Hydraulic Crane Renders

t has been over eight hundred and thirty five days since I began modelling the hydraulic crane (amongst many other things in my spare time) and I can finally say I have completed texturing it!

This was without a doubt one of the hardest pieces of machinery to construct so far for D_ROGUE. Not only due to the number of parts involved (over one hundred individual pieces) but also the lack of any decent close-up reference. Almost every photo taken of a hydraulic crane, on board the boats seen in the TV show Deadliest Catch and elsewhere online, are either too far away or out of focus. I chose the F/V Saga crane as this was the most 'well-documented'. Eventually, it came down to just hours of staring at blurry images, learning all the major components, as well as a bit of creative licence!

Here we have the final renders of the model below. I quite enjoyed weathering parts such as the hatch and lifting hook; adding a story with all the scratches, dinks and rust. I was careful not to overdo the rust (the F/V Scully having only been built a few years prior) and added only a light coating here and there (even though the rough Bering Sea can work quick on metal!). For example, where continued spray from the sea would make contact with the crane and things like the hook to give a sense of realism from use.