Create a Wooden Toy Car in 3ds Max

Hatice Bayramoglu on Jan 26th 2011 with 37 comments

Tutorial Details

Software: Autodesk 3D Studio Max
Difficulty: Beginner
Estimated Completion Time: 1 Hour

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, artist Hatice Bayramoglu will give us a overview of the process he used to create his Wooden Toy Car scene. Although the main focus of the tutorial is the modeling of the car. Hatice will also give us a brief look at the lighting and rendering settings he used to complete the scene. Let’s take a look…

Part 1 : Modeling

Step 1

We start by creating a sketch from which we’ll start the model. Here is mine :

Step 2

OK. Now we start work. We’ll start to model the Body of the car by creating a box. You can see the measurements in the Parameters panel below. If you look carefully, you’ll see that I’m not adding any additional segments, and the Segs are set to 1. This is because I prefer to add the segments myself later using Editable Poly.

Step 3

OK, now press F4 on your keyboard to see the Edged Faces. Now, right click on the object and select Convert to > Editable Poly.

Step 4

Now go into the modify panel and select Edge sub-object mode (click the button marked 1 in the image below.) Select one of the horizontal top edges, and click the Ring button (marked 2.) Then click the Connect button. (3) from the Edit Edges roll-out. Now let’s adjust the segments, by setting the number to 3. Repeat this process for each side of the box.

Step 5

We’ll now add more edges. Look at the screenshot below carefully. Choose the two edges on either side of the top edge, click the Ring button again from the Selection panel, and then click the Connect button from the Edit Edges panel as before. Adjust the number of segments to 1 and set the Slide amount to -40 and click OK.

Step 6

Now enter Polygon mode (the button marked 1 below) and, while holding down the ctrl key, select the 12 middle polygons on the bottom of the front side of the cube (shown in red below.) With the 12 polygons selected, click on the small box next to the Extrude button (marked 2 below.) Adjust the Extrusion Height to 91.0 and click OK. You should now have a model like the one shown below.

Step 7

We’ll now adjust some vertices. We need to move some of them up slightly to better match the sketch. Press L on your keyboard to switch to the Left view. Now enter Vertex sub-object mode (shown below on the right.) Select the second row of vertices and move them up with the Move tool (as shown below.)

Step 8

Using the same techniques illustrated above (adding edges and moving rows of vertices) I’ve added in enough edges to allow us to move onto creating the window. See if you can do the same to match the image below :

Step 9

Now re-enter polygon selection mode (1), and then left-click and hold on the box marked 2 to bring up a list of the possible modes for that tool. Change it to Rectangular Selection Region. Now, click on the Select Object button (3). Select the polygons shown in the image below. As we’re in a side view, the polygons get selected on both sides of the model, which will come in very handy as you’ll see in a second!

Step 10

With the polygons selected on both sides, click the little button next to the Bridge command (1). The Bridge command will create a ‘tunnel’ of polygons between the two polygon selections, and in our case we’ll be using it to create the window section. Click OK.

Step 11

Now, select the edges shown below, and, still holding down ctrl, select the same edges on the other side of the model as well. Then click Loop from the Selection panel to select all of the window edges.

Step 12

Now, click the little button next to Chamfer as shown below, adjust the Chamfer Amount to 1.5 and click OK to add a bevel to the window edges.

Step 13

Select one of the edges inside the window section and click Ring and then click the small box next to Connect. Adjust the amount of Segments to 3 and set the Pinch amount to around 83, and then click OK. These edges will help us maintain the square shape of the hole when we add a Meshsmooth modifier later on in the process.

Step 14

Using the exact same techniques from the past few steps (adding edges, adjusting vertices, bridging polygons and chamfering edges) I’ve added in another hole for the windscreen. See if you can do the same by matching the image below. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it!

Step 15

Now, select the front 8 polygons as shown and extrude them with a height of approx 90.

Step 16

I’ve now added a few extra edge loops around the new extrusion. This will help maintain the shape we need for the front of the car. Now let’s add a Meshsmooth modifier by going into the Modify Panel and choosing Meshsmooth from the modifier list.

As you can see the corners are looking soft and incorrect (circled below.) Next I will show you how to solve this problem..

Step 17

First let’s delete our Meshsmooth modifier and then zoom in and take a closer look at one of the chamfered corners of the window.

Step 18

Now let’s go back into vertex sub-object mode, and select these two verticies (shown below.)

Step 19

With the two verticies selected, click the box next to the Weld button in the Edit Vertices panel. Increase the Weld Threshold amount until you see the two verticies snap together (as shown in the image below) and then click OK.

Step 20

Repeat the above step on each corner of the windows. After adding a few more edges. I deleted the Meshsmooth modifier. Then I selected the polygons on one half of the car and deleted them. I then added a Symmetry modifier from the modifier list. Lastly, I have added another Meshsmooth modifier to the car. At last, we can see the body of the car in the screenshot below.

Step 21

Here I have added a few extra details to the model using the previous techniques. By studying the images below, try to add the same details to your model.

Step 22

Here is a closeup of the car’s grill. Starting from a box I have created this using the previous techniques. (Adding edges, Bridging polygons and Extruding). See if you can match it.

Step 23

Next we create one of the wheels. First I created a Cylinder and converted it to Editable Poly. I then modeled the wheel using the same techniques we used on the car body. (Ring, Connect and Bridge.) Try to match my screenshot below.

Step 24

Once you have finished modeling the wheel. Select it and go to the Modifier List, and add another Symmetry modifier. We need to make the wheels fit the car’s width. To adjust it, select Mirror in the Symmetry roll-out. You can then move the Mirror by using the Move tool. Look carefully and try to match the screenshot below.

Step 25

We can now copy our wheels to the back of the car. To do this, select the Move tool, hold Shift and drag a copy to the back of the car. We can finish the wheels by adding a Meshsmooth modifier to each one.

Step 26

And now, we’ll model the fender which sits above the wheels. Go to the Shapes Panel (1), click Line to activate the line tool (2). And draw a shape like the one shown below. If your hand slips while drawing the line, press the Backspace key on the keyboard, to undo it. Here is the line I drew.

Step 27

Once you are happy with your shape, right click on the line and convert it to Editable Poly. Go into Polygon sub-object mode and select the newly created polygon. Next click on the little box next to Extrude in the Edit Polygons roll-out. Select Group as the extrusion type, and enter an amount of 20 for the Extrusion Height. See screenshot below.

Step 28

Next we will create a quad mesh. To do this, go back into Vertex sub-object mode (1). Hold down ctrl and select one pair of verticies (2). Then press the Connect button (3). Repeat these steps for each pair of verticies.

Step 29

Once you have connected all of the verticies, it should look like this.

Step 30

Next I chamfered the corners and added a Meshsmooth modifier. Finally I adjusted the verticies to refine the shape and make it look soft and clean.

Step 31

Okay, I then copied the fender to the other side using the same technique as before. The car now looks like this.

Step 32

If we look from the side view, we can see the fender has the wrong appearance. The verticies are too close to the wheels.

Step 33

I used the Move tool to adjust the verticies into the correct position. Look at the screenshot below carefully, we need the verticies to be like this.

Step 34

This is the final model, I have added a few additional things. Look at the image and try to model the extra details.