Modelling an Star Trek Phaser using 3ds Max

After publishing the Star Wars Lightsaber tutorial i decided to do also something from the Star Trek universe. By choosing what to do i came across the Phaser which was the basic weapon in all series and movies and so became a part of Star Trek. Moreover comparing these two weapons together we have on one side a Lightsaber with a simple shape but all small details on it and on the other side the Phaser with very less details but more complicated shape. This major difference between these two weapons make them actually ideal for tutorials where in one you can learn to add the details and in the second build complicated smooth shapes.

In the tutorial i will start by placing the reference pictures of the Phaser to the 3ds Max environment and so prepare the scene for modelling using poly-modelling technique. At first i will start by choosing the right primitive for modelling, in our case the starting object would be just a box, and adjust the shape of it to fit very roughly the shape of our reference picture. Keeping the main details and the shape of the Phaser in mind i will place more and more edges to the initial shape to be able to model the Phaser and also to be able place all the details on it. Step by step using basic options of editable poly and some tricks we will model the Phaser according the reference picture with all details and buttons i will see on it. At the end we will use the 3D-Sphere material library which you can download from the menu on the right side of 3D-Sphere and apply the materials and textures to our model. For rendering i will use Photometric Lights and MentalRay. At the end together with the final render we will render also an Ambient & Occlusion map and do some postproduction in Photoshop. You can download the reference materials and as well watch the tutorial below and if you have any questions, just write us.