Alutrec: Getting SPIFfy! (Patreon)

The most complicated piece of new geometry on the Alutrec is now complete, barring a few tweaks. This steerable lift axle assembly took me 10+ hours to model, manually UV map (bear in mind that there are 3 channels used for the base texture, occlusion map, and normal map), vertex paint, and bake. Thankfully, I had some excellent reference photos to go off of – graciously provided by the incredible Corby. For those who aren't aware, the trailer model itself is loosely based off of one of Corby's old models from ET2.

I've simplified/embellished it a little, so that the poly count is reasonable while still being visually interesting. Even so, it weighs in at a beefy 3500 triangles (still quite reasonable for an ownable trailer) and is by far the most elaborate suspension I've ever made. If there's ever to be a Freight Market version of this trailer, it will probably just be a tandem, tridem, or spread.

The only chassis components that remain are the landing gear bracing and animations, and the valvebox. After that, I'll prepare some cargo models, and make it available to you guys while I finish the remaining cargo models and accessories. 😉

IMPORTANT:
Before I make WIP releases available, I will be switching the Patreon billing cycle settings to charge up-front (at the beginning of the month). This is to prevent abuse; Other creators have had issues in the past with people pledging, receiving patron-only content, and then cancelling their pledge. I'll wait until a week after this month's billing, just to lighten the shock a little. I'll also be announcing/reminding of this change in another post early next week.