http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant

The 601 is the best known version and I've been searching for a decent model of this car :

Poser : nothing.

Google Sketchup : decent models of both limousine and Universal version, unfortunately mangled by the conversions to and from Sketchup. I wonder who made the originals, they are not Sketchup models.

Finally as a last legal resource I went to Turbosquid :

http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=TRABANT&x=0&y=0

All models have issues, only 1 acceptable model ... the most expensive one at 175$ ...

That's way over my budget.

Hence my request for a (paid) limousine version.

The "Universal" estate and "Tramp" jeep-like versions would also be welcome.

I was going to create such, model but had no purpose till today. If you can wait and press me by PM, I can try create something for next weekend.

BTW. this one is mine:

http://plfoto.com/zdjecie,reporterskie,trabi-in-the-sky-with-dog,518436.html

Trabant colours :

http://www.trabant.cz/barvy/p601

Anyway, thanks in advance.

 The model doesn't have to be a freebie, it doesn't need moving parts and it doesn't have to be finished for the next weekend. Only it has to be a detailed model usable for close-up shots, round - not edgy - wheel arches for example. Don't bother about the paint either, I already made shaders for about every Trabant colour.

Ok. Will be done. I think that it must be freebie. You are only customer who can be interested in :)

Mye Trabi is not genuine, that was 1.1 and now is 1.3, paint colour is choosen by my wife.

If you can accept some procedural pattern which are not authentic would be great (for example zig zags as tire treads). I'm not good in texturing.

No problem for the textures.

quote :

You are only customer who can be interested in :)

I doubt it. I get very little response in my freebie thread but afterwards there are hundreds of downloads .

I think those would be useful for Cold War spy scenes at least (both  buildings and cars). I suspect there might be considerable interest among Europeans, also.

You know why this model was named 601?

Sixty people ordered it but only one man got it ;)

Quote :

Sixty people ordered it but only one man got it ;)

Hey, in the end everyone got his car. The average delivery time was 10 years but that was only a small inconvenience : you simply ordered someones car when he/she was born.

Note : I'm not inventing this. I found 1 such case on the Internet. Her Trabant was ordered at her birth in 1977. As an original 2-stroke it must have been delivered before 1990, she still owns it. Maybe an extreme case but I guess more people got there car ordered during infancy.

I think those would be useful for Cold War spy scenes at least (both  buildings and cars).

If I'm not mistaken the Stasi (East-German secret service) preferred Lada.

Of which brand there are enough models to be found on not-so-trustworthy sites but this Polish Fiat can easily be badge-engineered into a Lada, and it's a Poser model :

http://www.colacola.se/expo_fiat.htm

I made a VOPO texture for this car, see render.

A friend of mine was on holiday some time ago in what was then Czechoslovakia and saw a 'Trabby'. For some reason he fell in love with it and bought it, and drove it all the way back through Europe and the UK to N. Ireland.

It's been sitting in a barn ever since - at least 20 years now - waiting to be 'done up'. The last time I saw it, the tyres had mostly rotted away and it was covered in guano (that's bird poo to you and me). But he turned the engine over and it started - not first time, but at about the fourth attempt - causing a mass exodus from its bodywork of small furry mammals and creepy-crawlies.

He looked wistfully at this heap of junk, now wreathed in a cloud of blue exhaust smoke,  and whispered, "one of these days, old girl" before we closed the barn doors and headed for the pub.

The Duroplast body will last quite a few years but not the other parts. Unfortunately the car cannot be registered for daily use in Belgium, otherwise I would consider buying one too, just for fun.

I'd pay for a Trabi model.  Tried to build one but lost interest....

I was also pleased with your Renault R8, another "cult" car :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFH8WKKG36c

"You don'want me to take the wheel ?"

"No, I'm scared when I'm not driving."

Dear DarthJ, recently there was another thread about Gestapo uniforms and their usage. How did Stasi behave? just plain clothes or they went around in uniforms? I have found images of Stasi top brass in uniform but they were in official contexts.

That's one part of East-Germany's history I haven't studied yet (visit to the Stasi-museum is planned for "Berlin 2012"). I guess that as a secret police they performed most of their duties in plain clothes though they performed border controls disguised as Grenztruppe.

Check this series on Youtube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb7B1fHB_0I

Quote - Quote :

I think those would be useful for Cold War spy scenes at least (both  buildings and cars).

If I'm not mistaken the Stasi (East-German secret service) preferred Lada.

Of which brand there are enough models to be found on not-so-trustworthy sites but this Polish Fiat can easily be badge-engineered into a Lada, and it's a Poser model :

http://www.colacola.se/expo_fiat.htm

I made a VOPO texture for this car, see render.

On the picture which you linked and in Mr Lejczak presentation is Polish Fiat 125p. It is improved version of Italian Fiat 125 (improved heating system and square lamps which break very often are replaced by round ones). Succesors were: Fiat 132 and Croma.

Both pictures do not show authentic cars. Anyway model of Trabi which I prepare atm will be not exactly the same as real Trabi was. I cannot work with CAD and introduce all dimensions etc. My red Trabi is my first car, which I bought when I was student, and I cannot sell it till now. It is real good friend. It breaks all the time but never stops. I can lose piston and Trabi still can go, there is no computer which inform me that I have "fatal error". Unfortunatelly it is very noisy and uncomfortable, then I drive it not very often.

