Tuesday, 15 June 2021

GP4: 2021 Williams FW43B - WIP

I've been working away in the background on the 2021 Williams FW43B. I was able to obtain a copy of the launch version that was due to be on the app before it was taken down before release. The model has nearly a million polygons compared to GP4's maximum of just over sixty-four-thousand. 

I couldn't resist trying it out in game, running it through a polygon cruncher, but it left so many bugs it was unusable really, but here's a picture in game, the angle masking all the holes. The fact is the car had to be recreated. 


The real F1 teams have been warned that they can't have the Williams launch app model on their work computers, because of it's high level of accuracy, so it provided me with a perfect template to 'trace'. The FW43B, as per the 2021 rules, is largely the 2020 car but with limited changes. Below are some screens of the changes for the 2021 car. 


The bargeboard area took the longest time to model, it being very intricate in detail and quite different from the 2020 car. The wing mirror mount and the sidepod vanes are all updated and again very different from the 2020 FW43. The regulation changes meant changes to the floor and the diffuser too, and all of that was modelled using the contours of the Williams launch cars as a guide. 


Williams also completely updated their rear wing endplate and the ends of their diffuser. They also added a new cooling vent to the sides of the cockpit, not pictured here. The suspension arms and brake pads are largely unchanged, but there was so much good detail in the launch app version that I wanted to recreate some of that. 



The car has a unique livery, I really did not like it to begin with, but it's slowly growing on me... very slowly! A new detail that I started using for this car is that I've used three different types of carbon fibre texture on different parts of the car, just to add that extra bit of detail onto the car. Other new parts are the High voltage warning light and one of the t-cam lights are linked with the rear lights, so they will come in the rain and flash in the pitlane. 


With so many resources available, I thought this was going to be an easier job than it was. But as time went on, I must say I lost motivation several times as it gathered dust for several weeks. But thankfully I shook it off, and was able to push to get this car finished. 

I'm am indebted to Excalibur and Hega from RSCT group who helped motivate me, give me feedback and advice and fix a few bugs here and there on this car. 

Look out for the full release coming soon. 

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