The Mystery Volkswagen

I think, like many others, as soon as I saw the subject I got some Scooby Doo vibes. Since this is my first attempt to do a project on my own, I want to do something not too complicated. So I decided to give it a shot at the Scooby Doo idea. First I gathered some pictures for reference, mainly from the original show.

At the same time, I didn't want to create a cartoonish 3D version but, more like a real van then has been in many journeys as The Mistery Machine. So I tried to give it a more realistic look using real life pictures for reference. Adding some damage, rust and dirt on top as my please.

Starting from the bottom. I split the different materials of the composition and, just to get more use to it, I create some smart materials using mask builder and mask editor. They are far from be perfect but, they do the job.

Next step was to make the pattern on the van so, I made some alpha to use as stencils. As soon as I finished, I noticed how much was pixelated in some part (I have saved some alphas in a low resolution without notice). Since I didn't want to make all the process again, I tried to find a solution using filters and levels. After a few attempts my solution was to use the Bevel filter to make the edges blur and a simple level to trimmer and sharped the line.

As much as in the cartoon I want this van to be soaked in the 70s era.  Looking around I found a nice image of the headlights. Same as before, I made an Alpha for the high channel.

At the beginning I said that I want to make the van with a story behind. Found some references, I started to recreate some of the rust, damage, dirt and so on..

I added on the top of everything else , as the final touch, mud on the wheels and splash of it on the lower part. Turned on the front and back lights. Tried some possible background/HDRI from the pool inside Substance Painter and, when I was happy with the result I called it a day.

It took me at least 1 and a half week to complete and, I know that there is a lot of room for improvement but I consider a nice first attempt.

Hope you like it and, if you have any suggestion to give me, I'll be more then happy to receive feedback and tips. Take Care :)