Well, I’ve been more-or-less avoiding the internet.
It’s becoming more toxic and hateful every day.
Been out riding the Sportster… And repairing it.
My fuel petcock failed in the middle of nowhere. I was able to get it working well enough to get me home, slowly.
Fixed it on the side of the road, fuel everywhere. Couldn’t use much throttle at all. Limped home, worried about
burning a hole in a piston due to running too lean. What a mess…
I’ve been creating more pages for this comic. I hope you all enjoy them. I enjoy reading the comments, seems like a fair trade.
Didn’t fully enjoy the last few days, though. Not going to talk about it. We’re all on good terms here, I hope.
Right now my mood is a bit foul, trying to make the comic fun, despite that. Think I’m succeeding. I’m having fun with Cherry
and the Cats. You’ll see, just remember how weird my thought processes are.
One last thing – I really, seriously value your input and suggestions. This comic has already been much improved because of them.
Just don’t get upset if I don’t use them all, please. I have my reasons, and this story has it’s own path to follow. You just haven’t
seen it all, yet.
Special thanks to Rob, for keeping the updates on track.
Special thanks to Bill, for providing so many neat things that I will use in the future.
Thanks to everyone else for your ideas and suggestions.
Now I have more pages to create. Keeping ahead of you all requires a lot of effort… And a twisted imagination. Thanks for your support.
Oh, and TGW finished June at number 11 on Topwebcomics.com. Wow, just wow.
Petercat,
You’re welcome, and a hearty “THANK YOU” back to you.
Without the artists and creators (all of whom have twists in their minds and souls), there would be nothing for us readers and viewers to enjoy. Just keep on doin’ wat’cher doin’, it’s all good.
You’re welcome, boss, the pleasure is all mine. Currently noodling a wheeled infantry vehicle along the lines of a Stryker or LAV-25 or maybe a BTR-80. It won’t be a straight knockoff of any specific vehicle (plenty of usable models available) but my own impression of such a vehicle. After that I think I’ll see if I can construct a light tracked vehicle along the lines of a Bradley. The track itself I can visualize okay but the drive sprockets are giving me a headache. I spent a couple of days figuring out how to construct a realistic tire but the drive sprocket for a tracked vehicle and wrapping the links around that sprocket in a believable manner is going to present a major challenge. But it ain’t fun if it is easy, right? I do believe I will be able to fit the wheeled ICV into the multi-purpose module with a good 6″ clearance on either side. Hopefully I can fit the eventual tracked vehicle into the same space. In any case the Locust II cargo module will fit it with room for jump seats along the sides. I figure the L-II cargo module can accomodate multiple rows of 24 troops/row. Back of an envelope calculation would yeild something like an ICV (wheeled or tracked) plus 48 troops. Should also handle the troops plus 3 mil std cargo pallets – 6 in all cargo. Do I need to build a cargo loader/unloader that can be carried in a L-II cargo module?
As long as it can be my impression of a HEMTT and not an exact copy I could do one similar. At the moment the tires would be the major hurdle. Damned complex geometry on the tread. You can look at my DA page to see where I am WRT making tire tread. I just looked up HEMTT tires and wheels. Wheels would be a snap. Reproducing the tread on either the Goodyear or Michelin 16.00R20 tires would not be possible at this time with the current (admittedly poor) state.of my modelling skills. Look at my latest work on DA and see if those tires would work. I can sort of visualize how to somewhat reproduce a tread pattern like what is on the Locust (which, BTW, its.totally wrong for.an aircraft tire) although even then I can only produce something resembling that tread. I’m still learning how.to manipulate the geometry to produce raised patterns like that. Guess I can analyze the tires on the Locust to figure out how that guy might have done it. One thing for sure, making the first tire will be a major undertaking. The one I have down took almost a day and a half of trying different things to get to the point of makind such an object. Actually making a tire is about an hour and a half’s worth of work selecting and manipulating individual polygons. The tires I can make now have 120 polygons just on the tread which have to be individually selected even though some steps allow for.manipulating the polys in groups once selected. Remarkable how much work goes into something as basic as a tire. I have no idea how to produce staggered, diamond shaped treads such as are on the HEMTT tires. I have no doubt the real thing was developed using top line CAD software but that shit costs more than my house payment for 3 months! And it still would not yeild a model PC could manipulate in Daz 3D. Computers are really good at making squares and rectangles. Anything else you gotta tricke them. However while writing this I may have figured out how to reproduce the tread on the HEMTT’s tires but it would mean essentially crafting individual masters of the tread elements and positionig them around the circumfrence and there are 144 individual tread elements with a gap between them. There are also diamond shaped tread elements in the middle 2 of the 4 rows of treads. Might be doable. Would likely take longer to get right than the truck itself. A small forklift would be no great chore nor would a flatbed HEMTT body. Nope the real dick biter would definitely be the tires. Have to experiment. I have pix of a tire and wheel and an early attempt at modelling suspension.
