I'm with you, Bryster.  Booleans are totally sexy
("My goodness, what a big wireframe you have!")

....cough

Seriously though, good luck to all!  The Crystal Palace challenge was great to watch, and this one looks to be good too.

(I really do like booleans!)

Hmmm.... Bryce is the only 3D app I have, I guess that makes me a purist?  Darn it, now you have me humming that tune....

Good luck in the challenge :)

Well thanks to those who have pledged their support. I'll try my best not to disappoint.

They're at the line, the flag is up.................they're off.....................

lol may the best man win.

ps true 3D enlightenment = xsi softimage :P

for good free uv mapping get a copy of blender that has a great uv mapper.

I may just come out of hiding to watch this ...

That's very nice there Bryster, but unless I've missed my count the driver wheel there has 22 spokes, whereas the original prototype has 20. Just trying to be helpful, Dan the heretic

Thank you for the pics Bryster. I plan to use part Bryce procedurals and part UV texture mapping on my model, so I want to match my colors carefully. I'll do some color sampling from photos in PS and I should be able to get it right. There are three different colors of pinstriping on this loco and it should be a blast to do.

LOL!!   Whatever boils your bacon!!!!  :lol:

Lol, thats a "stretch" version of the UP "Big Boy". Some creative wag took what was already a huge, massive loco and made it bigger in PS, or some other photo editor. It's a hoax that more than one railroad enthusiast has bit on.

Danamo: Exactly right! It's one of those 'let's see if we can bend the rails' jobs!

Cross post......however, it's nice to see how you are getting along. I'm working on the wheel linkages atm.

Well, so much for waiting for Bryster to post a WIP

Don't hold your breath.

Sorry to have to tell you this, but my pc crashed, taking out two hdds and everything on them. I've lost the lot...about 250 gigs worth of my life. :crying:  100s of photos, family movies and work, not to mention all my Bryce stuff, research and Flying Scotsman wips.

My mother-in-law is very ill in hospital - about 200 miles away and I had to take my wife to see her and stay at her place. We took my pc and most of my workstation. About 2days in to a week long visit my pc gave me a nice little present.....the blue screen of death. I got back home yesterday and my son has spent all of today rebuilding so that at least I can get back on line. The bad news is that my 300 and 160gig hdds were toast....or at least the data on them. I've backed-up most of the vital stuff from when I had trouble a few months ago, but the latest stuff has gone. You wouldn't believe the stuff I've lost.

All I can do now is go back to square one and ...you've guessed it......ask for an extention. However, seeing that Danamo has gone to all the trouble and that I don't ask any favours, I hereby conceded the challenge and go quietly off into the night.

What hacks me off is that I'd even gone to the trouble of buying several dvds about locomotives for referance material.

About 20 mintues ago we had a phone call from the hospital to say that my wife's mother (she's 84) has deteriorated and that we may expect the worse. We're now waiting for my brother-in-law to give us an update so that we know wether or not to go to the hospital tonight.....it's 11.30pm here and we'll have to drive for 4 hours to get there.

I'm sorry, but there's the breaks. When I get things back together I'll carryon (start again) with the Flying Scotsman but until then the crown belongs to Danamo.

Regards

The Bryster

Bloody Hell Bryster!! I am doubly sorry to hear about your system crash, and also about your Mum-in-law! The ironic thing is that I almost asked for an extension myself! My band picked up several prime gigs on the Oregon coast and it caused me to run into a serious time crunch, wot with the lengthy travel time(also about 200 miles) and the fact that I didn't want to take my laptop due to security reasons.

A victory by forfeit is never as sweet, so any "crown" I would wear due to your concession would feel like papier mache. I feel that the only fair, sporting, and gentlemanly thing to do is to agree to an extension. We''ll resume the challenge when you are able, if you still wish to continue. Besides which, if you don't continue, I have this creepy feeling that either Brycetech or Frogdot will tap me on the shoulder, point toward their masterpiece version, and ask me if I'd like to abdicate.

I've really enjoyed doing the research on The Flying Scotsman, and I learned a great deal about the difference between British and American philosophies concerning railroad design and engineering. If you need any reference material to help re-coup your losses, let me know.

When rain, it pours, huh, Bryster?

Sorry about the family...I pray for you and them. Sorry for the lost work and data. Hope you can recoup a lot of it and carry on. Good luck!

Well, I don't know what to do at this point. My esteemed opponent finds himself hoist on his own petard; the petard in this case being his computer which self-destructed. I seem to have lost enthusiasm and drive to finish the challenge at this point. Should I finish what I've got so far? Maybe I should channel my creativity and time into the Oct-Nov. challenge instead.

