones that are closed ahead, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING!?!?! I think they are probably dumber than the people that just sit in the left lane and just ride it out until the very end. This just makes me mad to no end how stupid people can be while driving. Made me want to kick some people's butt's with how dumb they were. I honestly think that the best idea here is to build a 2ft wall where the construction starts, without the silly slowly merging down. just a flat brick wall to stop people, and build a 50 foot long wall so if people are really that dumb they will get trapped into the box, then they will be pointed and laughed at by the workers and the passerby's. Maybe some spikes in the road would also help. probably would ramp up the amount of safety those workers have as well.

Now not too far off from this construction area I saw another bad driver (yeah everything I'm going to say is what I saw from work tonight, how terrible is that?). This one had no idea what a constant speed was, I was doing a good 69 mph (it was raining out and as part of my job I was following someone). and this person passed me, then maybe 5 minutes later, I passed them by. then not even 2 minutes later, they passed me by. Then I passed them. Now some people might think "Oh well they were probably trying to take pictures or video of the vehicle you were driving". This is possible, but not probable, since the people in this vehicle (which happened to be a late 90s Jetta TDI). Were not at all young, I think they could of passed for grandparent's. But maybe this is also why their speed was not too consistent. Alas, it annoyed me, especially since they never seemed to wonder 50 ft away from me(ok it didn't help they had the brightest blinkers... (long pause for Clarkson-esque-ness) ...In the world.

Now this last one, happened to be my lead driver. They weren't the best driver really, neither am I but better than this. part of the route I had to take today involved some roundabouts. now for some Americans roundabouts, can be confusing, but they are popping up everywhere (last time I took this route to the dot we hit 6 of them and I can think of two that we didn't take for sure). Now for those of us that understand roundabouts, its basically a circle with two lanes, and each way has two lanes as well the outer most will be if you say want to make a right turn onto the next street. the inside lane is for when you want to make a left hand turn onto that street, or a U-turn, or your really lost, and you just go around it for hours. Anyways, each way that goes onto these roundabouts has a Yield sign, so in this respect you must think of it like your on the onramp going on to a freeway, you have to yield to those on it already. Once you have space you can go. and you will seemlessly flow from one road to the next.

This person? treated each Yield sign, as a stop sign, even when no traffic was present at all. and one timed even stopped IN the roundabout, because there was a car coming at one point (but I think it made a turn into a driveway). Not to smart of an idea if you ask me. This just minorly annoys me really. Maybe its because i use my common sense, and quickly understood how a roundabout works, or maybe I watch too much Top Gear, and learned how roundabouts work on there. Either way, quite easy to understand really, and more efficient than stop signs or lights in most cases.

Thankfully that was it, but that was just in one day. how terrible is that? that I spotted 3 signs of stupid or bad drivers in a single day. (pretty sure I spotted some previously mentioned ones as well today). Still, ceases to amaze me how stupid people can be when driving. My grandpa always said that when people put their car into Drive they put their brains into Neutral, and sadly I'm seeing the truest form of this a lot with this job.

Of course this is a 3d modeling blog, with some OT-ness added in for more human nature-ness. (along with a lot of ness'ing around lol)

What have I been upto on my 3d models lately? well the Rauss Iota, is looking more complete, and ready to compete. Sure its got a lot to still do but its getting there at least.

The Omni? got the rear end tucked in a little more, the chrome trim for the tail lights, a new rear window, and I fixed the shader on the wheels so they are dark in the ambient and light in the sun. But anyone that knows any Omni.... wait am I alone on this? darn it.... anyways. the rear lights aren't quite right, the way I have them and the way they really are, well they are different.

I also rather quickly whipped up a replica of Davidsfarm's old Diesel Voyager, not perfectly accurate by any means, but close enough for me.

This thing? well look at the picture, its a Porsche 928, no I didn't model it, got it from a 3d modeling site, probably more so for fun then anything, and a good teaser kind of vehicle as well.

Now those last two pictures. you might of noticed something slightly different about them, in terms of size. they seemed. widescreen-ish. well thats because I finally got the money to get me a new Monitor, enter the Hanns-G HH201HPB 20" LCD widescreen monitor.
So that means no more of this...

and more like this...

purely awesomeness to me.

