Creation Sharing Gwr Pannier Tank Loco Finishing Off

Looking incredible

 

Fantastic! Still such a downer that DTG never gave us anything like this.

 

Looking good, any updates for April?,

I really do hope one day this becomes a official third party dlc for tsw because it’s amazing and we could really use new steam, specially a tank engine

 

Thanks for your continued interest.
At the moment I have completed chassis detailing and am trying to get the UV map unwrapped and packed in Blender before final texturing in ArmorPaint.

Photo shows the Blender screen with UV map on LHS and faces within the yellow areas are not yet unwrapped and packed correctly.


The different colours in the background texture are just to help me sort all the faces into their basic colour before getting ArmorPaint to refine these and generate the final single texture maps.
Once this is done I should be able to recombine the Chassis and Boiler meshes and reload the finished object into the editor, then onto the Cab !

 

I think DTG Alex should include this in the next roadmap's community spotlight

TSW desperately needs more steam locomotives, I hope DTG is paying attention to this one.

 

Very nice ^^

 

Apologies for long wait for an update but I have been working on the texturing of the loco.
I realised it was a mistake to leave the UV unwrapping of such a complex model and had to texture some component again before duplicating and mirroring them on the other side of the loco.

This photo shows the loco in Play In editor mode - at the moment it is a static mesh as I have to make final adjustments to the skeleton and make some animations as I have had problems with using the DTG 4F animations.



I'm not convinced by the bare metal on the coupling rods and buffer heads and may add a transfer layer to the buffer heads to get dirty /greasy look. The other problem is the wheel treads (bare metal) which are currently coming out almost black.
Apart from refining the numbering (to be able to choose cab and buffer numbers) the next move is to start on the Cab Interior model and get rid of the see through effect in the photograph !.

 

Wow very well done, honestly this is a required dlc for tsw 6 if they ever invite you to the third party program or something honestly don’t know how that works but I just really really really hope this becomes a official dlc

 

Im going to be working on steam locos for my Talyllyn project they're pretty intimidating, could i asked you some questions i get stuck on something?

 

Of course I'm always happy to help although I can't guarantee I would know the answer !.

Perhaps I could ask you a question : To get your route into the game did you use the "trainsim.cz" cooking mod or the Official Editor cooking ?.

Your post inspired me to have another go at getting my GWR route into the game (last tried a year ago) but I couldn't get the simple timetable (one service) to simulate correctly.

 

Thanks for your support and continued encouragement.

I don't think DTG are likely to invite me to become a third party developer as I am just a (retired) individual and family commitments often have to take priority over working on Editor projects. I try to get a couple of hours every day on the PC.
If I ever get this working in the game I would be quite happy to release it as a free mod.

I started on this tank engine as I thought I might be able to adapt the 0-6-0 layout of the DTG 4F loco to my model.

For my GWR Steam era route I really need a 1400/4800 Class Autotrain loco (0-4-2) - perhaps that could be the next project !!

 

No i used the offical guidance and did trial and error to get my way through it. I do have a demo route plugin which has the bare minimum and a pdf guide i wrote if you think that would help?

 

Thanks very much for this pdf file.

I have read through it and it looks as if it will be a great help in getting my route into the game. I hadn't realised that things like the theme were so important.

Have you added this to the TSW Editor reference documents ? as I'm it would help others whom are trying to create a route..

 

You’ve put the message in the quote on accident

 

So i have

 

I have followed your pdf. tutorial and was able to cook the route and get the packed file into the game DLC folder.
Sadly the route is still not visible in the game. I suspect it didn't work for me because I have "modified" DTG assets in my route ("Child" versions) and it seems from other threads that this can prevent the route from loading correctly.

It was worth a try and thanks again for your help.

This is getting a little off topic (into the "cooking and packing" threads) so I will return to the GWR Tank loco.

 

This is amazing Well done.

 

Needs to be released!! Looks so good!

 

Thanks Andy Gough and LouisianaSoutheastern2087 for the support and encouragement.
Now working on the Cab Interior and Controls starting with the boiler backplate (walls hidden in Blender while I work on this).