deviantart.com/bmullins3
Bumpmaps have limitations. Mostly they do not hold up in any real close rendering – IMHO – and they do not yield true 3 dimensional representation. I can get sort of in the ballpark by careful modification of what is at its core fairly simple geometry. I am working on something similar to the Michelin 1600R20 XZL radials on the existing MHMTT. Look at the screen caps I have up on my DA page and see if you approve
Oh, yeah, that looks great. Maybe you could still use bump maps for wear, like small cracks , tears and such?
Where are you on the DEMC Wolf emblem? If you make it 3d, I could add it to any flat surface.
“Where are you on the DEMC Wolf emblem? ”
Do you have a preferred graphic? I haven’t tried to turn a graphic or text into a 3D model before. Supposed to be a way according to the program’s manual. If you have something you are interested in using, email a decent sized graphic to me – preferably high contrast like black logo on a white background or vice versa. I am watching a Youtube video about APCs/wheeled LAVs. Mostly to look at how the things are made. Taking notes of names for further study. Since you’re okay with the tires (I even made a hollow one to mount as a spare like on the real HEMTT) I will proceed to modelling wheels and suspension. Do you want 8X8 power with 4 steerable wheels or 4X8 with 8 wheels but only the front 4 steerable with the rear 4 driven. Assuming a grav type motor replacing conventional engine/transmission/drive shaft you can have it however you like. I could even put something like a double wishbone suspension (actually fairly simple to model) all around. 8 wheel steering would make a better turning radius in the real world. Of course it would necessitate models with wheels straight and turned. Not a real problem. Let me know your preference.
You once sent me a sample of a stylized wolf head DEMC (Now WEMC) wolf head emblem. That’s what I was referring to.
8X8 with four-wheel steering would probably be best for military use.
Not sure which one I sent. I have more than one on disk. How about I sned examples of what I have marked with a letter. You can just reply with the letter of the one you want. I’ll get on that tomorrow. Planning on working on the HEMTT knock off tomorrow. Once I know for sure your preference – including colors – I can get on modelling the logo. Also for the color choice a swatch or the rgb numbers will work. I can analyze any color and break it down into values for red, green and blue. Of course there is also the ever popular black (r g b = 0) and white (r g b = 255) and way more than 50 shades of gray. 😉
Will do soon as I finish my coffee and breakfast tacos. In fact I’ll use that exact jpeg as the basis for the new model. As I said yesterday, the manual has a way to turn text into a model but I never tried it. Will have to figure out how to model the graphic. Should be interesting.
Perhaps you could include a small gantry crane in the overhead of the enclosed module to handle the pallets
If it had extensible rails, that might allow pallets to be unloaded to the rear hatch/ramp, or perhaps just beyond it.
Don’t military cargo craft use some sort of roller/rail system to allow pallets to be winched or manhandled into place?
John, military cargo aircraft all have rollers and rails to lock things in place. The multi-purpose module I made for PC was to be hung under a Locust transporter. At one point I actually modelled rollers and sunk.them into the floor of the module but 1) they pushed the poly count through the roof so bad they bogged down my graphics card and CPU when I integrated all the solids into a.single model (and made the model fekking HUGE) and (more importantly) the damned things were very hard to see so I figured PC was unlikely to do a shot where the things were visible so I took.them out.I could add a crane – there’s plenty of room vertically in the module – but I would have to go back and retrofit, reorient and scale (for some reason when PC sends me a piece to work from they’re always hugely scaled (like a 6 ft man is 181 units tall. I model using a scale of 1 unit = 1 ft and sometimes I.set my grid down to represent 1inch on that scale) and weirdly oriented – I have to rotate them about the X axis 90° and the Y axis 180°. It’s easy enough to do just time consuming. Right now I’d prefer to push my personal envelope and make the HEMTT(ish) flatbed with either a stowable crane or a small stowable forklift like Shotgun 15 mentioned. I think the forklift would be more fun to build and would conceivably give PC more flexibility to use it. It would be small enought to fit in either the multi module or the Locust II cargo module. And PC could pose it on the back of the HEMTT. I still want to make a.wheeled ICV just to prove to myself I can. Same for a tracked fighting vehicle. The tracks bode to present an interesting challenge and getting all the surface structures on both vehicles will push my ingenuity. There are no manuals for how to 3D model. There are the user manuals for how to use the software (and there are capabilities in the one I use that I see no way to exploit) and some tutorials but the only way to learn to 3D model is to do it – at least for this old dog I turn 70 in 4 weeks) that’s so! When I made the medical modules the Catman used back In January I was still feeling my way. Half a year later there is still so much I’d like to do but cannot see a way to actually do it. I have only barely scratched the surface of the modeller I use.