A bit of a rant

2010-03-16T01:43:00.002-04:00

Well as I am a Test Driver and do a lot of on the road driving (like last week I clocked somewhere around 40 hours of driving last week alone). I see a lot of bad (clueless, possibly drunk) drivers on the road. Some do 90 mph, some do 45mph.... on the freeway.... so here's my rant and I'll start with whats bugging me right now. (obviously bad drivers)

What is really ticking me off is the amount of drivers that will sit in the very left lane on the freeway then, suddenly they realize their exit is coming up in a 1/4 mile. so they cut bait and get to the right hand lane as quickly as possible, and change lanes in their SUV (seems like everyone of them drives either that or a Crossover, or a Grand Prix) sometimes I think without looking and they jettison across the 3 lanes of traffic almost as fast as they are moving forward.

Then there's the person that seems to always come out of no where and just sit.... in your blind spot, while on the freeway, typically it seems to happen when your approaching a truck. which these same people also seem to do to those trucks, and they seem to like sitting in their blind spots, which is about the stupidest idea ever, because thats right where the trucker CAN'T SEE YOU.

My next is not really a bad driver as much as wrongly using a car, the car in specific? the Toyota Prius. I see more of them on the freeway then I do on the city streets. Some may know, but clearly those hippies (or who ever drives those things) don't realize that at freeway speeds a hybrid is just like a normal car, the electric motor in the Prius is only good for about 30 mph, so really the Prius was built for driving in the city, yet no one seems to realize that, unless theres another selling point for the thing (I don't really consider it a car as much as a tool) I think the car has no real appeal, not really a good looking car, quite ugly in my eyes. its not fun to drive, unless you consider trying to hyper mile fun. I've never driven one by the way, but I'd imagine they drive like a boat, turn in and it will turn, eventually. I think they are also a complete waste of money, especially in the long term because the batteries only last about 8 years, so by the time the hybrid system has paid for itself, you have to spend the 8,000$ (or whatever it is) for the new batterys. and if it is 8,000$ I'd go buy myself a Ford Festiva or a Geo Metro, as my commuter car, as I won't have to replace its 8,000$ battery in 8 years, you might have to replace a 50$ battery every 5 years, and other littler things that will easily pay itself off. And if you couldn't already realize I'm not a fan of the hybrid system, really its a joke, its lieing, a hybrid won't save the world, you might as well drive that 10 mpg Suburban again, because it really thats about the same damage to the enviroment. and some people are saying "well no they aren't the Prius gets 40 mpg". bad news for you people, those batteries are what kills the environment, because of the way they are manufactured and the nickel is mined, it is actually worse for the environment.

Anyways I think thats all I have to rant about right now, I'll post something about my 3d models probably tomorrow, kind of swamped at work right now.

Shhh

2010-03-08T01:17:00.003-05:00

This won't be posted on RD, because I'm lazy, and some of it has already been posted on RD.

Anyways. work on the Omni/GLH-T/GLH-S continues the badges have been put onto the GLH-T (really want better badges for the GLH-S before continuing with badging it). The exterior 2d gauges have been done finally, by Silver, and I got a working fuel gauge which means now you can fill these cars up and go, and apparently with the Omni a full tank will get you a long ways at 70mph in 5th.

And a new Concept Car Competition has come out, for a Reasonably priced car. so I entered, the car will be the Rauss Iota, exacting specs are to be determined but as of now it will have a 1.6l turbo (low pressure) with 150hp, and 161 ft-lbs torque.

An Opposition to A Possible Bad Habit...

2010-02-21T02:06:00.002-05:00

Well got back from work an hour or two ago, probably should goto bed....

eventually, but anyways, I did something the other, is it remarkable? maybe not. is it awesome? in its current state I doubt that. but what is it? the base of the seat to the Omni and GLH-S. Ooooo Ahhhh. Now someone may wonder why the base of the seat? why not the whole seat? because you twat I have yet to get around to such a thing. (no idea why I used twat, but I thought it was fitting despite not really knowing its definition). So marvel, or just look. at what I have completed thus far.

Something...?

2010-02-17T00:43:00.002-05:00

Really meant to post this earlier, but I had to work today, and yadayadayadayadalada lol

Anyways minor bit of work on the interior, mainly just the fitting of things to the new floorpan. on the outside, put in a 3rd brakelight, and antenna (haven't put it on the Omni yet, just being lazy really). and on the GLH-S its got its hood vent now, along with the bodykit being baked and somewhat textured.

Now, I said this over on RD, so I might as well say it on my blog, the release date of this Omni is growing near, I can feel it in my bones, mainly the itty bitty ones (excuse the poor Oblivion reference else I'll pull out your intestines and jump rope with them. kidding naturally, another Oblivion reference). Anyways, this year also marks the 10th year Anniversary of Racer, more specifcally August of this year. As of right now I feel the Omni has until at the most, June until its ready to be released, when the Omni is ready it will be released..... Some eagle eye'd readers might of noted, I said nothing of the GLH-S, reason being, if the Omni is ready for release before August the GLH-S will be held until August. (Really I do hope to release the Omni before the GLH-S as to help work out any bugs) But I won't have you wait putzing around in the slow Omni, taking corners at 20 mph(exaggeration), because thats its top speed. No what I'll do is release to the public, another Omni based Shelby. I've made my mind up on this one, it will be a 1985 Shelby GLH-T, the thing will have a selection of colors, that are different from the basic Omni, and have pizza wheels strapped on, as opposed to the 13" wheels on the Omni or the 15" Centurions on the GLH-S, its performance is inbetween the Omni and the GLH-S, naturally. The GLH-T has already been mocked up. So I give you a picture of the 3 L-Bodies.

for those that couldn't figure it out, the GLH-S is out in Front, with the Omni to its left then coming up from behind, is the GLH-T (the AI driving that wasn't going slow for once either, well not as slow as the Omni at least)

New Bad Habit?...

2010-02-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

Maybe not but another hopefully quick post before I have to get ready for work lol.

There has been some work on the Omni. (Oh no!) in the order of a new floorpan, and slightly refinished interior shell (so the door looks to be there)

Then I went crazy and decided to learn to texture, and baked up the Omni's wheels and then pulled the Centurion wheels (the wheels to the GLH-S) out of storage, and baked them as well.
In Zmod:

Now for In Game;

Yes I'm very happy with the wheels too. I did bake other wheels, but too lazy to take more pictures and things like that. but there is a chance the GLH-S will be put on hold for release until later this year (to be one of the many cars to be released during Racer's 10 year Anniversary). so what would I put out? probably a GLH-T, which isn't quite as fast as the GLH-S. but still fast.

Double Money back Guarantee

2010-02-03T16:58:00.002-05:00

Thats right today only, you get a double money back guarantee, two items for the price of one....

ok not really lol. but prepare for a double dose of things. here

first of all, I realized after posting yesterday. it hit me I never posted pictures from that car show I went to down in FL. I did up some videos as well, but I'm feeling lazy. So heres just the pictures...

(Yes it had Grey Poupon in it)

(A Cuda wow...)

(Yeah its Herbie, what did you expect I was in FL right near Disney World)
Link to the entire album... HERE

Now of lesser importance, but still somewhat important, my 98 Dodge Grand Caravan LE, has had some work done to it, though its hard when the shapes on it are actually somewhat complex. so some of the bumper has been more so built up, and more of the fender.

Slight bit of interference...

2010-02-02T14:22:00.003-05:00

I meant to post this a while ago, and as you can tell, I didn't, whoops. Oh well First of all, happy February. second of all, plenty of things to post about. like the recent conversions from NFS Shift (ok I got them off a site), no they won't be released they are purely made for looking pretty and figuring more about the new CG shaders along with the car.ini itself. So here the two cars are, yes the Lancia Delta HF Integrale, and the Ford Escort RS Cosworth.

