Model a High Poly Airframe Missile Launcher in 3ds Max – Day 3
In this six hour long, intermediate/ advanced level tutorial you will learn to model a high poly RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Launcher step by step. You will learn to use many of 3ds Max’s poly and spline modeling tools, while keeping the model as light weight and simplified as possible, and only using subdivision in the areas that require it.
This tutorial is Day 3 in a series – Go to Day 1, or Day 2.
Final Effect Preview
Video 1
Download
Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.
Video 2
Download
Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.
Video 3
Download
Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.
Video 4
Download
Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.
This tutorial is Day 3 in a series – Go to Day 1, or Day 2.
Don’t miss more CG tutorials and guides, published daily – subscribe to Cgtuts+ by RSS.
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By Ben Tate
Related Posts
Color Lighting - More
3D Basix
Just getting started? Start with our basix tutorials on the fundamentals. View All Basix Tutorials
Other Plus Sites ...
aetuts+ audiotuts+ vectortuts+ tuts+ phototuts+ cgtuts+ nettuts+ psdtuts+ activetuts+Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Cgtuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
Thanks Ben! You are the men!
Your tutorials are simply fantastic!!! Any chance of a cartoon character modeling tutorial?
See you!
Thanks Paola! As for a tutorial on a cartoon character.. I wish I could do one, but I don’t really have any experience in that area! I usually stick to hard surface objects, rather then characters or organic type models. (Although I think I’ll try and expand into that area soon! as Character modeling was my original goal, way back when I first started modeling
….So at this time, I really wouldn’t be the right person to do a tutorial on a cartoon character 
…Sorry about that!
Yay , Finally ! Good work !
hey, the link of the first video on day 3 points to the first video of day 2..
please fix so we can fully enjoy!
thanks..
Fixed! Sorry:)
In wich tutorial we need this guy again?
You said it in the last part
-Matthias
Hey Matthias, I was just alluding to the possibility of a future follow up tutorial to this one. At the time, I wasn’t sure how much I could say regarding it…but I can tell you now that there will be a follow up series, where Kaleb Aylsworth will be doing a game version of the airframe launcher. He’ll be covering modeling the low poly, uvmapping, baking out maps and texturing!…It’s going to be awesome!
Nice news, it will be cool to see a complex model being textured!
I wonder when it will be done…
Grow up…
Grow up? I’m confused…nothing immature was said here.
I misunderstood Matthias comment, my bad sry about that
First class Tate brothers stuff like always! By the way I finished the RPG Launcher tutorial from your brother some days ago.
Now I heard another tutor is going to make a low poly version and texturing for this model… Well, what can I say? Can’t wait for that!!!
Again this website is awesome! I learned here much more than on my uni…
Thanks Fred, Glad to hear it
Hello, I have been making video training tutorials for CAD/CAM for over 15 years now so I can appreciate the work involved. There are many websites that provide 3D Max training videos but your’s are by far, superior. Its one thing to make a training video but it’s a completely other thing to make great ones. You and your brother consistently provide great ones. Thank you!
Yup. These tutorials are great. Other sites charge for high quality video tuts like these. I can never thank the tuts plus staff enough.
Thank Ben for the quality….we just found him:)
To both Ben and Chris Tate.
You guys really put a lot of thought into preparing these tutorials.
Thanks so much for these!
What a great tut! Kudos to you and your brother for your efforts! I just decided to get back into 3d and Max after a long layoff and these tuts have really got me inspired.
BTW. what is the shortcut you use for repeating the last function? For instance when you select 2 vertices and connect.
I love the APC from “Alien” that would be a great tut!
Thanks guys,
Pete
Hey Peter, Thanks a lot! I’m glad to hear that you’re giving Max another shot! As for your question, I’m not sure if there is a keyboard shortcut for repeating the last function or not…I have separate keyboard shortcuts set up for the functions I use most often when modeling, like ring, loop, connect, etc… When I’m recording a tutorial I try to stay away from using shortcuts and do everything with the interface buttons…So for the part you’re referring to, I probably just hit my shortcut for connect out of habit
As for a tut on the “APC”… I’d like to, but it just has so many small parts, as well as some pretty complex ones… I think it would probably be far too long for a step by step tutorial
Thanks again,
cheers!
