Modeling a High Poly World War II Willys Jeep in Modo

In the final part of the WWII Willys Jeep tutorial, I'll show you how I go about creating the interior details. It's not possible to show you the creation of every single detail, but hopefully this tutorial will show you everything you need to know to fully detail your own jeep model.

Project Overview:

This tutorial series will teach you how to model a Willys Jeep from WWII in Modo 601. The tutorial is created for users new to modelling in Modo. It requires a basic knowledge in Viewport navigation and UI. We’ll first go through the planning stage, and then we’ll setup the blueprints and plan how we should separate the parts of the model.This tutorial will have five parts, and at the end of the fourth part. We’ll have our Willys jeep modeled with the interior blocked out. In the fifth and final part we’ll proceed to detail the interior.

Step 1

The first thing we need to do is to refine our floor geometry. In the image you can see I added two loops with the 'Slice' tool. I will use those to create the transition between the different floor heights.

Step 2

I moved part of the floor up to match the difference in height to the reference. As you can see I moved the part of the floor with its supporting polygons.

Step 3

I slightly moved the edge more towards the front.

When we created the new edges to create our transition we created loops going around our mudguard, which are are messing up our mudguard curvature. So select the edges you want to remove and press 'Backspace'. In the image below I have selected the edges I left.

Step 4

With symmetry turned On add edges like in the image below. We will use these to create an extrusion for the transmission and support for the chairs.

Step 5

Now move the polygons we created with those new edges up as shown. You can use 'Geometry' snapping to align this plane to the floor plane.

Step 6

Refine the extrusion by moving the front polygons back a bit.

Step 7

Add support loops like those shown in the following image. Like before, I didn't create these loops all the way around (it would mess up the rest of our geometry.) Also I created a triangle and a 5 sided polygon at the top. Fixing it wasn't worth the time though, it still smoothed pretty good and any errors won't be visible.

Step 8

Add support edges to the transition as well. You can use 'Loop Slice' with 'Slice selected' checked.

Step 9

Now turn On subdivision ('Tab') and check if everything looks OK.

Step 10

Using the Scale tool straighten the edges around the steering wheel. Align them on the dashboard until they're mostly in the center of our steering wheel as shown.

Step 11

Inset those polygons with the 'Bevel' tool.

Step 12

Now Move the edges in until you get something like what's shown in the image. Be sure to move them only in one plane and not sideways.

Step 13

With the 'Edge Slice' tool create a support loop going around our shape. At the bottom you can see I just ended the new edge on the corner between the bottom of the dashboard and the front of the floor.

Step 14

In the 'Edge' category you can fine the 'Collapse' command. It will collapse the edge merging two vertices into an average position. You can use it to collapse the edges selected in the image below. It's a good way of removing triangles. Move the merged vertices further up a bit after collapsing.

Step 15

Add two new edge loops to refine the shape of the extrusion a bit. As you can see, I used 'Loop Slice' with 'Slice selected' checked.

Step 16

Lets further refine the shape of our floor by scaling the extrusion. Choose 'Linear' falloff and activate the Scale tool. Using the properties in the bottom left corner to align the falloff to the vertical axis. Scale the polygons in the horizontal axis to match the reference.

Step 17

Lets start adding pedals. I added a new 'Mesh' object for those. Use the 'Cylinder' tool but this time using the cube handles, create something like what's shown in the following image. Try to eyeball how big it should be. Later you can scale it to match.

Step 18

Select the caps, and also select half + 1 of the polygons (on each side) of the cylinder and delete those.

Step 19

Using the 'Thicken' tool add thickness to our pedal.

Step 20

This time choose 'Cylinder' for a falloff (you can select the vertices on one side before doing that.) Activate the 'Move' tool and in the properties use 'Auto Size' with the proper axis. Since we want to move it in the top view we need to, using the cube handles, stretch the falloff also in the horizontal axis (our selection is on one plane which makes it flat, that's why we need to tweak our falloff.) Using the Move tool change the shape of the pedal to something like in the image below.

