Forum: Poser - OFFICIAL


Subject: Some of the prices out there!

Marque opened this issue on Jun 03, 2007 · 13 posts


Morgano posted Sun, 03 June 2007 at 7:08 PM

The top modellers, such as Bazze, can model what they like and still expect to sell the results, because they are so good.   There is no reason for them to model the boring stuff, so they don't (I am not criticizing - that is as it should be).   That does leave a gap to be filled by lesser modellers (I don't hesitate to admit that I speak as one with no modelling skill whatever).   If the best modellers prefer to spend their time, possibly their spare time, on relatively exotic pieces, that's entirely understandable.  It does mean that the best models on the market are the ones that depict unusual things;  conversely, if you want, say, an F16, FW-190, basic M4 (Sherman), or T62, you probably have to choose from a pretty unimpressive selection of  3D offerings.

A good example is http://www.gunpoint-3d.com , from which some of the very fine Vanishing Point models derive.   I should say at once that everything on the site seems to me to be of top quality.   It does, however, illustrate the "problem", that artists prefer to concentrate on what is out of the ordinary.   You can, for instance, get an excellent M4 Sherman Firefly there, but the Firefly was heavily outnumbered in 1944 by the basic M4 model (the US Army rejected the Firefly altogether).   There isn't a basic M4.   The Jagdtiger was the most terrifying monster an Allied tank-crew could face in the last months of the war, but there were too few of them to make any kind of strategic difference (except, arguably, by consuming huge amounts of scarce resources).   The gunpoint-3d / VP model is superb and I recommend it, but anyone designing a WWII scene that aims at genuine realism should take care with the Jagdtiger.  

Similarly, there is a pretty decent-looking Heinkel He-177 bomber at gunpoint-3d.  Luckily for the world, Nazi Germany created only one good bomber:  the ultra-versatile Junkers Ju-88.   For the most part, it made do with aeroplanes by Dornier and Heinkel that were deathtraps for the unfortunate men that flew them.   The 177 stood out among those by being the plane that could prove lethal even without enemy intervention;  the two engines weren't really up to the task of keeping the thing airborne and tended to burst into flames.   Consequently, the Luftwaffe used the 177 sparingly.    I'm not aware of good models of the other Luftwaffe bombers, or of any of the RAF's wartime crates, for that matter.   I suspect that the biggies (Stirling, Halifax, Lancaster, B17, B24 and B29) are not only a bit of a challenge for the modellers, but also pose problems for the render engines.   That still leaves the smaller craft.   I'd love to see a Mosquito, a Beaufighter, a B26, a B25 and a Ju-88.    If the Heinkel He-177 is feasible, then a Mosquito certainly is.