Then, I decided upon converting more cars, probably too many to really count lol, so heres a quick listing of them all. Reason being? 1. for the fun of it, and 2. more just learning the car.ini

Jeep Cherokee 4.0l 4x4

69 VW Beetle, and AMC Matador Highway Patrol Car

99 Ford Transit Van (theres also a chassis cab, and dumper truck, not pictured)

and, a 90 Plymouth Grand Voyager (the wheels I modeled myself on this one, they are called Eggshell wheels, or Sawtooth wheels)

Now onto more important matters, like the cars I actually model lol. The Mini is getting its more details added onto, I think all that's really left is the rear handle and hinges, and the badging, which brings me to a good question, this for sure is an MK1 Mini, but it could either be a Morris Mini, or an Austin Mini, or an Austin Se7en (Seven? 7?). Anyways, modeled up the rear drip rail, and the gas cap. there are some details on it that I might fix though. Anyways I thnk thats it for now, gotta finish getting ready for work now lol.

Finally Here

2010-01-20T12:01:00.002-05:00

Well, as promised in my previous post I would be posting pictures from the North American International Auto Show, even though I don't have that many pictures and being as I am, I skipped Toyota and Government Motors... I mean General Maintenance..... errr I mean General Motors. But I didn't skip Porsche or Lamborghini... because they weren't even there. Anyways heres my collection of shots from the NAIAS, a few preview pictures to make you drool and the album link are below...

The 2012 Ford Focus, looks tasty to me.

The new 2011 Ford Mustang, with the new 5.0l V8, and a yummy model (side note, I hope the model is included with the car lol)

and of course, the new 2011 Ford Fiesta, Aye Curmba! Its English! and I want one!

another side note, the preview pictures were all just ironically Ford, there was for sure more to the auto show then Ford though.
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/Harey/NAIAS%202010/

Roger Wilco....

2010-01-18T20:13:00.003-05:00

If you haven't already noticed I have been kind of sparse on updates on my 3d models as of late. Reason being, well last week I had to work 4 days (2 8 hour days and 2 10 hour days) at the UofM Dearborn Bookstore, and trying to get my job back with Roush (the group interview is on Wednesday and I'm in it sweet!). Also had to go down to my sister's for the weekend, and today I had to goto the NAIAS (yes I have pictures, I will post them eventually, and for those that don't know what those letters stand for its North American International Auto Show).

Anyways getting on with the more important business as hand, of course as I'm typing this I am talking to people on msn, and someone is continually texting me about something. Now onto the Mini, yeah its still a Mini, it hasn't transformed into an oven mitt, or something wild like that. though it has changed a little bit, the details are what is changing it the most, this time, the front drip rail, the front door hinges, and the handle. so enjoy the picture.

Back to your original broadcast....

2009-12-28T22:01:00.002-05:00

Yes that must mean one thing.... I'm back at modeling again! just a small bit of work though, and for once its the Mini. did up the drip rail around the roof.

Progress on the Omni shall resume shortly as well.

Well that (didn't) goto plan I guess...

2009-12-19T22:08:00.003-05:00

Back in MI now, a nice cruise down 75 from FL, just wish I didn't have to deal with some of that traffic lol. But I got back yesterday, which means nothing good really, the job didn't work out. I wasn't exactly what the guy was looking for, and my comfort zone is more in cars, not rv's/trucks. I think some of that problem being that I didn't go right into a diesel truck job right after school to apply my truck knowledge. but whatever, I packed up my PT and took off down the road, as far as I know I still have the job with Roush, and possibly picked up another job at the U of M bookstore.

But this might come at a good thing for my projects. We'll see I guess though.

Hm..

2009-12-15T17:21:00.002-05:00

Down here in FL, where its nice and warm like 24/7 it seems like. Living with my boss's family, is odd, and it seems I keep on waking up at night hoping I would wake up in my own bed at home, obviously I won't lol, until I go back to MI lol. Which I will this Saturday. The job is ok at the least. its working on mainly RV's, but what ever comes in the door won't be denied really, as long as we have the tooling to actually do the job lol. I like the weather down here, but I do for sure feel home sick, even if it may not seem to other people. and I am on the fence about the job, most people say "it's a job" well yeah your right. I have a part time one already in MI, doing something that is really fun.