Step 21

Select polygons on the top, bottom, and the polygons on the flat side. And Inset them with the 'Bevel' tool.

Step 22

Now Create loops around the mesh with 'Loop Slice'.

Step 23

Add 2 loops across our pedal as well.

Step 24

Place the pedal in the right place and scale it looking at the reference. Sometimes you just need to eyeball things like that. Don't try to make it perfect, Make it realistic looking.

Step 25

You can use the 'Pen' tool to create the arm piece under the pedal. Check 'Make Quads' in the properties before creating the shape. You can manipulate each vertex without dropping the 'Pen' by dragging them around. You can find the 'Pen' tool next to 'Tube'. Create a shape similar to whats shown in the image below.

Step 26

Add thickness to our object with the 'Thicken' tool. Since the shape is simple the 'Thicken' tool shouldn't add any unnecessary geometry.

Step 27

Move the shape to the center of our pedal, and then Move the top cap into the pedal shape.

Step 28

Add support edges around the shape as shown.

Step 29

Now Mirror the pedal geometry using the 'Mirror' tool. Move the mirror in the top view into the center of the steering wheel to make the pedals symmetrical around it.

Step 30

To create a third pedal create a Box and match its proportions.

Step 31

For now leave it where you created it, and add bevels to the corner edges.

Step 32

To add support edges, first inset the top and bottom polygons. Also add edges around, between the beveled corners.

Step 33

Duplicate the piece under the pedals and move it under the third pedal. Move the pedal into place and Rotate it to match the reference.

Step 34

Lets start detailing the steering wheel by selecting our block-out and pressing 'D' which will subdivide and round our geometry.

Step 35

When I blocked out the steering wheel, the cylinder in the middle had several segments. I can now use those to Extrude the top segments like in the image. If you didn't create the cylinder with those segments, just add new edge loops with the 'Add Loop' tool in the proper places.

Step 36

Now add three new loops to our top segment. Use 'Loop Slice' with uniform mode.

Step 37

Select the four polygons shown below on the steering wheel, and the four polygons on the steering wheel pole.

Step 38

Using the 'Bridge' tool bridge those polygons. Add several edges and Scale them horizontally as shown.

Step 39

We will need vertices in the center of our caps to align the 'Radial Array' gizmo. The best way to do this is to select the caps and use the 'Spikey' tool. Be sure your 'Spike Strength' is set to 0.

Step 40

Lets now select the polygons connecting the pole with the steering wheel, and turn On 'Geometry' snapping. Activate 'Radial Array' (in the 'Duplicate' category.) Activate it in the viewport by clicking on the center vertex of our bottom cap. You will get a gizmo with 3 '+' signs. Be sure your middle '+' is snapped to the center vertex of the bottom cap. One of the two remaining '+' signs should be snapped to the center vertex of the top cap. Use 3 as a 'Count' value and 360 for the 'End Angle'.

Step 41

Check where the copied connections meet with the steering wheel and pole. Hide those transitions and Delete the polygons where they meet.

Step 42

You need to merge those together using the 'Merge' tool. I usually select the areas I want to merge. It constricts the tool in the places I'm interested in. It also deselects the vertices which have been merged.

Step 43

Add support edges to the pole geometry. We don't need edges around the polygons connecting to the pole since we want a smooth transition like in the reference.

Step 44

Copy and Paste one of the nuts into steering wheel object. Move it in place and Rotate it. Also Scale it up a bit as shown.

Step 45

Add a Sphere into our object. Be sure to select its polygons and deactivate subdivision with 'Tab'. Move it into place and delete one half. Change the 'Action Center' to 'Local' and Move the edge loops around to get something similar to what's shown in the image.

Step 46

I added an extrusion at the top of our edited sphere, and also added support loops.

Step 47

Lets now create a new 'Mesh' object and create a simple Cylinder. Match the scale to the clock on the reference and Delete the back cap.

Step 48

Using only the 'Bevel' tool add two extruding segments (Bevel them while you are extruding them.)