What can I say? I've been following this challenge with great interest (just as an observer) and now the (non-virtual) world has exposed it's ugly side and imposed nasty problems. As usual.

My deepest sympathy and condolences to The Bryster for what has happened to him, and my admiration to Danamo for his honourable response (and also sympathy for his own dilemma).

Respect to you all.

Sincerely yours,
Diolma

Thanks for the replies!

Mother-in-law passed away 45 minutes after we got to the hospital. We drove through the night after I posted last and made it just in time - if that's the right expression. Everybody has been so kind but it was a blessed relief to all concerned. We have to clear out her house now and help do all the things you do when a relative dies. On top of that, I just found out that my brother's MIL - it was his wife that died suddenly in August - passed on 2 weeks ago.

 I haven't even started to re-build my pc and now I have a laptop to load-up with software because I'm damned if I'm going to move my pc again; It's just too cantankerous.  My mp3 collection of music survived because it was copied to a removable hdd, but I really don't know what else is backed-up...mainly progs and instalation files I routinely copy to RW-DVD.

I thank Danamo for his generous suggestions and in the spirit of 'the show must go on', I'll announce when I'm able to start again. The research pics I'd collected off the net shouldn't be too hard to find again.

Sorry to disappoint those of you who were taking an interest in this challenge, but perhaps this just makes things more interesting.

Thanks once again.

The Bryster

Danamo,

Please don't give up on this project after all your work. If you feel like it,  you can put this project on the back burner but keep it handy and direct your creativity to other projects until the time you can revive it.

I'm quite sure that Bryster will be back with a vengence and you two can start it up again.

My vote to hang in there with this wonderful project.

My condolences to you and your Missus Bryster. It does sound like it may have been a blessing at this point of her life and declining health. Take your time dealing with the situation and family matters and let us know when you're ready to resume.

Thanks for the input Diolma and Rstar, I really appreciate it. I won't abandon the Flying Scotsman, but I will temporarily switch it onto a siding. I got a sudden inspiration(or at least an Idea) for the Oct-Nov. challenge and I've had a lot of fun working on it.

Bryster and Danamo.

My deepest sympathies to you and your family Bryster. I hope this contest continues as it has been so interesting to watch and i commend Danamo for his understanding. Thanks for all the lovely work so far. Jenny

I've posted this on another thread but we should be carrying on on this page from now on.

ROFL! Now there's a train I gotta model!  Thanks for the kind wishes and humor Boofy. :biggrin:  Okay Bryster. Looks good. It's good to resume the challenge.

Jenny:  For a moment there I thought Danamo had posted a wip! :lol:

Glad to contribute to the cause! :o)
Jenny

Not to go too far off topic on this thread, but I'd like to make one comment about the Articulated locomotive found for research.  Although the Big Boy picture is photoshopped, here is a picture of the ultra rare 4-8-8-8-4 Virginian/Erie "Triplex" class locomotive.  There were only a handful of these monstrosities made, and usually had a wheel configuration of 2-10-10-2 and 2-8-8-8-2.  I learned of this mother in my encyclopedia on North American Steam locomotives.  This was built for the Virginian Line back in the 1910's IIRC, and they ran only for a few decades on this line and other major coal haulers like the Norfolk & Western and Erie.  Very unsuccessful locomotives due to their extreme maintenance and fuel consumption.

mdb

I bet this doesn't take curves very well......!!!

Found this quote, and thought it might be a tip for a final render......

Roland Kennington has looked after Flying Scotsman for 18 years and told the 24 Hour Museum that the only way to display it was "hauling 500 tonnes at 75 miles an hour."

I'm sorry to say that due to personal reasons I have decided to withdraw from this Duel. I congratulate Bryster on his fine work so far and hope he will continue until it is finished; it will be a spectacular piece of Brycemanship, I am sure. Sorry Bryster, but I will not be participating in this Forum any more.

:b_confused:
To say I'm stunned is an understatement.
I'm sorry to hear this, Danamo. I just hope it wasn't something I said....

As for not coming to this forum anymore - what can I say?

Well all bets are off. Looks like this one was doomed from the start.  However, this has become such a part of my life that I will plod along until I finish it. 
To be honest it was very slow going. I'm at 1429 objects and 821564polys. But only 36 mbs.
If you guys keep watching I'll keep posting the updates.
ce la vi - as they say in China!
:b_sad: