Week 6

With the model of my face/head now complete I can concentrate on the Museum of Power brief. The group as a whole have decided to go with the idea of modelling and animating the movement of pistons in a V12 aero engine. It was suggested by one of the group that we base the model on the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine.
The inspiration for the idea comes from the Rolls-Royce 'R' racing engine that the museum has on display. The engine on display and the engine we will model have very similar principles. We chose to use the Griffon engine because of its historical importance. When researching the idea we found that the Griffon was the last V12 aero engine of its kind to be produced by Rolls-Royce Limited.

At the start of the project I was assigned the task of creating a sky texture to be used as an environment for the animation. I was happy to do this but felt i needed more of a challenge. After further discussions it was decided that I was to model the Griffon engine.

The tasks assigned to other group members were:

• Martin- Overall Environment
• Richard- Environment details (Including buildings)
• Savva- Spitfire and Piston animation

To start with I only had one image that I could use as a reference for modelling. I have a basic knowledge of mechanics so I knew what I was looking at, but I wanted to get the overall shape as close to the real thing as possible. After searching the internet for more images and information I began modelling the first part of the engine.

I started by modelling one side of the engine block where the first six pistons will be housed. To start off with I used a simple box shape as the actual shape is quite linear. As the two sides are simetrical I can create one side and mirror it to save time.