I did goto an old car show the other night (ok it was saturday night lol). I do have pictures but that requires going out to my car getting my camera, downloading the pictures on this slow laptop. There was a younger car show the day before, but my car was no where near looking good enough for that, but there were a few PT's there, one i swear I've seen on youtube before also.

The dreary post...

2009-12-04T21:09:00.002-05:00

This was the post I was dreading on writing, I was recently down to FL for a job interview with a company where I would be working on rv's and trucks. (its a small shop) and for the next two weeks I'll go down there, and get a feel for the job, and stay with the guy (he has some kids my age). Because of my personal life this job is very on the border for me, feelings will play a big part in wheter I really want this job or not, but the only reason I'm on the fence is because of her, I won't name any names for the sake of obscurity (don't bother asking who either because that won't make me tell you at all). But she is the only reason I'm on the fence, if not for her, I'd want this job to work out completely. She's not even mine, and yet I love her so much, and she doesn't want me to move. If it does work out I hope she understands.

I will have a laptop down there, but I feel its better if for now, I just put a pause on my 3d modeling projects, some may wonder why. because I may not have the time to spend on them, as I have in the past. though the paused is only a label, I will try to bring the stuff down with me to work on, just incase.

As I prepare to make the drive from MI, to FL. that means not only to I have to get ready, but also my PT has to get ready, making that long of a trip isn't something that you just get in the car and do, you must make sure the vehicle is ready to do it, I've checked the funtion of just about everything, (didn't check reverse lights or brakelights, but thats it). Haven't tried the A/C but I feel I may not need it, and plus its 30 degree's out up here, I'm not willing to try it lol. my PT's engine oil has been changed just for this journey even. Next is to check the tire pressure.

I'm afriad at this point of time, my PT is the one that is more prepared for this journey then me, as I have yet to even pack a thing yet, and the most I've done is got my dad's old laptop out and got it working, though reliably seems to be questionable, its worlds different from my home rig but for 2 weeks, it will do me fine.

Omni..... INTERIOR!!!

2009-11-20T18:29:00.002-05:00

Well out of a stroke of what I can only call luck, while cleaning out my desk the other day and found some disks, found quite a few that i had to got through, and 3 of them were in cases and labeled "Back up 1" (there was also a 2 and 3). and in the first disk alone I found a bunch of old Racer data, and some old z3d work files, one of them was for the Omni's interior. sweet. So I have been working on that.

So heres what it looked like when I found it...

and what I have so far...

I think its pretty clear what all I've added to the thing, incase you couldn't notice, here's what I've added
- the Omni Dash Plaque
- an entire center console, no detail has been left out (the drawer at the very bottom has a sliding top that isnt' textured yet)
- center console air vents
- steering column, with the ignition and key in it, and its running, whoops, might want to turn it off as to not waste too much gas lmao.

Something?

2009-11-13T00:36:00.003-05:00

Yes I actually did something *yay* lol it wasn't much but its something, adjusted the grill on the Mini and fitted a trim piece inbetween the grille and the eyebrow, then exported to Racer, and also, applied the changes to the Countryman and exported it. There is plenty to still be done, like the gutters (drip rails?) door handles, covering the behind of the grill, making a bottom to this thing, badging, etc.

My Mini and Countryman with Sven F.'s Mini (the red one)

Reason for a lack of 3d stuff lately?

2009-11-11T18:11:00.002-05:00

Ok, this is to kind of say why I haven't really said much about my 3d models, kind of obvious I haven't been working on them, I just had a "Driver's Training" meeting for a Test Driver position with Roush this morning, lasted from about 9am to 12pm. Of course thats not including the drug test, wasted another hour there waiting to be called, as the 30 people that were at that meeting were also at THAT clinic (even though there was 4 other clinics we could of gone to). I am hoping to get this job, and sadly, the job doesn't involve Mustangs, or really any Roush products, its all Fords, as in Foci, Fusion, MK-Z, MK-T, sounds like I might even get a chance to drive a new Fiesta, that would be cool.

This really isn't a 3d model, at all.

