I love this - mainly because this will have the annul stitch counters (?) at the Red Alliance forum spitting feathers! LMAO

Yes, it is true - what many have suspected for a long time now - there is a Russian licensed version of the Glock being made. Great news for Russian loadout airsofters as there is still a dearth of Russian airsoft pistols out there.

Re-blogged from The Firearm Blog

...Sorry - I'm still laughing about the Red Alliance guys (who will undoubtedly insist that the Russian version is somehow better - OR, like Chechkov from Star Trek, insist that they came up with the design first)!

It seems so long since I actually sat down and did an airsoft related post. Half of that is to do with my airsoft hiatus and half is to do with the very (...very...) dull airsoft industry which doesn't seem to be able to come up with anything really new or innovative that has caught my imagination.

Anyway, to encourage my rehabilitation back into the world of airsoft I am designating Thursdays as my airsoft post day and will write up about those items that I have got excited about or the little projects I have been quietly pottering about with. Today I start with an old favourite, my CYMA Glock 18c 'Assassin' project...

I have wanted to add a tactical flashlight since I began this project but the price of some of the real steel ones (and even some of the airsoft ones) put me off a little. However, I saw and advert on Airsoftnews.eu for a new UK based store called 'The Range' (www.airsoftrange.co.uk), they have a NcSTAR QD LED Tactical Flashlight for just £29.99 plus postage and so I grabbed it. As you can see from the bove photo it compliments my Glock wonderfully - the only downside is that it restricts the finger position of a two handed 'Weaver Stance'. I now have to curl my left index finger just under the trigger guard.

Additionally I added a real Pachmayr Tactical Grip Glove. This rubber accessory slips over the pistol grip and provides a firm and non-slip grip which I find a lot more comfortable and tactile than the plastic stippled Glock one. There are specific types of gloves to match particular makes of pistol to ensure a tight fit that won't budge in use, I particularly like the additional bulk this glove gives as I have large hands. This item was £12.35 (plus extrosionate postage) from Midway UK (www.midwayuk.com).

Well, I guess I've gone as far as I want to go with this model - it was just a practise model after all. It's achieved everything I wanted it to, I've brushed off my Google SketchUp skills and discovered new techniques in rendering (something I've always wanted to explore).

The model itself is a bit basic, and I've fudges some of it - not wanting to get sucked into complex detail when all I wanted to do was practise (I'll save that for 'live' projects).

Most of all, though, I've enjoyed myself - I was asked by someone I showed this model to 'what's it for?', well it's not for anything other than the practise and enjoyment really. I've always said that building 3D models in SketchUp is rather like building an Airfix plastic kit when you were a kid - it's a relaxing pastime which is fun, entertaining and - as you end up sharing the model via Google Warehouse (and document the process on a blog maybe) helpful to others who are learning too.

Moving on with my actual modelling of my Glock 18C replica, I have completed the detailing on one side of the pistol. With just the right side of the model to complete I am very near to the end of this project. However, before I start thinking of finishing there are a few things to do yet.

As this is a model based on my airsoft replica of the Glock I will be adding some of the accessories that I have on my airsoft pistol. So there is still some parts to make and I will have to make my mind up as to how I will present the final illustration. Will the final picture be a technical illustration or a rendered picture?

I have been dabbling with rendering the model (applying modelled lighting for a photo realistic effect), but my inexperience in this medium means that I am not producing a pleasing end product as yet. Much more satisfying is the wonderful 'blue print' type of illustration that you can output from SketchUp Pro. Obviously, it's a matter of taste but I like the technical drawing look.

Either way, the most important thing is that it's been a lot of fun - and very relaxing - working on this model.

I decided to have a go at a test render of this model before I went any further with the detailing.I've never really done that much rendering - giving a 3D model a photo-realistic finish - but it's something I want to get into. To be honest, getting a 3D model to look realistic is a large part of 3D design.

As you can see from these first attempts, rendering is an artform in itself - one which I clearly haven't quite mastered yet! Still, you have to start somewhere, and this model is very much about learning.

In my initial post in this series I showed you what was in fact just one half of the basic model that I am making. The reason for this is simple, as the pistol is generally symetrical in design I began the model by creating just one side - the right side - which I would copy and flip in order to make the other.

I have now finished the first side and am ready to copy it and to join the two halves. Having done this I will have to go around the model erasing the seam between these halves. I can then start to detail this unified body, adding elements that are specific to either side.

The actual level of detail - and indeed the whole accuracy of this model - is only moderate, as the purpose of this model is just for me to practise my elementary Sketchup skills. There are parts of this model I am not entirely happy with, but am ignoring these inaccuracies as not important considerations.

Lastly, I am trying out something a bit new - I am adding a short movie to this post!

This is my first YouTube effort, and although it isn't exactly a gripping use of that medium, it is actually handy to show the model 'in the round' and how the two halves have come together. I hope to be adding more and more movies to Milgeek as time goes on - though, hopefully, ones which are a bit more exciting than this one!

Because I have to get back into using Google SketchUp (3D software) for work I decided to do a quick and simple model because I am very rusty. My Glock 18C replica seemed to be the idea choice as a practice object, as the Glock is a very blocky design that doesn't have too many complicated features, the ideal exercise for the novice 3D illustrator.

I'll be bringing update snapshots to the blog over the next week showing the progress of this project. Hopefully it will inspired me to start a rather more ambitious model I've been planning for a long time. But I will keep that under wraps at the moment.

You can monitor updates on this model in more detail on my Flickr album: SketchUp Glock 18C set