I've read english wiki information about Trabi and technical information are correct, but historical summary is crappy. When first Trabant was released nobody care about ecology, not only in DDR but anywhere. 2 stroke engine was VERY cheap. 19 kW generated by 600 ccm is not a lot, but 19 kW generated by 17 kg (!!!) is incredible result. Engine was very light and 2 stroke Trabi engines were used as propulsion to Ultralight trikes (even today is quite popular). Duraplast body looks funny, but I can stand on my Trabi roof and cannot stand on Mitsubishi. That was very smart car, only problem was that it was produced too long... about 20 yrs.

Please be patient

Waiting patiently ...  :m_peace:

Which gives me time for a remark though : isn't the roof too high ?

It is possible, but top of body is not modeled yet. I cannot fing good sample of roof curve. When roof will be ready I can easy move it up down. ATM windows are only template which let me shape top of car.

Attached Link: http://www.poserdirect.com/miscstuff/trab.zip

It's the sketchup conversion DarthJ asked for in response to my thread over at daz, one where I'd been making freebies on request. I'd also been playing around with tooning cars, so figured this would  would be good practice.

While breaking up the original mesh using DE and regrouping/remapping  in UVMapper went OK. Unfortunately the rest of the conversion didn't work that well, the model ended well blocky and sub-d didn't work on some parts. Plus as Darth points out theres the question of ownership, while fair use (educational) can be argued for sketchup stuff, I wouldn't risk it commerically.  

But if you can make it use of it for scale  reference, feel free, at least then this won't be wasted.

Finaly I created body. It can be used as a background prop, because it is still empty - no seats, wheel, mirrors, handles. I wanted to make it low poly, but it has 11,5 K verticles. I'm affraid that ultimate version must be more detailed, because some areas do not look good (corners of the windows, lamps etc). I must improve a little front bonnet.

UV map are prepared for procedural materials - surfaces are flat, but a lot of UV maps cover the same area.

You can dowload it from mediafire. Prop with embed geometry and some very simple materials.

When I add missing parts of interior I'm going to rig front tires, doors and bonnet.

Most import critique is the position of the backwheels.

You are right. I changed it when model was ready and that was mistake.

Wheels are too small and doors are too big. Anyway template is little bit different then mine

http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot-restricted/cars/trabant/trabant_601-40922.jpg

BTW - what happend with roof? On first render it looks flat.

Thanks. Sorry that I did not answer immediatelly.

No probs.*

This model is very nice. Shape is almost perfect. Unfortunatelly Poser cannot smooth. I have similar problem with model which I created in Wings but improving mine model is easier then another.

Yep, thats the problem with these things, and yours is much nicer.

Loaded up into UVmapper for a quick play and apart from a few small bits found that mapping it was a joy.

BTW - what happend with roof? On first render it looks flat.

Never mind that, to make these renders I moved the template picture forward and backward, making some parts of the car more or less visible.

Loaded up into UVmapper for a quick play and apart from a few small bits found that mapping it was a joy.

Not a UV-mapper myself I could use your UV-maps. I already prepared a set of "authentic colours" as shaders, with an UV-mapped vehicle I could also make some nice textures, such as Volkspolizei or Feuerwehr.

Just like human figure in Poser - they cannot looks natural, so they should look good ;)

I addded few details - mirror, handles, labels, logo. Wheels are bigger and back of car is little bit shorter.

Thre is few bugs which I see, but I cannot improve it (or I think it is not worth to improve - a lot of work for not important effect.) Front of car should be more slant. Trabant has "bump nose". I cannot fix it without autoCAD. The same with back - looks too heavy/massive. Back side of door should be curved - sides of doors should wider then window. I did not noticed it when I sliced model and now it is hard to improve. Labels under backside windows are too wide. It is hard to improve, but I tried to do it. I do not what is wrong, but when I move windows down, they look worse. Bonnet curvatures are not correct, but I cannot fix it with Wings (I'll try work with front bonnet, but I do not expect big difference. Front of car should be more bump - I'll try to improve it but if fixwd part would not fit to bonnet I'll give up.

Let me know if you see any other misstakes.

Quote - Loaded up into UVmapper for a quick play and apart from a few small bits found that mapping it was a joy.

I'm going to delete a lot of polygons. All parts are 2 sided, what is not necessary. I did not do it yet, because it is easier to manipulate with mesh then with one sided surface - loops, slide etc. When I delete parts inside UV maps will be more clear. Anyway I think that textured surfaces should be on seats and speedmeter. Another parts looks better with procedural materials

New prop with separate geometry

Quote - Not a UV-mapper myself I could use your UV-maps. I already prepared a set of "authentic colours" as shaders, with an UV-mapped vehicle I could also make some nice textures, such as Volkspolizei or Feuerwehr.

I think that Polizei or Feurwehr textures can be done with current UV maps. If not I'll check them again when you accept shape.

BTW Trabant was a Volks car ;) Police or civil services use it sometimes, but it were rare accident. Of course today you can see cars like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trabant_Feuerwehrversion.jpg

http://pasjomat.pl/upload/stories/szalas/Trabant_Militrversion.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Trabant_Polizeiversion.jpg

but they are famous, just because they were rare.

Moreover cars in "People's Democracies" were luxury goods. Althought new Trabant was worth few hundreds $ people must save theirs moneys few years to buy it. They did not change car after 3 years. My father had Fiat 126 over 11 years. When it was completly rusty he bought next Fiat and drive it 10 years. Quality of Trabant, Fiat or old Skodas were terrible. People fix them or improve on theirs own, fortunatelly simple construction was very easy to fix, but 30 years ago cars were less authentic then today. It was hard to find replacement parts then cars were fixed with very weird tools :)

Can't do anything now as I'm getting ready to go away for a week, but if you want this uvmapped when it's done give me a shout.