MAKING THE HST FOR RAIL SIMULATOR
Senior Artist Ronnie Olsthoorn gives an insight into the making of this model.
Tell us a little bit about the model.
As always, modeling a vehicle starts with research. Several books on the HST was purchased and First Great Western was kind enough to let us photograph the HSTs at their depot. Several scale drawings were consulted and compared with the photographs, as all seemed to show certain areas (especially that tricky nose!) slightly differently. The HST consists of 20,000 polygons and took a month and a bit to build.
How different was it modeling the HST to the Black 5?
Since most of the detail on the HST is on the bogies and the under-frame kit, modeling the HST was a quite similar experience to modeling the Black 5: all the small details were hidden in the dark! The detail was necessary though, as the HST bodywork is fairly plain compared to the Black 5. Together with the pre-shaded textures the detail really helps lift the 3D model from looking like a toy train to looking like a virtual replica of the real thing. The bodywork finish was quite different from the Black 5 and the challenge here was on laying out the texture in such a way that it could accommodate the different style liveries we intend to use on the HST in-game.
What were the difficulties in modeling this particular diesel engine?
All the details on the bogies and under-frame kit were tricky to do, until I was able to see and photograph the HST up-close. Before starting the HST model I was already warned by several members of the community that the nose section was a tricky shape. Indeed the scale drawings as mentioned before weren’t too helpful, as each set was drawn slightly different and photos had to be consulted throughout to get the shape as close as possible. It still needs some minor tweaking for the final game.
Rail Simulator Team