Thanks for the explanations.
I know what you mean about getting your head around 3D modelling: I’m interested in getting in to 3D printing, and have yet to find a 3D modelling program that I can really get to grips with. Not that I’ve looked really hard – I’ve been too busy with other things, and can’t afford a 3D printer at the moment, anyway.
Oh, and a six foot man would be right about 181 units tall if the units were centimetres…
Very well-played, Catia’s Pride.
I think the pirates are about to find out that the cats have very sharp claws.
Tension is in the offing in both comics.
DON’T DO IT, JAMI! IT’S A TRAP!
DON’T DO IT, DAWGS! IT’S A TRAP!
Well, I’ve been more-or-less avoiding the internet.
It’s becoming more toxic and hateful every day.
Been out riding the Sportster… And repairing it.
My fuel petcock failed in the middle of nowhere. I was able to get it working well enough to get me home, slowly.
Fixed it on the side of the road, fuel everywhere. Couldn’t use much throttle at all. Limped home, worried about
burning a hole in a piston due to running too lean. What a mess…
I’ve been creating more pages for this comic. I hope you all enjoy them. I enjoy reading the comments, seems like a fair trade.
Didn’t fully enjoy the last few days, though. Not going to talk about it. We’re all on good terms here, I hope.
Right now my mood is a bit foul, trying to make the comic fun, despite that. Think I’m succeeding. I’m having fun with Cherry
and the Cats. You’ll see, just remember how weird my thought processes are.
One last thing – I really, seriously value your input and suggestions. This comic has already been much improved because of them.
Just don’t get upset if I don’t use them all, please. I have my reasons, and this story has it’s own path to follow. You just haven’t
seen it all, yet.
Special thanks to Rob, for keeping the updates on track.
Special thanks to Bill, for providing so many neat things that I will use in the future.
Thanks to everyone else for your ideas and suggestions.
Now I have more pages to create. Keeping ahead of you all requires a lot of effort… And a twisted imagination. Thanks for your support.
Oh, and TGW finished June at number 11 on Topwebcomics.com. Wow, just wow.
Petercat,
You’re welcome, and a hearty “THANK YOU” back to you.
Without the artists and creators (all of whom have twists in their minds and souls), there would be nothing for us readers and viewers to enjoy. Just keep on doin’ wat’cher doin’, it’s all good.
Thanks. I think these will be two of my better stories, stay tuned!
You’re welcome, boss, the pleasure is all mine. Currently noodling a wheeled infantry vehicle along the lines of a Stryker or LAV-25 or maybe a BTR-80. It won’t be a straight knockoff of any specific vehicle (plenty of usable models available) but my own impression of such a vehicle. After that I think I’ll see if I can construct a light tracked vehicle along the lines of a Bradley. The track itself I can visualize okay but the drive sprockets are giving me a headache. I spent a couple of days figuring out how to construct a realistic tire but the drive sprocket for a tracked vehicle and wrapping the links around that sprocket in a believable manner is going to present a major challenge. But it ain’t fun if it is easy, right? I do believe I will be able to fit the wheeled ICV into the multi-purpose module with a good 6″ clearance on either side. Hopefully I can fit the eventual tracked vehicle into the same space. In any case the Locust II cargo module will fit it with room for jump seats along the sides. I figure the L-II cargo module can accomodate multiple rows of 24 troops/row. Back of an envelope calculation would yeild something like an ICV (wheeled or tracked) plus 48 troops. Should also handle the troops plus 3 mil std cargo pallets – 6 in all cargo. Do I need to build a cargo loader/unloader that can be carried in a L-II cargo module?
How about a flatbed with a small three-wheeled forklift hanging off the rear, like some lawn-and-garden stores have?
Or maybe with a small folding crane up front behind the cab? Oh, of course, I can’t find any photos of the behind-the-cab crane on the HEMMT!