2009-11-09T16:25:00.003-05:00

Nope, no where near being a 3d model, infact quite real, and was kind of dirty as I found out pulling it. But nonetheless, $65 (with the $15 shipping) the Headman 4-2-1 header, is finally mine, not to be mistaken with the 4-to-1, the 4-2-1 is supposed to help increase low end power, this is because of its unique design, the exhaust that comes out of the engine is assisted by the vacuum created by the previous cylinder's escaping exhaust gases, allowing the gases to escape from the cylinder faster.

But all this talk is weak, pictures are needed, right? Well here you are...

Back to normal programming

2009-11-08T20:25:00.003-05:00

Ok I have done some modeling, not a lot, some of it is due to needing more reference shots. Firstly the Dolly Sprint, went from having detached lines in the hood, to having them connected, slightly rose the poly count, but well worth it I feel. The Caravan, is severely complex I feel, as the fender goes out from the hood then juts down and back out then juts down and well its complex. so progress will be slower on the Caravan, as I'm trying to get it right. I want it to be a lot better than my first car (The Chrysler Town and Country). The caravan is one car that I feel having to deal with loosing the hard drive, actually helped, as before it was mostly done, but not highly accurate I feel.

Not 3d modeling

2009-11-08T16:26:00.001-05:00

Ok nothing to do with 3d modeling, at all. made a short video yesterday showcasing the chair I use at my computer, I had plucked it out of a 90 Dodge Caravan, its an electric power seat. converted to work as a computer chair.

Here's the link to the video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR1kd_vYVsI

Guess which car got the spotlight again....

2009-11-03T20:12:00.003-05:00

Again the Omni gets another post about it, this time, its a big deal, this is the BETA release for the Dodge Omni (so expect some errors) I've tried to rid it of at least all the Qlog errors it had. There is a few color to select from, but no engines or transmissions to select from, this is the 87 Dodge Omni America with the 97hp 2.2l TBI 4 cylinder engine, with the 5 speed manual transaxle mated to it, (I believe its the A-555) The thing isn't a power house, nor is it very fast. The turns i feel are where it makes up for being so slow.

http://www.filefront.com/14853461/87dodgeomni.rar/

Omni

2009-10-30T00:28:00.001-04:00

Was there work done on the Omni? well really no, decided the other night to record some video. just for the heck of it. the sounds that the Omni uses comes from a car I released to Racer earlier my Dodge Caravan (pictured below with the Tradesman). The gauges aren't exactly matching one is for the Dodge Caravan model(the black tach on the bottom right hand side of the screen) the other is the Omni speedo (bottom left hand side of the screen).

(talk about a size difference)

Anyways heres the link to the video (subscribe and comment would be nice)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACd19i4rzlI

The Omni....

2009-10-28T18:22:00.003-04:00

Has had more work done to it, rebuild the front grill, Now I think it looks much better, the GLH-S also got the same treatement.

Omni and Mini...

2009-10-27T21:48:00.002-04:00

My two smallest cars that I'm working on right now, have had some minor work done on them...

The Mini, I had modeled its grill, and now its fitted into its area, purposely is a little small though, as there will be a piece that goes around the edge, probably will end up having it body colored.

The Omni, got badging, up front it got the Pentastar, and Dodge, and in the back it got the Dodge and Omni badges. need to put the 3rd brakelight back still though.

Mini, oh Mini....

2009-10-26T22:10:00.002-04:00

Where art Thou Thy Mini....

Ok thats enough Shakespeare for me lol. I have done something to the Mini (Morris? Austin? either or) built up the grill, its a bunch of glorified boxes, that was still a pain to do, mainly the first row was a pain to get everything right. Also tweaked with the windshield frame a bit, still needs a little more tweaking though. Still plenty left to do on the little thing, it seems such a small car, that is such a big undertaking really.

Omni GLH-S, small update

2009-10-23T00:13:00.003-04:00

Did just a little bit of work on the GLH-S (Omni) the other day, just forgot to post, haven't really worked on it today, because, 1. I was testing out my old graphics card to see if it had driver issues or hardware, sadly, hardware, and also it seems my back is in quite a lot of pain today, I suspect its from when I replaced the starter in a friend's car, how i did it idk, much like the cut that across 3 out of 4 fingers on my right hand, all in a direct line, cut my fore finger middle finger and pinky, missed the middle finger somehow lol.