Photo shows In Editor version of the Backplate as Work -in -Progress with just the Clack valves fitted and some work on the floor - just testing textures at this point. As model is loco "as built" approx 1930 the clack valves are in their original position before conversion to top feed.

 

Very good, anyways might as well share this model pic

 

Thanks for the picture of the model - I assume it is 4mm (OO scale).
In the past I have made a couple of static locomotive models (metal) in 2.1/2 inch gauge (17/32 to the foot).
Making models in Blender is certainly easier than machining everything from steel and brass - and they don't take up any room in the house when they're finished.

Although slightly off topic here is a picture of a half section model of Stephenson's Rocket :-

 

No clue about scale but it’s definitely a nice piece of my collection, ^^

Also very cool model you have there,
(I could show off more of my models if you want)

 

Thanks but I'm a bit reluctant to hijack this forum for a talk about models in general and think I should stick to posts related to what I am doing in the PC editor.

On that score attached is latest photo from Blender of the Cab with the Floor (at least on the Right Hand Side) and the back wheel springs (which project into the cab) completed.

Because things like the wheel arches from the Exterior model intrude into the cab I imported part of the exterior model into Blender so that I could get all the parts in the right place.



As before the textures are divided into the basic colours and when the mesh is complete I will import it into ArmorPaint so that I can refine the textures and end up with a single texture map for the whole thing.

The strange circular feature in the centre of the Backhead is the boss for the Regulator with the projections ready to shape the Steam Fountain which all the pipes originate from.

 

How do you like armour paint? I'm considering getting it for texturing stuff for TSW, is it a good alt to Painter? Is it fairly easy to learn? I think I read somewhere that AP is better for non-realistic (stylized) painting, is that true?

 

The jury is still out on ArmorPaint.

I had been using Quixel Mixer which was free but since Epic Games relaunched Quixel as Fab I think it is broken. I had used QM mainly for texturing surfaces and hadn't realised you could import a mesh and work on that directly. I'm not sure with QM how you get single maps for all the different layers.

I haven't ever used Painter so can't advise. ArmorPaint uses Nodes within the material and is very similar to Blender.
If you have made procedural textures in Blender you would find the process familiar .
If in doubt you could try doing procedural textures in Blender first as that allows you to bake out the texture maps and you can get a sense of the basics without paying out for new software.

I find ArmorPaint a bit temperamental especially when trying to apply decal layers such as the dirt streaks on the sides of my locomotive because you have to rotate and scale a box to "project" the decal onto the surface and I found this quite tricky and had to restart that bit a few times.
Also I haven't really mastered the many different ways in which you can blend the layers together (Mix , multiply , darken , Lighten etc. etc.)

For what it cost ( £15) compared to other software I've found it quite useful for texturing big complex meshes but it can be frustrating to use at times.

Hope this helps.

 

Latest progress on the Cab Skeletal Mesh.

Just finished the three pressure gauges but the vacuum one doesn't have pipe connections yet as the Vacuum Brake parts not done.

I used Libre Cad to draw out the scales and divisions and then an image processing programme to add the numbers and text.

 

have you painted the guage needles onto the mesh or are you modeling them?

from what ive seen looking at the blueprints for the 08 the guage needles have specific bones assigned and animations tied to the simulgraph

 

I have modelled them, that is they were separate objects which are now combined into the overall skeletal mesh.

I will be adding bones to to them when I do the armature and will then link each bone to the relevant needle by vertex group.

I won't animate the steam heating gauge (middle one) as I don't think the game can deal with steam heating or if there are nodes in Simugraph for it.

 

Finally got the finished exterior model back in the editor (having lost the link between bones and vertex groups.)

I can now complete my "Shunting" scenario although I'm still having difficulty getting in and out of the loco and loco wheels still not rotating.
I found I can uncouple in exterior view and the attached photo shows the loco reversing back to the destination and pulling the wagons.
The HUD shows that brakes , reverser , boiler pressure etc are all working correctly with the 4F RVM and Simugraph.