But here’s one in the stowed position on a HEMMT rear:
https://www.constructionscalemodels.com/en/oshkosh-hemtt-m985-military-transport-camo-twh-collectibles-twh077c
Maybe like the brick delivery trucks some companies use?
https://www.bing.com/search?q=brick+delivery+truck+with+crane&qs=HS&sc=8-0&cvid=75BD75E0201C43B9B3097DFCF709D3E6&FORM=CHRDEF&sp=1
As long as it can be my impression of a HEMTT and not an exact copy I could do one similar. At the moment the tires would be the major hurdle. Damned complex geometry on the tread. You can look at my DA page to see where I am WRT making tire tread. I just looked up HEMTT tires and wheels. Wheels would be a snap. Reproducing the tread on either the Goodyear or Michelin 16.00R20 tires would not be possible at this time with the current (admittedly poor) state.of my modelling skills. Look at my latest work on DA and see if those tires would work. I can sort of visualize how to somewhat reproduce a tread pattern like what is on the Locust (which, BTW, its.totally wrong for.an aircraft tire) although even then I can only produce something resembling that tread. I’m still learning how.to manipulate the geometry to produce raised patterns like that. Guess I can analyze the tires on the Locust to figure out how that guy might have done it. One thing for sure, making the first tire will be a major undertaking. The one I have down took almost a day and a half of trying different things to get to the point of makind such an object. Actually making a tire is about an hour and a half’s worth of work selecting and manipulating individual polygons. The tires I can make now have 120 polygons just on the tread which have to be individually selected even though some steps allow for.manipulating the polys in groups once selected. Remarkable how much work goes into something as basic as a tire. I have no idea how to produce staggered, diamond shaped treads such as are on the HEMTT tires. I have no doubt the real thing was developed using top line CAD software but that shit costs more than my house payment for 3 months! And it still would not yeild a model PC could manipulate in Daz 3D. Computers are really good at making squares and rectangles. Anything else you gotta tricke them. However while writing this I may have figured out how to reproduce the tread on the HEMTT’s tires but it would mean essentially crafting individual masters of the tread elements and positionig them around the circumfrence and there are 144 individual tread elements with a gap between them. There are also diamond shaped tread elements in the middle 2 of the 4 rows of treads. Might be doable. Would likely take longer to get right than the truck itself. A small forklift would be no great chore nor would a flatbed HEMTT body. Nope the real dick biter would definitely be the tires. Have to experiment. I have pix of a tire and wheel and an early attempt at modelling suspension.
deviantart.com/bmullins3
Could you use a bump map to model the tire textures?
Bumpmaps have limitations. Mostly they do not hold up in any real close rendering – IMHO – and they do not yield true 3 dimensional representation. I can get sort of in the ballpark by careful modification of what is at its core fairly simple geometry. I am working on something similar to the Michelin 1600R20 XZL radials on the existing MHMTT. Look at the screen caps I have up on my DA page and see if you approve
Petercat, please check my DA page. I think I have a usable truck tire similar to the Michelin 1600R20 XZL radials on the real HEMTT.
https://www.deviantart.com/bmullins3/art/mich-tire-WIP-4-884663373
Oh, yeah, that looks great. Maybe you could still use bump maps for wear, like small cracks , tears and such?
Where are you on the DEMC Wolf emblem? If you make it 3d, I could add it to any flat surface.
“Where are you on the DEMC Wolf emblem? ”
Do you have a preferred graphic? I haven’t tried to turn a graphic or text into a 3D model before. Supposed to be a way according to the program’s manual. If you have something you are interested in using, email a decent sized graphic to me – preferably high contrast like black logo on a white background or vice versa. I am watching a Youtube video about APCs/wheeled LAVs. Mostly to look at how the things are made. Taking notes of names for further study. Since you’re okay with the tires (I even made a hollow one to mount as a spare like on the real HEMTT) I will proceed to modelling wheels and suspension. Do you want 8X8 power with 4 steerable wheels or 4X8 with 8 wheels but only the front 4 steerable with the rear 4 driven. Assuming a grav type motor replacing conventional engine/transmission/drive shaft you can have it however you like. I could even put something like a double wishbone suspension (actually fairly simple to model) all around. 8 wheel steering would make a better turning radius in the real world. Of course it would necessitate models with wheels straight and turned. Not a real problem. Let me know your preference.
You once sent me a sample of a stylized wolf head DEMC (Now WEMC) wolf head emblem. That’s what I was referring to.
