Making a Tank with Trim Surface and Brush Stroke Treads in Curvy 3D

[Simon]

Bringing this battle-ready tank to life in Curvy 3D was an exciting challenge! Using Trim Surface modeling for the sleek, armored body and Brush Strokes for the detailed treads, the sculpting process was fast, intuitive, and incredibly rewarding.

Why Trim Surface and Brush Strokes?

- Trim Surface allows for precise, clean cuts, making it perfect for sculpting the tank’s angular armor and turret.
- Brush Strokes provide organic, textured details, ideal for creating realistic tank treads that feel rugged and battle-worn.

Tank.jpg (59.54 KiB) Viewed 14199 times

The Sculpting Process—From Base Shape to Final Render

1. Sketching the Core Structure
- Using Curvy’s sketch-based modeling, I quickly outlined the tank’s body, ensuring the proportions felt balanced and imposing.
- The soft move tools helped refine the flow of the armor, making sure the silhouette was strong and recognizable.

2. Sculpting the Armor & Treads
- Trim Surface for Armor: Using voxel merge, I sculpted reinforced plating, turret details, and angular edges, ensuring they looked battle-tested and indestructible.
- Brush Strokes for Treads: The warp brushes helped refine the tread patterns, making them feel like they grip the terrain with precision.
- Energy Accents: A mix of inflate and deflate brushes added depth to the glowing elements, making them feel like they pulse with futuristic power.

3. Painting & Texturing for Maximum Impact
- Metallic textures gave the armor a polished, battle-worn sheen, while the treads had a rugged, realistic texture.
- Lightmaps & Specular Highlights: These enhanced the chrome plating, making it stand out against the dark, misty backdrop.
- Subtle shading: Added depth to the tank details, ensuring it looked like it was emerging from a battlefield.

Final Touches & Rendering

Once the sculpt was complete, I posed the tank in a commanding stance, ensuring it looked ready for battle or an intense mission. The misty, war-torn backdrop helped enhance the high-tech atmosphere, making the scene feel like a moment frozen in time.

Conclusion—Why This Was So Much Fun

Sculpting this tank in Curvy 3D was an absolute thrill! The combination of Trim Surface modeling, Brush Stroke detailing, and adaptive sculpting made the process fast, fun, and visually stunning.

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Tank1.jpg (89.86 KiB) Viewed 14197 times

[weswes]

Trim surface is such a great feature. How did you use the brush stroke tool?

[Simon]

I used Brush Strokes in it's Array mode to place the tank treads/tracks in a shaped loop.

Once I'd drawn the loop where the tracks should go it was easy to tweak the individual track piece's shape, size and angle to match my reference material.

In the final image you can only really see a few treads at the front of the tracks, but they do go all the way round - easier to see in the wireframe render.