Hi Ben,
How r u!
we are getting much from every tut.
Please make Complete Arch viz project (Right from Floor plan to, rooom rendering every thing)
Tnx in advance
Im thinking I could sell all my green tea bottles to the recycle and put out enough to support you folks.
I was wondering if you always saw things in 3d and when you discoverd it.
Just joking about the green tea.
Thankx Ben
Your tuorials are good.
Keep it up
Thanks for this nice tutorial just fantastic perfect. I’m french so sorry for my english. Can you show us how to model a car please ??!!!!?? Thank you
Awesome tutorials as always, alltho i would really like to see some soft surface-tutorials from you guys also.
hey Ben Tate,i want to thank you,and i know ,what i say or the number of thanks thats i say ,i don’t think i can give you your value,thanks a lot man,
and could you please make to us a tut of modeling a car……..thanks againe
Jippy! I made it. You make great tutorials Ben. Keep up the good work.!
I love you men !! I learn many things from you…any car modeling tutorial ???
Great tutorial Ben ! It is the best tutoriel that I saw!!
Could you make a tutoriel on a modelling of a Boeing?
Thanks! From France
Great tutorial Ben ! It is the best tutoriel that I saw!!
Could you make a tutorial on a modelling of a Boeing?
Thanks! From France
One of the best tuts I’ve ever seen!
But one question – What’s the polycount of final model?
Hey man, Thanks a lot for the comment!
As for the poly count….someone asked a similar question on day 2 of the tut, so I’m just going to re-post my original reply below
The final tutorial version shown in the render above has about 860,778 polys. That’s not including any of the wire bands. The wires are extremely high-res. The base mesh for each band is 4,464 polys, with 2 iterations of turbosmooth applied, it’s 71,424 polys for each one! And yes, that is just insane!
Especially considering that there are 56 bands on the final model. If anyone’s doing the math, the 56 turbosmoothed bands equals around 3,333,744 polys!! So the full final model with all pieces including any turbosmoothed ones is a staggering 4,860,522 polys! But like I mentioned in the tutorial, the band detail could be achieved using a bump map instead of actually modeling it in… In the end it would save about 3.3 million polys 
and as you can see in the final render above, most of that detail is virtually invisible anyway 
Thanks again!
Cheers
I think these wires are actually twisted ropes. So, another way of creating that is create two layers of cylinders that are twisted and bended into wire. This way doesn’t need a bumpmaping or turbosmoothing.
Hello guys,
I’ve been checking the website every day for the day 4! Is there any presumably date for its release? Atm I’m texturing the RPG Launcher from a past tutorial but I’m finishing it and would really like to start with this one, make a low poly version of it and at the end texturize!
Hi Fred, there is unfortunately no exact date for the second half of this series as it has not been created yet. It should be completed sometime this month, but there are currently several other 3ds Max tutorials that need to be published before it, so it may still be several weeks before we get to see it on the site. Some of these other tutorials, however, will also be on low poly and texturing aspects, so if you really can not wait, I would recommend watching those and then applying what you learn to this project.
Hi Kaleb,
then I guess I’ll have to wait for that. I’ll start with another tutorial till it’s done.
Thanks for the info!
Thank good tutorials if you can make more. I now it take lot of time. Thanks again.
Hi Ben:
I was following your tutorial, I am impressed by your modeling techniques. Many roads lead to Rome but, your work style is highly efficient and fast.
I’m wrapped in 3D for a long time (from DOS), and old habits have created in older versions. The habit is Difficult to change on occasion, it’s like an old shoe that is comfortable but old. Perhaps this was the reasons for which I like so much your tutorial, trying to break old habits.
I found problems to download VIDEO 4 of the tutorial (each time I reach 99.6MB it freezes and is on a loop) You can fix this?
Thank you ….. Excellent work.
thanks you so much … i’m looking for some tut to texture map for some kind of this models!! Thanks you for sharing!
Just finished it after 3 days working on this
i’ve just begun using max and this was my first tutorial after reading the Max Bible, it really helped me a lot understanding the modeling workflow! Thank you really a lot for this lesson, I think i’m going to do all of your tuts in the next days, hoping you’ll keep posting some others! 
Thank you again Ben, you’re great!! From Italy