oh I get it caterpillar builddozers

Here's what I have so far. I'm noticing some differences between the reference in the parking lot, and those from the brochure.
Are we following the parking lot, or the brochure for consistency?

Also blanchsb , we should probably collaborate closely on the part where my piece meets yours.

That's looking great ppfbourassa! A fine level 2 blockout to me.

You bring up a good point about (in)consistency between the blueprint and the photo reference sheet (parking lot). The loader bucket in the parking lot has 2 additional pieces not featured in the blueprint:

I wonder what those are for..I would say leave them out and follow the blueprint for consistency. They're kinda ugly in my opinion any way.

I'm sure we'll run into many inconsistencies along the way that we'll need to sort out.

ppfbourassa Yeah I was thinking the same thing!I think it would be best for me to post the arms and connectors to you so that you can implement them onto your bucket. I actually started modeling the whole think on my own and noticed that Kent’s first blockout of the bucket comes too far back into those hinges. You’ll need to adapt it obviously.

Also, I don’t think we need this level of detail yet but the forked-shovel piece on the bucket that swings open (with the hinge on the top of the loader bucket) is used to grab objects such as logs on the back end. It has some “teeth” on the back edge that helps it grab those objects.

I am getting closer with my blockout but there are a lot of holes and pins on mine that I need to build in. I’m about 60% done. I’ll post a link when I am done.

Actually. I have enough to give you to work your part now. Gimme a sec and I will upload it.

blanchsb I'm not exactly sure what you mean. On the bottom part, which I'm calling Loader Bucket B, colored red here, did I address what you meant?

ppfbourassa Here’s what I was talking about. I may be getting ahead of the blockout with this comment but it is good to keep it in mind for later.

I private messaged you with a link to the blend file I created with the Loader-Arms. That should be enough to get you going.

ppfbourassa  A couple more things to note: the back of the bucket ended up going too far back. I made a ”better” blockout to represent the contour a little better for reference in the file. You can delete it as I just wanted to point it out. I don’t think I got the supports exactly right but they are close enough to drive the point home.

Before:

Before

After

blanchsb Yours is looking so good! Am I on the right track with the connections?

ppfbourassa blanchsb The collaboration between you too already is awesome! Both of your level 2 blockouts are looking sharp too. Excellent work so far 🤜💥🤛

ppfbourassa yeah that is looking great!

Okay here’s my updated loader arm progress. Made lots of holes and filled them with pins. Tried to maintain somewhat of decent topology for next stages around all of the holes and details.

Really nice work blanchsb! I'm wishing the next stream wasn't a month away...seeing you and ppfbourassa do work is making me impatient to continue the project!

Ok I am hitting a decent snag where reality clashes with reference. I wanted to get some community feedback/critique on my thought process.

The lower hydraulic does not seem to fit based on the reference angle it is shown at

I know the proportions are correct because I rotated the main loader arm in order to figure out the location for the lower support and also using a common reference bracket for it’s location.

So, I just rotated everything and lined up to make sure I got close enough and I think I am going to push on with using the Red Dashed line (on the first image above) for where the hydraulic is supposed to go: My only concern is tire/wheel clearance where the main frame connects to the tire/wheel. Maybe I need to collaborate with spikeyxxx  as well since he offered the wheels???

I’m going this route I think. The lower support is about midway along the loader arm and that would make most sense for load-bearing support while it is cantilevered in the air holding a “load”

theluthier blanchsb ppfbourassa 

As far as I can tell from the reference pictures, thos two, ugly, additional pieces on the loader bucket are on all the pictures and seem very functional to me, although I 'm not sure what they are doing, I read them sort of like this:

So they can be put in different positions...

blanchsb Are you saying the piston doesn't seem to point at the part it needs to connect to in the drawing? If that's the case, I'd say to follow your intuition, it's probably just a mistake in the illustration.

Or are you saying there isn't enough room between the tire and the body for it to fit? That's trickier, because it looks to me like you are on the right track.

spikeyxxx My interpretation of this front area is that the base model has this rail going across so the user can add or modify the bucket to do any number things, and this particular reference has these metal bars attached because it's a function they needed.

I could totally be wrong about this, but if they are added by an individual owner, I'd rather not include them in our model.

ppfbourassa You are probably right. I looked at some more reference online and did find pictures where there is nothing connected to that rail.

ppfbourassa yeah I am saying that it’s not pointing to the part it needs to connect to AND I’m a little concerned if I go with my gut and ditch the reference that the hydraulics will interfer on the back side of the wheel/tire where it connects to the axle

Gotcha,

For what it's worth, I think you are correct on where it should connect, and how thin the axle is.

Those things are forklifts attached to the bucket, you can see where they can pivot on the top. and they are hold down with bolt on down.

Caterpillar people can do mods to their rides too

blanchsb kudos on your functional research and testing. I agree with your inclination to follow the red dashed line reroute. I've run into a few things with the blueprint that I know are inaccurate to the real thing. I trust your testing results 👍

Also I think I made the wrong call to omit the forklift brackets. All 4 official CAT brochures feature them. This is another strike against the blueprint's accuracy lol.

Thanks to spikeyxxx and louhikarme for clearing up the mystery 👏

one thing i've learned when doing exact models of real things that blueprints are lacking, either because copyright stuff or that things have changed between different years of same manufacturer and then you also get reference pictures that might be on different model. So the more you have real reference pictures the better. 

:)

louhikarme there is also the little issue that what we get are usually not the actual blueprints (I mean the technical drawings) like the ones they use to manufacture something.

Anyway, a blueprint is just a copy of a drawing, so any drawing could be made in a blueprint. The naming is not incorrect, it just sounds more 'official' than it is.

They make a drawing on transparent paper and then lay that on top of special paper with a light sensitive layer (which is yellow, by the way), shine a bright light over it so only where the lines are on the drawing the yellow layer stays. and then they fixate those lines with ammonia, which turns them blue. Hence the name;)

This is also worth mentioning the differences between a concept drawing or blueprint and a technical source-controlled-engineer-approved-drawing.

Many sales catalogs fall short because they are built by Sales and Marketing departments. These departments don't interface on a daily basis with the engineering departments. So, naturally you get the "Silo" effect where one department posts stuff and then the other continues with trial and error development.

I agree with louhikarme. Those forks rotate forward about the pivot bar on the top and turn the bucket into a fork-lift hybrid. Notice the forks get thinner at the bottom and thicker at the top. Ease of "stabbing" design.

and because of the ammonia part of it making blueprints stinks... 

Here's a link to my Blend file if anyone wants to give me some advise....Help!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ghdnh7CV-68DrKjQnGtJeXkMJjUYywhh/view?usp=sharing

Hmm? I'm just a person who wants to learn.

Aww well, can't blame some one for hoping.

xenoslaywright My apologies for the delayed reply. Your message made me realize that I wasn't clear about this project being for Citizen members. Since it's stream-based, which only members can watch, I assumed that part was understood but now I know that the context was far from obvious. I've since updated the title and made the note that you mentioned above.

I really appreciate your interest! However given the work involved from both sides, we've structured this as a Citizen experience: Interactive live streams surrounding the project, project files, model reviews, and XP rewards. Again I apologize for the confusion.

I understand.

Also, on the 1st stream, it isn't labeled free, yet you can still watch it.

Hey jjakeblended , look at point 1 under the Collaboration Details above, there it says how you can enter your name for a certain part in the Google Sheet. There you can see what parts there are and which ones are already 'taken'.

jjakeblended It may be a small *scaled* piece compared to others, but it's not small in terms of complexity and detail. I'm OK with you doing that piece only. I'll put you down for "digger arm hinge".

Make a comment(CTRL + ALT + M) , and Kent can add it later.

You added it already

aaz93 Sorry for the confusion. As owner of the document, I'm the only one that can enter info into the cells. But you can add a comment to cells that are like a mini conversation.

So you know, I received your comment and added your name to the stabilizer 👌

Okay, thanks.

theluthier Kent how does this work now? In the sense that I don't know if I upload the modeled piece to Drive, is it like a submission and I can't undo it? Or can I upload it and you take a look and see if there is stuff that I need to change and I change it?

Here's the Drive link. I tried to make it that only you can see it but seems I didn't know Gmail.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Nc7P0RQ3lAdfU4bSq2YwdZDZqd9wYUHo?usp=sharing

dostovel  I just put the link on my ”Attempt” row’s comment section for the Google Sheet. Hopefully that should work for you too.

dostovel Good question. You can "submit" a .blend file any time by supplying a share like (as you have, which I was able to download fine btw). I'm only going to consider these submissions final after the due date (which is a week before the next stream, April 7th specifically). This means anyone can update their .blend file after submitting via link until April 7th.

I will post your link to the spreadsheet. Your "battery boxes" look great!

Hi Kent, 

I want to model Wheel and Cab, but in the google sheet, it seems that there are already three contributors for those parts. 

I can take another part also. Please let me know once you have update the sheet for assignment #3. 

I posted the link via private message ppfbourassa but noticed that you already uploaded your to the Google Sheet. My bad.

theluthier  I added a comment on my ”Attemp” row for the Loader Arm. When you get a free chance, let me know if you are able to download it just fine.

blanchsb You've crushed the blockout stage 2. Even a little further than I expected. Excellent work translating and interpreting the drawing + photos. The intersection of hydraulic + chassis blockout is going to be one of many things we'll need to solve. Thanks for making a note of it! And thanks for kicking off the collaboration with a bang 🤜💥🤛

PS: I'm able to download your file fine 👌

Looks excellent 👌,  as if it were made for building the real backhoe 👌 !

Woah, looks like you're finished with those wheel arches! Who needs blockouts anyway 😁 

They look really nice, Adrian. Good work 👍

can muitple people do the same thing.

if so i can help with the wheels or the bucket :)

Yes multiple people can do the same thing.

Remember that it is OK for multiple people to model the same piece. But lets try to have at least one person assigned to each piece before doubling up.

Refer to Collaboration Details at top of feed.👌👆

This is what I've modeled so far for blockout level 2 of the wheels:

And a closer look:

@adrain2301 I ment more than two 

Kent I add a comment

Kent  can I change job or choose a different part of the blockout

theluthier block out for the wheel arches was done in minutes, I got a bit carried away and added more detail.

sshanr sure you can choose a different part. Just add a comment under the new part you want.

Kent I added a comment

You can do either way. Regardless I will simply copy and paste everyone's part into my master scene.

Clever technique! Didn't know that there is now a "weld modifier" in Blender 2.83. I'm just using the good old 2.82 Alpha ;) .

Actually, I don't think I actually need the Weld Modifier. It's just to make sure, because of rounding errors.

But one more reason to update to Blender 2.83 .

Nice work spikeyxxx! Treads are super long but the modifier structure is 💯

What about mine