I was very surprised to see the smoke from the chimney and the safety valves blowing as I have never seen that in Play in Editor mode before.

Anyway, on with the Cab.

 

This would be a nice add on for WSR if you wanted to have it but it looks really good

 

So far great progress!

 

I really like your mod, a loco I always loved and a tank engine must feel incredibly cool!^^

 

Thanks to "brfan#9132", "LouisianaSouthEastern2087" and "FreddieTheShepherd" for your support.

Although I have been making slow progress I am becoming increasingly aware that for this loco to work I will have to make a Simugraph and an RVM from scratch and although I have made some progress with these I'm not sure I will be able to complete the task.

Having started off in the hope of making a GWR loco for my GWR Steam Era route I have made things more difficult because all the steam locos in the game are of LMS origin (except for "Flying Scotsman" of course) and there are no GWR locos which share the wheel spacing of the LMS engines. This is why I can't get the wheel animations to work as the wheel diameters and spacing are set in the Simugraph.

I have drawings of an LMS tank loco which has exactly the same wheel arrangement as the 4F and this might make a better starting point for anybody else who wants to make a steam engine variant.

On a more positive note here is latest picture from Blender of the cab which now has the Drivers Brake Valve in place.

 

WOW, This is the best thing I have seen

 

Thanks for your support and encouragement.

I diverted slightly to test the texturing of the cab in Armor Paint and here is a photo of the cab (so far) in the locomotive in editor from the view point of somebody on the Platform at Chippenham station. The loco in this photo is static mesh only.

 

That's really nice. Can't wait to see it in action.

 

Hey Danfr can i ask what settings you're using for your materials/textures, mine all look washed out.

 

For my locomotive (where the textures come from Armor Paint) I'm just using normal materials with base colour and roughness ,metallic etc. The AO is layered onto the base colour in Armor Paint.

For simpler textures (e.g buildings on my GWR Route) I found the same problem with washed out (over bright) textures.
This is partly caused by the TOD setting in Unreal and I have got rid of very bright surfaces (including Landscape materials ) in "vanilla" Unreal using a Post Processing Volume and adjusting the Exposure settings.

Haven't tried this in TSW but there is another dodge on Unreal forums which is to insert a Power node between your Base Colour texture and the Material Node and set the power to around 2.2 (2.19 is recommended.) You can reduce the power if too dark.

These photos show the Chippenham viaduct on my route with and without the Power Node and the "without" version is clearly much brighter with virtually no visible colours. This material is still a very crude "placeholder" (taken from a TSC asset I made) but it shows the effect of the change.

Hope this helps.



and with power node added

 

Ohhh thanks i'll try that and see what happens

 

Just want to take a quick moment to say the progress you've been making towards getting your locomotive to work in game have been both helpful and inspirational. If I ever get my G-1 subway car to work, it will be because of the progress that you've been so generous in sharing.

And now texturing tips to boot! Great work, and please keep it up!

 

Thank you for such generous appreciation of my efforts. As I'm sure you know from your own project there are times when the scale of the task can be daunting and support from yourself and others provides an extra push to keep going.

Although I wouldn't claim to be an expert in either Unreal or TSW, if I learn things along the way I'm always happy to share that knowledge with others if it helps.

Like you and rob#3036 I am supposed to be working on my own route (see GWR Steam Era Route thread) but most of my time has been devoted to the loco during the last few months.

Thanks again.

 

It happens, i've been splitting my time between the locos and the route, so when i get burned out on one, i can work on the other

 

Finally, after many weeks of working in Blender I have completed the Cab Interior model and this completes all the 3D modelling and texturing for the loco.

At the moment it is still a Static Mesh and I need to add the armature (bones) and associated vertex groups. Then I will be able to get the two skeletal meshes into the Editor and start sorting out the RVV / RVM and Simugraph.

The photos below show the Cab in Play in Editor - one shows the boiler backhead and controls and the second the rear wall with handbrake and coal bunker door. (No actual coal as yet !)