Anyways the GLH-S has been fitted with the Pizza wheels (I had modeled and put a basic texture on them earlier) and slightly redid the headlights on the GLH-S to appear more roundish at the edges.

Some Fun

2009-10-19T19:20:00.003-04:00

Well I had put a Fairmont Wagon into Racer not too long ago, and quickly learned a bit of CG on it, like doing pearlescent paint jobs on it, then I thought I'd explore a funner side of what I can do, and decided to cut the car right behind the driver's door and make something like the Half Car from Davidsfarm (on youtube), but his is a Pontiac 6000. and this is clearly NOT lol. utlizing a wheel from my Omni, and front wheels from my Aspen. But alas I have created something fun, and to go along with the two redneck rollercoaster cars (that were also from Davidsfarm). Now I need to make a half master lol.

And also I have worked on the GLH-S "summore" and added the necessary body kit so its one step closer to looking like a GLH-S, only problem is I'm missing my Centurion wheels still, might put the pizza wheels on for now just for something other than what is on there right now.

Some Updates

2009-10-18T12:20:00.002-04:00

Well haven't really posted here, just been kind of busy around the house recently, sister (and her husband and of course my niece) came up for the weekend, then not too long after waking up saturday I got a call from my friend who was stuck at McD's because his car wouldn't start, so I had to go get it going again (its a Ford so what do you expect? lol). Then I just didn't have this blog on my mind at all, whoops, oh well so heres a smal update on whats going on with the cars
Well first of all, the GLH-S has come back, 2.2l turbo burble and almost all, suspension isn't quite right yet (working on it) and the wheels aren't back on yet (again working on it).

Now I also kind of playing this game (I guess thats what it is) for Racer, called Racecity, and well, I thought of an idea I shouldn't of thought of and made it real lol. Now what is it? Well it started out as a Ford Econoline Cargo van, and now, its just a race van, with a 351W, 5 speed manual transmission, posi rear end, widened track, a whole list of things really. But it is incredibly quick, for a van and not having THAT much power to it. It goes around the Nurburgring at just over 8 mins. I will admit, its not the prettiest thing ever, but funtionally its awesome.

Omni work...

2009-10-15T15:50:00.002-04:00

Its been in Racer for a while, some have thought that it needs polys in certain area (where they are I can't see myself). But if my head is on straight, this is the 3rd model I've ever done, well 4th really, my very first one was scrapped early on. But still for what it is I feel its pretty good really. Anyways about the Omni, Suspension has been tested, again and again. and I have also made new head light and tail light (and reverse light) textures to go on the Omni. So heres some shots.

Doing the Slalom

In response to a previous Comment

2009-10-15T12:45:00.001-04:00

Sadly an idea was to be had from a comment made in my last blog post... and I made this

I felt it was too funny not to do lol. Also did some small work on the CG shaders so now the car is fully CG'ed I believe. awesome

These Crazy Thoughts inside my head...

2009-10-15T00:24:00.001-04:00

They keep on telling me to work on the Tradesman, because it is getting close to feeling like it should be released, working bugs out of it now, getting things just right, etc. The Raven variants now include both a 360 2 bbl, and a 440 4 bbl. both with only a 3 speed automatic. The mirrors have been remodeled and "mirrorized" (basically they are functional now). I put a fitting mask over the rear view mirror so you now have some blind spots in the rear view mirror. And I went ahead with Plum Crazy

Tradesman, stealing the show again...

2009-10-13T19:42:00.000-04:00

Yet another post for the Tradesman, this time I've done up the interior gauges to light up at night, and made it have a few colors (still wondering if I should do Plum Crazy lol). I am usually a fan of red vehicles, but for some reason I like this van in Yellow, which is fine by me lol. Also made some new sounds for the thing.

PT work....

2009-10-12T16:31:00.000-04:00

Well I've been messing around with CG shaders so I decided to have a go and fool around with it on my PT, so now it too has bump mapped tires(Thanks to Evan for the Textures and bump maps), and I decided to play a bit with the CG shader on the still un baked PT body, and I know sometimes I say I am like Top Gear, ambitious but rubbish, but for once, I feel I wasn't, ok the color isn't perfect but I feel I've created something really beautiful with this color, bright in the light dark in the shade (attributes of Inferno Red, I should know I actually have a PT that is this color).

