Although this model for me seems pretty daunting at first, I began to break it down and approach it step by step. Using my 2D design drawing, in game screen shots and Mechwarrior Wallpapers , I started at the bottom and worked my way up.
Feet:
Starting with the feet, I began to model each of the individual components that made up the foot. Each of the "toes" are created with two joints, hinged by fairly big bolts. I made one first then duplicated and flipped it, then flipped one again and modified it for the larger back "toe". It took me a while to get the shape of the foot looking right, constantly adjusting it to match the reference materials I had. The most difficult bit was the inside area of the feet, which I had to look at other models fans had created to get right. Below are 3 photos showing the feet from all sides.
Lower Leg:
Another difficult piece (I have a feeling they will all be as fiddly as this), but once I worked out how to create the shapes in such a way that they match it was not so hard. I used the extrude tool a lot on this one, as well as the boolean tool to get the slight curve of the lower portion on both axis's. Again I had to look very closely at existing images of the Mech to get a good idea of what to create and where.
Upper Leg:
Fairly similar to the lower leg, but with more emphasis on the upper joint. It only contained 4 pieces, so it didn't take too long. Use of the boolean, bevel and extrude tool made it a lot easier to create this piece. I also started to use a new tool, making mesh a bit cleaner, was the divide fade tool.
Duplication:
As both sides are symmetrical, I simply duplicated and flipped the left leg to create the right leg, as shown below:
Lower Torso:
This is where having screenshots of the existing model came in handy, as my plans only show front back and side. The screenshots helped me model the side parts of the torso section, adding a slant to the front pieces that I would otherwise of not known about.
Missile Pod:
Starting with a solid block, I cut the ledges and shape into the block using additional basic shapes and the boolean tool. I then created the back grill by using a rectangular cube and beveled the outer corners, I then use the cut face tool on the side face to create the side grill. Then using the cylindrical tool I created the "missile heads" on the front of the pods.
Again, same as with the legs, I duplicated and flipped the left missile pod to make the missile pod pair.
This was the part I struggled with the most. To begin I dew a side shape using the draw polygon tool and my side drawing. From this I created edge loops, extruded and pulled the faces in to shape. While looking at other models and images I noticed a few small variances, probably down to preference, but I stuck with what I thought was the most "Official" source to keep it as close to the original as possible.
Laser Cannons:
A fairly simple section, I drew the shapes up from my plans and then extruded and beveled them. I was not 100% on how they should look as all images I could find did not show the finer details, so I simply did what I thought looked and worked best.
I then went over the model with a fine tooth comb, quading (removing n-gon's) as I went, checking every face and vertex was exactly where it was meant to be (no duplicates). I found a few stray n-gon's as well as some faces that were hidden among the mesh, so I removed and simplified them so they would not cause any issues in the engine. I then set about smoothing any edges on things like cylinders and any area that needed a smooth curved face and prepping the model for the transfer of the normal map.
Simplifying - Feet:
For the feet it was a fairly simple process. I removed the large pivot bolts from the toes and simplified the remaining cylinders. I kept the beveled edges, as one of my tutors suggested, as they will catch the light and create a better looking asset. I did find a n-gon or two, which I fixed quickly by dividing the face.
Again, a similar process to the feet. I removed unnecessary components such as the panel hatch on the front of the leg and the decals on the sides, I chopped into the main section and removed two of the edge loops and simplified the lower area. The steps on the front of the feet originally had a cylinder of 6 faces, which I simplified down to 3.
Much like the lower legs, I cut down the cylindrical faces as well as removing some of the details. I noticed that some of the normal's were not facing the right way, probably wen I cut the circular shape away from the cylinder when creating the pivot point, so I went over it and made sure all the normal's were facing the right way.
Simplifying - Lower Torso:
For the lower torso I remove the grill details and triangular extrude detail to make a flush front. I also simplified the attachment loops at the front as well as the back. I adjusted the main mesh to merge the center piece to the sides, then retopologised the inner sides to remove any n-gon's.
Simplifying - Missile Pods:
A little bit more simplification here than the other components. I removed the missiles from the front of the pod and cut down the cylinder pivot. I also removed the bolt details as well as the indentations (plates) on the front and rear side of the hatch door. I found a stray n-gon at the back and fixed it quickly.
I had trouble simplifying this piece as I was not sure which bits to remove and which bits to keep. I started off with the simple areas such as the Radar, Anti-Missile System and the Antenna simplifying them by cutting down their faces and re-shaping them. I then moved on to the hatch at the top of the torso, removing the round hatch and simplifying the pivot joints. I then moved on to remove the windows, as well as the hand holders on the sides of the Torso. I remove some of the smaller details mesh like the notches on the front and sides, as well as removing some faces and edges that were adjoined to them.
There wasn't much I could simplify on the lasers. I removed some extruded details that I did around the "barrel" area. I also removed some of the inside faces that can't be seen, but other than that, there wasn't a lot to do.
High and Low Poly Side by Side:
Poly-count:
From removing and simplifying the model, I managed to do much better than I expected in lowering the poly-count. The original mesh was a total of 23274 tris (11392 quads), which was then reduced down to 9649 tris (4828 quads), so I've approximation saved 60%.
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