There are a few artifacts from the ArmorPaint texturing on small pipes such as the roof condensing coils and the centre gauge pointer appears to be "missing in action".



Apologies for the grass growing up between the tracks - I doubt the old GWR would appreciate that.
The buildings in the background are the old Wiltshire Bacon Factory (in Chippenham) which was demolished long ago to make way for a shopping centre. Before that (back in Brunel's day) they were part of Brotherhood's engineering works.

Taking a short break now but once the skeletal meshes are sorted I may start a new thread about my experiments with Simugraph and RVM.

 

Fantastic work! At the rate you're going, you may well get your loco working before I can do the same with my subway cars!

I opted to get the basic (and I do mean basic) assets in place for my RVM, and a "spawn in and sit there" default timetable set up for testing purposes before I went back to working on the meshes on mine. For me, getting a pair of LIRR M3s to pull a pair of unpowered Gloucesters is a likely next target. I'll be happy to help with the folder structure for your RVM, but basically I just followed this guide, as I stated elsewhere, which lets me spawn it in as a rail vehicle, though at the moment it's still upside down and sideways:

wiki.trainsimcommunity.com/en/train-sim-world/modding/guides/setting-up-a-rail-vehicle

Please continue to keep us up to date on this beautiful engine!

 

Thanks for your continued encouragement and offer to help with the RVM etc.

Forgive me for going way off topic but I have been reminded that in the buildings behind the old bacon factory in Chippenham were the engineering offices of Westinghouse Brakes and I went to work there in 1975 as a spares engineer in the Mass transit section.
Apart from London Underground one of our bigger customers was Toronto Transit (TTC) and I spent many hours going through the equipment lists and assembly drawing of the brake equipment for the G1 (Gloucester) cars, M1 (Montreal Loco works ) and the H1 and H2 cars.(Hawker Siddeley ?)
Sadly most of the old paper documents were destroyed long ago but I still remember the equipment catalogue for the G1 cars which (uniquely) was a properly bound book with wine red cloth cover and "Toronto Transit Commission - Yonge Street Subway) proudly embossed in gold on the front cover.
Although that was nearly 50 years there are still lots of odd memories of the equipment in the dusty corners of my mental "attic" so if you have any questions about brake system I might be able to help !!

Anyway, to return from tales of the old days and get back on topic here is a photo of the finished cab as a standalone object which allows a view through the back wall and shows all of the controls more clearly.



Now I just have to animate them all (with VHID'S) !

 

I have just discovered this thread. It seems steam might not be dead in TSW after all.

The 57xx looks fantastic, it is great to see it in the sim. I wish you the very best of luck with this and your route, if it ever gets released I will definitely be picking it up, I hope DTG show an interest in it, I think it would be a worthy DLC.

Well done with what you have achieved so far, I will keep coming back to this thread.

 

Thanks for your support and encouragement.

I have finished the armature / skeleton for the cab and have started assigning the vertex groups to allow the various controls to be animated. Then I can export the skeletal mesh from Blender into the editor and add it to the Exterior in my test RVV.
At that stage (hopefully next few days) I will finally be able to "stand" in the cab and post a "driver's eye view" of the cab interior.

 

As promised in my previous post I have attached a couple of pictures of the driver's eye view of the loco in Play In Editor mode.



In this view there are a few texturing errors (note the zigzag shading on the gauges) and the textures are generally more "washed out" than the ArmorPaint rendering which is a bit disappointing..

This is with the Loco Exterior and Cab added to a child RVV but using a basic RVM of my own and you will see that the brake cylinder pressures are crazy. Nothing works and the loco just sits on the track and moves gently backwards and forwards.

If I link it to the DTG class 4F RVM I can drive the loco using keyboard controls although none of "my" controls are aminated.
Now I can move on to the difficult stage of getting an RVV , RVM and Simugraph set up.

The final photo is of the floor area and the wooden planking looks much smoother and cleaner than it should. I am experimenting with the Material settings in Unreal to try to correct this.

 

Please become a third party because man I really want to support this, show the main company steam can be valuable