This one is my favorite

Ok taking the pictures at dusk doesn't exactly showcase the colors greatness but the color really assisted in some great looking shots.

The Van gets "CG'ed"

2009-10-12T13:08:00.000-04:00

With the rather recent introduction of CG shaders to Racer, which can do bump mapping, and some other neat features I have yet to figure out completely... Anyways I decided this Tradesman van should probably get on with the new type of shaders, so tucking the old shader away saftey, where no harm can reach it (so I can have a non-CG and CG version of it, for hopefully a later release). I went ahead and worked on some CG shaders to this thing, bump mapping and some other nice little features, really need to brighten up some of the interior textures still, But so far, not so bad I think, the tires and the license plate got bump mapped, had others but they didn't look as great I felt and they, I felt weren't that significant if I left them de-bump mapped. Also got around to getting a good texture on the glass, and remapping the exhaust tips to chrome, because everyone likes shiny exhaust tips lol.

Yes even the lettering on the tires now pops out

mmm shiny exhaust tips lol

Work on the Tradesman Continues

2009-10-11T19:55:00.000-04:00

Just imagine the day, July 23rd 1978... Your done with college for the summer, You decide your going to goto the beach for a little while so you pack up your van with everything you will need to camp there for a couple days. The van of your choice? the Dodge Tradesman van. Flash forward 31 years, and some change, later. and my Tradesman just got a new texture both inside and out, this little B200 that is powered by a 360 and boasts a 3 speed automatic. I am pretty sure now that the textures are out of the way, the list of things to do on this thing are very, very small. So far for this little conversion, I've had the new textures, new wheels and tires, lights (this includes driving lights, brake lights, and reverse lights). a new Steering wheel, and plenty of fiddling with the car.ini.

Small Update

2009-10-10T23:53:00.000-04:00

Ok as I mentioned before I'm working on Several cars, without showing pictures of any of them well nows your chance to see these cars

76 Aspen Wagon

76 Tradesman

Morris Mini

98 Grand Caravan

Chrysler 300M

Triumph Dolomite Sprint

1987 Dodge Omni

and I knew I was forgetting one...
Chrysler PT Cruiser

These are all the cars I'm working on right now (unless I forgot another one lol). Anyways, The PT, Aspen, and Tradesman are conversions (or adaptions same difference really though). The rest of the cars are completely mine. I'll try to update this blog every time I make progress on one of the cars, and if I decide one is worthy of being released (two cars I have right now are getting close) I will post them up here on my blog.

and I just noticed that for some reason blogs have a good tendancy to make you type a lot more than you intend to ever actually put down, weird lol.

First Post...I Guess

2009-10-10T20:48:00.000-04:00

So I just got this blog, what you'll most likely see in this whole thing is me updating about my 3d model cars, and releasing them here for Racer (www.racer.nl).
Anyways here's a short list of the cars I'm working on currently...

1976 Dodge Aspen Wagon (with an assortment of engine sizes)
1976 Dodge Tradesman B200
Morris Mini and Mini Countryman
1998 Dodge Grand Caravan LE (high possibly of a same year swb Dodge Caravan LE)
Chrysler 300M
Triumph Dolomite Sprint
1987 Dodge Omni, and 1986 Shelby GLH-S

Now as for my past experience at doing this, I've worked with Zmodeler 1.07 for quite a few years now, tried others (currently trying out Rhino), but some how I've always been able to stick to just Zmodeler, though I myself am terrible at textures. Previous Cars include the 1986 Dodge Caravan SE, 1987 Dodge Caravan SE, 1989 Dodge Caravan ES Turbo, 2003 Chrysler Town and Country, 1992 Jeep Comanche, 1988 Ford Econoline, (I reworked it into a 1976 Ford Econoline, that is unreleased), and a 1985 Chrysler Laser Turbo. Some of the cars I modeled myself, others I adapted to Racer.