Step 49

Add an outer loop around the clock. Also Inset the center polygon twice to make sure the transition between the outer extrusions and the flat plane looks sharp enough.

Step 50

Duplicate the clock. Scale it down and move it to where the smaller clocks are placed. You can create one side, and then Select the two smaller ones and use the 'Mirror' tool to duplicate them onto the other side of the bigger one.

Step 51

Create a new 'Mesh' object and create a Cylinder in it. We will use this to create the transmission lever. Scale it and move in the place and then Delete the bottom cap.

Step 52

Using 'Bevel' tool create a shape like in the image below. You can find different types of bases for the transmission lever. Making a leather one would require taking some time to give it a leathery look. You can try to achieve it with Modo's sculpting tools. Also remember to add support loops to the bottom of the base.

Step 53

Use the 'Tube' tool to create the lever. I just created a tube with 3 points in the side view and moved it into place.

Step 54

Delete both caps from the tube, and add support edges as shown in the image. Also add a Sphere to the top. Remember to turn off subdivision for the ball polygons so you can subdivide the whole object at once.

Step 55

Using the 'Tube' tool create a tube going around the seat. Since in the side view you can't really see the seat just look at the reference instead.

Step 56

Move the tube next to our seat block-out. Using the 'Slice' tool, cut the tube polygons like in the image below.

Step 57

Using 'the Mirror' tool duplicate the tube onto the other side of the seat.

Step 58

By Double-clicking to select the edges you previously cut. Use the 'Bridge' tool to bridge the two together.

Step 59

Now add support loops like in the image below. Be sure to not add them too close to the corners, we want a smooth shape for the transition.

Step 60

Add basic support loops to the seat, but be sure to leave some space between them. We want a soft looking seat after subdividing.

Step 61

Select the seat geometry and subdivide it with the 'D' key. Also duplicate it to the back of the seat.

Step 62

You can of course mirror the seat onto the other side like everything before.

Step 63

Also duplicate the seat and move it to the back. And Align it to our block out.

Step 64

Select the back of the seat with the tube polygons. Be sure you don't have any action center selected (you can press the 'Esc' key a few times and it will clear any falloffs or action centers.) Activate the 'Rotate' tool and align the gizmo like in the image with the right mouse button. Rotate around this point until the back of the seat is straight.

Step 65

Now Delete the block out geometry. Using the 'Move' tool, move the tube vertices to match the width of the space at the back.

Step 66

We can't use the 'Scale' tool on the tube since it would flatten them a bit (they would loose the tubular shape.) We can do this on the seats though, so Scale those to match the size.

Step 67

Select the bottom polygons of the back and move those up. You can also Scale the back to be thinner.

Step 68

Lets also create some elements to attach our seats to the floor. So create a simple box next to the seat leg as shown.

Step 69

Rotate it until it is oriented like in the reference. Add loops to our box like in the image below and Delete the box and cylinder caps. Be sure your box edges (selected in the image) match the amount of sides on the cylinder.

Step 70

Use the 'Bridge' tool to bridge those open edges. You can drag in the viewport to add more segments to the transition (I used one additional edge in the transition.)

Step 71

To support the boxy shape we need to add support edges. I've done that by selecting the center edge going around the box and beveling it. I chose that solution because I couldn't introduce more loops to our tubes without destroying its shape.

Step 72

Beveling the edge gave us one triangle and two 5 sided polygons. We can use 'Drag Weld' to merge the triangle like in the image. By doing so we have one triangle and two 4 sided polygons.

Step 73

Duplicate the nut geometry and place is on top of our boxy shape. You can select this newly created element (the boxy shape + nut) and duplicate it. Move this duplicate to the different seat legs and Bridge them. It will save you a ton of work to duplicate this part and weld it to other legs.

Step 74

Below you can see my final product. There is still huge amount of things you can add to this model. I hope this tutorial gave you enough knowledge to continue refining you Willys. Thank you for sticking around till the end.

Modeling a High Poly World War II Willys Jeep in Modo - Part 5