8X8 with four-wheel steering would probably be best for military use.
Not sure which one I sent. I have more than one on disk. How about I sned examples of what I have marked with a letter. You can just reply with the letter of the one you want. I’ll get on that tomorrow. Planning on working on the HEMTT knock off tomorrow. Once I know for sure your preference – including colors – I can get on modelling the logo. Also for the color choice a swatch or the rgb numbers will work. I can analyze any color and break it down into values for red, green and blue. Of course there is also the ever popular black (r g b = 0) and white (r g b = 255) and way more than 50 shades of gray. 😉
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/31e8394b-5535-4f53-aa11-92665de09819/de99fnx-a375c4fc-6ea0-4909-9ce0-f3dcd37131a5.jpg/v1/fill/w_1280,h_651,q_75,strp/prop_of_by_bmullins3_de99fnx-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NjUxIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzFlODM5NGItNTUzNS00ZjUzLWFhMTEtOTI2NjVkZTA5ODE5XC9kZTk5Zm54LWEzNzVjNGZjLTZlYTAtNDkwOS05Y2UwLWYzZGNkMzcxMzFhNS5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.wzW3iXr3Rnj_mzm2qfBT2GKWJi988ug0MVqTluMps8Y
Rob found it! Downthread.
Will do soon as I finish my coffee and breakfast tacos. In fact I’ll use that exact jpeg as the basis for the new model. As I said yesterday, the manual has a way to turn text into a model but I never tried it. Will have to figure out how to model the graphic. Should be interesting.
PC, chech you email. I put a quick render of the 1st pass at the logo on my DA page.
https://www.deviantart.com/bmullins3/gallery
Replied on DA.
Perhaps you could include a small gantry crane in the overhead of the enclosed module to handle the pallets
If it had extensible rails, that might allow pallets to be unloaded to the rear hatch/ramp, or perhaps just beyond it.
Don’t military cargo craft use some sort of roller/rail system to allow pallets to be winched or manhandled into place?
John, military cargo aircraft all have rollers and rails to lock things in place. The multi-purpose module I made for PC was to be hung under a Locust transporter. At one point I actually modelled rollers and sunk.them into the floor of the module but 1) they pushed the poly count through the roof so bad they bogged down my graphics card and CPU when I integrated all the solids into a.single model (and made the model fekking HUGE) and (more importantly) the damned things were very hard to see so I figured PC was unlikely to do a shot where the things were visible so I took.them out.I could add a crane – there’s plenty of room vertically in the module – but I would have to go back and retrofit, reorient and scale (for some reason when PC sends me a piece to work from they’re always hugely scaled (like a 6 ft man is 181 units tall. I model using a scale of 1 unit = 1 ft and sometimes I.set my grid down to represent 1inch on that scale) and weirdly oriented – I have to rotate them about the X axis 90° and the Y axis 180°. It’s easy enough to do just time consuming. Right now I’d prefer to push my personal envelope and make the HEMTT(ish) flatbed with either a stowable crane or a small stowable forklift like Shotgun 15 mentioned. I think the forklift would be more fun to build and would conceivably give PC more flexibility to use it. It would be small enought to fit in either the multi module or the Locust II cargo module. And PC could pose it on the back of the HEMTT. I still want to make a.wheeled ICV just to prove to myself I can. Same for a tracked fighting vehicle. The tracks bode to present an interesting challenge and getting all the surface structures on both vehicles will push my ingenuity. There are no manuals for how to 3D model. There are the user manuals for how to use the software (and there are capabilities in the one I use that I see no way to exploit) and some tutorials but the only way to learn to 3D model is to do it – at least for this old dog I turn 70 in 4 weeks) that’s so! When I made the medical modules the Catman used back In January I was still feeling my way. Half a year later there is still so much I’d like to do but cannot see a way to actually do it. I have only barely scratched the surface of the modeller I use.
Thanks for the explanations.
I know what you mean about getting your head around 3D modelling: I’m interested in getting in to 3D printing, and have yet to find a 3D modelling program that I can really get to grips with. Not that I’ve looked really hard – I’ve been too busy with other things, and can’t afford a 3D printer at the moment, anyway.
Oh, and a six foot man would be right about 181 units tall if the units were centimetres…
I can only speak for myself: I enjoy this comic – wonderful graphics and an interesting story (or two) too.
Thank you.
Check your email, please.
Petercat like everyone else I think you are doing a great job. Thank-you for sharing your large talent with us. Thank-you
Without my readers I might not be here.
Comments are motivation.
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