Here’s a small comparison between the old and the new model.
Below, the left (towards the front) is the old bell yoke, and the new one next to it is about to be finished. The difference in resolution and definition is obvious in the arms, but note also the small indentation in at the pivot, as well as the mounting bolts on the base of the yoke.
From all this, the new mesh also manages to be much cleaner than the old one still:
Time for a quick post to just say that I am (and the current engine project) is still alive.
In this stage of the rebuild, the boiler is now being remodeled.
(To answer the incoming (and already asked) question: yes I did get the running gear to work! There’s QOL stuff I need to finish before showing it all off in a video.)
It doesn’t look like much but the model has a lot more definition. In the shot above, the old (v1) model is on the left, and the rebuild on the right.
And, in the shot below, the old one is also on the left and the new one on the right. On the smokebox front, where there is more detail, it’s obvious that the new model is just much “cleaner”, which will result in better detail and performance. The new model even have washers and pins on the smokebox door swing!
And here are some import tests into UE5. The model hasn’t been mapped/textured and there’s plenty of little details to add, but the “outline” of the boiler is there.
I’m contemplating whether the stay bolts on the firebox should be modeled or textured for this build. For reference, they’re textured in v1, which means they get blurry when you get close to them.
My goal is to finish refining the running gear and the boiler before the next video, so yes I have updates and features planned. It’s a long road but I think if and when finished it’s going to be a simulation unlike any others, even the current v1 DRR Sim!