01 - overview

Modeling a sci-fi icon from scratch

This Blender project is a recreation of Officer K's Spinner from Blade Runner 2049, built entirely from reference images and without guided instruction. The model took four weeks to complete: three on modeling the vehicle itself, and one on texturing and rendering the final images.

02 - Skills used

From geometry to final render

The project drew upon three areas: modeling an untextured vehicle and environment; texturing using procedural materials for the body, windows, and tires; and compositing final renders with intentional lighting and framing.

03 - lessons learned

Hard lessons in high-poly modeling

This project pushed my technical limits in ways I didn't anticipate. I learned to use subdivision modeling to preserve beveled geometry cleanly, but discovered that a high polygon count made mesh manipulation sluggish and unforgiving. Using a plane mesh with a solidify modifier created further complications, as boolean operations frequently caused severe visual artifacting that required manually rebuilding affected sections.

Procedural materials added another layer of complexity: computationally expensive on a high-poly mesh which caused Blender to crash repeatedly in the viewport using the Cycles render engine. Keeping subdivisions unapplied where possible helped manage GPU load, but it remained a persistent balancing act throughout the render process.

04 - reflection

What independent problem-solving taught me

This is still the most challenging, and most instructive, Blender project I've completed. Without guided instruction to fall back on, I had to problem-solve independently at every stage, which sharpened my skills more than any guided project had. While the difficulties were frustrating in the moment, the process built a confidence and depth of knowledge I'll carry into every project going forward.