Stage 1:
You start out with a really base model. Right now you're not going to try and design a Fighter Tank. What you want to do is work in sections. The Center of the tank is the cockpit so we'll work their first. Basically it's just a cube, with a cylinder going through it. Make two smaller cylinders on each end and shrink the sides that are furthest from each other. Now the guns are basically just a series of boxes in each other until you reach the long main shaft. Here you'll use a cylinder and make an approximation of where it should end. Then taper them off with another larger cylinder at the end and shrink the end off like you did with the axel.

Tip: The beauty about making star wars models is they're usually symmetrical if you look close enough, so all you need to do is half the work and flip it.

Stage 2:
Okay, so you have a block with some guns. Woo! Not very starwarsish though. Since there's a model in existence you have to remember DETAIL! It may not show up in the game at all, but if you don't place it there you might forget something that IS important. Take for example the ridges on the guns right behind the gun cylinders. You're sure not going to see them in the game, but for bigger scaled models (Say you want to do a banner for a campaign) you'll be glad you spent the extra few minutes on it. You can do it by squashing one rectangle and then copying/pasting it repeatedly. Then push them up a little and put a large one on the bottom so they look like they all connect.

Divide up your cockpit cube so you have more vertices to work with. Then extend the middle-center two foreword. This will give it a more streamlined look. Now you'll need to start on the platforms it rides on. A good way to work is to start at the closet point your new work intersects with your old. This way you'll stay in proportion and have a clear what you need to do. Add a quick two antenna as small thin cylinders and a third on top for where your access hatch will eventually be.

Tip: Use the divide feature to change simple polygons into much more complex shapes.

Stage 3:

Not so much a brick anymore is it? First up is to color the guns and metal parts in. Anything that's obviously metal needs to be colored in first before you even think about texturing it. Why? Well because you may not need to, and you only want to texture what you have to. You may end up using only one texture for all your guns and shades of metals.

This is the meat and potatoes stage. Flesh it out. Put some rectangles down where the platforms should be. Make sure they're all the right size and in the correct positions before you start messing with them. There should be six in a row, one you've already built. Divide each, then select multiple vertices on all of them so they align. When you raise the main section of the polygons the connecting surfaces will automatically follow, creating those diagonal lines.

The last part is a rectangle near the cockpit that extends foreword. You pull that back so it looks like it's embedded into the frame of the tank.

Stage 4:

Now it gets interesting. The most obvious stuff first. Repeat the process in the last stage of extending the cockpit. Only this time, make it thinner and extend it as till it intersects with the platforms you're about to put down. Notice that there's also a smaller platform in the middle which is a flattened cube and one of its vertices was pulled back so it looks almost triangular but still has a lip. Then you just flip it.

Creating void spaces in the back for the rockets are probably the most complicated, and the least seen of the model. Well you'll need to divide it up multiple times. At least 3 by my count. You can always combine them later when you have the basics structure worked out. What you'll want to do is take most of the top and push it all the way down. You'll want to leave at least a two surface border, one surface for the top, the other one for the side. Squish the sides apart so the sides look thin and compact, then with your new open space place a rectangle over it. Flatten it and place it on the upper interior of your now void space. It will act as your missile launching roof and make it look like the missiles are actually coming from inside the tank.

Just place some cylinders there for now for the rockets. For the back place three rectangles of the same size in a row vertical on each side. This will tell you where the seventh polygon will end on your platforms.

Tip: When you want to create an open space remember to use a two surface border so you can create a lip that won't make your objects look flat.

Stage 5:

Stage five is a bit easier. This last part was actually edited in stage 4 but it's easier to see here. Take a look at the sides of your missile launchers. There's a bit of a brace hanging out. It's easy enough to do, create a rectangle and dived it up. Place one side flat down and then stretch the other end so it matches the angle of the larger polygons edge.

What's not easy to see in this picture is that the back of the tanks cockpit is actually a hexagon instead of a square. This is very easy to do. Since you've already added vertices to it just select the middle ones and then stretch them apart (evenly of course).

The last part is doing the back of the platforms. By now it shouldn't be any problem. make a rectangle and then divide it up. Stretch the middle section up and let the connecting surfaces slant down. Then on the back compress it until you have the angle you want both vertical, and horizontal. The last thing you should do is to raise the bottom slightly with that two surface border rule.

Stage 6:

Last stage before texturing. This is the fun part. All those little details you want to put in. (the hooks in the front are two uncomplicated hollow cylinder. Cut out the all the surfaces and vertices you don't need. Then you have to select all the vertices on one side (of both models) and create a new surface. Do that with the opposite side and then place them into the end of the model.
Another thing are the decals on the rocket. They're just triangles colored and a cone on the end to give it that bullet look. The engines in the back are a bunch of small rectangles lined up after you've dug into the back polygons a small bit and colored it black.
The last thing that you definitely should change is the back. Notice that it's at a slight incline. Select all your vertices at the back of your cockpit polygon and rotate them backwards about seven to ten degrees. Then all you have to do is texturing.

Stage 7:

Patience.

[This message has been edited by Invertix (edited 04-16-2004 @ 00:28 AM).]